SMK37

Makkuro37

A microtonal drone synth: eight voices as eight soot creatures, 96 presets.

• Pads gate eight drone voices, keys play two VCOs
• Tuning sets: just, Pythagorean, 24-TET, maqam, gamelan
• The lowest keys set the key of everything, gliding · VOICE, BOWED, GLASS

Vector37

An orbiting overtone synth: a moon circles a sun along a path, and where it is decides how much of each of four sounds you hear.

• Four planets, each two overtone generators, a blend and a filter
• 32 factory sounds, each a whole scene · your own in the USER bank
• TRS MIDI out and PAD LIGHT in SETUP (BT) · a smooth screen at about 60 fps
• Watch the video

FM-1 build: experimental. Hold EDIT: the lowest 16 keys are the pads; SEL pages the knobs.

Speak37

A talking synth for the SMK-37 and the FM-1: every key speaks the next word at its pitch, chords speak in harmony. And MOPE, a gloomy robot who listens to what you play and tells you what he thinks of it.

• Nine voices, sentences, songs, mantras, your own words
• PLAY speaks on the beat · an 808 with 16 grooves
• MOPE on PATCH: comments, a light game, sad tunes
• Watch the video

FM-1: Need feedback how to improve the usage on the FM-1. Hold EDIT for MOPE.

Erik37

A grand piano for the SMK-37: a sampled concert grand with velocity layers, dampers and their noise, the three pedals, string resonance and four rooms.

• Pads 1–4: four piano voices · pads 5–16: your own sounds (hold to save)
• Sustain: PEDAL jack (half pedal), SEQ REC on / off · release noise level · pad light
• K1–K4: the page's knobs, < > the pages · samples: Salamander Grand Piano V3 (CC BY 3.0)
• Watch the video

FM-1: untested on a unit, feedback welcome. KNOB 1-4 the page, SELECT the page, ALGORITHM the voices, PRESETS your sounds.

Snoop37 (SLOOP for the SMK-37)

SLOOP, the four-track looper groovebox, adapted for the SMK-37.

• Pads in the track colours, a pad sound picker, PAD LIGHT 25–100 %
• Fader banks: level, filter, reverb, delay
• DAW mode: the keyboard as a MIDI controller
• 3D-printable knob caps to match

X0X — SMK-37 build

A 909, an 808, two 303s with a line generator and a breakbeat player, all at once.

• Shared reverb, tape delay, master compressor

FoMni — SMK-37 build

An Omnichord-style chord harp: the 16 pads become the strum plate, the keybed holds the chords.

• Strum the pads, play chords on the keys

MAKU — SMK-37 build

An always-on ambience machine: power it on and a new, random, in-key world is already playing.

• The verbs on the top button row and the wheels
• The 16 pads hold your likes
• Faders as standing verb amounts

Rainbow mode — SMK-37 build

A music toy for kids: colour-coded notes, 40 friends who sing along, no menus.

• The pads light up in the note colours
• Faders: big/small, day/night, echo, wiggle
• A volume cap for grown-ups

GHOULBOX — SMK-37 build

Dungeon-synth firmware: dark ambient, medieval and fantasy sounds, with drones, a hurdy-gurdy crank and two sounds at once.

• The middle keys play with velocity, the outer keys add notes
• Fader banks: level, pan, reverb, delay
• Keys page: LAYER or SPLIT two sounds

ChoralRoot — SMK-37 build

A chord instrument in the manner of the Orchid: one hand plays roots, the other picks the chord.

• Chord pads: DIM MIN MAJ SUS, 6 m7 M7 9, LOCK
• All 37 keys play roots
• Strum, arp, pattern and harp modes on the pads
• New: ChoralRoot 0.29 has its own SMK-37 build by the author (pre-release)

ORBIT — SMK-37 build

A four-track groovebox with OP-1-inspired screens: three synth parts, a drum machine, an event tape and a mixer.

