Installation

Getting Quiver into your project is straightforward. The library is pure Rust with minimal dependencies.

Prerequisites

• Rust 1.70+ (2021 edition)
• Cargo (comes with Rust)

Verify your installation:

rustc --version
cargo --version

Adding Quiver to Your Project

As a Dependency

Add to your Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
quiver = { git = "https://github.com/alexnodeland/quiver" }

Or with specific features:

[dependencies]
quiver = { git = "https://github.com/alexnodeland/quiver", features = ["simd"] }

Available Features

Feature Tiers

Quiver supports three tiers for different environments:

Tier 1: Core Only (default-features = false)

For bare-metal embedded systems without heap allocation:

[dependencies]
quiver = { git = "https://github.com/alexnodeland/quiver", default-features = false }

Includes all core DSP modules: oscillators, filters, envelopes, amplifiers, mixers, utilities, logic modules, analog modeling, polyphony, and the patch graph.

Tier 2: With Alloc (features = ["alloc"])

For WASM web apps and embedded systems with heap:

[dependencies]
quiver = { git = "https://github.com/alexnodeland/quiver", default-features = false, features = ["alloc"] }

Adds:

• Serialization - JSON save/load for patches (PatchDef, ModuleDef, CableDef)
• Presets - Ready-to-use patch presets (ClassicPresets, PresetLibrary)
• I/O Modules - External inputs/outputs, MIDI state (AtomicF64, MidiState)

Tier 3: Full Std (default)

For desktop applications:

[dependencies]
quiver = { git = "https://github.com/alexnodeland/quiver" }

Adds:

• Extended I/O - OSC protocol, Web Audio interfaces
• Visual Tools - Scope, Spectrum Analyzer, Level Meter, Automation Recorder
• MDK - Module Development Kit for creating custom modules

Feature Matrix

Implementation Notes

• Uses BTreeMap instead of HashMap in non-std modes (no hashing required)
• Includes a seedable Xorshift128+ RNG for deterministic random generation
• Math functions provided by libm (sin, cos, pow, sqrt, exp, log, etc.)
• Heap allocations via alloc crate (Vec, Box, String)

Verifying Installation

Create a simple test program:

use quiver::prelude::*;

fn main() {
    let patch = Patch::new(44100.0);
    println!("Quiver is working! Patch created at {}Hz", 44100.0);
}

Run it:

cargo run

Building the Examples

Clone the repository and run an example:

git clone https://github.com/alexnodeland/quiver
cd quiver
cargo run --example simple_patch

Building Documentation

Generate the API documentation locally:

cargo doc --open

This opens the rustdoc documentation in your browser with all type information and examples.

Editor Setup

For the best experience, use an editor with Rust support:

• VS Code with rust-analyzer extension
• IntelliJ IDEA with Rust plugin
• Neovim with rust-tools.nvim

Type hints are particularly helpful given Quiver’s strong typing—your editor will show you exactly what signals flow where.

Next: Your First Patch