FM-1 firmware · 1.84
ETCH
A wavetable synth where you draw your own waveforms, morph between them and animate them with modulation, effects, an arpeggiator and sequencer.
- Made by
- Joppe Sikken (SikkenWorks)
- Released
- October 30, 2026
- Install
- On the FM-1 Firmware Hub · source on GitHub
- Scan
- Scanned, nothing harmful found · Oct 31 What we checked
- Last checked
- October 31, 2026
What ETCH does
- You draw your own single-cycle waveforms on the FM1 and morph between Wave A and Wave B.
- A third drawn wave, Wave C, modulates the carrier's phase or its morph position for movement and harsher timbres.
- The sequencer holds patterns up to 256 steps, eight note triggers per step and six parameter-lock destinations.
- The arpeggiator offers eight modes including RIFF, a scale-aware generator that writes a fresh 16-step motif.
- Sculpt, fold, bend and harmonic tools reshape the stored wave, with a preview before you apply.
- You save 64 named waveforms, 32 presets and 4 projects, each with an explicit SAVE.
- Motion Recording captures your moves of MORPH, ETCH, cutoff and SPACE and loops them back.
- USB MIDI plays notes, follows external clock, and holding SEQ at power-on turns the keys into a controller.
Its modes
- PLAY
- Shape the sound fast with K1 MORPH, K2 ETCH, K3 CUTOFF and K4 SPACE.
- DRAW
- Draw and edit a 128-point waveform for Wave A, B or C, with undo and redo.
- MORPH
- Pick saved waves for A and B, set the morph position and the Wave C rate.
- LIBRARY
- Choose a stored waveform slot and load it into A, B or C with REC twice.
- FX
- Set drive, chorus, delay, reverb and the other global effects and wave inserts.
- EVOLUTION
- Animate the running oscillator shape with depth, rate, FOLD/SHARP/STAIR and sync.
- RIFF LAB
- Shape density, mutation and variants of the generated riff and make a new one.
- SEQ
- Build patterns with length, rate, swing and gate, and record notes live.
- GROUPS
- Split the keyboard into MAIN plus two saved presets in their own key ranges.
- PERFORMANCE
- Assign four macros and capture two scenes that recall with PLAY/STOP.
What Les checked
ETCH V1.88Scanned October 31, 2026
What we checked for
- The file is exactly the one its author published
- It's the same file we saw when this release first came out
- It opens cleanly as an FM-1 firmware, nothing damaged
- It doesn't show up on your computer as a keyboard, mouse or other input device
- It doesn't show up as a USB drive or network adapter
- Its text mentions no computer command tools, like PowerShell, Terminal or a download command
What we found
- MIDI and audio, as expected
StatusScanned, nothing harmful found
Les scans every firmware here whose file is public, and shows what it checked and what it found. A scan lowers the risk; it can't rule it out. This firmware is made by its author, not by Les or M-VAVE. Back up first, and install at your own risk. How Les scans firmware
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Les is independent and not affiliated with M-VAVE or the firmware authors. M-VAVE and FM-1 are trademarks of their owners.