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osc-bridge

osc-bridge turns every synthesizer, drum machine and DAW in its catalogue into one named OSC surface. Send /minilab3/pad/0/color 127 0 0 or /drm1_mkiv/drum/kick 110 instead of looking up CC numbers and SysEx bytes: the bridge translates both ways, over MIDI, SysEx or OSC. It ships an MCP server, so Claude and other AI assistants can find, read and play your gear without any mapping on your side. Free and open source (GPL-3.0), a single binary for Linux, macOS and Windows.

Get started Browse the 963 devices

What can you do with it?

  • Ask Claude to play your synth. detect_hardware finds what is plugged in, list_routes reads its parameters, send moves them. → Control a hardware synth with Claude
  • Live-code hardware by parameter name from SuperCollider, Sonic Pi or TouchDesigner — the bridge sends the right CC, NRPN or SysEx. → SuperCollider and Sonic Pi
  • Play drum machines by sound name — 15 drum maps, 476 named sounds. → Trigger drum sounds by name
  • Back up and restore presets as .syx files. → SysEx preset backup
  • Drive hardware from a web page — OSC over WebSocket, no Web MIDI. → From a web page to a synth
  • Run several devices in one process and route a knob on one to a parameter on another (osc-bridge orchestrate).

How does it work?

Each device is one JSON file: its CC and NRPN numbers, SysEx frame templates and drum sounds, each under a readable OSC address. The bridge loads the file, listens for OSC on 127.0.0.1:7777, sends MIDI to the device, and turns what the device sends back (knobs, pads, SysEx replies) into OSC for your clients.

osc-bridge detect                      # what is plugged in, and which driver fits
osc-bridge run --device devices/arturia/minilab3.json --out-port 4 --in-port 0
osc-bridge osc-send /minilab3/display/text "Hello" "World"

How far can you trust a driver?

Each driver states its source. ✅ means tested on the device; 📘 comes from the manufacturer's documentation; 📡 from a software's OSC API; 🎛️ from an Electra One community preset; 📦 from MIDI Guide community data (CC BY-SA 4.0). Most of the catalogue is 🎛️ or 📦 — useful, not yet tested on hardware. Every device page says which it is, and a short test on your own unit makes it ✅ for everyone.