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glitchbox

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M-VAVE FM-1 software

glitchbox is custom firmware for the M-VAVE FM-1, by @erikdevos. Open source under GPL-3.0, 3 stars on GitHub.

forM-VAVE FM-1·by@erikdevos

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Glitchbox

License: GPL-3.0-only

Broken, dirty performance firmware for the M-VAVE FM-1. Think Year Zero and "The Great Destroyer": resonant synths that chop themselves up, hard-clipped and bit-crushed leads and basses, nasty FM, crushed drums, and stutter / crush effects you play live. Everything is synthesised; there are no samples to load. Playing it is less about making beautiful sounds and more about taming a beast.

Glitchbox is a fork of Felucca v1.5.1 by Hügelton Instruments. Everything Felucca does still works; Glitchbox adds a new engine, a drum kit, live effects and dirtier defaults.

Try it in your browser, no FM-1 needed: the same firmware compiled to WebAssembly, played with mouse, computer keyboard or Web MIDI.

Status: experimental. Glitchbox has only run in the host tests and the browser emulator so far, not yet on a real FM-1. CPU headroom on the device has not been measured. Flash at your own risk and read Flashing first.

What's in it

  • Four tracks, each with its own engine, sharing 8 voices. At power-on: T1 GLCH DESTROYER, T2 GLCH FUZZ BASS, T3 GLCH HUM, T4 DRUM DESTROY. All patterns start empty, so you play straight in.
  • GLCH engine: oscillator, then hard clipping and a wavefolder, then a screaming resonant filter, then a clipper, bitcrusher and a micro-stutter that loops, reverses and pitch-jumps slices of its own sound.
    • Knobs: CUT, RES, DRV, GLCH (how often it chops itself)
    • Waves: SAW, SQR, DUAL, RING, NOIS, FAT, FM, FMX (inharmonic FM with feedback), SYNC, SUPR; bass waves FUZZ, REES, 808, GRIT, GROW
    • 18 presets: DESTROYER, BROKEN, SCREAM, NOIZ HIT, HUM, NASTY FM, CRUSH LEAD, SQR FUZZ, FM BASS, MELTDOWN, RUST SAW, and the fuzz basses FUZZ BASS, REESE, 808 DIST, GRIT BASS, GROWL, ACID FUZZ, OCTA SMASH
  • DESTROY drum kit: 8 synthesised lanes (kick, snare, hats and more), where DRV clips and crushes every hit.
  • Live FX (hold FX and press a white key): Felucca's REPEAT, REVERSE, TAPE STOP, FREEZE, filter sweeps and more, plus ROLL (an accelerating repeat), GATE, CRSH SWP (crush building over a bar) and RANDOM.
  • Volca-style live programming: press PLAY and REC and play along; the metronome clicks while recording, every pass overdubs. 64 steps per track, parameter locks, knob motion recording, song mode and MIDI from Felucca.
  • All of Felucca's other engines (ANALOG, FM6, PHYS, GRAIN, DRUM and more) are still there. GLCH takes the slot of Felucca's WHEEL engine.

The full user guide is GLITCHBOX.md. Felucca's own documentation (controls, menus, engines) is in FELUCCA.md.

Try it without an FM-1

Online: https://erikdevos.github.io/glitchbox/ (updated with sh tools/publish_pages.sh). To run it locally, the browser emulator runs the same firmware compiled to WebAssembly, with the panel on screen (mouse, computer keyboard or Web MIDI). On macOS:

python3 -m venv .venv && .venv/bin/pip install Pillow fonttools mido python-rtmidi

brew install fribidi emscripten

tools/gen_only.sh && sh web/emu/build.sh

python3 -m http.server -d build/emu 8790

Then open http://localhost:8790. The host tests run with tests/quick_tests.sh and write WAV demos to build/demo/glitch/.

Building the firmware

The JieLi toolchain is Linux x86-64 only; on a Mac it runs in Docker. See BUILDING.md: tools/get_toolchain.sh, the AC79 SDK, then ./build.sh produces build/glitchbox.fwsc.

Flashing

  1. Back up the flash first (see FELUCCA.md).
  2. Install from a terminal with tools/fm1_install.py build/glitchbox.fwsc (FM-1 connected by USB).
  3. Do not unplug during an update.
  4. To go back: the installer's Return to official V15, or M-VAVE's own updater.

Credits and licence

Built on Felucca by Hügelton Instruments (Leo Kuroshita); see FELUCCA.md for Felucca's full credits and the projects it builds on.

Free software: GPL-3.0-only. If you share builds, share the source. Bundled fonts and ported DSP keep their own licences (LICENSES/, LICENSING.md).

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