NINJAM Next Plugin

A modern JUCE-based VST3/AU plugin for NINJAM — collaborative real-time music jamming over the internet, right inside your DAW.

Features

• VST3 (Windows + macOS) and AU (macOS) plugin formats
• Host transport sync with ring-buffer phase alignment
• Classic NINJAM mode with auto-subscribe
• Built-in metronome aligned to DAW beats
• Mixer-style channel strips with per-user mute/solo/level
• Chat/log panel with scrollable history
• Interval position readout as bars:beats:subbeats (1:1:1) using host time signature
• MIDI input/output passthrough (for DAW routing workflows)

How To Use

1. Insert the plugin on a track or bus and open the editor.
2. Enter Host, User, and Password, then click Connect.
3. Use the chat box at the bottom to send messages:
   • Regular text sends chat messages.
   • /... sends admin commands (example: /bpm 120).
4. Adjust monitoring/mix from the top strip (Me) and remote user strips.
5. Watch Interval: bar:beat:subbeat (num/den) for position within the current NINJAM interval.

subbeat follows a 1/16-note grid relative to the host time signature:

• 4/4 -> bar:1-4:1-4
• 3/4 -> bar:1-3:1-4
• 6/8 -> bar:1-6:1-2

When a server presents a license agreement, it is shown in the chat/log panel and connection is paused until you approve. Click License OK in the plugin UI to approve that host's license and reconnect.

If an open server rejects a normal username (empty password), the plugin retries once as anonymous:<your-name> automatically.

Monitoring Buttons (A / L)

• A = Add local: hear your local input mixed with incoming NINJAM audio.
• L = Listen local: hear only your local input (incoming NINJAM audio muted).
• Both off = Incoming only: hear remote NINJAM audio only.

A and L are mutually exclusive monitor modes.

Example: Plugin On Main Bus As Mixer

Use this when you want the plugin to behave like a NINJAM return + local confidence monitor:

1. Put NinjamNext on your DAW master/main bus.
2. Route your instrument/vocal tracks to the master as normal.
3. Connect to the NINJAM server.
4. Turn on A in the Me strip.
5. Keep remote user strips up and mix each user with mute/solo/level.

Result: you hear the full main mix plus your local input confidence monitor, while still controlling remote users from one place.

Build

Prerequisites

• CMake 3.22+
• Windows: Visual Studio 2022+ with C++ workload
• macOS: Xcode command line tools
• macOS: Homebrew + CMake if cmake is not already installed

Clone & Build

git clone --recursive https://github.com/nykwil/ninjam-next-plugin.git
cd ninjam-next-plugin

Windows

cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build --config Release --target NinjamNext_VST3

On Windows, run those commands from a Visual Studio Developer Command Prompt (or use build_win.bat below).
If you see fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: 'algorithm', the MSVC environment was not initialized.

On Windows you can also use the one-click script:

build_win.bat

macOS

If needed, install the required tools first:

xcode-select --install
brew install cmake

Then build:

./build_mac.sh

This configures CMake and builds both the VST3 and AU targets. The CMake 4.x compatibility workaround is built into the project now, and macOS defaults to a universal binary (arm64;x86_64).

If you want the raw CMake commands instead of the helper script:

cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build --config Release --target NinjamNext_VST3 NinjamNext_AU

Output

• VST3: build/NinjamNext_artefacts/<config>/VST3/NinjamNext.vst3/
• AU (macOS): build/NinjamNext_artefacts/<config>/AU/

On macOS, the simplest install path is:

./install_mac.sh

That copies the built bundles into your user plugin directories, clears extended attributes, and applies ad-hoc signing when available.

Default user install locations:

• VST3: ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/
• AU: ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/

System-wide install locations if you prefer to install for all users:

• VST3: /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/
• AU: /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/

macOS Troubleshooting

The release builds are not signed or notarized, so macOS or your DAW may still block them in some cases. install_mac.sh already clears extended attributes and attempts ad-hoc signing for user-local installs.

If you install to the system plugin folders manually, start by removing the quarantine flag from the installed bundle:

sudo xattr -cr "/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/NinjamNext.vst3"

If your DAW still does not detect the plugin, ad-hoc sign the installed bundle and rescan:

sudo codesign --force --deep --sign - "/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/NinjamNext.vst3"

2. Ad-hoc sign the plugin:

On newer macOS versions, unsigned plugins may be silently ignored by DAWs even after removing quarantine. Ad-hoc signing fixes this:

codesign --force --deep --sign - "/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/NINJAM VST3.vst3"

After both steps, rescan plugins in your DAW.

3. Verify (optional):

If the plugin still doesn't appear, check that macOS isn't rejecting it:

codesign -v "/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/NINJAM VST3.vst3"
spctl --assess --type exec "/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/NINJAM VST3.vst3"

Local Test Server

The build also produces a local NINJAM server:

cmake --build build --target ninjamsrv_local
cd ninjam/ninjam/server
../../build/ninjamsrv example.cfg

Connect two plugin instances to localhost:2049 for testing.

License

NINJAM is licensed under the GPL. See the ninjam submodule for details.