github hugelton/Felucca v1.4
Felucca 1.4
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2 hours ago

Felucca 1.4

Fewer, clearer pages, songs with a lane per track, timing that keeps how you played, a smooth HALL reverb, FLANGER and PHASER on your own FX keys, FM6 operators on the device, LFO sync, MOMENTARY knob moves and a lot more. Everything since 1.1.5.1 is in this release (there was no 1.2 or 1.3). Older projects and sounds load and sound as before; the changes in how things work are marked ⚠ below, and projects saved by 1.4 do not open on 1.1.5.x (see Going back).

Install: the web installer (Chrome or Edge, USB) now installs 1.4.

Try it first: Felucca in your browser runs 1.4, the same firmware compiled to WebAssembly, with the panel on screen.

New

  • Pages by button. SEQ is two pages, STEP and AUTOMATION; SEQ held opens SEQ TOOLS on every page; GLO opens SONG; HOME goes round HOME, MIXER and CLOCK (BPM, swing, the clock source); SAVE goes round USER, PHRASES (the pattern loader), PROJECT, TOOLS and PRESETS. See ⚠ below for where everything went. (Discussion #153)
  • SEQ > AUTOMATION is one list of everything that happens on the track's steps: PLAY / CLEAR, the track's QUANTIZE, each step's CHANCE, RATCH and NUDGE, its locks and automation events. + ADD adds a lock, CHANCE, RATCH or NUDGE; SAVE held undoes every edit.
  • Songs with a lane per track (GLO > SONG). A song is up to 16 sections; each names the project slot (A–D) every track plays, or "-" for a track that rests there, and its repeats. Build a song up track by track, keep the drums on A while the bass moves to B, or drop the lead for a section. The page draws the song as a timeline with a lane per track. KNOB 1 SECTION, 2 TRACK, 3 PAT, 4 REPS; the white keys A3 B3 C4 D4 set the selected cell's slot. (Discussion #173)
  • The header shows the pattern's slot after the track's number: "1 A" (the track plays PROJECT A's pattern), "1 A*" (changed since), "1 -" (resting in the song's section).
  • Timing: NUDGE and QUANTIZE. Live recording keeps when you played each note, as the step's NUDGE (in 1/16 of a step, from half a step early to 7/16 late). The track's QUANTIZE (SEQ > AUTOMATION, ON by default) decides what plays: ON plays every step on the grid as before; OFF plays your timing. Set nudges by hand on AUTOMATION's NUDGE rows, or hold a step on STEP and turn PRESETS. (Discussion #162)
  • 128 automation records shared by the four tracks (64 before).
  • LFO 2 (LFO > LFO 2): SYNC the LFO to a note value (4 bars to 1/32) at the tempo or an external clock, TRIG NOTE or FREE, POL bipolar or unipolar. Every sound of before plays as before. (Discussion #154)
  • The modulation matrix has two new sources, S&H and SLEW (a random value per LFO cycle, held or gliding), and a new destination, DEPTH (the LFO's depth), so the matrix can modulate the modulator. (Discussion #132)
  • ANALOG's WAVE has SYNC (the second oscillator hard-synced to the first, DTN its interval) and SUB (a square an octave down, MIX its level). (Discussion #104)
  • SPREAD (EDIT > VOICE 3): the voices of a POLY or UNISON track alternate left and right of its PAN, up to hard left and right. 0 by default. (Discussion #148)
  • FM6's six operators on the device: EDIT > OPERATOR (ratio or fixed frequency, fine, level), OP ENV (each stage's rate and level, drawn as the envelope) and OPERATOR 2 (mode, detune, velocity), KNOB 1 picking the operator on the algorithm chart. An edit makes the patch the track's own (SLOT OWN), SAVE held undoes it, and projects and user presets keep it. (Discussion #76)
  • HALL, a third reverb TYPE (FX > REVERB): a smooth, dense stereo reverb, up to about 4.5 s, at about ROOM's CPU cost. (Discussions #151, #164, #176)
  • FLANGER and PHASER in the FX layer (B4 and C5), both in time with the tempo, and your own FX keys: in the FX layer hold a white key and turn PRESETS to give it any of the twelve effects (or none); EDIT gives it its default back. Double-tap FX to lock the layer open and keep both hands free. (Discussion #164)
  • MOMENTARY: hold LFO and turn a knob on HOME or a sound / FX page; let go of LFO and every value you turned goes back. OCT+ while holding LFO keeps the changes. (Discussions #72, #73)
  • Sound categories and random project names. Every factory sound has a category (BASS, LEAD, PAD, PLUCK, KEYS, DRUM, FX, OTHER); SAVE > PRESETS' LIST (KNOB 4) shows one at a time, also for the PRESETS knob. A user preset gets one when you save or rename it (NAME's KNOB 3); on a project's NAME screen KNOB 3 types a random name. Nothing changes until you use them. (Discussion #90)
  • HOME TRACKS (MENU > DISPLAY > HOME): HOME shows the four tracks, a row each with its sound, its steps playing, MUTE and a meter, instead of the oscilloscope. SCOPE stays the default. (Discussions #112, #134)
  • MENU has five tabs: the new MIDI tab holds MIDI IN (CH1-4, SEL and now CH5-8, CH9-12, CH13-16: tracks 1–4 on another block of four channels, e.g. two FM-1s on one cable), AUDIO gets TUNE, SYSTEM gets INFO (the version, the USB link, the CPU load). (Discussion #143)
  • MENU > DISPLAY > SCOPE: OUT or MIX, the mix before MASTER, so the scope stays the same size at any volume. (Discussion #165)
  • MENU > CONTROL > STEP PREVIEW: with the transport stopped, moving the cursor on SEQ > STEP plays the step it lands on. (Discussion #169)
  • MENU > CONTROL > CHORD ENTRY ADD: in step recording each key adds its note to the step (again takes it out), and KNOB 1 moves on, so a chord goes in one finger at a time. HOLD (the default) works as before. (#155)
  • MENU > DISPLAY > ANIM IDLE: after a minute without input a soft light drifts over the keys and the buttons breathe; any touch ends it and does what it always does. ON stays the default. (Discussion #135)
  • Type sizes by role: what you read (values, titles, messages, list rows) in the larger size, what describes it (labels, units, hints, the footer) in the smaller one.
  • PIANO HD: the 5-note piano of 1.0 to 1.1.5, as a file the web editor installs into a user sample slot (see ⚠ PIANO).

