Machinedrum Editor + Monomachine Editor 0.5.1

Machinedrum Editor + Monomachine Editor 0.5.1

A release on top of 0.5.0: a CPU meter and an output meter with a master volume, less emulation work, fixes from your reports, and the editors' own plug-in identity.

Screenshots, features and FAQ: https://mdmm.dev · User guide: https://mdmm.dev/guide/

Read this first: insert the editor again in old DAW projects

• The editors have their own plug-in identity now (both editors, macOS, Windows, Linux). Up to 0.5.0 the editors used the same Audio Unit codes and VST3 IDs as the original Gearmulator Machinedrum and Monomachine plug-ins, so a Mac or a DAW could keep only one of the two, and sometimes opened the wrong one (B-048). From 0.5.1 the editors are registered as Future Native Audio plug-ins. You can install the original Gearmulator MD and MM beside the editors; each opens as itself, and the installer leaves the originals alone.
• A DAW project saved with 0.5.0 or earlier does not find the editor. Open the project, insert the Machinedrum Editor or the Monomachine Editor again on its track, once, and save the project. Your machine's memory (patterns, kits, songs, globals) is not in the DAW project and is not lost. The standalone apps are not affected.

New

• A CPU meter in the top bar (both editors, plug-in and standalone, I-018). After the version, a small bar shows how much of each audio block's time the editor uses, smoothed over half a second, with a mark for the worst block of the last 3 seconds. A block over its time shows as a thicker, hatched bar. Hover for the number. A click opens the details: average, worst block, machine speed, the host's sample rate and block size, which speed-ups are on, native or Rosetta, and the speed-up switches, so you can compare them there. The top bar still fits at 1280 px wide.
• An output meter and master volume at the LCD's right end (both editors, plug-in and standalone, I-021). Two thin bars show the left and right output after the volume, each with a peak line, and a clip mark at the top that lights when any output went over 0 dBFS (a click clears it). The volume is the line across both bars: drag it up or down (Shift for fine steps), scroll, or double-click for 0 dB; at the foot it is off. The dB value shows under the LCD while you change it. The volume is saved with the DAW project and in the standalone. It is applied after the emulation, so the machine's sound is not changed. It is not a host-automatable parameter.
• Developer > Speed-ups (faster, same sound) (both editors). The speed-ups switch is now a positive tick: ticked means the speed-ups run (the default). Developer > Speed-ups (each) turns one speed-up off at a time while the others stay on, for testers who want to find which one changes something; each one also has an environment switch (doc/md_mm_performance_diagnostics.md, "Switches for testers"). While the main switch is off, the single switches are grey.
• The native editor menu works (both editors). The menu shown when the page is not up closed without doing anything when you picked an entry. Every entry now does what it says. Every speed-up switch change and every menu pick is a line in the start-up log.

Faster

• Less emulation work (both editors). Four more small bit-exact changes: the DSP link rings and the codec output ring no longer use semaphores (both ends are on one thread), the ColdFire's idle-loop skip is tested right after its branch, a ColdFire slice with no input waiting skips the per-step input tests, and the Machinedrum's NOP-loop skip also tests the instruction target. Host work per audio frame against 0.5.0's code: the Machinedrum about 4 % less, the Monomachine about 7 to 8 % less, stopped and playing. The sound is the same, bit for bit. Each one has its own switch under Developer > Speed-ups (each).
• The macOS profile (PGO) is trained again on this code, so the macOS build uses it for every changed function.

Fixes

• Monomachine: a transpose changed while the pattern plays is heard at once (B-060). A tester on Discord said a transpose took effect only after STOP and PLAY; on the real machine it acts at once. The machine stores a transpose that comes over SysEx, but its sequencer keeps the transposes it took at PLAY. While the pattern plays, the editor now applies the change as the machine's own panel does (the TRANSPOSE screen's TRACK knob), for each track the edit changed, and goes back to the track that was in focus. Stopped, nothing extra happens: PLAY takes the new value. On a real Monomachine over MIDI this is not possible: the edit's note says it is heard from the next start, or press TRANSPOSE on the machine.
• Monomachine: a held key of the transpose keyboard no longer keeps sounding when the window loses focus (B-059). With the mouse button down on a key of the Sequence dock's transpose keyboard, leaving the window left the note on, and with the arpeggiator on the track went on playing. Leaving the window, or a move with no button, now ends the note. A tester on Discord saw the editor "play by itself" when its window was deactivated; we could not reproduce that as told, and this was the one way we found.
• Monomachine: pasting copied steps with nothing selected keeps the rest of the page (B-057). Pasting puts down only the copied steps, from the page's first step, as on the Machinedrum. COPY PAGE then PASTE PAGE still copies the whole page.
• A project with a damaged flash image no longer hangs the emulation (both editors, B-054). A DSP that stops on bad code is now set aside and the rest of the machine runs on, and a host port that nobody reads no longer blocks. When it loads a project, the editor puts the ROM's own bytes back in any flash sector of the operating system that does not match the ROM; the sample area stays as the project holds it. A running firmware never reaches any of this: the sound is the same, bit for bit.
• The start-up card's animation skipped now and then in a test (B-052). This was the test, not the editor: its audio thread ran without pause and kept the message thread waiting. The test now paces its audio as a DAW does. No change in the editor.

Tips

• Both editors open at once in Ableton Live: Live shows only the selected track's plug-in windows while Auto-Hide Plug-In Windows is on, so picking the Machinedrum track hides the Monomachine Editor and the other way round. In Live › Settings › Plug-Ins, turn Multiple Plug-In Windows on and Auto-Hide Plug-In Windows off. The user guide says this too.

