The Csound MCP server exposes Csound audio engine functionality to AI agents via the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

• Stateless Architecture: Lightweight execution using standard Csound.
• Subtractive Synthesis: Exposes a synthesize_sawtooth_lead_bass tool that provides LLM-friendly 0-255 mapped ADSR parameters to shape a sawtooth oscillator run through a lowpass filter.
• Drum Synthesis: Exposes a synthesize_kick_drum tool specialized for crafting Sub Basses, punchy House kicks, and distorted Hardstyle kicks using intuitive parameters like punch and drive.
• Semantic Guardrails: The tool parameters are heavily documented with acoustic definitions (e.g., matching "fast attack" to integer ranges), and MCP Resources (lore://sound_design, lore://drum_design) are provided to teach agents how to synthesize classic instruments.
• Error Handling: Gracefully captures and returns stdout and stderr content to the agent if csound compilation or execution fails.

• uv package manager
• csound installed and available in the system $PATH

The package is built with Python and depends on mcp. You can run the server directly using uv:

uv run musmcp

To configure this server in an MCP client (such as Claude Desktop or Cursor), add it to your configuration (adjust the root path to your workspace directory):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "musmcp": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/path/to/your/workspace/musmcp",
        "run",
        "musmcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Before using the synthesis tools, an agent can read the provided lore://sound_design and lore://drum_design MCP resources to understand how to map acoustic concepts to the 0-255 integers.

The synthesize_sawtooth_lead_bass tool is specifically designed to be easy for LLM agents to use. It abstracts complex Csound envelopes into simple 0-255 integers.

Here is how an agent should map desired sounds to the tool's parameters:

1. A Plucky/Percussive Bass (Fast attack, fast decay, no sustain)

{
  "pitch": 55.0,
  "duration": 1.5,
  "cutoff_hz": 400.0,
  "attack": 5,
  "decay": 80,
  "sustain": 0,
  "release": 50,
  "output_filename": "bass_pluck.wav"
}

2. A Warm Pad (Slow attack, high sustain, long release)

{
  "pitch": 220.0,
  "duration": 4.0,
  "cutoff_hz": 1200.0,
  "attack": 150,
  "decay": 100,
  "sustain": 200,
  "release": 200,
  "output_filename": "warm_pad.wav"
}

3. An Aggressive Lead (Fast attack, high sustain, bright filter)

{
  "pitch": 880.0,
  "duration": 2.0,
  "cutoff_hz": 4500.0,
  "attack": 10,
  "decay": 50,
  "sustain": 255,
  "release": 20,
  "output_filename": "aggr_lead.wav"
}

A dedicated tool for creating everything from soft acoustic thumps to booming 808s and distorted hard kicks.

1. 808 Sub Kick (Booming, no hard click)

{
  "fundamental_hz": 45.0,
  "punch": 20,
  "decay": 220,
  "drive": 10,
  "output_filename": "808_sub.wav"
}

2. Hardstyle / Industrial Kick (Heavily distorted with massive click)

{
  "fundamental_hz": 50.0,
  "punch": 200,
  "decay": 150,
  "drive": 220,
  "output_filename": "hard_kick.wav"
}