Changed

  • ⚠ Projects are saved as format FUN10 (LFO 2, NUDGE / QUANTIZE, SPREAD, 128 records, song sections need it). 1.4 opens every older project and it sounds the same, but 1.1.5.x and older cannot open a project saved by 1.4: the slot looks empty there, and its data stays in flash until something is saved into that slot. See Going back.
  • ⚠ ARP ORD plays the held notes in the order you pressed them. Up to 1.1.5.1 it played them as UP: a saved sound or project using ORD sounds different when its notes were pressed in another order than low to high.
  • ⚠ SAMPLE's PIANO is a lighter lo-fi piano: two notes at 11,025 Hz and 8-bit resolution, 1.6 s each (up to 1.1.5.1 five notes at 22,050 Hz, 0.75 s). Sounds and projects using it (SAMPLE's PIANO presets, GRAIN's SRC PIANO with FROZEN and SHIMMER) play the new one. For the old piano, install PIANO HD into a user slot from the web editor and set those sounds' SET (GRAIN: SRC) to that slot. SLICE's PIANO is unchanged. It frees about 15 KB of flash for what comes next.
  • ⚠ The pages moved. SEQ's PATTERN page is gone: LEN, DIV, SWING and GATE are SEQ TOOLS' KNOB 1–4 (hold SEQ). CHANCE, RATCH and AUTO LIST are SEQ > AUTOMATION's list. PHRASES (the pattern loader) is SAVE's second page. SONG is GLO's page. The MIXER is HOME tapped on HOME; GLO > GLOBAL is HOME > CLOCK (BPM, SWG, CLK); TUNE is MENU > AUDIO > TUNE; GLO > SYSTEM's ROUT is MENU > MIDI > MIDI IN, its USB state and CPU load MENU > SYSTEM > INFO. TUNE and MIDI IN are still saved with the project. Nothing stored changes for this.
  • ⚠ SEQ held opens SEQ TOOLS on every page and no longer opens SONG (GLO does). REC held is the REC layer as in 1.1.5.
  • ⚠ SONG's controls changed for the lanes: KNOB 1 SECTION, 2 TRACK, 3 PAT, 4 REPS (up to 1.1.5.1: 1 ROW, 2 PAT, 3 REPS), and the white keys A3 B3 C4 D4 set a cell's slot (on SONG they do not sound). Songs made before load as sections with all four tracks on the row's slot and play as before.
  • ⚠ A fresh start uses the HALL reverb (no saved session, or RESTORE LAST OFF). Up to 1.1.5.1 it was ROOM. Saved projects keep their TYPE and sound as before; for the old sound in a new project set TYPE to ROOM.
  • ⚠ BASS+ (MENU > SPEAKER EQ) adds its harmonics at half the level, so it no longer overloads on a full-scale kick (#180). FLAT and LOWCUT are unchanged.
  • ⚠ User presets store 104 values (LFO 2's SYNC, TRIG and POL, QUANTIZE and SPREAD added). Older ones load with those at their defaults; 1.1.5.x loads a 1.4 user preset without them.
  • ⚠ MENU's CONTROL and DISPLAY tabs have seven and eight rows (slightly lower rows), and MENU has a fifth tab, MIDI.
  • FM6's EDIT cycle is EDIT 1, EDIT 2, OPERATOR, OP ENV, OPERATOR 2, VOICE, VOICE 2, VOICE 3.
  • The header's USB icon is gone: the lightning bolt in the battery says USB power, as before.
  • Unchanged: every engine and kit sounds as before (except PIANO above), saved sounds and patterns keep their notes, and every new setting defaults to the old behaviour except the fresh start's HALL above.

