Araminta

TL;DR: Araminta is an opinionated fork of Felucca for the M-VAVE FM-1. Felucca 1.5.1 underneath; on top, JIANT's DRUM-X and punch-ins, Sloop free take, MIXER solo, Felucca's 0.9 flat look, and an EFFECTS list you chain or send.

Plug the FM-1 into a computer by USB, open the web installer in Chrome or Edge, and press Install. Install at your own risk: M-VAVE's updater or the installer's Return to official V15 takes you back.

Coming from Felucca 1.5 / 1.5.1? Read Coming from 1.5: your projects load; once you save (or quiet autosave runs) on Araminta, Felucca 1.5 cannot open those slots. Want a look without hardware? Try it in your browser.

Multi-engine synthesizer firmware for the M-VAVE FM-1, based on Felucca. Report what you find in Araminta Issues.

• Install: web installer (Chrome or Edge, USB), or tools/fm1_install.py from a terminal
• Try: Araminta in your browser: the same firmware compiled to WebAssembly, with the panel on screen (mouse, touch, computer keyboard, Web MIDI in)
• Editor: web editor
• Upstream: hugelton/Felucca (and its itch.io page)
• Build: BUILDING.md

What Araminta changes

Araminta keeps Felucca 1.5.x as the base. The day-to-day differences:

• Sloop free take. Project empty, track armed, transport stopped: the first note starts a free take. No pattern required first. Hold a note and press others while it is still down: those steps get slide flags (acid legato) when the take closes, and releasing a tap while the hold continues records a return to the held pitch. A strummed chord keeps its STRUM sweep at the take's tempo and is recorded as a chord, without the legato slide. A 1/16 strum on a 1- or 2-bar take closes at 1/32 so its strings have two steps to land on; a 4-bar take stays at 1/16.
• JIANT MIDI punch-ins. On FX under Punch-in (FX taps: EFFECTS → SLICER → PUNCH-IN). Two fixed PUNCH-IN pages, 1/2 and 2/2 (SELECT walks the section; no reassignment): 1/2 holds REPEAT 1/8 1/12 1/16 1/32, LPF, HPF, OCT±, DEC±, stutters, ATK+, ARP, RANDOM; 2/2 holds REVERSE, TAPE STOP, FREEZE, PITCH UP / DN, FLANGER, PHASER, REV THROW, ECHO THROW, /2 (A4), *2 (B4) and GLITCH (C5). Holding FX alone does not open punch-ins. GLO > MASTER has CLIP / PNCH / DUCK / REL: CLIP is a variable-ceiling master clipper, PNCH punches every kit's kick, DUCK is the kick sidechain. Reverb adds SHIMR / CLOUD.
• Melodee. Silent tracks still run LFO, bend, the engine block and fades, so modulation keeps moving when a track is muted or resting.
• Stock V15 supplies. Before core 1 and the audio start, the FM-1 is set to the stock V15 rails (VDC14 1.60 V, SYSVDD 1.38 V, VDDIO 3.2 V) and read back. A failed setup keeps one core. MENU > ABOUT shows RAILS 7/15 (3/11) or RAILS FAIL 1 CORE.
• DRUM-X. One morphable 8-lane kit instead of Felucca's sampled / VA kit enum (EDIT Sound > Kit > Lanes; Voice stays hidden on DRUM-X). Kit pages are SOUND / SOUND 2 only (no X-MOD / SOUND 3; morph motion via the mod matrix). Kit and mutes save with the project (FUN19 / FUNJ; same 3840-byte size as FUN10; disk motion max 88). FUN10 loads the factory kit. Old projects that stored a KIT value still play as DRUM-X.
• DRUMS. Felucca's original synthesized drum engine, ported as a separate engine (15) beside DRUM-X. Nine kits: STD, 80, 10, 66, 55, 77, DEEP, TIGHT and PERC. Its own KIT / TUNE / TONE / DECY / SNAP / ACC / KICK / DRV. These are the exact 1.6.1 kits. DRUM-X stays on engine 10.
• SLICE retired.
• Samples tab: one card per USR slot, each set to Sample, Drumkit or Wavetable. Drumkit maps every root to its own lane note and tags the slot (FSMP header), so SEQ uses the drum grid; Wavetable takes one Serum file or a folder medley. The name field is gone: names were editor-only, the FM-1 shows USR1..3.
• VOICE is one page: VCE, GLD, UNI DTN, SPRD. GLD is free milliseconds (no GLMOD on the page). PAN / PLAY live on MIXER. UNI DTN shows only in UNISON; SPRD only in POLY / UNISON. Blank cards otherwise; values stay stored.
• EFFECTS. One list for the six inserts and the shared buses: CHOOSE a stage, ORDER moves it, USE AS is CHAIN, SEND or MASTER, MIX is dry/wet (or send amount). Delay, reverb and slicer sit in that list (bus chorus is gone); TAPE is the tenth row: SPEED, FLUTR, DROPOUT and TEMPO. With TEMPO ON (the default) the transport and voices keep time and SPEED is the head's pitch only, with MIX as the wet amount on every route; OFF makes CHAIN and MASTER slow the source (transport and voice pitch). SEND always adds a pitched copy and fixes TEMPO ON (K4 is dimmed there). One global MIX is the depth in CHAIN/MASTER and the send amount in SEND. MASTER runs on the whole mix in the EFFECTS order of the track that selected it; the common buses show USED on the other tracks. Inserts keep their per-track CHAIN / SEND beside a MASTER copy. Dual reverb tanks keep SEND and CHAIN settings while REV is chained.
• Reverb modes from JIANT - SHIMR and CLOUD.
• Delay has divisions or smooth ms; K4 turned left is TIME, turned right RATE.
• Assign FX values in LFO MOD or SEQ param locks. TAPE SPEED / FLUTR are shared destinations: in CHAIN only the owner track can move them, in MASTER any track, in SEND the first track to use one reserves it.
• MIXER PLAY. KNOB 4 is ON, OFF or SOLO (saved with the track).
• Felucca 0.9 design. Flat cards, Terminus text, Fukiai icons. STYLE and ANIM are gone: values snap, no rolling digits, no LED sweep or idle animation.- TRN while playing. On SCL, TRN offsets the sequence as it plays. Steps on disk stay put; kits ignore TRN and PITCH. With REC armed while playing on a synth track, a TRN turn also writes the current step's PITCH lock (scale-fitted); the knob still moves (other steps without a lock follow it), and no P_TRANS automation event is recorded.
• MAP (was QNT). SCL knob: OFF / ALL / CURR / KBD / SEQ. KBD walks the scale on white keys (blacks = closest in-scale note); CURR is KBD plus sequence follows the scale on the current track; ALL is CURR's quantising plus ROOT / SCALE shared by every track while ALL is on (the CHORD page's old SCALE LOCK, now a MAP value); SEQ is chromatic keys plus sequence follows. Leaving ALL puts each track's own ROOT / SCALE back. Chromatic (CHR) scale removed; use MAP OFF. ALL saves as CURR + the lock bit, so v3.1 opens it as SCALE LOCK + ALL; a v3.1 project locked with MAP OFF / KBD / SEQ loads unlinked. Current saves are FUN19 (FUNJ; FUN18 FUNI loads).
• Following playhead in the SEQ. Start selecting a step to pause the following, returns after 3 seconds of inactivity.
• SEQ GENERATION. On a drum kit (DRUM-X, DRUMS, CR78 or a USR Drumkit), the second SEQ section generates editable kick, snare and closed-hat steps from Mutable Instruments Grids. SELECT switches between LEN / KICK / SNARE / HAT and MAP / MAP X / MAP Y / CHAOS. MAP selects one of 25 templates; X/Y blend between them and show CUSTOM. Turning MAP, MAP X or MAP Y briefly shows the full-screen map, then returns to the drum grid; CHAOS keeps the grid visible. Density edits change only their lane; map, chaos and length edits regenerate all three. Other lanes stay as written, SAVE held undoes the gesture, and each track's controls save with the project.

