SARDAB
Dungeon synth firmware for the M-VAVE FM-1, turned toward the desert.
A sardab is the cellar under a Persian house where the heat does not reach. This firmware is GHOULBOX (a dungeon-synth fork of Felucca) with maqam tuning, Arabic rhythm, oud and ney recordings, and the sound of stone rooms.
Version SARDAB 2.3 development preview. The latest build is host/emulator-tested; physical FM-1 validation is pending. Build status.
Install
Chrome or Edge, a USB data cable, no other MIDI app open:
Back up first (the editor's Complete backup). Press Install, allow SysEx, keep the cable in until the FM-1 restarts. Stuck in update mode: replug, Install again.
Back to Felucca: its installer. Back to M-VAVE: its "Return to official V15". Details: FLASHING.md.
What is in it
Felucca's thirteen engines, four tracks, 64-step sequencer, song mode, effects, MOD matrix, MIDI and USB audio. On top:
| Tuning | 49 scales and a CUSTOM one, eighteen of them maqamat and dastgah; per-note cent trims, four temperaments, Scala import |
| Keyboard | ROOT, MAQAM, MAP (CHR, WHITE, ALL); Arabic note names in the header |
| Chords | diatonic triads and sevenths in the scale's own tuning |
| Rhythm | five iqa'at (MAQSUM, BALADI, SAIDI, AYYUB, MALFUF); SLICE's break is a darbuka |
| Recordings | OUD and NEY built in; PIANO, psaltery, organ, recorder, harp; qanun and tar for the USR slots |
| Models | hurdy-gurdy, santur, mijwiz, arghul, desert oud, dune ney, sand wind |
| Rooms | HALL, ROOM, SPRING, STRINGS (sympathetic strings tuned to what is played) |
| Tape | TAPE and CRSH on the mix; the delay's time glides like a motor |
| Playing | ARP TRILL and DRONE; CANON, a second playhead at a scale interval |
| Scenes | DUNGEON, CRYPT, TAVERN, CHAPEL, CITADEL at power-on |
| Machine | the second core renders parts; USB rescue after two failed boots |
The screen is VT323 on stone, with a sword cursor. The console is off by default.
Guides: playing in the desert · tuning and mapping · the sourced synths · GHOULBOX 2 controls · GHOULBOX 1.4 manual (PDF).
Compatibility
Projects and user presets from Felucca and GHOULBOX load. Settings backups need the conversion in MICROTONAL.md. Felucca 1.5 and older do not open projects saved here.
Build
JieLi toolchain and the AC79 SDK (BUILDING.md):
./build.sh
python3 tools/ghoulbox_serve.py # http://localhost:8000/webapp/installer/
The audio and screen code also run on the build machine:
SANITIZE=0 sh tests/run_tests.sh
gcc -O2 -w -Ibuild/gen -Ifirmware/src -o build/host/dungeon_demo tests/dungeon_demo.c -lm
build/host/dungeon_demo build/dungeon_demo # the scenes and every preset, as WAV
Layout
| Path | What |
|---|---|
firmware/src | the app, one translation unit (felucca.c) |
firmware/hal | the chip |
tools/ | generators, build, package, installer |
assets/ | fonts, CC0 samples, the desert recordings |
web/ | installer, editor, emulator |
tests/ | host tests |
docs/upstream/ | Felucca's README as it came |
Lineage
Felucca, by Leo Kuroshita / Hügelton Instruments, GPL-3.0-only. GHOULBOX, by Jason Persinger, GPL-3.0-only. SLOOP, JIANT and Melodee lent code; the recordings are CC0 and CC BY. Who made what: CREDITS.md. Terms: LICENSING.md.
Support the original: GitHub Sponsors, itch.io.
M-VAVE and FM-1 are their owners' marks. No affiliation.
Bugs: issues. Plans: ROADMAP.md.