Fixed

  • PLAY did not stop in GLO's locked layer (#183). The lock treated PLAY as GLO + PLAY (RESTART). RESTART now needs GLO physically held; in every lock PLAY starts and stops as usual.
  • The MIXER flashed when a sound loaded or the track changed (#181). It cleared its whole panel before drawing again; now it goes straight to the new content. HOME TRACKS had the same problem, and the LINE style's divider lines flickered faintly; both fixed too.
  • BASS+ distorted a full-scale kick (#180). Its harmonics came out much louder than the kick, so the limiter pulled the mix down on every hit. See ⚠ BASS+ above.

Web

  • The web editor at webapp/editor (developed in Felucca-WebApp) is updated for 1.4: LFO 2, QUANTIZE and NUDGE, song sections, the new MENU settings and tabs, the categories, 104 parameters and FUN10 backups. Reload the page so it is the new one: an editor from before 1.4 does not know 1.4's parameters.
  • The installer installs 1.4.
  • Try Felucca at webapp/try runs 1.4.

Going back to 1.1.5.1

Projects saved with 1.4 (format FUN10) do not open on 1.1.5.1: the slot shows as empty there, and a backup that holds one is refused when restored. Their data stays in flash until something is saved into that slot, so do not save over them on 1.1.5.1; back on 1.4 they are there again. Projects you saved before and have not saved again with 1.4 open as before. User presets saved with 1.4 load on 1.1.5.1 without the five new values (the rest of the sound as saved), and a user preset's category is kept but not shown. Your settings stay; 1.1.5.1 ignores the new ones (SCOPE, HOME, STEP PREVIEW, CHORD ENTRY, the FX key map, ANIM IDLE). With RESTORE LAST ON, 1.1.5.1 cannot read 1.4's autosave either and starts with its power-on sounds.

Thanks

Files

  • felucca-1.4.fwsc: the package the web installer installs (identity FM-1_914, version v1.4)
  • felucca-1.4-app.bin: the firmware app alone

Licences (as of this release): LICENSE (GPL-3.0-only) · LICENSING.md · LICENSES/ · sample attribution. The package holds three unmodified JieLi AC79 SDK files under Apache-2.0 (Apache-2.0.txt). The source of this release is the tag v1.4.

SHA-256 felucca-1.4.fwsc (610,086 bytes): 480e88312bca6006192b822530be99e2cd5d3e98495d58490bf64ea447c2e60b
SHA-256 felucca-1.4-app.bin (458,660 bytes): 65edc4e3c1092991aee3c8065f6415c6ee3bf9a3f6ef8feea4293a9ca1e52afd

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