• The 16 pads are the steps, in the track colours
• Fader banks: level, pan, reverb, delay
• Outer keys play drums on the drum track

AMB-1 — SMK-37 build

A generative ambient machine inspired by Music for Airports: loops of different lengths drift past each other and never repeat.

• The 37 keys set the scale, the 16 pads ring bells
• Fader banks: levels, space, garden
• Pitch wheel bends, mod wheel adds vibrato

Polly — SMK-37 build

A pocket arranger inspired by the Yamaha QY70: a band of eight General MIDI instruments follows the chords you play.

• Pads: sections, Follow and 16 progressions
• Faders: the mixer's volumes and effects
• Pitch wheel bends, mod wheel adds vibrato
• No QY70 style bank on the SMK-37

winampFM — SMK-37 build

A synth groovebox in the look of Winamp 2.x, built on SLOOP: player, playlist, effect sliders and a visualizer.

• Pads: the selected track's loop, in its colour
• KNOB BANK: pad sounds · FADER BANK: level, filter, reverb, delay
• Pitch wheel bends, mod wheel adds vibrato

DUB-1 — SMK-37 build

A generative dub techno machine: chord stabs through a low-pass into a tape echo, a sub bass, a kick that ducks the rest. You don't play it, you steer it.

• Pads: the scale, the effects grid, PERFORM and the pattern steps, in three colours
• K1–K4: the page's knobs · fader banks: levels, space, shape
• Pitch wheel bends the tape echo, mod wheel opens the filter

Ketch — SMK-37 build

A tracker in the LSDJ / M8 line: song, chain and phrase screens, Felucca's sound engines on four channels, effects and a mixer.

• The pads are the gamepad, laid out as on the M8
• All 37 keys play and record notes with velocity
• K1–K4: the page's knobs · faders: the mixer's levels · wheels bend and modulate

Melodee — SMK-37 build

A four-track multi-engine synth and sequencer: Prophet, CZ, FM6, SID, drums and more.

• Pads as white keys or a step grid, in three colours
• Fader banks: levels, the engine's sound, envelope, FX rack · hold NOTE REPEAT for a momentary move
• K1–K4: the page's knobs · pitch and mod wheels, velocity keys
• TRS MIDI OUT on the 3.5 mm jack (HOME menu)

FMEL-1 — SMK-37 build

A Mellotron M400 in your SMK-37: real tapes, wow and flutter, a second sound on the other track. The tapes are Bernie Kornowicz's (Taijiguy) M400S samples: free to use, never in anything sold.

• All 37 keys play the tapes, velocity on the tape's level · pitch wheel the motor, mod wheel the vibrato
• Pads: the sound, the layer, LOFI, vibrato, Leslie, echo, reverb, half speed, 8-second tapes
• Two fader banks: mix, tone, wow, flutter · age, drive, echo, reverb
• New: FMEL-1 1.1 has its own SMK-37 build by the author

Frodhes — SMK-37 build

A physically modelled electric piano: every note computed live from a hammer, a tine and a pickup. Four instrument types, a compressor, tremolo, phaser, chorus, delay and reverb.

• All 37 keys strike the hammer at their own velocity · pedal jack, SUSTAIN pad or SEQ REC
• Pads: the four types, presets, drive, chord, every effect on / off, arp, sustain
• K1–K4: the page's knobs · faders: tone, bark and the effects · pitch wheel bends the tines, mod wheel the tremolo
• New: Frodhes 0.9.7 has its own SMK-37 build by the author (experimental)

ZEN-1 — SMK-37 build

Ambient scenes that play themselves: a cherry tree over a stream, a koi pond, fireflies under a real moon. Every movement on screen is a note, on a 6-operator FM engine.

• Three scenes with their moods, or a whole day or night in half an hour
• Keys and pads play along · hold PATCH for the koto instrument
• K1–K4: the page's knobs · faders: the Volume page · koto: pitch wheel bends, mod wheel vibrato

OberVave — SMK-37 build

One 8-voice analog-style polysynth in the spirit of the American poly synths of 1979–84, with chorus, delay and a plate reverb.