Everything below that is Felucca 1.5.1 behaviour unless a note says otherwise.

New in 3.7

• Knobs as MIDI CC. KNOB 1–4 send a relative CC on the USB MIDI output beside their usual job: track 1 is CC 16–19, track 2 20–23, track 3 24–27, track 4 28–31, value 64 + detents (Bin Offset), on the track's MIDI channel. ALGORITHM selects the track, so it selects the bank. Fast turns carry the panel's acceleration (x2..x16). PRESETS is pitch bend and SELECT is the mod wheel (CC 1), persistent, beside their local jobs. Nothing is sent until a computer enumerates the device, and the panel behaves as before (see Knobs to a DAW under Controls).
• No project format change: saves stay FUN19 (FUNJ).

New in 3.6

• FM6 VIB / MRAT / DIGITAL. E5 is the patch LFO's VIB depth, not VMOD: old projects and presets fold their VMOD value into the modulator operators' velocity sensitivity. MRAT now moves the modulators' ratios on a sounding note, so a MOD slot pointed at it works. The retired DIGITAL engine's DSP and its conversion are gone: engine 1 is a silent stub, its projects load with that track silent and its user presets are refused. FUN1..FUN6 projects (0.x .. 1.0 development) are refused too; convert them in the web editor before upload. FUN7..FUN19 load as before.
• Boot splash in code. The rose and its dotted polar grid are drawn from the sine table, same mark; the 2 KB bitmap is gone.
• SEQ EDIT / OCT-. EDIT opens the EDIT page on DETAIL and AUTOMATION (nothing is reset or deleted there); AUTOMATION's OCT- deletes the selected row — a lock or automation event, or a step's CHANCE / RATCH / NUDGE / VEL back to its default — and SAVE held undoes it.
• ANALOG INT on SUPER. INT does nothing on SUPER (no OSC B), so its card is drawn dim and keeps its value.
• MOD VEL / CHRD / VOIC. The matrix gains VEL (destination 51): a slot scales a note's velocity once at note-on, a gain like AMP. Slots on CHRD / VOIC now change the chord a key plays (read as the key starts); the whole destination list is covered by a rendered-sound test.
• MASTER knobs. CLIP lowers the master clipper's ceiling (32000 → 6000) so an ordinary mix audibly clips, with up to +1.5 dB makeup. PNCH now punches the kick of every kit (DRUM-X, DRUMS, CR78, USR drumkits), and DUCK's sidechain triggers from any kit's kick; a kit track is never ducked by its own kick.
• No project format change: saves stay FUN19 (FUNJ).

New in 3.5

• ANALOG OSC A / OSC B. EDIT > OSC A (WAVE MORPH DRIFT NOISE), OSC B (WAVE INT DTN MIX) and FILTER (TYPE CUT RES DRV). OSC B's own wave runs through LP, BP, HP and COMB, and MORPH widens PWM from 50 % to 54 %; SYNC / SUB / SUPER define OSC B themselves.
• Free take + STRUM. A strummed chord records into the first string's step, as step recording does, so the take plays the chord together. ENV DEST's fourth card is SYNC (with the tempo icon) and TAPE's WOW control is FLUTR.
• CLEAR / HELP / FX. SAVE > CLEAR clears FX (B3) or every track's FX plus MASTER (F4); the ALL keys moved to F#3 / G#3 and HELP is retired. CLOUD's SIZE 127 is a true FREEZE that holds the tail instead of droning. No project format change: saves stay FUN19 (FUNJ).

New in 3.4

• Live LFO graphs. The LFO page's wave draws from the running LFO and scrolls at RATE (LFO 2: at SYNC's note value); SIN / TRI / SAW / SQR show two cycles and S&H scrolls its steps. SMTH (LFO 2's KNOB 4) is drawn as a smooth glide: hard steps at 0%, a rounded random wave at 100%. No project format change.

New in 3.3

• AUTO chord keys. CHRD gains AUTO: the key picks an in-scale chord that follows the other tracks' recent notes (their last two unharmonized onsets, arp-held keys and sequenced notes) and moves smoothly from the previous chord. A two-beat pause, STOP, or a scale / root / map / voicing change starts a fresh phrase. Ported from Melodee.
• MELO chord keys. CHRD gains MELO (the former AUTO2 name): the played key is the melody and always the top note; the chord below it uses only notes of the selected scale, and VOIC moves the lower voices only.
• A strummed chord records as one chord. With REC armed, the strings of one strum go into the first string's step, so the pattern plays the chord back.
• MAP ALL is the shared scale. ALL adopts the current ROOT / SCALE on every track while it is on, and leaving ALL restores each track's own MAP / ROOT / SCALE; CURR is the per-track mode. Old projects keep their behaviour.
• Safer audio maths (#265). Undefined signed shifts and wraps in the audio path are unsigned multiplies and wraps; the output is bit for bit the same. The LED rows also switch off before a flash erase (#236), so no column stays lit.

