inMusic – parent company to Akai Pro, Moog, Alesis, Native Instruments, Numark and other brands – has announced that it will be bringing 22 new products to the 2027 NAMM Show, along with a new concept, The inMusic Creator Lab.

The Creator Lab will highlight inMusic’s support for the new trend of empowering gear owners to customize their gear with alternate firmware.

“These products don’t need to be modified. They’re complete instruments designed to stand on their own,” said CEO Jack O’Donnell. “But for creators who want to take them somewhere new, we want to make that possible. Openness doesn’t require incompleteness.”

The Creator Lab is inMusic’s response to the musicians becoming increasingly comfortable modifying the technology they use, especially with AI-assisted ‘vibe coding’ making software development more accessible.

Many of the 22 products being demonstrated are designed to support further enhancement by programmers, product modders and the growing community of creators using traditional and AI-assisted coding methods. inMusic invites programmers and technically curious music makers to explore those possibilities and bring their own tastes, workflows and ideas to compatible inMusic devices.

Beyond Vibe Coding

Whether or not you are interested in so-called ‘vibe coding’ or alternate firmware options, open platform music gear promises benefits to all musicians. Open platform gear could help reduce bugs in obsolete gear, gear with incomplete or missing features, and incompatibility with modern computers and protocols.

Open platform music gear also promises to fuel new product development, as developing software, hardware and firmware become more accessible to musicians.

What do you think of companies like inMusic and Behringer jumping on the open platform bandwagon? Share your thoughts in the comments!