• 99 programs, 64 factory sounds; save into any slot
• K5–K8: the page's knobs · K1: master
• Pads: the two-track step sequencer
• Faders: filter and envelope · FADER BANK: chorus, delay, reverb, master
• Pitch wheel bends, mod wheel adds vibrato
• New: OberVave 3.3.2 has its own SMK-37 build by the author

AMB-1

Ambient music that plays itself from power-on: soft voices and bells on uneven tape loops, a gliding bass, tape echo and plate reverb.

BEETLE

An open six-lane tracker with a built-in digital drum machine: five synth lanes and a drum lane, step patterns chained in song mode.

ChoralRoot

Root notes under one hand, chord shapes under the other: a chord instrument with voicing control, a bass part, playing modes and a loop recorder.

Clipper

A deep synthesizer grown out of SLOOP: 23 engines and 407 sounds, a hybrid voice of three oscillators and two filters, a modulation matrix and a browser editor for every parameter.

CoralFlower

Each note you play turns into a full chord with a bass underneath, while a small pixel flower grows on the screen from your harmony.

CS-1

A late-1970s style eight-voice polysynth made to be played over MIDI, two channels per voice with filters in series, ring modulator and chorus.

CTL-1

Makes the keyboard a MIDI controller for USB, Bluetooth and TRS, with velocity, aftertouch, knob banks, an arpeggiator, Euclidean drums and onboard sounds.

DUB-1

Self-playing dub techno: chord stabs into a dissolving echo, sub bass grooves, a ducking kick and a noise voice; you steer the chords ahead, the filter, the echo and the arrangement.

DUELL

Two complete synth parts in one, with three ways to combine them and a morph control that glides between two versions of every sound.

ETCH

Draw single-cycle waveforms right on the device, blend two of them with a morph control and modulate the result with a third.

Evander's Music Box

Fantasy firmware for live roleplay and tabletop games: acoustic models such as hurdy-gurdy, harp and bagpipes, scene soundtracks and a four-track workshop.

Felucca

The open multi-engine synth firmware that most projects here grew from: several sound engines, four tracks and a step sequencer, playable in a browser too.

Felucca 8 Patterns

A fork of Felucca 1.5.1 that keeps eight patterns per project and lets you chain them into a longer arrangement.

Felucca [Salt]

A beta fork of Felucca adding MIDI input on the jack, selectable clock sources, many screen colour schemes, favourites and a browser studio.

FiMba-1

A physically modelled thumb piano: tines of metal, bamboo or glass on a selectable body, with roll chords, buzzers, delay and reverb.

FM-106

Emulates a six-voice analog polysynth from the 1980s using both processor cores, with 128 factory patches, stereo chorus, a librarian and SysEx editing.

FM1 Quest

Keeps a full four-track groovebox but draws it as a side-scrolling adventure where tracks are heroes, steps are attacks and recordings become boss fights.

fm1-chord

A chord machine: the left white keys play scale-degree chords, the rest strum them, and black keys add sevenths, suspensions and borrowed chords.

FMEL-1

Plays recordings of real vintage tape-replay keyboard tapes, blends two sounds together and colours them with wow, flutter and lo-fi effects.

FMini-1

An emulation of the classic Minimoog Model D: three oscillators and noise, the ladder filter and its contour, plus onboard effects, an arpeggiator and a sequencer.

FOMAJAM

A nine-track groovebox mixing modelled and sampled vintage drum machines with synth engines, accents, slides, ratchets, send effects and MIDI out.

FoMni-1

Pick a chord on the black keys, sweep a finger over the white ones to ring it out, and let preset rhythms keep time.

Frodhes

A physically modelled vintage electric piano computed live from hammer, tine and pickup, with six instrument types (four electric pianos, vibes and marimba), an effects chain, looper and arpeggiator.

FuMi-1

An accompaniment instrument for Japanese recited poetry, with koto and other voices on an FM engine and a switch between equal and just tuning.

GHOULBOX

Gloomy medieval music on tap: a huge hall reverb, a buzzing hurdy-gurdy voice and drones, all wrapped in an old role-play game look.