New in 3.2

• TAPE. The EFFECTS list gains a tenth row: SPEED, FLUTR, DROPOUT and TEMPO, with CHAIN / SEND / MASTER routing. TEMPO ON (the default) keeps the transport, voices and sequencer in time, so SPEED is a pitch-only control and CHAIN / MASTER mix the head in by MIX like SEND. TEMPO OFF makes CHAIN and MASTER slow the source clock, so notes and beat stretch together. SEND always adds a pitched copy and shows TEMPO fixed ON. The TAPE page draws an OP-1-style transport: two large reels with a ribbon and guides. The reels turn at the SPEED rate; FLUTR rocks them and the ribbon, DROPOUT sags the ribbon.
• DRUMS. Felucca's synthesized drum engine returns as engine 15, with the STD, 80, 10, 66, 55, 77, DEEP, TIGHT and PERC kits. DRUM-X stays engine 10; existing sounds and projects keep playing it.
• Filter and delay readout. Insert FILTER COMB gets a soft knee, and the DELAY page's FDBK bars follow the real loop gain.
• PITCH lock. A held step on SCL K4 stores an absolute chromatic PITCH lock; with REC armed, a TRN turn records the scale-fitted value. Kit engines ignore PITCH (and TRN).
• FUN18 (FUNI). Saves carry the ten-slot EFFECTS order in the FM6 patch bytes and each stage's MASTER owner in spare chain / motion header bytes. FUN17 and older still load with no MASTER owners and the order rebuilt; older firmware refuses a FUN18 slot (EMPTY until saved over).
• FUN19 (FUNJ). New saves add TAPE TEMPO (header byte 67 bit 7) on top of FUN18. FUN18 and older load with TEMPO ON, which now means the transport keeps time. Older saves keep their stored bit, so a TEMPO ON project from before this change now plays with the keep-time meaning. Older firmware refuses a FUN19 slot (EMPTY until saved over).

New in 3.1

• CR78 factory kit. SAMPLE gains a public-domain CR-78 kit at SET 8 (after USR1..USR3, whose indices stay 5..7). Its eight one-shots use the SEQ drum lanes 36 38 39 42 46 45 37 56; the drum grid appears on that set.
• Samples tab. One card per USR slot with Sample / Drumkit / Wavetable, choose files, upload and erase. Drumkit maps each root to its lane note; Wavetable offers a table file or a folder medley. The name input is gone (names were editor/backup-only; the FM-1 shows USR1..3).
• WAVETABLE. OSC B's knob is LEVEL (MOD / AUTOMATION call it B LEVEL); the graph now draws B's own wave on the OSC B page and A, labelled OSC A, while RATIO is hot there.

