MomsAVoxell

Actually the M-VAVE hardware platform is supported by a pretty accessible devKit hardware device, which seems to be quite available with enough tooling onboard to throw at an LLM to decompile/recompile things - and .. in addition .. the right mix of ingredients to form the perfect storm seem to have been applied, in that M-VAVE used the same basic hardware designs for a variety of different, but similarly-aligned products, making it even more attractive to the decomp/recomp style hacking approach.

Meanwhile, music-tech hackers are cracking open some serious nuts. From The Usual Suspects building a perfectly working Motorola 56K DSP emulator, capable of booting many German firmwares and more besides, to the one guy I saw recently who decided to just go ahead and build himself a working (minus effects) emulation of Yamaha's FS1R FM/Formant synthesizer, things are getting positively NUTS in the music-tech world ..

I honestly think there is more bleeding-edge stuff going on in music-tech than in the retro-computing scene (which I also pay a lot of attention to) .. and that is really saying something because the retro-computing guys have been positively loopy for decades now, as well ..

Yes for sure, things are looking up for music hackers. Whether manufacturers like it or not!! :)

Oh, nice .. yeah the NTS-1 was a bit of a victim of its Bill of Materials, in my opinion - a lesson learned by the Monome and Zynthian communities, meanwhile.

>The culture of political tyranny, apathy, corruption and indifference just runs too deep there.

You can easily say this about the UK and the USA as well, you know. There isn't something exceptional about the US' corrupt military-industrial complex, except for the absolutely horrendous, atrocious scale of its victims.

Russia can fix itself. I am as optimistic of that fact, as I am of Americans fixing their issues, too. Seriously, Americans, fix your shit. Only then will you have what it takes to get Russians to fix their shit, too. Not before.

Thanks for the positive feedback! I've had my ups and downs with blogs and so on over the years .. my writing on this subject goes back to the RECORDING magazine days .. I have had the idea of 'resurrecting my blogging' in the TODO list for some time, I just haven't really found the motivation to truly commit to doing it.

But I appreciate the feedback, and I do enjoy the banter that my blathering attracts, sometimes, right here on HN .. so, see you at the next music-technology article! :)

Yeah, I agree: social media is great. Commoditized, commercialized social media, not so great.

Never forget, folks: we can all go back to mailman and phpBB, or the modern equivalent, at any point in time. Many of us do! There are still wonderful subject-driven forums out there, not quite inundated by the dreaded "&fbid disease"...

There sure is, and folks are doing some crazy things with it ..

For example: the Bent[1] and Turbo[2] synths from Sinevibes[3] are incredible.

A perfect example of how the platform was embraced by user-developers and pushed into extremely creative and inspiring territory .. surely other manufacturers will start to take note, and maybe someone, some day, will start shipping their instruments with compilers-onboard, to .. you know .. make it easier for kids to keep the bending going on ..

[1] - https://www.sinevibes.com/korgbent/

[2] - https://www.sinevibes.com/korgturbo/

[3] - https://www.sinevibes.com/korg/

Just as an aside, I do that non-deterministic route thing on the regular, also.

Even if it's just a slightly different route through the city to get to work, it helps immensely with resisting the detrimental effects of the daily grind. I can still recall, with some degree of emotional pain, the constant and regular, monotonous walk to school in my youth - and the approach I have taken as an adult is to resist mono-paths as enthusiastically as possible.

Also, /r/desirepaths is my jam.

Hehe, yeah, in spite of the cross-pollination between Yamaha and Korg, the Korg engineers seem to have maintained their vitality and whimsy for decades, now.

Just the fact that they were the first, of all manufacturers, to release a professional-grade keyboard which used a raspberry Pi as its engine, is enough to indicate they are, actually, really funny hackers.