Golana

One deep analog-style synth with two oscillators, five filters, a patch bay, arpeggiator and sequencer, where each page draws the shape it edits.

GR!MM

Dark ambient, dungeon synth and deathdream firmware: four tracks, seven sound sources, long dark effects, a 64-step sequencer, one-key chords, song mode and four built-in samples.

Hortator

An eight-track drum machine with a step sequencer, generative rhythm grids, a pumping compressor, resonators and live effects, playable in a browser.

Jangada

A dark, industrial groovebox with a Brazilian accent: evolving drones, many synth engines, four tracks, a modulation matrix and its own drum kits.

JIANT FM

A six-track groovebox drawn like a thermal camera: eight sound engines, among them six-operator FM, phase distortion, bytebeat, speech, organ and a morphing drum kit, with a bus slicer and songs.

⚠ Install JIANT only over the official V15 or JIANT itself: written over another custom firmware, the FM-1 may not start. Return to V15 first on the author's installer page.

Ketch

A tracker in the old handheld style, with song, chain and phrase screens, row commands and a mixer, playing four channels of Felucca sounds.

LCD-4

A four-track pocket groovebox of drums and three circuit-modelled synths, chained sixteen-step patterns, punch-in effects and a little animated handheld game per sound.

MAKU

An ambience machine that starts a fresh random in-key world at every boot and leans towards your taste the more worlds you like.

MC-1

An original four-part groovebox in the spirit of 1990s machines: three melodic parts, a sixteen-lane drum part, 128 presets and song arrangement.

Melodee

Four tracks of sound engines, among them a vintage analog poly model, phase distortion and six-operator FM, plus microtonal tunings and SysEx transfer.

MIN-1

A small minimalist ensemble of repeating figures and slow chord cycles that plays from power-on, with easy chord keys so you can take over.

Niagara Drift

A drone synthesizer with two always-on voices you tune, filter and move rather than play note by note, plus scenes, delay and reverb.

NOIZ DEMONS

Turns sound randomising into a ritual: each new roll summons one of thirty demons, whose rank decides how far your sound is pulled away.

OberVave

A single eight-voice analog-style polysynth after the big American poly synths of 1979 to 1984, with arpeggiator, step sequencer and three effects.

OPN-1

Recreates the two sound chips of a 16-bit games console, FM channels and square waves, with a 128-patch library and a companion web app.

ORBIT

A four-track groovebox of three synths and a drum machine, with a colour-coded workflow, user macros and an event tape for rearranging loops.

Polly

Accompaniment in your pocket: an eight-piece band plays a style and follows the chords you play, and it doubles as a General MIDI sound module.

PurpleMonkey

Made for small children: every key plays something pleasant on a pentatonic scale over a backing beat, with animal friends and no menus.

Skiff

A six-track groovebox with fourteen synth and drum engines, a 64-step sequencer with parameter locks and conditions, scenes and a live performance layer.

SLOOP

A live four-track looper groovebox with three synths and a drum machine, many engines and kits, your own samples, song mode and USB audio.

SLOOP Floyd FM

A SLOOP fork that adds a four-operator FM engine and shows the envelopes moving live on the screen.

sloopDX

A SLOOP fork reduced to one six-operator FM engine, with FM drums built from the same engine and SLOOP's live workflow kept.

Unholy Union

Generative drone firmware that rolls an ambient arrangement in one key, pad, sequence and chord arpeggio, leaving a fourth voice for your hands.

winampFM

A SLOOP-based synth groovebox dressed as a late-1990s desktop music player: sounds as a playlist, effects on sliders and full-screen visualizers.

X0X

A stereo groovebox running two drum machines, two acid bass synths with a line generator and a breakbeat player at once, with song mode.

X0X-RMX

Builds on X0X with separate bank and pattern choices per part for remixing, generated drum rhythms, extra acid controls and new colour themes.

ZEN-1

Self-playing ambient scenes, a cherry tree over a river or koi in a pond, where every movement you see on the screen is a note.