Features

• Fourteen engines (below), each with its own factory presets; every factory sound has a category (BASS, LEAD, PAD, PLUCK, KEYS, DRUM, FX, OTHER) to browse by
• Four tracks, one synth part each with its own engine and sound (drums are the DRUM-X or DRUMS engine); 8 voices shared between them. ALGORITHM selects the track on every page
• Sequencer: 64 steps per track with chords, ties, accent, slide, per-step chance, velocity and ratchets (a step played 2, 3 or 4 times in its length); SEQ sections are the step group (SELECT: PATTERN / STEP / DETAIL), AUTOMATION, then SEQ TOOLS; a piano roll of the steps, where KNOB 3 sets a note's length (0 clears it and advances the cursor) and PRESETS moves that note in time (or, while step-recording with a key held, sets its LEN); a drum grid (white keys = steps, black keys = lanes); SEQ > DETAIL: the cursor step's chance, ratchet, nudge and velocity on the four knobs, drawn as lanes over the steps; while playing on PATTERN / STEP / DETAIL the edit cursor follows the playhead (the playhead line only shows when you have moved the cursor away); twiddling STEP or editing the sequence pauses follow for a few seconds, then it resumes; automation: recording of knob moves per step (an automation icon marks the cards it drives); live loop recording with overdub; Sloop free take when the project is empty; step recording at the cursor (REC on SEQ > STEP while stopped), one chord at a time or note by note (MENU > CHORD ENTRY ADD); divisions listed by length, 4 bars to 1/32; loading a sound never touches your patterns
• Timing: live recording keeps when you played each note, as a per-step NUDGE (1/16 of a step, half a step early to 7/16 late); the track's QUANTIZE decides what plays: ON (the default) every step on the grid, as always, OFF your own timing. Nudges can also be set by hand
• Parameter locks and the AUTOMATION list: hold a step on SEQ > STEP (or the drum grid) and turn a knob to set that parameter for that step only; EDIT with the step held clears its locks. SEQ > AUTOMATION is one list of everything that happens on the track's steps: PLAY / CLEAR, QUANTIZE, each step's CHANCE, RATCH, NUDGE and VEL, its locks and automation events; change their step, parameter or value, turn a lock into automation or back, add or delete one (OCT-, or the editor's MOTION delete). 192 records shared by the four tracks (88 saved in a project). SAVE held undoes every edit. A step can also hold a PITCH lock (SCL K4): an absolute per-step transpose (-24..+24), chromatic and not snapped; the step uses it instead of the track's TRN. Kits ignore PITCH: SCL K4 on a DRUM track creates no lock, and MOTION op 5 refuses one. With REC armed while playing on a synth track, turning TRN writes that step's PITCH lock from the scale-fitted result (C4 +1 in C major records 0 ST); the TRN knob still moves (other steps without a lock follow it), and no P_TRANS automation event is recorded. Editing that PITCH row changes its semitone value and it stays a lock, so +1 ST plays C#4 (off-scale is allowed); it is lock-only and never becomes ordinary automation.
• SEQ TOOLS: hold SEQ on any page for tools on the keys: CLEAR, REVERSE, SHIFT < / >, RANDOM (a new beat, or new notes in the scale on the same rhythm) and COOK (changes the pattern a little each press); on a DRUM-X track also BEAT, MUTE (F4 toggles the selected lane) and each lane's CLEAR, REVERSE, FILL and RANDOM; KNOB 1-4 are LEN, DIV, SWING and GATE. Each tool is one undo (SAVE held); OCT- puts the track back as the layer found it
• NOTE EDITS on SEQ TOOLS: on a melodic track the six edits follow the sequence tools with no gap: OCT- / OCT+ on E4 / F4 transpose the stored notes ±12; HALF on G4 stretches the pattern over twice the steps; *2 on A4 squeezes pairs into one (LEN changes with them); HUMAN on B4 writes fresh velocity ±16 and nudge ±2 into every note step (and switches QUANTIZE off so the nudge plays); DUP on C5 copies the pattern after itself (A -> A A, LEN doubles, max 64). On a DRUM-X track BEAT / MUTE and the lane tools keep E4..C5, so HALF / *2 / HUMAN / DUP are D5..G5. One undo each (SAVE held); OCT- puts back the whole visit
• Metronome and count-in: CLICK (OFF, while recording, or always) with three levels, and a count-in of 1 or 2 bars before recording from stop; the click goes to the headphones and speaker only, never to USB audio or into a pattern
• Songs (GLO > SONG): up to 16 sections, each naming the project slot (A-D) every track plays, or "-" for a track that rests there, with its repeats; drawn as a timeline with a lane per track. GLO also holds MASTER and CLOCK (HOME is only Home ↔ Mixer). MIXER KNOB 4 is PLAY: ON, OFF or SOLO
• Chord keys: one finger plays an in-key chord (triads or sevenths of the scale, or fixed chord shapes), with voicings and a beat-synced STRUM (DOWN / UP / ALT); on the keys, MIDI in, recording and the arpeggiator
• Arpeggiator with UP, DN, UPDN, RND, ORD (the notes in the order you pressed them), REPEAT and, for chords, DNUP, UP+8, CONV, DIVG, PINKY, THUMB, WALK and CHORD; a beat LED; 15 scales with MAP (OFF/ALL/CURR/KBD/SEQ), glide, MONO / LEGATO / UNISON
• LFO: RATE or SYNC to a note value (4 bars to 1/32, following the tempo or an external clock), TRIG NOTE or FREE, POL bipolar or unipolar (LFO > LFO 2), and SMTH on LFO 2 (only when WAVE is S&H): rounds the sample-and-hold steps into a smooth, sine-like random curve
• Modulation matrix: 4 slots per track, MIDI controllers as sources, S&H and SLEW (a random value per LFO cycle, held or gliding), DEPTH as a destination, so the matrix can modulate the LFO itself, and VEL (the note's velocity, scaled once at note-on)
• SPREAD (EDIT > VOICE, SPRD): the voices of a POLY or UNISON track alternate left and right of its PAN
• ENV SYNC (ENV > ENV DEST): the envelope's attack, decay and release as note values of the tempo
• Effects list chained or sendable per track (DIST, FILTER, CRUSH, PHASR, FLANG, CHOR, DLY, REV stages): CHAIN or SEND with a MIX fader; delay in time with the tempo (divisions or smooth ms, dotted values included); reverb as HALL, ROOM, SPRING, plus Araminta's SHIMR / CLOUD; technical graphs on the FX pages; insert knobs and MIX are mod-matrix destinations; master limiter, with CLIP / PNCH / DUCK / REL on the master page
• FX layer: hold FX for repeat, reverse, filter sweeps, tape stop, freeze, a harmonizer (OCT UP / OCT DN with shimmer), FLANGER and PHASER (in time with the tempo), REV THROW and ECHO THROW (every track's reverb or delay send full while held), JIANT punch-ins on their own FX section, and mutes on the black keys; the two PUNCH-IN pages have fixed keys (SELECT walks the section); MENU > FX LATCH makes them toggle, so nothing has to stay held
• MOMENTARY: hold LFO and turn a knob on HOME or a sound / FX page; let go of LFO and the value jumps back (OCT+ while holding keeps it)
• Quick layers: hold FX, GLO, SCL, EDIT, REC or SEQ for shortcuts on the keys and knobs, or double-tap it to keep the layer open; one-step undo (SAVE held); REC on every page; OCT+ confirms, OCT- goes back; what can be pressed breathes softly instead of blinking
• Presets: factory presets, 32 user preset slots and 4 projects, named on the device (an FM6 sound keeps its own patch in both); user presets get a category, and a project can get a random name; projects from every earlier version load. The PRESETS knob changes the sound from every page that is not a list. Turn the FM-1 off and on and the music is as you left it (MENU > RESTORE LAST, an autosave of its own, written only when stopped and idle)
• Screen: Felucca 0.9's flat look (Terminus + Fukiai), 9 palettes including pitch-black grayscale, high contrast and NIGHT; type sized by role; MENU > LARGE for tall knob cards; the menu in five tabs. The header shows the track and the project slot of its pattern ("1 A", "1 A*" once edited), play state and tempo. HOME shows the oscilloscope or, with MENU > HOME TRACKS, the four tracks with their steps (LEVELS: track levels on the knobs); MENU > SCREEN OFF can darken the panel when left alone
• LEDs: idle buttons and keys glow dim so the panel can be found in the dark (MENU > LEDS: OFF, DIM LO, DIM HI or INV, the official firmware's look); PLAY turns green while playing; the keys show the notes the sequencer and MIDI IN play, and on SEQ > STEP (stopped) the notes of the step under the cursor; the drum grid marks the beats (steps 1, 5, 9, 13); MENU > SCALE LEDS shows the track's scale on the keys
• USB: class-compliant MIDI in and out, and a stereo audio input (named "FM-1" on the wire; loader "FM-1 Update") at 44.1 or 48 kHz (the computer picks) that records the master output on the computer, no driver needed (at a fixed level with MENU > USB LEVEL FIXED; on macOS 13-15, set MENU > USB SERIAL to OFF so the audio input appears)
• MIDI: USB and TRS MIDI in; MENU > MIDI > MIDI IN: CH1-4 (channels 1-4 play tracks 1-4), CH5-8, CH9-12 or CH13-16 (another block of four, e.g. for two FM-1s on one cable), or SEL (every channel plays the selected track); the keys send on the track's channel, KNOB 1–4 send relative CC 16–31, and PRESETS / SELECT send pitch bend and CC 1 to a computer (see Controls); pitch bend, sustain, panic; clock from internal, USB or TRS. MIDI CCs set track parameters: 5 GLIDE, 7 LEVEL, 10 PAN, 71 resonance, 72 / 73 / 75 release / attack / decay, 74 brightness, 91 / 93 / 94 reverb send, chorus mix (insert CHOR), delay send. MIDI LEARN (GLO + D4) sets up to 16 more CCs of your controller to any knob's parameter of any track, on the device; Program Change loads a track's sound by its number in PRESETS. Ableton: the Control Surface script in ableton/FM-1/ puts the sixteen knobs on the selected device's parameters (see ableton/README.md)
• Web: editor for every parameter (with a 6-operator FM patch editor that also sends a whole 32-voice bank), step grid, mixer, preset library, sample/drumkit/wavetable slots with recording and trim, the MENU settings; full backup and restore (everything but the FM6 voice bank: keep its .syx file); return to the official firmware; Araminta itself running in the browser

