Or alternatively, what changes would it need to be eligible?
Funny part with the x0xb0x, the creator mentioned that the x0xb0x is free as "Free your mind and your ass will follow", the funkiest open source clause
There are a few requirements on the about page (published schematics, firmware and a video demo):
Despiste YouTube critic about DIY Synth, I would give this project a Deep dive because I found myself looking at the NTS-1 / 3 this pasta week.
THX a lot
On that vein, I just started building my own analog synthesizer from scratch, and found this YouTube series which is very beginner friendly and with lots of explainations even for us who don't have much hardware experience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBatvo8bCa4
The circuit after part 3 already sounds good enough to be used in real projects, yet it's simple enough to fully understand.
I recommend it for a first hardware project.
For programable controllers, the Launchpad series from Novation is pretty handy. I've seen it configured as a sequencer controller among other things.