AvailableEffect

Taper

A complete open tape path for printing a signal.

Engine preview

VST3

About

Taper is an algorithmic tape model, not a neural capture. Its character comes from explicit encode and decode conditioning, a nonlinear split-band tape stage, wandering delay taps, bias-dependent slew behaviour, resonant head bump and a protective output clipper.

The browser page runs the same stateful restricted TypeScript functions as the compiler verification lane inside an AudioWorklet. Its nine normalized controls follow the processor signal order. Deterministic random seeds make renders repeatable, state storage follows the engine's float32 realtime convention, and final floating-point dither is omitted because export owns dither in this stack.

Use a dry guitar take for the fastest comparison. Input determines how firmly the signal prints, Shape and Tilt move the spectral weight, Flutter and Bias expose transport wear, and Head Bump adds the low resonance people often identify as tape before they hear the saturation itself.

System requirements.

The downloadable Taper release supports the hosts and systems listed below.

VST3macOS · arm64
Works in Ableton Live, Reaper, Cubase, Studio One, Bitwig and FL Studio.

Version 0.1.0

Build evidence

Every row below is a recorded build row or the recorded absence of one. Nothing here is inferred from what this module is meant to support.

Module: music.codex.taper v0.1.0
Built at: 2026-09-12T10:56:49Z
Closure hash: 2b5f9f67bd79…
Toolchain: scriptc 64acce1ae3b8…
moduleToolchainDist c621ffab721d…
pluginShellKitRuntime bca003784692…
faceShellGeneration 8533207ab81f…
uiPreservation cd28dbd7e3d6…
packagerVersion 3

Build result and download for each format
Format	Result	Download
Browser package (JS)	Builtweb bundle sha256 1a9aa2f9fc86… · 306 KB	Built, but no downloadable archive was recorded.
Browser package (WASM)	Builtweb bundle sha256 20c054b76dc1… · 2.0 MB	Built, but no downloadable archive was recorded.
VST3	Builtdarwin-arm64Steinberg validator + VST3 host render: passed bundle sha256 be36b0993b12… · 2.1 MB	CodexTaper-vst3-darwin-arm64.zip archive sha256 8cf14549a82c… · 2.1 MB · darwin-arm64
Audio Unit	Not built no recorded artifact row for au; native-lane-report.json is absent or records no au row for this module	Not built for macOS
CLAP	Not built no recorded artifact row for clap; native-lane-report.json is absent or records no clap row for this module	Not built for macOS, Windows or Linux
Standalone app	Not built no recorded artifact row for standalone; native-lane-report.json is absent or records no standalone row for this module	Not built for macOS, Windows or Linux

Parity

browser-js = browser-wasm = vst3 qualified against their own recorded digests. Not recorded: au, clap, standalone.

Presets

Start from a named sound, then adjust the instrument to make it yours.

InitDefault

Signal graph.

Experimental

Migration fallback: a page-only authored drawing, not yet runtime or export truth. Dashed cables carry modulation, not audio.

How it works.

The input first passes through a complementary high-frequency encode stage. Its level-dependent compression boosts detail before the nonlinear tape split, then the matching decode stage removes the contour after the tape has changed it. Tilt controls the relationship between those two halves rather than acting as a simple shelf EQ.

Flutter writes stereo samples into a circular delay and reads each side from an independently wandering fractional tap. The wander is seeded and deterministic in this port, which makes repeat renders testable while retaining the irregular motion of the original algorithm.

Bias is a bank of slew-history constraints. Below centre it can hold a sample near recent history; above centre it progressively limits fast changes. The stage bypasses at the centre detent, so a neutral comparison does not pay for a hidden approximation.

The tape core splits the signal around Shape, applies different nonlinear laws to the low and high portions, and optionally excites two closely spaced resonant head filters. Decode, output trim and a safety clipper finish the path. The processor holds all history across worklet blocks, which is essential for flutter, resonance, bias and clipping continuity.