Coming from Felucca 1.5 / 1.5.1

Yes: you can install Araminta over Felucca 1.5 / 1.5.1 without wiping the FM-1. Projects, user presets, settings, samples and the FM6 voice bank stay in flash; the installer only replaces the app (and its update loader).

What loads:

• Projects (FUN10 / FUNA). Every 1.5 / 1.5.1 project opens. Patterns, motion, songs, FM6 patches and globals stay. Disk motion max on new saves shrinks from 110 to 72 records (SCALE LOCK + SEND bus layout; RAM still 128).
• 1.5 INSERT. TYPE / A / B / C / MIX migrate into the six-stage chain (DIST drive / CRUSH / PHASR / FLANG / CHOR and MIX). DIST TONE comes back as an offset on the drive-linked cutoff. TYPE OFF stays dry.
• ANALOG filter TYPE and ENV SYNC. Kept at their values.
• User presets and MENU settings. Load; new chain / kit fields take defaults where the old store had none.
• DRUM-X. A FUN10 has no kit bytes: the factory kit. An old KIT enum value still maps into MRPH.

What changes when you save (or when quiet autosave writes after idle):

• New project format is FUN19 (FUNJ). Same 3840-byte size and layout as FUN16/17/18; the ten-slot EFFECTS order (six inserts + DLY + REV + SLCR + TAPE) rides in the FM6 patch bytes' unused high bits, each stage's MASTER owner (3 bits) in the chain header's spare bytes 1..3 and the motion header's spare byte 3, and TAPE TEMPO in header byte 67 bit 7. The song chain still packs two bytes a section, for 88 motion records (FUN15 and older: 72), on top of the DRUM-X kit, SCALE LOCK, SEND bus knobs, SLICER list slots and exact FX lock packing. FUN18 and older load with TEMPO ON. FUN17 and older have no MASTER owners; FUN16 and older rebuild the order from P_IORD / P_CHOR / the SLCR slot and use the other TAPE defaults. Only FUN19 is written. Any firmware before this build refuses FUN19: that slot shows EMPTY there until you save over it (flash data stays until then). A backup that holds FUN19 is refused there too. Upgrade is one-way for anything you re-save on this build.
• Motion on disk max is 88 (FUN10: 110; FUN15: 72; RAM 192). Extra locks stay in RAM until truncated on pack; the UI can warn when you cross the save limit.
• P_COUNT is 127 (1.5: 111). Editors that read INFO keep working; a 1.5-only editor will not know the new ids.

Day-to-day differences after the flash (not data loss):

• FX pages: Effects list with mix faders, reorderable chain, SEND vs CHAIN for DLY / REV (dual tanks when REV is chained).
• SEQ / GLO / SAVE layout shifts (PATTERN, DETAIL, MASTER, CLOCK under GLO); see Controls.
• Upstream 1.5.1 extras still apply: SEQ > DETAIL, MIDI Program Change, dotted delay TIME, REV / ECHO THROW.
• Full backup still omits the FM6 voice bank: keep the .syx if you use B1–B32.

Rollback: installer's Return to official V15, or M-VAVE's updater. That is stock FM-1, not Felucca 1.5. It will not reopen FUN19 projects. Back up in the web editor before the first save or quiet autosave on Araminta if you still need a Felucca 1.5-readable copy.

Controls

• Tap a page button for its page, again for the next; HOME returns home. Page buttons act when let go
• Hold FX, GLO, SCL, EDIT, REC or SEQ for its quick layer; hold SAVE to undo, HOME for the menu; hold LFO and turn a knob for a MOMENTARY change
• Double-tap a layer's button to keep its layer open without holding; tap it again to close
• On SEQ > STEP, hold a step and turn KNOB 1-4 to lock those parameters on that step (PRESETS: move the held steps in time; while step-recording with a key held, PRESETS sets that note's LEN)
• On MIXER, KNOB 4 is PLAY: ON (default), OFF, or SOLO (saved with the track)
• On action pages and in dialogs, OCT+ does it and OCT− goes back; in the menu, OCT+ / OCT− change the value and HOME closes it
• Save a sound: stop, tap SAVE, pick a slot with KNOB 1, then OCT+ and OCT+ again (name it with the keys)

The pages by button:

Knobs to a DAW

KNOB 1–4 also leave the FM-1 as a relative MIDI CC on the USB output, for a DAW's own mappings. The bank is the selected track (ALGORITHM selects it):

One CC per detent, value 64 + the steps (Bin Offset: 65 one right, 63 one left), on the track's MIDI channel, the same one its keys use. A page change does not change the CC: KNOB 1 is CC 16 on track 1 on every page, and the knob still edits the FM-1 at the same time. A fast turn accelerates the way the panel's knobs do (x2..x16), so a flick crosses a parameter quickly instead of one step at a time.

PRESETS is pitch bend and SELECT is the mod wheel (CC 1) on the same channel, and both keep their local jobs: PRESETS still browses sounds, SELECT still steps pages. The bend is 14-bit (centre 8192, 1/64 of the range a detent) and persistent, so it stays where you leave it until you turn it back or change track; the mod wheel runs 0..127. Turning the track (ALGORITHM) sends the old channel's bend back to centre and its mod to 0, so a bent note is never left behind. Neither needs mapping in Live: instruments answer them out of the box.

