Felucca

Felucca is the firmware that turned the FM-1 into a platform. It replaces the entire system with 13 synthesis engines, a deep sequencer, effects, and a redesigned panel that feels like a tiny Elektron: every button has layers that hold up, the home screen is an oscilloscope, there are 10 color palettes and LEDs that breathe. And the strategic piece: its entire platform layer — hardware, USB, update loader, installer, storage, editor protocol — is what almost every other firmware in the scene reuses.

Workflow

Sound design and groovebox sequencing in a single pocket device, in the studio or live. It also works as a USB sound module: class-compliant MIDI and stereo audio input at 44.1/48 kHz, so it can be the synth making sound while you sequence from the computer. The editor runs entirely in the browser, and the whole firmware can also be tried as WASM without owning an FM-1 — the “try” on its page.

Engines & what it emulates

Thirteen engines: ANALOG (VA), FM6 — the classic 6-operator FM with a Dexed/msfa core, 32-voice DX7 .syx bank import, and on-device operator editing —, PHASE (CZ-style phase distortion), LOFI (chiptune), SAMPLE (multisamples + user slots), VOICE (Klatt formant vocals), TRIO (3 osc with ring/sync), WHEEL (tonewheel organ with drawbars and rotary), GRAIN (granular), PHYS (physical models from DaisySP/Mutable Rings), NOISE, SLICE (break slicer), and DRUM (8 synthesized tracks; 5 VA kits “in the style of the classic analog drum machines”).

What sets it apart

• 64-step sequencer with per-step probability, ratchet, and micro-timing (NUDGE), parameter locks, automation, piano roll, and drum grid; 16-section song mode.
• Arpeggiator with 13 modes; 4-slot modulation matrix per track.
• HALL/ROOM/SPRING reverbs and an effects layer (tape stop, freeze, harmonizer, synced flanger/phaser).
• Scale keyboard (16 scales + white-keys mode), full backup, autosave.

Status & caveats

Stable and hyperactive — 16 releases from v0.8 to 1.4.1 in a single week. The project format changed in 1.4 (FUN10): 1.4 projects don’t open in 1.1.5.x, so update with a backup. Its README carries an honest AI-assisted development disclaimer. The contributors on its list are, literally, the authors of tomorrow’s forks (keremimo, ChanceTheMaker, zednaked, jasonpersinger).