Melodee 1.6.0-rc.6
Sixth release candidate for 1.6. Stable remains 1.5.1. This candidate adds
two drum kits, a preset for each pattern, note editing while the sequence plays,
range and copy PITCH edits, pattern copy to another track, nearest-degree SNAP
for microtonal scales and OCTAVE as a SELECT choice. MASTER now sets the final
output level and CLICK LEVEL its own. USB HOST finds audio+MIDI devices and the
second chip of two-chip hubs. Earlier 1.6 features remain included; see the
rc.5 notes for that baseline.
CR-78 and FM drum kits
- KIT CR78: a late-1970s preset rhythm box after the CompuRhythm CR-78's
voice list, built from the 808's circuit pieces. A round low kick, a papery
snare, a noise hi-hat, tambourine, cowbell, conga, bongos, claves, maracas and
its METAL BEAT (HATS METAL plays it on the two hat lanes). The sounds are
designed after the box, not measured from a unit; the box had no toms or clap,
so TOMS are the conga tuned down and CLAP is the tambourine. - KIT FM: two-operator FM drums with noise, the clap as noise bursts.
- Both play all eight lanes on one voice, like the SID kit. Their levels are
balanced by measurement and may still be tuned by ear.
A preset for each pattern
- PATTERNS' sheet has Set preset and Remove preset: a pattern can carry
its own sound. Playback resolves Song section preset > Pattern preset >
the track's sound; switching patterns, queued switches included, changes the
sound with them, and STOP returns to the track's sound. - Pattern copy, delete and undo keep each pattern's preset with it.
Note editing while playing
- On SEQ > NOTES, KNOB 3 edits a grid note's length (quarter steps, sixteenths
with ENV held) while the sequence plays instead of asking to stop. The first
turn on a grid note while playing cannot be undone; later turns can. - While the sequence plays and the track is not armed, the keys and MIDI on
NOTES only play: nothing is entered into the cursor step. Arm REC to record
live; stop to enter notes step by step.
PITCH edits on NOTES
- KNOB 2 PITCH on an empty step only says SELECT A NOTE; it no longer places a
note. Each PITCH turn previews the new pitch (a range only when its notes
share one step). - PITCH works on a selected range, in the range's Move or Copy mode: the shift
keeps the intervals and stops at the first note that reaches the edge. With
Copy armed, the copy is made in place and the copy is pitched. One run of
turns is one undo.
Pattern copy to another track
- PATTERNS > Copy to: a track's KNOB moves the target to that track's row, and
ALGORITHM picks any track, past the four shown. OCT+ pastes. Steps, timing and
recorded notes are copied; motion only between tracks of the same engine. The
target keeps its own sound. - PATTERNS shows its sixteen patterns as two pages of eight, with the old cells.
Microtonal SNAP
- QNT SNAP now picks the nearest scale degree (a tie takes the lower one)
instead of the one below. In EDOs almost no key lands on a degree, so most keys
used to come out flat: in 19EDO, F played the 442-cent E# instead of the
505-cent fourth. Contributed by gabo_tor (PR #93). 12-tone SNAP is unchanged
and recordings keep their stored degrees.
OCTAVE on SELECT
- Settings > HOME SELECT and GLO SELECT offer OCTAVE: SELECT moves the keys'
octave one per detent (−3…+3, as OCT−/OCT+ on Stage), said in the header. On an
MPC track it moves that track's own octave. Saved choices keep their meaning.
USB HOST
- Devices that are more than MIDI, such as an audio interface or a sampler with
MIDI (tested with an Akai MPC Sample), are found: the whole USB configuration
is read as it arrives instead of its first 320 bytes. - A device on a hub that sits on another hub's port is found. Many hubs are two
hub chips in one case, with most sockets on the second. - A hub that answers late after a bus reset gets longer resets, up to 1.6 s of
recovery, while nothing answers at all. - The FM-1 cannot put 5 V on the USB-C cable: a direct USB-C link to a
self-powered device does not connect. Use a powered hub or a powered OTG
adapter.
MASTER, CLICK and other fixes
- MASTER is applied once, to the finished output after punch FX and the
limiter, so a sounding tail follows the knob too. - CLICK LEVEL is set in percent and no longer follows MASTER. The default,
12 %, matches the old MID at the default MASTER. - GLO mute cuts sounding notes with the same short ramp as solo.
- The codec stays muted until boot is done, so a cold boot no longer clicks.
- The web installer shows the resource file's result and adds Finish setup.
- The web site keeps a channel's resource file when it re-reads the channel.
- The host test runner calls Python through
$PYTHON, asbuild.shdoes
(Charles Vestal, PR #81). - A web emulator build (David Konsumer, PR #53) is published from nightly to the
site'semu/; it is a development preview, not part of the release downloads.
Compatibility and limits
- Export projects before downgrading. A project saved with a pattern preset
uses the new FBKQ format, which earlier firmware (rc.5 included) cannot
load. Projects without pattern presets still save as FBKP. Every earlier
format loads here. - The storage, resource-region and backup notes of rc.5
still apply.
Validation and downloads
The release uses the reviewed
zvenson/fm1-build workflow at v1.
Host/web tests block publication. Physical validation is pending for the CR78 and
FM kits' levels by ear, pattern-preset switching during playback and song
sections, and note-length edits while playing on hardware. USB HOST was checked
on one FM-1 with an MPC Sample on a two-chip powered hub; other hubs and devices
are untested.
Downloads include dual-core firmware, application binary, the resource file
(melodee-1.6.0-rc.6-res.bin), native recovery archives for Windows x64, macOS
Apple Silicon, macOS Intel and Linux x64, licence notices, BUILD_INFO.json and
SHA256SUMS.
gh attestation verify melodee-1.6.0-rc.6.fwsc --repo keremimo/melodee \
--signer-workflow zvenson/fm1-build/.github/workflows/build.yml \
--source-ref refs/tags/v1.6.0-rc.6See licensing for retained third-party notices and attribution.