In Live, enable Remote for the FM-1 input (Track is what its keys use), enter MIDI Map Mode and turn the knob. Live detects the relative mode; if it picks another one, set that mapping to Bin Offset. With Track also on, the CCs are recorded into a clip while recording, so turn Track off for that input if you only want the mappings. Nothing is sent while the FM-1 is not connected to a computer.

Menu

Hold HOME for the menu, in five tabs: DISPLAY (COLOR, LARGE, LEDS, SCREEN OFF, SCOPE, HOME), CONTROL (HOLD, FX LATCH, BPM LOCK, SCALE LEDS, STEP PREVIEW, CHORD ENTRY), AUDIO (SPEAKER EQ, USB LEVEL, CLICK, CLICK LEVEL, COUNT-IN, TUNE), MIDI (MIDI IN, LEARN CLEAR) and SYSTEM (USB SERIAL, RESTORE LAST, HARDWARE CALIBRATION, INFO, ABOUT). SELECT moves between the tabs and ALGORITHM through the rows of one (PRESETS is idle there; ALGORITHM also scrolls ABOUT); any of KNOB 1-4, or OCT+ / OCT−, changes the value (OCT+ opens HARDWARE CALIBRATION, INFO and ABOUT); press HOME to close the menu. Every new setting defaults to the earlier behaviour. The web editor's Settings tab reads and changes them too, saved the same way as from the menu, in the same tabs. STYLE and ANIM are gone (0.9 flat look; see What Araminta changes). KNOB ACCEL is always on for wide values.

• COLOR: the palette. GREY (pitch-black grayscale, called MONO up to 1.0.1), GREEN, AMBER, ICE, VIOLET, ROSE, PAPER (light), HI-CON (high contrast) and NIGHT (the 0.9 look: true black, green-tinted text). Every palette draws without a raised card fill (SURF matches the background)
• LARGE: OFF or ON: on HOME and the value pages the four knob cards grow tall, marked K1-K4, with larger labels and values about twice the size; the graph below becomes a strip. Lists, the piano roll, the drum grid and the quick layers keep their layout with larger labels
• LEDS: OFF (no glow), DIM LO, DIM HI (default) or INV (the idle LEDs lit, the active ones dark). What can be pressed breathes up to about 60 % of a lit LED, about 30 % with DIM LO
• SCREEN OFF: NEVER (default), 5 MIN, 15 MIN, 30 MIN or 60 MIN: after that long with no button, key or knob touched, the screen goes dark; the sound, the sequencer, MIDI and USB go on. The backlight stays on (on the FM-1 its line also enables the buttons and keys). The next button, key or knob only turns the screen back on
• SCOPE: OUT (default) or MIX: what HOME's oscilloscope shows. OUT the sound after MASTER (the picture shrinks with the volume), MIX the mix before MASTER, the same size at any volume
• HOME: SCOPE (default), TRACKS or LEVELS: under HOME's four cards, the oscilloscope or the four tracks, a row each with its sound, its steps playing, MUTE and a meter. With TRACKS only the look changes; with LEVELS KNOB 1-4 set the LEVEL of T1-T4 (the engine's main parameters are on EDIT)
• HOLD: how long a layer's button is held before its map shows
• FX LATCH: ON, FX + an effect key turns the effect on until pressed again, the knob macros stay where you leave them, and FX + OCT− turns everything off
• BPM LOCK: ON, SELECT no longer changes the tempo; hold GLO and turn SELECT, tap F4 in the GLO layer or use HOME > CLOCK instead
• SCALE LEDS: OFF or ON: the keys show the selected track's scale all the time (the root a little brighter); not on DRUM-X or SLICE tracks
• STEP PREVIEW: OFF (default) or ON: on SEQ > STEP with the transport stopped, moving the cursor plays the step it lands on once (its notes or hits, through the track's sound)
• CHORD ENTRY: HOLD (default) or ADD: how step recording writes. HOLD: the keys held together become the step, letting go moves on. ADD: each key adds its note to the step, up to 4 (a key whose note is there takes it out), and KNOB 1 moves on, so a chord goes in one finger at a time
• SPEAKER EQ: FLAT, LOWCUT or BASS+, a tone setting for the built-in speaker (not a switch). It also shapes the headphone out and USB audio, so keep it on FLAT when recording. The firmware cannot turn the speaker off, but headphones in the jack do
• USB LEVEL: MASTER (the MASTER knob sets the USB audio level too) or FIXED (USB always at full level, MASTER sets only the speaker and headphones)
• CLICK: OFF (default), REC (while a track is armed) or ON: a click on every beat while playing, the bar's first beat higher. CLICK LEVEL: LOW, MID (default) or HIGH; MASTER sets it too
• COUNT-IN: OFF (default), 1 BAR or 2 BARS: with a track armed, PLAY counts in first (clicking even with CLICK OFF), and a note played in the last half beat lands on step 1. Not with an external clock
• TUNE: the global tuning, −50 to +50 cents. It is the project's, saved and loaded with it
• MIDI IN: CH1-4 (default), SEL, CH5-8, CH9-12 or CH13-16 (see MIDI above). The project's too
• LEARN CLEAR: how many CCs MIDI LEARN has set (NONE, 1 CC … 16 CC); OCT+ clears them all
• USB SERIAL: ON or OFF, applied when the menu closes (the FM-1 reconnects). OFF leaves out the serial console, a developer tool, so the FM-1 is a plain audio + MIDI device; this lets macOS 13-15 see its USB audio input. MIDI, the editor and the installer work either way
• RESTORE LAST: ON (default) or OFF. ON, the FM-1 starts with the music you left (the header says RESTORED), kept in an autosave apart from the four projects; it is written when the music changed, the transport is stopped and nothing has been touched for 10 s, at most once a minute. OFF starts with the power-on sounds
• HARDWARE CALIBRATION, INFO (the version, the USB link and the CPU load) and ABOUT

Engines

In the order the device lists them:

