Not quite down to the hardware level, but the VPRI STEPS project had that kind of thing in mind, see (PDF): http://www.vpri.org/pdf/tr2012001_steps.pdf http://w

Not quite down to the hardware level, but the VPRI STEPS project had that kind of thing in mind, see (PDF): http://www.vpri.org/pdf/tr2012001_steps.pdf http://www.vpri.org/pdf/tr2012001_steps.pdf The focus was on expressive power more than simplicity, though.