Known

• Machinedrum: in a small window the top bar's right end is cut (B-061). In a window smaller than about 1440 x 720 the page is zoomed out, the web view makes small text larger, and the CPU meter, GLOBAL and MKI/MKII can run past the right edge. Make the window larger.
• Machinedrum: a lock on a step without a trig is kept but not played (I-019). OS 1.63 does this on the real machine too; the guide says a Machinedrum lock needs a trig.
• Monomachine GLOBAL: master tune is not on the page yet, and some bytes of the global are still not decoded.
• Machinedrum: a pattern pick during a SysEx import asks about unsaved kit edits you never made (B-045). It goes away when the import finishes.
• Monomachine: a LOOP row in a song written by the editor goes back to row 1 (B-038).
• Drag and drop works on macOS only (I-017). On Windows and Linux, use the buttons.
• The update banner still offers Download (the site), never Update. Installing from inside the app waits for our update signing key (I-005).

For developers

• Plug-in identity is set once in scripts/mdmm-product.env: AU manufacturer FNAu, subtypes Mded (Machinedrum) and Mmed (Monomachine), VST3 class IDs from them. The old codes stay in the file for the installer and the tests only. scripts/check_mdmm_plugin_ids.py (ctest mdmmIdentityTest) checks the built AU and VST3 against the file and fails on the old codes.
• Journeys reset GLOBAL first (B-058). Before its first journey each editor resets the active global of its sandboxed machine to the factory settings, so a personal or imported global (CHANNEL SPAN 0, another base channel) no longer fails the mute and note journeys. The person's own settings are never written. MDMM_JOURNEY_CONFIG_MD / _MM start the sandbox from another settings file.
• New journeys: *-top-cpu-meter, *-dev-speedups, *-lcd-volume, mm-seq-transpose-playing, mm-seq-transpose-key-blur, mm-top-leave-window-stopped, mm-seq-paste-steps-keeps-page. New firmware tests: mmTransposeLiveFirmwareTest, mdDamagedFlashFirmwareTest.
• One switch per speed-up: GEARMULATOR_MDMM_<lever>=0 (L1, L11, L2B, L5, L4_NOP, L4_POLL, L4_CYCLE, L4_PORTC, CMPM, and the four new ones LINK_RINGS, UC_IDLE_PROBE, UC_QUIET, NOP_GATE); GEARMULATOR_MDMM_SPEEDUPS=0 still turns all off. Measurements: doc/modern-ux/RESEARCH-emulation-cpu.md, "Small wins (0.6)".

Platforms

• macOS 12 or later (Intel and Apple silicon), not signed by Apple yet: the first install needs Open Anyway (on macOS 12 to 14: right-click the installer > Open).
• Windows x64 and Linux x64: not tested by a person yet. Feedback welcome: https://mdmm.dev/contact/

macOS: take the .pkg. Machinedrum-Editor-macOS.pkg and Monomachine-Editor-macOS.pkg are the installers (the app, the VST3 and the AU; they also remove old copies of the editors; the original Gearmulator MD / MM plug-ins can stay installed beside them). The .dmg files hold the same files loose, to drag into place by hand, with no installer in them.

Windows and Linux: not tested. The *-Windows-x64-not-tested.zip and *-Linux-x64-not-tested.tar.gz archives are built and unit-tested by CI onl...

Machinedrum Editor + Monomachine Editor 0.5.0

Machinedrum Editor + Monomachine Editor 0.5.0

A release on top of 0.4.0: the Monomachine Editor at the Machinedrum Editor's level, less emulation work, fixes from your reports, and a project that no longer depends on the fork it came from.

Screenshots, features and FAQ: https://mdmm.dev · User guide: https://mdmm.dev/guide/

The Monomachine catches up

• A GLOBAL page (Monomachine Editor, B-051). The GLOBAL key in the top bar, or GLOBAL… in the engine menu, opens the same panel the Machinedrum Editor has: the 8 global slots (a click makes one active), Control (base channel, channel span with each track's channel shown, auto track, multi trig, multi map, program change in and out), Sync (tempo and transport in and out) and Routing. Each change is stored in the active global and made active. Both editors' panels get Reset to defaults (asked first), which writes the global the machine ships with.
• Sound edits reach the machine whatever the global's MIDI channels (Monomachine Editor, B-051). After importing a backup with its globals, turning values on the page could change nothing: the imported global had CHANNEL SPAN 0, so no track had a MIDI channel of its own. A value for a track without a channel now goes as a kit dump. A mute or note that cannot reach a track shows a notice with one key, Give each track its own channel. The SysEx import window's Globals tab says that importing a global changes the channels the machine listens on.
• Step selection as on the Machinedrum (Monomachine Editor). ⌘-click or ⌘-drag (Ctrl on Windows and Linux) in the piano roll, a trig row or the step ruler selects steps; ⌘C, ⌘X, ⌘V, ⌘D and ⌘A copy, cut, paste, duplicate and select all; ← and → move the selection, Shift with them extends it; a ⌘-drag of the selection drops a copy. Delete and the LCD's COPY, CLR and PASTE act on the selection. A right-click opens the step menu: note on or off, NOTE OFF, trigless, slide, a chord note, copy, cut, paste here, duplicate, clear, and fill every 2nd or 4th step (moved there from ⌘-click).
• Notes in the piano roll have a length (Monomachine Editor, I-010). A new note lasts the draw length (the Len key: 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1 bar), and dragging a note's end sets it, as in Ableton. A note on a synth track writes its trig and a NOTE OFF where it ends; on a MIDI track it writes its LEN (6 a step, measured on the firmware; the roll assumed 8). The roll draws a note up to the track's next trig, and past the pattern's end onto its start, lighter. Deleting a note leaves the note before it its length.
• Draw and box select in the piano roll (Monomachine Editor, I-007). B on Sequence, or the Draw key, turns drawing on and off. With it off, a drag in an empty place boxes notes into the selection, a press on a note selects it, a drag moves the selection (one undo step), and a double-click adds a note.
• Tap tempo is Shift+B on every workspace of both editors. On the Monomachine, B is Draw on Sequence and still taps elsewhere; the Machinedrum keeps T and B.
• Live recording shows what it locks (Monomachine Editor). While LIVE RECORDING plays, a value you turn is locked on the step that plays. The editor marks that step's cell and lock lane for 3 s and says which value it locked.
• The keyboard view is complete (Monomachine Editor): the zoom keys, tips and pointer gestures the Machinedrum lists, where the Monomachine has them.
• The Sound page and GEN / MUTATE as on the Machinedrum (Monomachine Editor). Both editors now draw the Sound rows and the GEN and MUTATE bars from one source. Cmd or Ctrl-click on the R key randomises the track, as on the Machinedrum. At 1440 x 900, R and Defaults no longer fall off the GEN bar.
• The editor follows the kit the machine plays after a pattern pick (Monomachine Editor, B-053, B-046). The Monomachine's OS 1.32B loads a pattern's linked kit only for a pattern in banks A to D; in banks E to H the kit that played goes on, from the editor or from the panel. The editor asked about losing unsaved kit edits before an E-H pick, which was false, and the first edit in the piano roll then made the machine load the linked kit, and your edits were gone. Now the question comes only for an A-D pattern, and an edit of the pattern that plays keeps the kit that plays. The page says "The pattern now links K001, the kit that plays" (with the kit's number). This also explains B-046: picking H16 of a backup leaves the machine on the kit that played.