• ANALOG: virtual analog; two oscillators (EDIT > OSC A / OSC B), each with its own WAVE (OSC B's defaults to SAME, following OSC A), INT (OSC B an interval from OSC A, -24..+24 semitones; SUPER has no OSC B and ignores it), DTN and MIX; WAVE SYNC makes OSC B a saw hard-synced to OSC A, SUB a square an octave down, SUPER one saw plus six detuned copies in the same voice (SPRD (DTN) the spread, SWARM (MIX) the copies' level). Noise, drive, MORPH / DRIFT (OSC A), a resonant filter: low-pass, band-pass, high-pass or comb (EDIT > FILTER, page 3; COMB: CUT sets the delay / tooth spacing, RES the feedback)
• FM6: classic 6-operator FM (Dexed-based): 32 algorithms, a full patch per track, edited in the web editor (which imports .syx files) or on the device: EDIT > OPERATOR (FREQ is one list: ratio then fixed Hz, fine, level; no OPERATOR 2 page) and OP ENV (each stage's rate and level, drawn as the envelope), one operator at a time on the algorithm chart; macros on top; SLOT picks a factory patch (F1-F8), the track's own (OWN) or a voice of the bank the web editor sent (B1-B32)
• PHASE: phase distortion (ported from CrispyZebra)
• LOFI: chiptune; pulse, triangle, saw, noise and a 4-bit wave RAM, stepped envelope, sweep, arpeggio
• SAMPLE: multisampled instruments (PIANO, FLUTE, SAX) and 3 user sample slots (shared with WAVETABLE); CR78 is a public-domain factory kit at SET 8 with the SEQ drum grid. A USR slot can be a Drumkit in the web editor (each root mapped to its lane note) or a Sample
• VOICE: formant oscillator, sung vowels
• TRIO: 3 oscillators with ring modulation and sync, multimode filter
• WHEEL: tonewheel-style organ; drawbar registrations, percussion, key click, drive, rotary speaker
• GRAIN: granular textures from the built-in samples or a user slot
• PHYS: physical models: modal resonators, strings, struck membranes, sympathetic strings
• NOISE: noise from analog to digital: colours, crackle, shift-register and metallic tones
• DRUM-X: an 8-lane morphable kit on the General MIDI key map (JIANT port). EDIT sections Sound (MRPH / TUNE / TONE / DECY), Kit (SOUND: lane A/B plus pitch env; SOUND 2: DCAY / NOIS / COLR / MODE) and Lanes. Kit and mute persist in FUN19 projects (FUN10 opens with the factory kit). Old Felucca KIT values still play as DRUM-X. SLICE is retired; old stores load as DRUM-X
• DRUMS: the ported Felucca drum engine (engine 15): KIT STD / 80 / 10 / 66 / 55 / 77 / DEEP / TIGHT / PERC, TUNE, TONE, DECY, SNAP, ACC, KICK, DRV. Existing projects and presets stay on DRUM-X; DRUMS is for new sounds or for a project that selects it. It runs the 1.6.1 code unchanged in its own engine state.
• WAVETABLE: two wavetable oscillators, A and B, each morphing through 16 frames of a mip-mapped table; B phase-modulates A (B>A) and can also be heard through LEVEL at an exact RATIO, and A takes phase feedback (FDBK). BASIC and SPECTRAL are factory tables; USR1..USR3 each hold one complete 16 x 1024 table, loaded from a Serum .wav or a folder medley in the web editor. The EDIT graph draws A on OSC A and B's own wave on OSC B, and switches to a labelled OSC A while RATIO is the hot knob

The DIGITAL engine of 0.9 was replaced by FM6, and since 3.6 its conversion is gone too: a project keeps such a track silent, and a DIGITAL user preset is refused (convert such files in the web editor before uploading). The SAMPLE engine's PERC kit was removed in 1.0.2: sounds and projects that used it load as the DRUM-X engine's kit, on the same key map. FM6's patch bank (the B slots) was removed in 1.0.3: user presets keep their own FM6 patch, and presets that used a B slot get that patch on the first start of 1.0.3. 1.4.1 brings B slots back as a voice bank sent from the web editor (B1-B32): a voice picked from it becomes the track's own patch, so nothing saved depends on the bank. SLICE once had BREAK and (from 1.0.4) PIANO; both left the ROM with the engine. Since 1.0.4 a missing sample (an empty user slot, or a set missing from the build) plays a plain sine at the note's pitch on SAMPLE and GRAIN, and the screen says NO SAMPLE once. DRUM-X's KIT variants HAND, CYM and H+CYM were retired in 1.0.5: sounds and projects that used them play the 66, 10 and 77 kits. SAMPLE's PIANO was a lo-fi piano in 1.4 and 1.4.1 (the full one installed into a user slot from the web editor as PIANO HD); 1.5 brings the full piano back.

SLICER (FX page, every track): a tempo-synced 16-step gate or stutter, with 16 patterns.

Reverb (FX > REVERB): KNOB 1–3 are TYPE / SIZE / DAMP for the tank the track owns (SEND or CHAIN). HALL (since 1.4, the default on a fresh start: eight delay lines feeding each other with slowly drifting taps, stereo, SIZE the decay up to about 4.5 s, DAMP how fast the highs die), ROOM (the default up to 1.1.5), SPRING, plus Araminta's SHIMR / CLOUD. A project plays the TYPE it was saved with.

Scale keyboard

On the SCL page, MAP chooses how the keys (and optionally the sequence) sit on the scale:

• OFF — normal chromatic piano. Sequence plays as stored.
• KBD — white keys walk the scale (C4 = ROOT; consecutive white keys = consecutive scale notes). Black keys play the closest in-scale note (often the same as a neighbour). Sequence plays as stored.
• CURR — same keys as KBD, and sequenced notes map onto the current ROOT / SCALE as they play (steps unchanged; kits never remapped). Each track keeps its own scale.
• ALL — CURR's quantising, and every track adopts the current ROOT / SCALE and shows MAP ALL while ALL is on. Leaving ALL restores each track's own MAP, ROOT and SCALE.
• SEQ — live keys as OFF; sequenced notes map onto the scale as they play (same as CURR for the sequence).

TRN transposes the resulting notes (and sequence playback; steps stay as stored); the octave buttons shift them by full octaves. Kits ignore TRN and PITCH. With REC armed while playing on a synth track, turning it also records the step's PITCH lock (the scale-fitted semitone result); the knob still moves, and no P_TRANS automation event is recorded.

