M-Vave opens FM-1 firmware for custom development

M-Vave announced FM1 Open on October 17, a software package designed to encourage owners of the FM-1 to develop custom firmware. The release includes an SDK, a browser-based workbench, and version 15 of the stock firmware. While the underlying synth engine remains a closed binary, the move follows a period of community activity where tinkerers began reverse-engineering the device's stock firmware in July. By September, custom firmware builds had started appearing for the synthesizer.

The FM-1 supports various third-party projects, including Melodee, which emulates a Commodore 64 SID sound chip, and Felucca, a multi-engine synth package. SLOOP transforms the device into an eight-track beat maker. A reviewer noted that flashing custom firmware can wipe all information on the device and may leave it in a difficult-to-recover state if interrupted. To mitigate this, M-Vave included a force-flash tool in the FM1 Workbench that restored a reviewer's unit to stock v15 in about 10 seconds after a failed installation attempt.