Faster

• Less emulation work again (both editors). The emulated DSPs skip more of the turns of their idle loops: the silent-voice NOP loops, the loops that wait on a DMA register, the Machinedrum's two sync waits and the Monomachine's Port C wait. Host cycles per audio frame against 0.4.0's code: the Machinedrum 3.7 % less stopped and 2.8 % playing, the Monomachine 18.7 % and 6.2 %. The last idle-loop change took a further 7.0 % and 6.5 % off the Machinedrum and 2.1 % and 3.6 % off the Monomachine. Every one of these is bit-exact: the sound is the same, bit for bit.
• The macOS build is optimised with a recorded profile (PGO). On top of the above, host cycles per frame: the Machinedrum about 7.5 % less, the Monomachine 5 to 6 %. The sound is the same, bit for bit. Windows and Linux builds do not have it.
• All of it together, measured against 0.4.0: per audio frame the Machinedrum needs about 19 % less work stopped and 16 % less playing, the Monomachine about 27 % less stopped and 18 % less playing (retired instructions; host cycles agree within a few points). The same sound, bit for bit. Measured on an M4 Pro, outside a DAW; not yet checked in a DAW or on an M1.
• To compare, the speed-ups are on by default and Developer > Speed-ups off (legacy emulation, slower) in the right-click menu, or GEARMULATOR_MDMM_SPEEDUPS=0 before you start your DAW, turns them all off. Both give the same sound. If a click or a timing difference goes away with them off, tell us.
• An experiment, off by default: Developer > Exact MD audio timing (experimental, changes the sound) (Machinedrum Editor only, or GEARMULATOR_MDMM_EXACT_ESSI=1). It wakes the Machinedrum's DSPs at the exact cycle of each audio slot. It saves some more CPU (measured before the last idle-loop change: 7.4 % fewer host cycles per frame stopped, 3.2 % playing), but it moves notes and DSP work by microseconds, so the Machinedrum sounds slightly different. It acts only while the speed-ups are on.
• Fewer spikes on the audio thread (both editors). The Machinedrum Editor's sample list was built on the audio thread, with 143 allocations and up to 128 µs for one sample slot in a block. The audio thread now only copies the memory, at most 13 µs a block, and the editor builds the list. At host sample rates other than 44.1 kHz, each plug-in held 8 copies of the resampler's filter (4.8 MB); now there is one per process (0.34 MB) and the resampler takes about 40 % less time. Both bit-exact.

Fixes

• The Monomachine Editor draws the amp envelope the machine plays (B-049). A tester on Discord said the amp envelopes looked wrong. The values reached the machine as sent; the pictures were a guess. Measured on the firmware: ATK, DEC and REL are times, not steps of the tempo, and grow about twice every 8 to 10 values (ATK 64 reaches 90 % in 0.14 s, where the page drew 1 s; DEC 96 falls 20 dB in 4.7 s, where it drew 1.5 s; REL 127 never fades). Only HOLD followed the tempo. Sound › Amp, the TRIG SETUP plate and the piano roll's bars now draw from the measured times.
• A piano-roll note no longer puts another track's sound back (Monomachine Editor, B-050). A tester on Discord saw this on 0.3.5. It is B-027, fixed in 0.4.0; a firmware test now checks it.
• The AU no longer opens the old Gearmulator screen (macOS, B-048). A user on Discord got upstream's old panel when loading an editor as an AU in Ableton Live. Our AU only shows the editor page: an old preview build was still installed, and it registers the same Audio Unit codes with a higher version, so macOS used it. The installer removed old copies by name only; it now also removes a copy at any name in the plug-in folders it searches, when it carries our codes and is ours. The .dmg's and zip's install texts say an old AU can take the new one's place.
• macOS 12: the Sound page lays out as it should (both editors, B-055). macOS 12's web view (WebKit 15) has no subgrid and no :has(): on the Sound page each group's title sat at the top of a tall row and a short screen at its foot. Four smaller places used :has() too (the Machinedrum's Sampler set-up card, the GEN tag beside a track's name, the GEN bar's summary, the Monomachine's Perform assign rows without a joystick). None is left; every view of both editors is now checked as WebKit 15 lays it out. Not yet tried on a Mac with macOS 12.
• The GEN bar keeps R and Defaults in view (Monomachine Editor, B-056). In a window smaller than 1440 x 720 the page is zoomed out and the web view raises small text, which pushed the keys off the bar's end. The bar now tightens its spacing and labels in steps until everything fits.
• The DSP bridge and the MCP server are gone (both editors). The MCP server (upstream's remote control for AI tools, off by default) and the DSP bridge (upstream's network DSP, with no switch in these editors) are removed. A project saved by an upstream build with the bridge on still loads, on the local machine.

