The Alchemy Lab is a small synthesizer module whose personality is software. I write the software. Each program turns the same six knobs and three buttons into a different instrument.
Eurorack is a format for building a synthesizer out of separate boxes, called modules, that screw into a case and connect with patch cables. Each module usually does one job.
The Alchemy Lab, made by Hermetic Modular in Seattle, is one of those boxes, but its job isn't fixed. Inside is a small computer with audio in and out, knobs, lights and a memory-card slot.
I write programs (firmware) that turn it into a looper, a voice tuner, a granular cloud machine and more. All of them live on the memory card, and it switches between them in a few seconds, no computer needed.
The first eight are my own designs. Mark, Belt and Smack have been played on the module. Seq, a sequencer that writes parts for the rest of the synth, Break, which mangles drum breaks from the memory card, Stencil, which cuts held sounds into rhythm and can spell words in Morse code, Tally, a sine wave with eight ways to bend it, and Hypjolin, two chaos machines patched into each other, are built and tested on a computer and go on the module next. The other six bring classic open-source instruments by Mutable Instruments to the Lab. They're built and tested on a computer too, and the first listen on the module is next.
No module? Eleven of them run right here, in the emulator: the real firmware, compiled for the web, on an imitated panel with working knobs, buttons, lights and sound. Sing into Belt, glitch a drum loop with Smack, or strike Plaits.
Plug a module into the computer and turn every knob and setting on screen, read what each one does, and save, load and back up presets. It works with Belt, Mark, Smack and Seq, and with any Alchemy Lab firmware that speaks HostLink. Belt also gets an editor for its chord progression, the chords its harmony voices sing. You can try it on the emulator first. It needs Chrome or Edge, and it's new: it hasn't been tried on a real module yet.
You need an Alchemy Lab (the V2 panel), a USB-C cable, a computer with a Chromium browser (Chrome, Edge or Brave, which the web programmer requires), and a microSD card. Everything below comes from the manuals, which have the full detail.
Download an instrument, then put the module into update mode: hold B3 (the bottom button) while you power it on. The rings breathe slowly and the B3 lights stay on. Connect the front USB-C to the computer and flash the file with Hermetic's web programmer. The module stays in the rack the whole time.
New, not yet played on a module:
Seq, Break and Stencil are early builds: tested on a computer, not yet on a module. Stencil also runs on the Daisy Patch. Release notes.
The six Mutable Instruments ports, not yet played on a module:
These six are an early release: they're built and tested on a computer, but haven't had their first listen on a module yet. The SD card zip holds all six plus the samples Elements needs, already in the right folders for step 2. Release notes.
Format a microSD card of 32 GB or less as FAT32, make a folder called alchemy at the
top, and copy every instrument's .bin file into it. Elements also needs its sound file at
/mi/elements.smp. On a Mac, run dot_clean on the card before ejecting it.
To switch, hold B2 and B3 for two seconds to open Settings, and tap B1 to reach the Firmware page. Turn the top-left knob to choose an instrument, then turn the top-right knob down a little and all the way up to load it. It checks the file, writes it and restarts as that instrument. If it's the one already running, the ring turns solid green and nothing is rewritten.
Every instrument here has this picker and remembers its own settings, so you can go from Clouds to Mark and back without losing either.
Mark, Belt and Smack can be played from a Novation Launchpad Mini MK3 and a Launch Control XL, both at once. The Lab's USB-C port gives no power, so connect them through a powered USB-C dongle with a hub inside, never straight into the module.
In Settings, set USB PORT (the bottom-right knob on the first page) to Launchpad. It takes effect from the next power-up, and it's saved on the card, so every instrument uses the same setting. Hold B1 while powering on to get back to computer mode for one boot.
Set USB PORT to Audio and power it up again. The Lab becomes a class-compliant USB audio interface, 2 in (J1, J2) and 2 out (J9, J10) at 48 kHz and 24-bit, with no driver needed on a Mac. The instrument itself is bypassed while it's in this mode.
Mark, Belt and Smack all offer it. The five-minute test with no dropouts was on Mark, with an M1 Mac.
This is custom firmware. Hermetic Modular didn't write or test it and can't support it, so please don't contact them about it. To go back to Hermetic's own firmware, flash it the same way as step 1.
The module and the software kit it's built on are by Hermetic Modular, who made both open for people like me to write their own instruments.
Clouds, Elements, Marbles, Plaits and Warps are by Emilie Gillet of Mutable Instruments, who published the code for her modules. Warps and Meld run Matthias Puech's Parasites version of Warps. Porting Clouds turned up a bug in its public code, which I sent back as a fix.
Each instrument has a full manual: every knob, button and jack, how to install it, and what's still untested.
No module? The emulator runs eleven of them in your browser: the real firmware, compiled for the web, on an imitated panel.
Source code: mark-alchemy, belt-alchemy, smack-alchemy and mi-alchemy (the six Mutable Instruments ports), all MIT licensed.