Behringer puts Kick groovebox firmware code on GitHub

Behringer has shared a first prototype of Kick, a sampler and groovebox that follows the form and layout of the Akai MPC One. The company published the code on GitHub and calls the device a prototype.

The project has a history. Six years ago Behringer announced the JAM, a sampler and groovebox in the vein of an MPC, and nothing more was heard about it afterwards.

What Kick has

The pad layout, touchscreen and Q-Links sit in the same positions as on the MPC One. The buttons on the right side differ slightly. Early specs list 16 RGB pads in 8 banks, four assignable knobs, a jog wheel and a touch strip. Unlike the MPC One, Kick has a built-in AI camera for gesture control.

On the software side it runs on Linux, like the MPC groove workstations. It has a sampler with sample editing, a step sequencer and a looper, plus more than 300 built-in effects.

The connections are a 12 V DC input, a LINK port (RJ45), USB-C for a computer, USB-A for a host, 5-pin MIDI in and out, stereo I/O, a headphone socket and four CV/gate jacks. There is also an SD card slot.

Firmware left to the community

The MPC One runs MPC OS. Kick will not ship with that system or a clone of it. Behringer leaves the operating system to the community and makes the firmware open source, so anyone can build their own OS for the hardware. Uli Behringer hinted at this move during a recent live stream.

The repository holds four parts: the Kick application, the AudIO audio engine library and the ComProtocol hardware communication protocol, all under AGPL-3.0-or-later, and a Buildroot Linux image under GPL-2.0. Third-party components keep their original licenses.

Price and availability of Kick have not been announced.

Source: Music Tribe Open Source (GitHub)