A project of its own

• The editors no longer depend on the fork they came from. The emulator cores (DSP56300 and 68k), JUCE and RmlUi are folders in this repository, so the build no longer needs the fork's accounts (only freetype and lunasvg are still fetched from their own projects). The other synths, VST2, CLAP and LV2, upstream's tools and workflows, the DSP bridge and the...

Machinedrum Editor + Monomachine Editor 0.4.0

Machinedrum Editor + Monomachine Editor 0.4.0

A release on top of 0.3.5: a lighter emulation, drag and drop on the Mac, the machines' MIDI out, and the fixes from a code review and from your reports.

Screenshots, features and FAQ: https://mdmm.dev · User guide: https://mdmm.dev/guide/

Faster

• The emulation does less work (both editors, B-005, B-028). Four speed-ups in the emulated processor, and the sound is bit for bit the same. Per audio frame the Machinedrum needs about 15 % less work stopped and 16 % playing, the Monomachine 19 % and 21 %. One instance takes 16 to 19 % less CPU, and the longest buffer while you edit is 17 to 27 % shorter. Measured on an M4 Pro; not yet checked in a DAW on an M1.
• To compare, choose Developer > Speed-ups off (legacy emulation, slower) in the right-click menu, or start your DAW with GEARMULATOR_MDMM_SPEEDUPS=0. Both give the same sound; only the CPU differs. If a click or a timing difference goes away with them off, tell us.

Fixes

• The buttons on the plug-in's messages work again (both editors). Since 0.3.0, pressing a button on a message or question from the plug-in did nothing, the update banner's Update, Download and Restart included. The answer now reaches the plug-in, and a question is answered once.
• Saving a project holds up the audio for a fraction of a millisecond (both editors, B-034). The machine's state is copied under the plug-in's lock and encoded after it: 0.13 to 0.24 ms in the Machinedrum Editor, 0.04 to 0.45 ms in the Monomachine Editor. 0.3.5 shortened the save's hold on the audio, but with a factory baseline cached on disk every save still decoded that cache under the lock: 48 to 59 ms in the Machinedrum Editor, 21 to 25 ms in the Monomachine Editor.
• The Monomachine Editor keeps a machine change (B-027). Choosing another machine for a track on Sound and then editing a step on Sequence used to put the machine back, with every other unsaved kit value. The machine plays the stored kit for about a quarter of a second after the edit; then your edits come back.
• Picking a pattern after a big SysEx import works (Machinedrum Editor, B-031). The editor no longer queues a status or dump request that is already waiting. A long backlog used to end in a burst of about 200 requests, and the Machinedrum's OS 1.63 loses input when that much arrives while it builds a reply: the pick never reached the machine and some read-backs failed ("Push failed"). 0.3.5's paced import hid it; a long backlog from any other source no longer causes it.
• A full MIDI queue no longer replays an old event (both editors). A burst of MIDI that filled the plug-in's queue could play an old event again and lose the new one, which could leave a note stuck.
• The DAW hears the new latency (both editors). After the resampler mode or the sample rate changes, the plug-in tells the host its new latency at once, so delay compensation is right.
• Windows: closing and reopening the plug-in's window no longer leaves it blank (B-029), and the standalone no longer starts with a blank window when its window is made again while it starts (B-022). The editor makes its web view again in the new window. We could not try this in a real Windows DAW yet; the Windows start test now closes and reopens the editor. If it still happens, send the editor-*.log (Open Log Folder).
• Windows: the standalone says when a MIDI port did not open (B-037). On Windows a MIDI port works in one program at a time: if a DAW or another editor uses it, the AUDIO / MIDI panel now says which port, why, and to switch it off there. The start-up log lists the audio device and the MIDI ports whenever they change. The Machinedrum Editor's start-up log gets its boot line once a second, as 0.3.5 said, not every 4 s (B-035).
• A note on MIDI in: in the app no MIDI input is on until you switch it on in AUDIO / MIDI, on every system.
• macOS: the installer removes the old plug-ins (B-032). It removes the old Gearmulator MD and Gearmulator MM VST3, AU and app bundles, in the install location and in your home folder, so a DAW lists each editor once. It leaves other names and links alone. If your DAW still lists an editor twice, tell us what is in /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins and ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins.
• The download page says which file is the installer (B-040): on macOS the big button reads "Download the installer (.pkg)", the .dmg is marked as loose files, and every release's notes on GitHub say it too.
• The Windows and Linux READMEs send reports to https://mdmm.dev/contact/ and Discord (#bugs), not to GitHub issues, which are off (B-042).
• Linux: the page stays up (both editors). A window that was not at the design size sent its zoom in a way that crashes WebKitGTK's web process, so a laptop screen below 1440 x 924 could blank the page; it now goes as an ordinary message. A file write that fails no longer freezes the page: it is tried again, in order, and the start-up log says why. A page that starts again shows the questions still waiting. Not tried on a real Linux desktop yet; it may be the blank window one tester saw on 0.3.4 (B-033). If your window is still blank, tell us your distribution and WebKitGTK version.
• The MCP server only answers your own computer. It is off unless you switch it on. It now listens on 127.0.0.1 only, checks the Host and Origin of every request and sends no CORS headers, so a web page in your browser can no longer call it; it stops at once when the editor closes, and limits the size and number of requests. It still has no password, so leave it off unless you use it.
• A broken network message ends its connection, not your DAW. In the MCP server and the DSP bridge (upstream's network-DSP feature: its server is a separate program we do not ship; its client is compiled into the plug-ins, but these editors have no switch for it), a malformed or oversized message, or an error on a network thread, now closes that one connection. The bridge server names a ROM it caches by its content only (1 byte to 16 MiB) and no longer takes a path from the other end.

