AI-assisted coding tools are helping hobbyists create custom firmware for hardware synthesizers, samplers and grooveboxes. Work that once demanded deep expertise and weeks or months of effort can now take days, according to examples reported by The Verge.
Recent projects target gear from Elektron, Roland, Ableton, Akai, Novation, Arturia and Zoom. A $70 M-Vave FM-1, a Yamaha DX7 clone, has dozens of custom firmware options. They add features including virtual analog and sample playback engines, multitrack sequencing and different interface designs. Popular FM-1 firmware projects Felucca, Sloop and x0x list Claude as a contributor or disclose AI use. The Verge says Baud Girl is also suspected of AI assistance; its developer did not respond to a request for comment.
Roman Rusinov used custom software to turn Zoom’s 2012 MS-70CDR effects pedal into a modeler that can run NAM A2 Lite captures and custom impulse responses. Separately, the community project Modded Cycles added six-track audio over USB to Elektron’s Model:Cycles, which had not received an official update since May 2021. It also offers other modifications and standalone firmware, including an option to turn the device into a Model:Samples.
These projects can be less thoroughly tested than manufacturers’ official firmware, and modifications may brick equipment. Elektron has banned links to custom firmware on its forums and warned about the risk of modifying its products.
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