The Oberheim Matrix 1000 is a beloved analog synth from 1984 with a famously cryptic front panel — a handful of buttons for a hundred hidden parameters. So we gave it a proper editor that runs entirely in the browser.
No installation, no backend, no Electron — just open a tab. Using the Web MIDI API, the editor speaks Oberheim’s SysEx protocol directly to the synth: all 100 parameters grouped by signal flow, the full 10-slot modulation matrix, reading and storing patches, and a live MIDI monitor for debugging. Move a slider and the change reaches the synth in milliseconds. See the project page for the full rundown.
It’s a small love letter to old hardware — and a neat reminder that the modern web platform is more than capable of tight, real-time instrument control with zero install friction.
A note on how it was made: this editor was built largely with the help of Claude, Anthropic’s AI — we brought the design direction, the SysEx specifics, and the testing against real hardware, and the AI did a lot of the heavy lifting in between. It’s one of several experiments we’re running into AI-assisted engineering: pairing deep domain knowledge with modern AI to get from idea to a working tool remarkably fast. Expect more notes like this one.