New

• A notice when the editor runs under Rosetta (both editors, B-043). Testers on M1 Macs see about twice the CPU of M2 Macs. The likely cause is a DAW opened as an Intel app, which runs the whole emulator translated. The editor now says so once a session: "Running under Rosetta" with Don't show again and OK (on Windows on Arm: "Running in emulation"). It replaces the "Rosetta detected" box the editors inherited, which came back every time a window opened and could not be switched off. The performance report and the first line of the start-up log record process_arch, machine_arch and translated, so a report settles it.
• Drag and drop files onto the window (both editors, macOS only for now). A ROM (.bin, or a .zip with it) installs after a question ("Install ... as the firmware? The machine starts again with it."), at once on the start-up card when no firmware runs yet. A SysEx file (.syx) opens the import window with its preview, as Import SysEx... does; one file a drop. Samples (.wav, .aif, .aiff; Machinedrum Editor, with the Sampler open) go into ROM slots: the one you drop on, or the selected one, then the slots after it, one file at a time, after one question. Anything else is named in a note. While files are over the window, a frame says what it takes. On Windows and Linux a dropped file is not opened; the card says to click the button. New in this release: if a drop is not taken, tell us.
• The machine's own MIDI out reaches your DAW and the standalone's MIDI output (both editors, B-037). Notes, CCs, program changes, pitch bend and pressure, and clock, start, stop and continue, go where a real machine's MIDI OUT goes. Its SysEx never does: its dumps and answers to the editor must not reach a real Elektron on the port. In a DAW it arrives on the plug-in's MIDI output, which carried none of the machine's MIDI until now. In HW MIDI mode nothing changes.

Known

• Windows 10: both VST3s stay on the boot screen in Ableton, and the Monomachine standalone crackles (B-035, B-036). Most likely the machine runs below real time on that PC. We need the start-up log: Open Log Folder, editor-*.log, after a minute in the DAW or the app.
• Machinedrum: changing a machine in the stock patterns (B-039). We could not reproduce a machine change being lost; if it happens to you, tell us the pattern, the kit and what you did.
• Machinedrum: a pattern pick during a SysEx import asks about unsaved kit edits you never made (B-045). It goes away when the import finishes.
• Monomachine: in a backup we test with, picking pattern H16 leaves the machine on kit 58, not its linked kit 74 (B-046). The firmware decides this; not investigated.
• Monomachine: a LOOP row in a song written by the editor goes back to row 1, not to the row it names (B-038). The machine plays it so; where it stores the loop target is still to be probed.
• The update banner still offers Download (the site), never Update. Installing from inside the app waits for our update signing key.

For developers

• A local release gate. scripts/mdmm-local-gate.sh says red or green for a release candidate on a Mac with the firmware that CI never has (doc/release/LOCAL-GATE.md).
• CI: the macOS, Windows and core lists name the new tests; Linux fails on a test program that does not build; the integration policy gate of the upstream fork runs only in its own repository.

Platforms

• macOS 12 or later (Intel and Apple silicon), not signed by Apple yet: the first install needs Open Anyway (on macOS 12 to 14: right-click the installer > Open).
• Windows x64 and Linux x64: not tested by a person yet. Feedback welcome: https://mdmm.dev...

Machinedrum Editor + Monomachine Editor 0.3.5

Machinedrum Editor + Monomachine Editor 0.3.5

A fix release on top of 0.3.4.

Screenshots, features and FAQ: https://mdmm.dev · User guide: https://mdmm.dev/guide/

SysEx import

• The file goes to the machine as it is, and the machine decides. The editor no longer guesses which OS a dump is from. Old backups, public ones among them, now import in full: kits, patterns, songs and globals from earlier OS versions that used to be refused as "wrong OS".
• The preview tells you what will happen: what each item overwrites, what plays now, and that an import has no Undo (Export SysEx first). Untick a whole kind or click single items away.
• A report per item once the machine has read everything back: taken, converted by the machine, ignored, or different from the file.
• A new import window (both editors): one tab per kind (kits, patterns, songs, globals) with the machine's own slot grid, so you see which slots get overwritten and what plays now. Click a slot to leave it out (Shift-click for a range), or use All, Empty slots only and None. While it runs, each tab shows its own progress; the report marks every slot and can show the problems only.
• Globals are off unless you tick them: they change the machine's MIDI channels and settings. An imported global for the slot the machine uses is made active at once, so the machine and the editor agree on the MIDI channel, and the report says what each global changed. If a global sets the MIDI base channel to OFF, the editor says so instead of showing mutes the machine never took; GLOBAL sets a channel again.

