What’s your musical background?

I've been heavily influenced by the pioneers of electronica and IDM — Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, and others in that world. In fact, most of the effects in my custom firmware were inspired by techniques I heard in their music.

How did you get into modular?

I first became aware of modular synthesizers from watching videos of Aphex Twin and Four Tet with them in their setups. I actually started collecting during the COVID-19 pandemic. I perform as Acidclank, and at the time I was also active in a band — but with live events largely shut down, I suddenly had a lot of time to myself, and I finally took the plunge on modular synths I'd been curious about for a long time. I started by picking up the Endorphin.es Shuttle System and learned from there.

What inspired you to create this firmware?

My live setup incorporates three Versio modules and one Legio module, each running custom firmware I developed myself. I originally built them because I realized the modules I needed for my live performances simply didn't exist on the market yet. Since I made them purely for my own use, I never planned to release them publicly — but after posting videos on social media, I received a huge amount of responses from people asking what effects I was using and where they could get them. That's what led me to release it as FRGMNTS Versio. The firmware includes four effects I selected from everything I've built for myself over the years.

Did the firmware end up evolving beyond your original idea?

Yes. Initially I only built a stereo stutter effect module, but I had a lot of headroom left in the Versio's memory, and ideas for what else could be fun to include just kept coming. A lot of features got added along the way. The Versio is honestly more than powerful enough to handle all of it.

How did you start developing for the Versio platform?

I started with the help of AI and taught myself programming along the way. A year ago I had zero coding knowledge, but I felt the need to learn as I built the firmware, so I picked it up gradually. One thing I discovered through the process: AI-generated code often looks like it should work but tends to have critical flaws hidden underneath. I came to feel that a final human review is still essential. I'm still very much learning.

What part of the firmware are you personally most proud of?

For FRGMNTS Versio, I'm genuinely happy with how the clock-synced buffer processing in the Tape effect turned out — it runs smoothly and I feel like I really nailed it. As for the Stutter effect, replacing the conventional Dry/Wet blend with a simple ON/OFF switch was a deliberate break from standard module design conventions — but it was an intentional choice made for dynamic live performance. The whole module was designed with simplicity in mind — something you can pick up and use intuitively on stage — and I'm confident I achieved that.

What tools, languages, or workflows did you use during development?

Everything was written in C++. I started by fully mapping out the specs, then moved into coding with some AI assistance. For parameter design, I referenced effects in Ableton Live to get things closer to where I wanted them. The development loop was: code → build → install on Versio → evaluate → refine. I've done that cycle more times than I can count.

Do you have any advice for people interested in creating their own firmware?

Modular synthesis is inherently a free-form medium, so I think the most important thing when building your own modules is to design with flexibility in mind — imagining what interesting things could happen when patched with different CV sources, and giving users that freedom to explore.

Where can people download FRGMNTS?

FRGMNTS Versio is available for download along with the manual through Gumroad, linked from my Linktree. Please give it a try — and I'd love to see how you use it!