Two years ago (March 2024), I posted an article about using the Anavi Macropad8 for MIDI control. Everything worked, however getting there was a complete bear. The QMK (Quantum Mechanical Keyboard) toolkit is a huge download and it is difficult to use.

Thus, by way of the Yamaha Musician’s Forum, I received a request from another frustrated user. In response, here is a ZIP file containing my code: anavi_macropad8.zip.

The Anavi Macropad8 is Arduino compatible. Going forward, I will shift to the Arduino IDE and save myself many gigabytes of unused storage. This comment is not a slam on the Anavi hardware itself — quite reasonably priced for what ya get. The QMK toolkit, on the other hand, is massive and unwieldy.

Where to put the code

I found the source code in:

    qmk_firmware\keyboards\anavi\macropad8

If I remember right, this is where the QMK Toolkit keeps the default keymaps and code for Macropad8. The subdirectory:

    qmk_firmware\keyboards\anavi\macropad8\keymaps\pc

has the keymap source, config, and rules files:

    config.h    keymap.c    km.c        rules.mk    yammex.txt

I think the km.c file is the original default keymap code.

The ZIP file contains everything from “macropad8” on down. You should take care to not overwrite anything that you want or need!

Copyright © 2026 Paul J. Drongowski