Akai MPC is moving toward an open platform, and the first step is here
By Google News Technology ·
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The Akai MPC is moving toward an open platform, and the first step is here with a GitHub repository and insights into the hardware used in the standalone MPCs.
On October 28, Akai announced it is making its MPC Sample hardware sampler open source—as is the upcoming SampleKey. This sparked a great deal of discussion. I believe it’s actually the biggest one this year.
Then, last Friday, news broke that Akai plans to unveil 22 new products at NAMM 2027, many of them open to experiment with. Today, Akai or inMusic has taken its first step to open its MPC platform for creators – and it’s not just the MPC Sample
Akai hasn’t made an official announcement yet, but inMusic has opened an official GitHub repository managed by Pete Goodliffe, CTO (Chief Technical Officer) and lead developer of the MPC platform. Bang, it happened, or?!
It contains the open-source components required by the licenses under which they are distributed. It does not, however, mean that inMusic or Akai has published the MPC OS as open source. This could help developers understand the underlying software environment.
Interestingly, this new repository suggests they are about to open not just the MPC Sample, but the entire MPC lineup. Plus, they’ll add the SampleKey when it is released.
Thanks for your interest in the open source software used by inMusic Brands. We are happy to comply with the requirements of the open source libraries and projects in use in our products.
This repo contains archives of the open source code for the Linux environment in our products. You will find very few changes against the upstream projects here; we aim to submit all relevant patches back up to the mainstream projects.
You can now find three different Akai MPC open releases on GitHub:
With this upcoming move, the long-running “Hakai OS” project —for example, which enables jailbreaking the MPC hardware—doesn’t go underground; it becomes an official project.
The first step in opening Pandora’s box has been taken, and a new era for the MPCs is about to start. A game-changer, as you might say. The first step has been taken; the others will probably follow soon.
We will soon see numerous new projects that will transform the hardware, both the standalones and MPC Sample, into entirely new instruments. If the community embraces this, inMusic’s plan will have succeeded.
As they communicated yesterday, they want to give creators hardware for making music and also to experiment with their own crafted or AI-generated tools. We have some exciting months ahead, during which it remains to be seen what exactly will come our way.
The Akai MPC framework and its components are now open source and available on GitHub.
More information here: Akai Pro / GitHub
Originally published by Google News Technology