They made a freakin' acoustic synthesizer, for FNORDS sake!!! A synthesizer, using physical hardware components, omfg its the coolest thing ever .. (https://www.korg.com/de/products/dj/phase8/)

One of my prized possessions is a Korg okurumi (linen swaddling cloth) which they were giving out as 'dust covers' during a Superbooth show some years back .. it is categorically the best towel in the house, and is my HHGTTG towel, indeed, always there, always ready, always KORG ..

There is a publicly available Devkit[1] for the processor used by M-VAVE in all of their products:

https://doc.zh-jieli.com/AC79/zh-cn/release_v1.0.3/board_des...

.. and .. as all of their products are extremely good value for money .. I dare say some budding hacker saw an opportunity and went with it:

https://github.com/aroum/fm1-custom-fw

This has opened the flood gates for great new stuff to be written for it, and oh what a ride it has been these past few weeks! Simply the hottest toy in music-tech, bar none!

Yes, musical instruments represent the refinement of technology towards a very specific purpose: the creation of music.

The nature and form of the instrument directs the talents of the musician towards their desired aesthetic. In many ways, the interface informs and sculpts the final product - so instruments which are malleable (software-upgradeable) while providing a canonical haptic experience (hardware control surface) are very appealing to the modern artist.

There is a lot of innovation in the music technology world, vis a vis turning technology into an instrument of sound - but there is also a lot of stagnation, too. Whether its the ancient art of menu-diving as a performance method, or indeed if its the sudden appearance of cocktail devices with whimsy and creativity encoded in the interface, music technology offers a big, wide and often very woolly world in which to apply creative juices.

The M-VAVE is fantastics because it's cheap, it has a somewhat decent user interface layout, haptically, and now .. it is getting serious hacker attention as a boutique/unique thing to play with. Musicians - especially of the technology-aligned variety - absolutely love to one-up each other and excel in distinguishing themselves from standards - of course, musicians also love standards too - the field offers a very broad spectrum of tastes.

Vibe-coding something for the STM32 is indeed a fun thing to do from a music technology perspective - but having it in a fancy case with a battery management PMU, a decent screen with whimsy (and as little menu-diving as possible), and .. interesting sound .. is very, very appealing.

The issue is, music-technology manufacturers often take the shortest possible route to getting their interfaces implemented. Menu-diving is the scourge of music technology - at least until, that is, someone finds a way to incorporate the washing-machine method into a really kickass performance. Think Kraftwerks' reference to the Operator With Their Pocket Calculator, the mundane yet fashionable laptop-on-stage DaDa faction, and compare it to the real rock and roll of guitar and 'tradititional' instruments. The M-VAVE is an expression of the desire of music technology to not only be great (cheap!) but also full of unexplored potential. It is that unexplored potential which motivates the musician, after all ..

(EDIT: there are plenty of examples of music-hacker toys which fulfill your STM32 postulate: the monome, the Zynthian, the insanely great and fertile field of Eurorack modules, many of which did indeed first start off as some hacky STM32 project .. but there are plenty of STM32's which have found their way into a fancy, somewhat expensive case, too .. so seeing M-VAVE pitch into that world is exciting. I literally cannot wait to see what the M-VAVE will have to offer next week ..)

I didn't get my Vectrex in the 80's, I had real computers instead, which I used to gather the wealth required to .. finally .. get myself that Vectrex I always wanted .. So I personally can't wait for this thing to ship .. it'll be the 80's all over again, but faster/better/stronger/cooler.

Just when I thought the world couldn't get any more amazing for hacking stuff this week (M-VAVE FM1's firmware bonanza is a delight!), now I have a freakin' damn good reason to get my Vectrex out of storage (okay, another freakin' damn good reason) and give it a modern kick in the ol' capacitors.

Sheesh, hackers. Things are getting positively juicy. What's next, a hack that makes the Vectrex function as a HUD for DCS, maybe? (Hint: someone is indeed working on this...)

M-VAVE should pay attention and make an updated FM1-style machine that allows firmware switching from USB storage - the current method is via MIDI Sysex only (USB MIDI class device) - but if they do an upgrade to this hardware, it could be quite possible to just switch firmwares dynamically this way.

