I Spoke WIth Elektron About The Hacked Firmware

Summary

EZBOT (Matthew) recounts an hour-long discussion with Elektron’s Chief Product Officer and an R&D manager about AI-assisted reverse engineering and unofficial firmware for Elektron instruments. He emphasizes that this is his interpretation of the conversation, not an official Elektron statement.

According to EZBOT, the Elektron representatives found the hacks technically impressive and understood their appeal, while having mixed feelings about changes that alter an instrument’s purpose or design vision. They did not frame their concerns as opposition to users experimenting with equipment they own. Rather, they were concerned about unsupported firmware being distributed through Elektron’s public forum: users might install it, damage a device, and assume Elektron would support or repair it. EZBOT says this was the reason given for closing a forum thread that shared the firmware.

The discussion also covered rapidly improving AI coding tools. EZBOT argues that a small manufacturer may struggle to match the development speed of many individuals using AI to generate and modify code. He cautions against assuming that features absent from a product were deliberately withheld for commercial reasons: adding a feature can require extensive integration and testing to avoid breaking existing functions and projects.

Firmware Features Demonstrated

• Modwork: A website-based tool for selecting features and building custom firmware for supported Elektron instruments.
• Octatrack modifications: Displayed options included effects and utilities such as bucket-brigade delay, tape echo, mute modes, tempo-following tools, track scales, a compressor, a Euclidean sequencer, MIDI CC mapping, and an FM synth. The presenter also identifies “trigression” as a pattern-mute feature.
• Octabam: An Octatrack-focused project aiming to improve the instrument while keeping development specific to the Octatrack. EZBOT praises its presentation and performance readout.
• Digitakt 1 modifications: The presenter demonstrates added synthesis machines, including a polyphonic synth that can use samples or single-cycle waveforms, a CPU-usage readout, and a master EQ with frequency and adjustment controls.

These are demonstrations and commentary, not a formal product review or step-by-step installation tutorial.

Risks and Cautions

• EZBOT says Elektron had not heard of any hacked firmware bricking a device at the time of the conversation, but stresses that this does not establish that the firmware is safe.
• Custom firmware may use more CPU, affect normal operation, damage a device, or make projects incompatible with other firmware versions.
• Elektron may not support or repair problems caused by unofficial firmware. EZBOT recommends treating installation as an at-your-own-risk decision and backing up music and projects.
• Some firmware developers provide clear disclaimers about support and warranty implications.

Main Speakers and Sources

• Matthew / EZBOT: The presenter, who recounts the Elektron meeting and demonstrates custom firmware.
• Elektron CPO and R&D manager: The people interviewed. Their views are conveyed through EZBOT’s account, not a direct statement from Elektron.
• Firmware projects and developers referenced: Modwork and Octabam, along with the Digitakt modification community.