Hobbyists are using AI coding tools to write custom firmware for synthesizers, samplers, and grooveboxes, and the results are spreading quickly across the music gear world. In the last month or so, new firmware has been released for Elektron’s Model:Cycles, Digitone, Octatrack, and Digitakt; Roland’s SP-404 MKII; Ableton’s Push 3 and Move; Akai’s MPC Live, MPC One, and the vintage MPC 2000; Novation’s Circuit; Arturia’s MicroFreak; and Zoom’s 14-year-old Multistomp pedal line. Before large language models, such projects were rare and demanded deep expertise and weeks or months of work for a single feature, such as adding velocity sensitivity to a Korg Volca.
Much of the activity centers on the M-Vave FM-1, a $70 Yamaha DX-7 clone. The low price and faithful recreation of classic FM tones made it popular with first-time synth buyers, hobbyists, and synthfluencers, and it now has dozens of custom firmwares. Many of the most popular, including Felucca, Sloop, and x0x, list Claude as a contributor on GitHub or disclose their use of AI; Baudgirl is also suspected of being created with AI assistance, but its developer did not reply to a request for comment. The FM-1 now supports synth engines including virtual analog and sample playback, plus multi-track sequencing and a variety of UI designs.
Roman Rusinov, who posts on Reddit as themanro and releases music as Farlow, adapted the Zoom MS-70CDR, a budget multi-effects pedal from 2012. After learning about ZDL, a project that reverse-engineered the Multistomp format, he got the pedal running NAM A2 Lite captures and custom impulse responses, turning it into a modeler capable of emulating vintage amps. He said he was already using AI for work and treated the project as a way to learn vibe-coding fundamentals, describing plenty of trial and error in finding the limits of the hardware and software. He said he is thrilled to be part of a broader movement breathing new life into older hardware, and that owners should be able to do whatever they want with gear they own.
18nelli, the developer behind Modded Cycles, said an Elektron Model:Cycles left him frustrated and felt designed to push buyers toward more expensive gear. Recent AI advances convinced him he could add features to the groovebox, which has not had an official update since May 2021, so he documented its parts and worked with Claude Code on a first hack: six-track audio over USB. The effort has grown into a community project with multiple contributed mods, several standalone custom firmwares, and the ability to turn a Model:Cycles into a Model:Samples. He said avoiding LLMs would have been counterproductive, since he would have spent massive time and energy on a single feature instead of creating and making music with mods.
Manufacturer responses have varied, and many companies have stayed silent. Elektron banned links to custom firmware from its forums and said in a statement there that it would always warn against modifications that could brick machines, noting that a change that looks simple in isolation can cause major problems elsewhere, particularly when a later official OS arrives, and can confuse users about which features are officially available. M-Vave, by contrast, recently announced FM1 Open, an open-source firmware with additional features, along with a development kit and a firmware-flashing tool for the community.
Reaction to AI and vibe coding in music gear has been mixed. Devices like the Polyend Endless have drawn ire, and music-making subreddits are full of complaints about vibe-coded plugin slop. Custom firmware has so far met less hostility, perhaps in part because reviving old instruments helps keep Gear Acquisition Syndrome in check. The modified firmwares are often less thoroughly tested than official releases, and new mods and firmwares continue to appear online almost daily.
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