CORTEX for the M-VAVE FM-1

CORTEX turns the M-VAVE FM-1 into a generative FM instrument. Three six-operator FM voices (pad, bells, bass) with DX7 banks play chords that grow by themselves, each voice with an ADSR, a Moog-style low-pass filter and five modulators; a reel of tape records and replays them; songs come in from MIDI files; and a video synth on the screen moves with the music, from LZX- and Hydra-style oscillators to feedback and datamosh, with twelve ready looks, its colours spilling into every page. Tom, a cartoon cat, walks across the screen and explains every page and knob as you play. It plays itself from the moment it is switched on, and every knob can be played or rolled.

• Try it in your browser (no FM-1 needed): https://guiatihe333.github.io/cortex/simulator/
• Install it: download cortex-X.Y.Z.fwsc from the releases and install it with The Firmware Hub, M-UPGRADE or python3 base/tools/fm1_install.py
• Read the manual: docs/MANUAL.md (Portuguese: docs/MANUAL-PT.md)

CORTEX is a fork of AMB-1 by Charles Vestal (its history is this repository's), with the FM6 core of JIANT FM (msfa, Dexed's core, in integer C: app/dsp/fm6_core.c). Its identity is FM-1_76XXYYZZ. It is not affiliated with M-VAVE.

Building and testing

CORTEX is an app on fm1-base, which is in this tree as base/ (not a submodule) with two small changes of CORTEX's: the USB audio a computer plays into the FM-1, given to the app (the reel's SOURCE USB). base/CORTEX.md lists them. The toolchain and prerequisites are in BUILDING.md:

./build.sh                                                   # app/build/cortex.fwsc
sh tests/run_tests.sh                                        # the instrument, the app in a simulator, the web builds
python3 base/tools/fm1_install.py app/build/cortex.fwsc      # install it over USB

The browser simulator (simulator/) is ./build.sh --web's, with a page that loads MIDI files into the song slots.

app/build/host/amb_host SCRIPT OUTDIR runs the whole app on a computer from a script (tests/scenarios/*.amb), with audio and screenshots coming out. ./build.sh --web builds the same code for the browser (the emulator); web/app/build.sh builds the engine alone into a web app for phone and desktop.

Credits

The idea comes from Brian Eno's generative music: Music for Airports' tape loops of unequal length, and the echo chain of Discreet Music. The reverb is Jon Dattorro's plate ("Effect Design, Part 1", JAES 1997), as in FoMni-1; the Euclidean rhythms are Godfried Toussaint's reading of Bjorklund's algorithm. AMB-1 is built on fm1-base and felucca-bsp, from Felucca by Leo Kuroshita (Hügelton Instruments). The idea of running FM-1 firmware in the browser comes from Groove OS. MPL-2.0 (0.9 and earlier: GPL-3.0-only); see LICENSING.md.

M-VAVE and FM-1 are trademarks of their owners. AMB-1 is not affiliated with M-VAVE, Brian Eno or Hügelton Instruments.