Melodee (Tess) v1.3.3

Melodee (Tess) v1.3.3 is an experimental generative sequencing fork of the M-Vave FM-1 alt-firmware Melodee (GPL-3.0-only). It is also listed on altstrument.org.

✨ What's New since v1.3.1

• TWEAK 2 page (after TWEAK, on generator tracks):
  • BRANCH sends hits to another track's sound. COIN tosses a coin for each hit, TOGGLE alternates and LATCH picks once per bar. In COIN mode the fork picture shades each arm by its share of the hits.
  • LOGIC combines this track's hits with another track's: AND, OR, XOR or NOT.
  • COND plays only on certain bars: 1:2, 2:2, 1:4 to 4:4, 1:8, 8:8, FIRST or !FIRST.
• SLOTH and OCHD, slow organic mod sources, one set per track:
  • SLOTH has three chaotic circuits: TORPOR (about 17 minutes a turn), APATHY (about 1 minute) and INERTIA (about 3 minutes).
  • OCHD has eight free-running LFOs, from 64 s down to 2.4 s a turn.
  • SPEED and RATE are on the new LFO > ORGANIC page, which shows them moving. PLAY restarts them from the track's SEED, so a piece replays the same way.
• Live mod feedback:
  • When a mod reaches a knob, its card shows a mark where the mods are moving it now.
  • Each MODS row has a moving mark.
  • The new MATRIX page shows which tracks modulate which, lit as the mods move. OCT+ opens a mod in MODS.
• Track 1 starts on PHYS DRONE STRING at power-on and on a new project.
• New projects start with no mods. Until now a new project, or power-on without a BOOT project, came with 8 DRIFT mods on each track's CUTOFF and FX SEND. Now all 16 slots start empty, so movement is only there if you patch it. Saved projects keep their own mods.
• BRANCH as a mod destination, and the 11 new mod sources described in the online parameter reference.

📦 Installation

Flash it with the web installer (Chrome or Edge), or download a .fwsc from the assets below:

• melodee-tess-1.3.3.fwsc: the standard (dual-core) build. Start here.
• melodee-tess-1.3.3-1core.fwsc: single core, for FM-1s that crash with the standard build (red MELODEE CRASH screen, freezes, or restarts into update mode).

Projects saved by earlier Tess versions still load and convert. The new settings start off, so old projects play as before. Do not unplug the FM-1 while it is writing. This is experimental firmware: use it at your own risk.

Melodee (Tess) v1.3.1

Melodee (Tess) v1.3.1 is an experimental generative sequencing fork of the M-Vave FM-1 alt-firmware Melodee (GPL-3.0-only). It is also listed on altstrument.org.

⚠️ Sound engines changed

This release offers SID, TRIO, PHYS and DRUM. FM6, CZ-1 and Prophet are no longer in the build: a track saved with one of them loads SID INIT. Stay on v1.2.7 if you rely on those engines.

✨ What's New since v1.2.7

• Three new generators: BOUNCE (up to four balls bouncing in a box, a note where they hit the walls), AWAKE (two loops in the style of norns' Awake, with step entry from the keys) and POLY (four rhythms moving four notes, over up to 3 octaves).
• SEQ MODE menu: SEQ opens on GEN, where KNOB 1 picks the track's mode (STEP, ARP, or a generator), and SEQ then shows only that mode's pages. The ARP button switches the track to ARP.
• TWEAK picture: SHIFT, DROP, HUMAN and FOLLOW drawn on the page, instead of the audio scope.
• Mod shortcut: hold FX and turn a knob to set that parameter's cord amount.
• Boot screen: MELODEE / TESS.

📦 Installation

Flash it with the web installer (Chrome or Edge), or download a .fwsc from the assets below:

• melodee-tess-1.3.1.fwsc: the standard (dual-core) build. Start here.
• melodee-tess-1.3.1-1core.fwsc: single core, for FM-1s that crash with the standard build (red MELODEE CRASH screen, freezes, or restarts into update mode).

Projects saved by earlier Tess versions still load and convert. Do not unplug the FM-1 while it is writing; this is experimental firmware, use at your own risk.

Melodee (Tess) v1.2.7

Melodee (Tess) v1.2.7 is an experimental generative sequencing fork of the M-Vave FM-1 alt-firmware Melodee (GPL-3.0-only). It is also listed on altstrument.org.

✨ What's New since v1.1.0

• Grids: a fifth generator mode, Mutable Instruments Grids' drum map.
• GEN family: tap ARP for GEN, EVOLVE, FORM, TWEAK, then ARP and ARP 2. GEN owns the generator's knobs; SEQ's PATTERN page is upstream's again and FEEL is gone.
• Seeds and ROLL: each generator track has its own seed (1–128) and random stream. ROLL on EVOLVE steps through lines and comes back to the same one, note for note; while playing it waits for the track's next bar line.
• Cords and MODS: a modulation bus with 16 cords (room for 32) across 41 destinations, saved with the project. Generators are cord sources (their CV). MODS replaces MOD and shows every route with activity lights; new projects start with a default patch, including the slow DRIFT source.
• Help: hold ARP and turn a knob to see what it does. Every parameter now has a number, range and help text.
• Generator fixes: FOLLOW accepts STEP tracks as sources and shifts in scale degrees; mutation stays in bounds (Turing, Euclid, Markov); Markov DENSITY defaults to 70; stuck notes on stop fixed; autosave also saves generator-only changes; backups include the generators.
• From upstream Melodee: merges of 1.3.1 and 1.3.6 (boot protection, power and clock fixes), plus picks from 1.4.1: SID C64 models with C64 POLY chord arpeggios, SID KIT and SID DIGI drums, a shared voice BUDGET, faster DSP, and about 16 KB more RAM for audio.

📦 Installation

Flash it with the web installer (Chrome or Edge), or download a .fwsc from the assets below:

• melodee-tess-1.2.7.fwsc: the standard (dual-core) build. Start here.
• melodee-tess-1.2.7-1core.fwsc: single core, for FM-1s that crash with the standard build (red MELODEE CRASH screen, freezes, or restarts into update mode).

Projects saved by earlier Tess versions still load and convert. Stock Melodee projects load with Tessera off. Do not unplug the FM-1 while it is writing; this is experimental firmware, use at your own risk.

Melodee (Tess) v1.1.0

Melodee (Tess) v1.1.0 is an experimental generative sequencing fork of the M-Vave FM-1 alt-firmware Melodee (GPL-3.0-only).

✨ What's New

• Four Generative Engines: Adds Turing (looping shift register), Euclid (Euclidean rhythms with saved seeds), Markov (random walk over 8 scale degrees), and Morph (preset pattern blending).
• New Workflow Pages: Adds dedicated UI pages for FEEL (managing divide, swing, and gate while engines run), EVOLVE (mutation and deja-vu controls), FORM (song structure building), TWEAK (shift, drop, humanization, and follow), and FLOURISH (dynamic phrase-ending transitions).
• Dedicated Flash Storage: Stores Tessera state in its own flash object (OBJ_TESSERA at 0x9D000) with parent-project hash tagging and range validation to keep save files safe and compatible.
• Optimized Build: Fully adapted to strict hardware memory constraints, outputting melodee-tess.fwsc.

📦 Installation

Download melodee-tess.fwsc from the assets below and flash it to your M-Vave FM-1. Projects saved by stock Melodee load normally with Tessera off, and projects saved by this fork remain fully compatible.