MEMLNaut

Musicians and music producers are increasingly frustrated with synths and effects processors that are capable of lush, complex sounds, but have cumbersome interfaces with a steep learning curve. The dream is to have an interface that can communicate with all synths, pedals, and digital musical instruments, in a seamless and musical way, using MIDI. MEMLNaut is exactly this: it brings hands-on machine learning into the stage and studio, giving total control over your sound.

MEMLNaut drops into any setup: studio desk, Eurorack, or live rig. Feed it a joystick twist, a foot pedal, or a wave on a wearable sensor, and the MEMLNaut transforms it into endless combinations of sounds and effects. From glitch drums to lush ambience, performers gain limitless control of their sound immediately and intuitively.

Developed and field-tested over the past year at the University of Sussex, the MEMLNaut runs low-latency, on-device machine-learning on a $5 Raspberry Pi RP2350 microcontroller – slashing component cost and putting real-time machine learning-based sound design within reach of every artist. The neural symbiotic interface automatically maps simple digital interfaces such as joysticks and sensors to MIDI parameters, sequence parameters, or sounds and effects in the built-in stereo audio processor. Both hardware and code are fully open-source, inviting third-party mods and fostering an ecosystem of users and tinkerers. Buy it, build it, or hack it: MEMLNaut is the first truly affordable, maker-ready AI/ML engine for music, where artists own the data, train their own models, and access machine learning on their own terms.

Glide a joystick and hear voices shimmer, chords bloom, and fresh tones emerge in between your favourite presets. Train MEMLNaut’s interactive ML to recall those sweet spots, or let reinforcement learning uncover new ones with the neural algorithm exploring under your guide. This approach already powers the performances of brass virtuoso Tom Manoury (sold-out show at Mengi, Reykjavík) with a custom-made modified tuba, and of looping artist Bunty, who uses wearables to guide vocal effects. Field-tested across vocals, winds, strings, and even the synth collection at the Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio, MEMLNaut is already redefining live sonic discovery.