Fixes

• Start-up diagnostics in the plug-in too (both editors, B-035). While the machine starts, the start-up card says when the DAW is not running audio for the plug-in, or when the machine runs slower than real time; the start-up log (Open Log Folder) gets a line a second for the first 30 s, in the app and in a DAW.
• The Monomachine Editor's play head costs less (B-036): it moves without repainting the step cells and the piano rolls at every step, and the editor asks the emulator less often while the machine starts, as the Machinedrum Editor does.
• TEMPO shows the DAW's tempo in a DAW (both editors, B-030). The machine already followed the host's clock, but the LCD showed its own stored tempo. Now it shows the host's BPM (also while the DAW is stopped), marked DAW, and refuses edits: change the tempo in the DAW. The app is unchanged.
• No more glitch when you save a project or close the app (Machinedrum Editor): saving no longer holds up the audio for 25 to 30 ms. The app now fades out before it closes, so closing while a pattern plays no longer clicks.
• Set up sampling no longer loses tracks 13 and 14 (Machinedrum Editor). In 0.3.4, chopping right after Set up sampling with the machine stopped put the tracks back to the kit's stored machines, together with every unsaved kit edit.
• The arpeggiator range goes up to 9 octaves (Monomachine Editor), as on the machine, and shows the right number: it used to read one octave too many.
• Full screen and maximise work in the app, and the app menu no longer has a Settings entry that did nothing.
• ? works without clicking into the window first (both editors); in the Monomachine Editor it now opens the keyboard view.
• Shortcuts work while a value is focused, so ⌘Z (Ctrl+Z) undoes a Control All drag at once.
• Perform no longer jumps while you drag the envelope (Monomachine Editor).
• A SysEx file chosen as the ROM now says it is SysEx, not the ROM image, and where to import it.
• Windows: a faster, more reliable start. The editors try WebView2 again when it fails to start, write a start-up log, and say on screen what went wrong. Open Log Folder in the right-click menu finds the log to send us.

New

• The Song page shows what plays (both editors). Its left column now goes from the top: What plays (a big PATTERN | SONG switch and one live line: PATTERN B07, SONG 01 · row 017 of 65 · B01, or CHAIN A03»A05), the song, the pattern palette, the selected row. While a song plays, the arrangement is framed as playing; in PATTERN mode it stays as it is, ready to edit, and the header says the song is not playing. The switch lights what the machine reports.
• A song playhead (both editors): while the machine plays a song, the row it plays is marked in the arrangement, read from the machine itself, so it follows repeats, loops and jumps; the time bar above the grid fills up to it, and the LCD's pattern slot reads SONG 01 · 017.
• PAT / SONG on the LCD's second line, on every page: click it to switch between pattern and song mode. The LCD keeps its size in both modes.
• Song edits just play (both editors): no more "Reload song". An edit made while stopped is heard at the next PLAY; one made while the song plays, from the next start; one made in pattern mode, when you switch to SONG.
• GLOBAL key in the top bar (Machinedrum Editor), where FN was: the machine's MIDI channel, sync, note map and routing. The AUDIO / MIDI panel points to it. FN is gone: ⌥, ⇧ and ⌘ remain, and the step menu keeps every ⌥ action.
• The editor menu in the editors' own style (both editors): right-click anywhere the page has no menu of its own. Zoom (the page, and Window Size for the window itself), Updates, Open Log Folder, Audio/MIDI Settings… in the app, and a Developer submenu. It works with the keyboard and looks the same in every DAW.
• The GLOBAL panel's note map names every target (Machinedrum Editor): tracks, patterns A01 to H16, START and STOP. Map a note sends any note to any pattern, START or STOP. Maps from older backups now show as they are instead of being cut short.

Platforms

• macOS 12 or later (Intel and Apple silicon), not signed by Apple yet: the first install needs Open Anyway.
• Windows x64 and Linux x64: not tested by a person yet. Feedback welcome: https://mdmm.dev/contact/

Machinedrum Editor + Monomachine Editor 0.3.4

Machinedrum Editor + Monomachine Editor 0.3.4

A fix release on top of 0.3.3, with a new keyboard map for the Machinedrum Editor.

Screenshots, features and FAQ: https://mdmm.dev · User guide: https://mdmm.dev/guide/

Fixes

• No more drop-outs while editing in a DAW (both editors). Every edit used to reach the machine at once: a parameter-lock drag sent the whole pattern up to five times a second, and each one kept the emulation busy on the audio thread, so a slower Mac missed audio buffers. While the machine plays, everything the editor sends now goes in one queue at the speed of a real MIDI cable, and the newest value wins while it waits. In a six-second lock drag the machine now takes 5 patterns instead of 31, and the audio thread runs hot about a sixth as long as before. The first edit is heard at once; during a long drag the machine follows at most about two seconds behind.
• Big imports run at full speed while the machine is stopped; while it plays they go at MIDI-cable speed so the audio never drops out. A full Machinedrum backup's 128 patterns take about 14 seconds while stopped, and about four minutes while playing.
• SysEx imports finish cleanly. A big import used to end with a flood of "Push failed" messages and old patterns on screen, although the machine had taken them in. The editor now checks the documents a couple at a time.
• ⌘C, ⌘V and ⌘X work in DAWs and in the app (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, Ctrl+X on Windows and Linux). Before, the plug-in window swallowed them on macOS.
• Lighter page graphics while playing (Machinedrum Editor): the moving play head no longer redraws a column of steps at every step, so the editor's window costs far less while the pattern plays.

New

• The version is shown: next to Setup in the top bar, in the keyboard view, as the first line of the right-click menu (with the Updates entries under it), and in the app's About box (the app menu on macOS, Help on Windows and Linux).

New: the keyboard map (Machinedrum Editor)

• ⌘-click and ⌘-drag select steps (Ctrl on Windows and Linux); ⌘⇧-click extends the selection.
• Right-click a step for the step menu: trig, accent, slide, copy, paste, duplicate, clear, and the fill (every 2nd or 4th step) that used to be on ⌘-click.
• FN button in the top bar: the next click, drag or key acts on every track, like holding ⌥ (double-click keeps it on).
• ? shows a keyboard view with every key and what it does.
• Delete with nothing selected no longer clears the page; it tells you how (Clr, or ⌥Delete for the whole pattern).
• COPY, CLR and PASTE in the LCD act on the selected steps when steps are selected.
• The Monomachine Editor gets the same selection and step menu next.

