# Azerty Labs

> A small hardware lab based in Brest, France (2020–2022) exploring embedded AI inside the constraints of Eurorack synthesizer modules, before generative AI reached the consumer mainstream. This site is the archive.

Azerty Labs was founded by **Chloé Lavrat** in Brest, France. The lab's core thesis: learned behavior (ML models, generative systems) belongs inside the instrument, running on microcontrollers under the strict power, space, and latency budget of a 3U Eurorack panel — not on a server. Three modules were designed in-house, two reached production, and several open-source designs and artist commissions were built and calibrated.

The lab closed in 2022 because of COVID-era component price inflation (key silicon went from ~2 EUR to ~10 EUR and was often unavailable) combined with a sharp post-pandemic contraction in the Eurorack market. Several months after closure, ChatGPT launched and brought generative AI to a consumer audience.

## Facts

- **Name**: Azerty Labs (stylized AZERTY LABS)
- **Location**: Brest, Brittany, France
- **Operating period**: 2020 – 2022
- **Status**: Archived (closed 2022)
- **Founder**: Chloé Lavrat — https://www.chloelavrat.com/
- **Focus**: Embedded AI on microcontrollers, inside Eurorack hardware
- **Archive site**: https://azerty-labs.com/

## Modules designed in-house

### Pronaos — USB-MIDI interface with on-module generative rhythm (Prototype)
USB-MIDI host and converter with a small embedded model that generates rhythmic variations from incoming MIDI, conditioned on front-panel controls (density, swing, bias). Outputs 0–4 V pitch CV and 0–5 V gate / trigger / clock across six routing modes. Inference runs entirely on the module. Tags: Generative AI, AI-Built.

### Gatekeeper — Low-noise Eurorack I/O bridge (Prototype)
Transparent, low-noise audio bridge between Eurorack and line level. Designed to route rack audio through off-module inference (or any outboard processor) and return it without coloration. Tags: AI-Built.

### Beetlejuice — AI-designed PSU (Production)
Credit-card-sized Eurorack power supply designed end-to-end with AI assistance — topology selection, component sizing, and layout review — before that was standard practice. +5 V at 4 A, +12 V at 3 A, −12 V at 2 A from a single DC input, with dedicated filtering on each rail. Tags: AI-Built.

## Built-to-order / open-source builds

### EuroPi (Allen Synthesis, Open Source)
Raspberry Pi Pico–based programmable module. In the lab, it served as a target for small rhythmic ML models running on the Pico, using its 6 CV outputs, 2 knobs, 2 buttons, digital and analog inputs, and OLED. Assembled and calibrated from the published open design.

### Speaker (Clacktronics, Commission)
Class-D amplifier and loudspeaker in a single Eurorack panel. Built to commission for an artist needing in-rack monitoring, from the open Clacktronics design.

### Reverb (Music Thing Modular, Commission)
Mono spring reverb built to commission from the open Music Thing design. Drives both electromechanical and solid-state (Belton-style) reverb units with front-panel blend, feedback, and dry/wet crossfader.

## Working principles

1. **Compute belongs where the sound is made.** Inference should live on the module, not in the cloud. A constrained footprint forces honest models; latency, privacy, and reliability improve when the round-trip disappears.
2. **Measure the model like a circuit.** Every model went through the same bench as the hardware: power draw, latency distribution, worst-case heat, noise floor at the outputs. No performance claims by vibe.
3. **Document for the future reader.** Schematics, firmware, and model weights all age. Each module ships with its service sheet (BOM, test points, calibration procedure) so it remains serviceable a decade later.

## Tooling

KiCad · STM32 · Embedded C · TensorFlow Lite Micro · Python · Digital Signal Processing · PCB design · Panel CNC

## Links

- Archive site: https://azerty-labs.com/
- Founder site: https://www.chloelavrat.com/
- GitHub: https://github.com/chloelavrat
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clavrat
- Sitemap: https://azerty-labs.com/sitemap.xml

## Citation

Azerty Labs (2020–2022), Brest, France. Founder: Chloé Lavrat. Archived at https://azerty-labs.com/.