Available scales: major (MAJ), natural minor (MIN), Dorian (DOR), Mixolydian (MIX), major pentatonic (PEN), minor pentatonic (MPEN), harmonic minor (HARM), Phrygian (PHRY), Lydian (LYD), Locrian (LOC), ascending melodic minor (MEL), minor blues (BLUES), whole tone (WHOLE), half-whole diminished (DIMHW), and whole-half diminished (DIMWH). Scales with other than seven notes continue across the white keys without repeating notes; their roots need not fall on every C key. Chromatic play is MAP OFF. Drum kits and incoming MIDI keep their own note mapping.

Press SCL again for the CHORD page: CHRD picks the chord keys (OFF, the scale's triads or sevenths, a fixed shape, AUTO: the key picks an in-scale chord that follows the other tracks' recent notes, or MELO: the played key is the melody, always the top note, and the chord below stays in the scale), VOIC the voicing, STRUM the sweep (OFF, 1/8 to 1/128, 16T, 32T) and STROKE its direction (DOWN, UP, ALT). MELO leaves the melody fixed in every voicing; a DOWN strum sounds it first. Hold a step on SEQ > STEP (piano roll; with SCL as the last sound page) and turn K4 (TRN) for a per-step PITCH lock: an absolute chromatic transpose (-24..+24) that replaces the track's TRN on that step (not snapped), one value for the whole step (a chord uses its first stored note, lowest for a keyed chord, when TRN is recorded). Kits ignore PITCH: on a DRUM track SCL K4 creates no lock and MOTION op 5 refuses one. It appears as a PITCH row in SEQ > AUTOMATION on synth tracks. Turning TRN on SCL without a step held is the ordinary track transpose; with REC armed while playing it writes the fitted PITCH lock, the knob still moves the track's TRN, and the step uses the fitted value. No P_TRANS automation event is created.

Layout

If the FM-1 does not start

If an update is interrupted and the FM-1 stays black, check whether a computer sees it as a USB device named WL80UBOOT (or a USB mass-storage device with ID 4C4A:8057). That is the chip's built-in boot mode, and the FM-1 can be brought back:

• First try another USB data cable, and close every other app that uses MIDI, then run the web installer again.
• If it stays in boot mode, FM-1 Transporter reads and writes the FM-1's flash from a Mac through a Seeed XIAO RP2040 (three wires to the FM-1's USB lines). Back up the flash first, then write the official firmware (M-VAVE's FM-1.fwsc).
• Questions: Issues. Upstream Felucca: hugelton/Felucca.

Support

Bugs that you can reproduce belong in Araminta Issues, one report each. Ideas and requests go in Discussions when that board is open; otherwise open an issue and say it is a request. Pull requests are welcome: see CONTRIBUTING.md.

Araminta is a fork. Upstream Felucca development, sponsorship and itch.io releases live at hugelton/Felucca. If Felucca is useful to you, sponsoring on GitHub or a donation on itch.io helps keep that work going.

AI disclaimer

Araminta is developed with the assistance of AI coding agents for coding, testing, documentation, translation and maintenance. Design, features, sound choices and direction stay with the maintainer and contributors. No generative AI is used to create music, icons or visual artwork for this project. Upstream context: On AI-Assisted Development and Responsibility.

Credits

• Fork: Wulgaren/Araminta by Wulgaren
• Felucca 1.6: the LED rows switch off before a flash erase (#236, kurogedelic, GPL-3.0)
• AUTO / MELO chord harmony: Melodee f4fdbc7 by Kerem Kilic / Ellic Studio (GPL-3.0-only)
• Signed audio arithmetic (#265): Felucca f9a98fc by Mario Faúndez Vidal (GPL-3.0-only); ANALOG, LOFI, NOISE, TRIO and WHEEL fixes from Felucca-Engines by Mario Faúndez Vidal and kurogedelic (MIT)
• Hügelton Instruments (Leo Kuroshita, @kurogedelic): Felucca, the base this fork builds on; the PHASE engine's waveforms (a C port of the oscillator of CrispyZebra, GPL-3.0); the DRUM-X and DRUMS voices and kits; the Hügelton Sample Pack (the drum samples, GPL-3.0-only, not CC0); the Fukiai icon font (MIT)
• Fonts: Terminus by Dimitar Toshkov Zhekov, SIL OFL 1.1 (the UI text, as in Felucca 0.9); Inter Tight by The Inter Project Authors, SIL OFL 1.1 (keycap labels and diagrams); the browser emulator's labels: DotGothic16 by The DotGothic16 Project Authors, SIL OFL 1.1
• Samples: Versilian Studios VSCO-2 Community Edition and VCSL, CC0 1.0: the SAMPLE sets and PIANO HD; the CR-78 kit from Oramics "Sampled" (Boxed Ear), public domain (attribution)
• VOICE engine: after klattsch by Tony Gies (MIT); formant data from Klatt (1980) and Hillenbrand et al. (1995)
• PHYS engine: models ported from DaisySP by Electrosmith and Emilie Gillet (MIT) and from Emilie Gillet's eurorack code (MIT)
• FM6 engine: msfa from Dexed by Google Inc. and Pascal Gauthier (Apache-2.0)
• Browser emulator: after X0X by charlesvestal (GPL-3.0), a Felucca fork whose browser build showed the way
• Package format and boot files: JieLi AC79 SDK (Apache-2.0; three of its files are in every package, none in this tree)
• Contributions (upstream and here): keremimo (white-key scales, #2), ChanceTheMaker (TRS MIDI, bend, sustain and clock, palettes, favourites, editor display settings: #8, #10, #11, #12), andreahaku (sample recording and trim, #29; SLICE manual slices and tests, #27, #22), spinkham (the boot fix for 0.9 projects, #111), zednaked (ratchets, #100), jasonpersinger (the ROOM reverb click fix, #121), renebohne (MIDI Program Change, #179)

Licence

Free software: GPL-3.0-only, the Hügelton Sample Pack included. The bundled fonts and the ported DSP keep their own licences (LICENSES/); details in LICENSING.md.

M-VAVE and FM-1 are trademarks of their respective owners. Araminta is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.

Copyright (C) 2026 Leo Kuroshita (@kurogedelic), Hügelton Instruments Copyright (C) 2026 Wulgaren for Araminta fork changes