And, in so doing, this little Chinese company will snatch the revolutionary glory from a lot of incumbents who have very specifically attempted to not do this kind of music technology instrument for decades. (I'm looking at you, Yamaha, who have had prototypes of this sort of things on the bench for decades but always decided 'not to destroy the existing player keyboard market', instead!)

I am so ready for the world where a $60 device not only provides amazing real-instrumentation haptic experience, but also competes solidly with the iOS-music-making app+controller segment, the laptop-on-stage-plugin-host thing, and all the other rigid directions the music tech world has been enforcing on us ..

They are SO FUN, seriously. Best $180 I spent (because I bought THREE M-VAVE's!!)! ..

But, it also has to be pointed out to the HN hoipolloi: these firmwares run in web-based emulators too!!!!

So you don't have to blow $60 to join this music tech revolution ..

Disclaimer: I have worked in the music technology business for decades, building toys like this - my opinion is formulated in the fire pits of NAMM and Frankfurt Musik Messe and Superbooth.

The M-VAVE is the hottest music technology device on the market today, with few exceptions.

It is CHEAP! $60!

It is VERSATILE: new firmwares are released almost every week now.

It is HACKABLE: yes kids, music technology should always be hackable. Custom firmwares are one thing: a device which allows musicians to extend their horizons is another thing, entirely. Big Music Tech: PAY ATTENTION.

(Korg: you get a pass. Eurorack hackers: you get passes. Everyone else: FAIL!)

I am sitting in a room full of synths right now, and the only thing I really want to jam with is the N-VAVE FM1, which is now not just an FM synth but a jack of all trades.

But, did you know that this is just the tip of the iceberg for hacking music toys? Almost everything, from the Yamaha DX7 to the Synthstrom Deluge is getting hacked - in great, positive, delightful ways!

There is no better time to get into music technology if you're looking to find something fun and intriguing to hack on. It is so rewarding to crack open the box on a (formerly) locked down DSP cash-cow from some German entity or two, and find out ways to do even more, crazier things with it.

Your cocktail noise/bloop machine has a Motorola 56K DSP in it? There's an emulator for that: https://theusualsuspects.io

It is so, so fun to watch the M-VAVE revolution kicking off. The music technology business has had this level of whimsy in its sights for decades, a few have crashed and burned along the way but now its really happening: the kids are bending things in truly great ways.

Whats next, hackers? Teenage Engineering's OP1 gets a badly needed retrofit, perhaps .. Access Virus C synths get a new SYSEX update with badass features .. Yamaha's A-samplers get faster disk I/O, somehow .. Korgs machines get JUCE'd??!?!!?

And, it just has to be said .. For everything else, there's monome. And Zynthian. Leading the pack for innovative music technology that has some serious weight in the future-proofing department.

Music Tech Doesn't Want Your Locked-In Firmware, Manufacturers! Give us the SDK's already, why don't, ya .. standardly!!!

:)

Yes, I do this as well, only daily since I have an open-plan situation, and when working on home office I move from the desk to the lounge and then the garden on a frequent basis ..

Changing ones environment really works for a great deal meany troubles.

Would you be okay with another nations nukes on your border, within 7 minutes of your capital city?

Would you be okay if Russia had its bioweapons facilities located within a strong winds’ distance of your states major population centers?

Would you be okay with foreign investors in your country using power and wealth to gain cover for their genocide and influence your politi … ermm .. okay, never mind, you probably are okay with that if you’re an American ..

I have managed RSI for decades, so consider this anecdotal of course.

The one thing that has always given me relief: changing my keyboard every 6 months or so.

For this reason I have a stack of different keyboards and whenever I start to feel the tugging pain gnawing in my hands muscles and tendons, I switch out the ol’ keyboard and get back to work.

Within a day, relief.