Platforms

• macOS 12 or later (Intel and Apple silicon), not signed by Apple yet: the first install needs Open Anyway.
• Windows x64 and Linux x64: not tested by a person yet. Feedback welcome: https://mdmm.dev/contact/

Windows and Linux: not tested. The *-Windows-x64-not-tested.zip and *-Linux-x64-not-tested.tar.gz archives are built and unit-tested by CI only; nobody has used them yet. Each has a README (install paths, required packages). Bring your own ROM.

Machinedrum Editor + Monomachine Editor 0.3.3

Machinedrum Editor + Monomachine Editor 0.3.3

A fix release on top of 0.3.2, with the first steps towards updating from inside the app.

Screenshots, features and FAQ: https://mdmm.dev · User guide: https://mdmm.dev/guide/

Fixes

• No more swing while editing parameter locks (Machinedrum). Each lock edit sends the whole pattern to the machine; it used to arrive all at once and stall the machine's sequencer for up to 17 ms. It now goes in at a steady pace, and the editor checks the machine once after you stop editing. Timing while dragging a lock lane: worst error 16.9 ms before, under 4 ms now.
• The Sampler fills on the very first start of a new install (it stayed empty until the editor was restarted).
• A SysEx message that a host delivers in pieces now reaches the machine once, not twice (from upstream Gearmulator).

New

• Update check: once a day the editor asks https://mdmm.dev/latest.json whether a newer version exists and shows a small notice; it starts showing notices once the update service is switched on, in a later release. Nothing else is sent; turn it off in the new Updates menu. Installing from inside the app also comes later.

Testing

• Every release is now checked on the exact files we ship before they are published: the apps and plug-ins start and show their editor on macOS, Windows and Linux, Apple's AU validation, and pluginval (strictness 5) on every VST3 and AU.

Platforms

• macOS 12 or later (Intel and Apple silicon), not signed by Apple yet: the first install needs Open Anyway.
• Windows x64 and Linux x64: not tested by a person yet. Feedback welcome: https://mdmm.dev/contact/

Windows and Linux: not tested. The *-Windows-x64-not-tested.zip and *-Linux-x64-not-tested.tar.gz archives are built and unit-tested by CI only; nobody has used them yet. Each has a README (install paths, required packages). Bring your own ROM.

Machinedrum Editor + Monomachine Editor 0.3.2

Machinedrum Editor + Monomachine Editor 0.3.2

Fixes and polish on top of 0.3.1: the Windows editor now opens, a new name, step selection on the Machinedrum, and rendering fixes for older Macs.

Screenshots, features and FAQ: https://mdmm.dev
User guide: https://mdmm.dev/guide/

What's new

Names

• The editors are now Machinedrum Editor and Monomachine Editor, by Future Native Audio, in your DAW's plug-in list, in Finder and in the window titles.
• The installers remove the old Gearmulator MD and Gearmulator MM bundles they put in place, so a DAW does not list the editor twice. Your ROMs, settings and old DAW projects are untouched: projects still load.

Windows and Linux

• The Windows editor now works (WebView2): the window is no longer empty. Windows is still not tested in a real DAW.
• A Linux x64 build is available (not tested).

Machinedrum

• Select steps with Option-click, Option-drag or the ruler, then copy, cut, paste, duplicate and delete them (Cmd-C, Cmd-X, Cmd-V, Cmd-D, Delete). Slide moved to Option-Shift-click.
• The LCD's values follow a drag.
• The first start loads the ROM once, not twice.

Window and display

• Page Zoom in the right-click menu, and Cmd -, Cmd +, Cmd 0. The page always fits its window, and the plug-in window fits the screen (no more oversized window in Ableton Live).
• The MIX faders keep a sensible size at every window size.
• Older macOS (12 and later): the rendering fixes for the older Safari, and a visible play head on the white skin.
• The right-click menu no longer has a dead Settings entry. The standalone app has "Audio/MIDI Settings...".

Standalone

• A Record menu writes the window and its sound to an .mp4 (macOS 15 and later).

Requirements

• macOS 12 or later (Intel and Apple silicon). The installer now checks this.
• CPU use is unchanged: about half a core per instance.

Known limits

• Not notarised by Apple: on macOS 15 and later use Open Anyway in System Settings > Privacy & Security.
• High CPU in some hosts is not fixed yet.

Report a problem: https://mdmm.dev/contact/

Windows and Linux: not tested. The *-Windows-x64-not-tested.zip and *-Linux-x64-not-tested.tar.gz archives are built and unit-tested by CI only; nobody has used them yet. Each has a README (install paths, required packages). Bring your own ROM.

Machinedrum Editor + Monomachine Editor 0.3.1

Machinedrum Editor + Monomachine Editor 0.3.1

A fix release on top of 0.3.0.

Screenshots, features and FAQ: https://mdmm.dev

Fixes (Machinedrum)

• Unsaved kit edits are no longer lost when you click a step elsewhere.
• Kit values always reach the machine: undo after Control All is heard, and a value set right after a machine change stays.
• "Set up sampling" sets the recorder's volume to 0, so the recorder never records itself (no feedback loop).

macOS

• Each machine also comes as a drag-and-drop disk image (.dmg), next to the installer (.pkg).
• The editors have their own bundle identifiers and settings files, apart from upstream Gearmulator. Settings from 0.3.0 and earlier are copied over on first start.
• The release pipeline is ready for Developer ID signing and notarization.

Install

Bring your own ROM: nothing is bundled. If macOS says the app cannot be opened, go to
System Settings › Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway.

Windows and Linux: not tested

• Windows x64: MD-MM-Editors-Windows-x64-not-tested.zip (standalone apps + VST3). It passed the automatic tests, but no person has tried it yet.
• Linux: coming in a later release.

Machinedrum Editor + Monomachine Editor 0.1.0 alpha

Machinedrum Editor + Monomachine Editor 0.1.0 alpha

The first public release of two screen-native editors for the Elektron Machinedrum and
Monomachine. Each one runs the machine's real firmware in an emulator and puts the whole machine
on one page: step grid, parameter-lock lanes, kit and pattern library, song chains, mutes, app
LFOs, and a HW MIDI mode that drives a real machine instead of the emulator.

• Machinedrum Editor: a step grid, lock lanes by page and
  index, kit/pattern library, chains, GLOBAL settings, a ? key list, and LFOs that keep running
  with the editor closed.
• Monomachine Editor: a piano-roll sequencer, lock
  lanes, POLY, song picker, live and grid recording, and undo that covers library writes.

Both come as a standalone app, a VST3 and an Audio Unit for macOS (Apple silicon and Intel).

Screenshots, features and FAQ: https://mdmm.nativekloud.com

• Machinedrum sequencer
• Machinedrum kit library
• Monomachine sequencer
• Monomachine mixer

This fork's editors are separate from upstream's mdmm-v0.1.0-alpha.N "Gearmulator MD/MM"
builds, which ship the hardware-panel emulation. Those remain at
joelanders/gearmulator-md-mm.

Pay what you want

The editors are free software. If they are useful to you, you can pay what you want at
https://mdmm.nativekloud.com/get/. Paying is optional; the download is the same.

Install (macOS)

File	Installs
Machinedrum-Editor-macOS.pkg	/Applications/Machinedrum Editor.app, /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/Gearmulator MD.vst3, /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/Gearmulator MD.component
Monomachine-Editor-macOS.pkg	/Applications/Monomachine Editor.app, /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/Gearmulator MM.vst3, /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/Gearmulator MM.component

1. Download the package for your machine.

2. The packages are not signed yet (there is no Apple Developer ID for the project), so macOS
   blocks them on a plain double-click. Open one in any of these ways:

   • Right-click (or Control-click) the .pkg in Finder, choose Open, then Open again.
   • Or double-click it, dismiss the warning, then go to System Settings › Privacy & Security,
     scroll down and click Open Anyway next to the package's name.
   • Or in Terminal: xattr -d com.apple.quarantine ~/Downloads/Machinedrum-Editor-macOS.pkg

3. Follow the installer. Customize lets you leave out the app, the VST3 or the AU. It asks for
   your password because it writes to /Applications and /Library.

4. If the app is blocked the first time you open it, do the same: right-click it in Applications and
   choose Open, or use Open Anyway, or run:

   xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Machinedrum Editor.app"
   xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Monomachine Editor.app"

5. Rescan plug-ins in your DAW. The plug-ins are listed as Gearmulator MD and Gearmulator MM
   (instruments). If you installed an earlier build by hand into ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins, delete
   those copies so the DAW does not list two.

Terminal install, for scripts:

sudo installer -pkg Machinedrum-Editor-macOS.pkg -target /
sudo installer -pkg Monomachine-Editor-macOS.pkg -target /

To remove: delete the three bundles listed above. Your firmware and settings in ~/Documents stay.

Bring your own ROM

No firmware is included, and none will be provided. The Elektron firmware is Elektron's
copyright; the editors are for people who own the machine.

Copy the complete 8 MiB firmware image (.bin) from your own machine into:

Machine	Folder
Machinedrum	~/Documents/Gearmulator Preview/Machinedrum/roms/
Monomachine	~/Documents/Gearmulator Preview/Monomachine/roms/

If no firmware is found, the editor says so and opens the folder for you. Then restart the app or
reload the plug-in. Tested firmware: Machinedrum UW OS 1.63 and Monomachine SFX-60 OS 1.32B.

Please do not ask for, share or link firmware files in the issues or on Discord.

Known limits

This is an alpha. Save often and keep backups.

• HW MIDI is beta and untested on real hardware. It was verified only against the emulator
  acting as the MIDI peer; no real Machinedrum or Monomachine has been connected yet. Reports are
  very welcome.
• Over HW MIDI, some controls are disabled because the machine has no MIDI message for them (the
  editor says why), edits made on the machine before connecting are not seen until SAVE KIT, and
  the Monomachine's MIDI track mutes shown are the editor's own.
• Machinedrum: LOCAL CTRL and TRIG IN A/B are stored and shown, but their effect is not verified.
  In the MAP EDITOR, START and QUE were not told apart, and CTRL keymap values (32 and up), if any,
  are not shown.
• Monomachine: STEP RECORDING (STOP + RECORD) is not on the page; the record key uses GRID and LIVE.
• The page is the only UI. The older hardware-panel skins are not part of these builds.
• Names inside the apps still read "Gearmulator MD" / "Gearmulator MM" (menu bar, DAW plug-in list)
  and the data folder is ~/Documents/Gearmulator Preview.
• The standalone apps use stereo output. Extra output pairs are available in a multi-output VST3
  host.
• macOS only for now. Tested on macOS 27 on Apple silicon; the Intel slice is built and checked but
  not played on an Intel Mac. The packages are unsigned and not notarized.

Credits

• joelanders: the Machinedrum and
  Monomachine emulation this is built on, running the real firmware.
• The Usual Suspects and the Gearmulator
  contributors: the emulation framework, the DSP56300 and 68k cores, and the plug-in
  infrastructure.
• The editors (the Machinedrum Editor and Monomachine Editor pages, HW MIDI mode, installers):
  Radek Dymacz, NativeKloud.

Licence and trademarks

GPL-3.0, like upstream Gearmulator. The full source for this release is at
radekdymacz/gearmulator-md-mm under the
mdmm-v0.1.0-alpha tag; the licence text is in LICENSE.md.

Machinedrum, Monomachine and Elektron are trademarks of Elektron Music Machines MAV AB. This
project is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or supported by Elektron, The Usual Suspects or
joelanders. Please do not contact them for support: use
the issues.