Seriously, it’s that simple. Just don’t get fixated on a single keyboard and you’ll be fine. Get yourself a small collection, swap them around.

There are many in Western Germany who also believe that Germany has been mistreated by its allies and that Germany should disassociate itself with warmongering states - such as the UK and the USA - and instead use its economic muscle to bring peace. It would be a big mistake to limit support of the AfD to the ex-DDR folk. There is a rising anti-NATO sentiment in German youth, also.

Russia is the worlds largest state; Russians know full well the designs for their submission floating in the halls of various Western power centers. There will be a string of Putins because of this.

Russians will never submit to war or threats to subjugate their nation.

They will align with mutual economic prosperity, however.

German society seems to be having a moment where it realizes this, suddenly. Germans really don’t want another billion euro’s being spent on slaughtering children. They want the cheap energy back, and they want peace in Europe through the only way there has ever been peace in Europe: strong economic ties between states and mutually assured prosperity.

My personal opinion is that the only way Western democracies can wean themselves off the war teat is for us to direct our attention to our own war crimes.

With Gaza, Germans have been enlightened to the fact that the war in Ukraine isn’t the only atrocity their state is involved in. German ammo kills kids: a growing segment of German society is starting to understand this.

> I think the real issue is that Russian people consistently fail to hold their leaders accountable.

Yes, and I think Europeans understand that the most effective way for Russians to learn this, is for Europe to lead by example. Accountability for European leadership is also a massive problem. Germans seem to be very much more aware of this than most.

I’m describing what I’m observing on the ground in Europe: a growing segment are sick of the endless slaughter by Western entities and indeed by their own nations involvement in atrocious wars, resulting in an inundation of refugees. It’s not just Ukraine - its all war.

It is Western wars producing the conditions for 35 million war refugees to flood the worlds borders.

Do you think all Germans are ignorant of what the warmongers in their state have contributed to the situation in Gaza? And that they are being nevertheless led by those same warmongers into yet more catastrophe?

A rising segment of the German population are sick of frothy-mouthed warmongers having the podium and recognize that if they don’t change the leadership who brought only war and calamity to the world, it will end in disaster.

Yes, Russia needs better rulers, and yes Russia should face justice for its wars - they won’t get this at the end of a European spear, however. The only people who can do anything effective about Russia, are Russians: Germans understand this very, very well. And they are turning to apply the very same rule to their own state.

Because Russia has a long way to go to come even close to the atrocities of Western allies. The USA and its allies are a far, far worse danger to the world, by orders of magnitude. Russia is following the Western lead on war atrocities, and we have, by far, the worst stats of them all.

When we prosecute our own war criminals, only then will we have the moral altitude to jump on Russias case - but not before that happens. The populations of Poland, the Baltics, and Finland may not understand their own states’ culpability for contributing to atrocity - but Germans sure do. (Note: see also, France.)

Intelligent, informed Europeans know that the only path to peace involves personal responsibility for the war crimes of their own states.

So they let their democracies function. Those politicians who promise to rein in the warmongers - whatever else their parties promise - are gaining traction because of this fact.

I remember a day, long ago now, when computers were going to take everyone’s jobs, even without AI/ML in the picture.

Folks are always scared of the incomprehensible. The real war going on right now is between those who understand AI well enough to make a new one, and those relegated to using whatever scraps they’re fed of the old ones.

Thankfully, you are 100% right - there are good people out there. Good people keep AI on the rails by doing good things for other people.

Europe, and indeed Germany, is so much more than ex-DDR.

There are plenty of ex-DDR folks who think we should just get on with the war and start annihilating everyone from Dresden to Kamchatka, too.

Alas, the challenge for those who want peace is to get those who see only war to sit down and shut up for a while. Germans are actually good at that when they want to be.

They want to see a return of peaceful relations between Europe and Russia, and unfortunately that would in fact mean addressing the injustices and crimes of the Ukrainian conflict - this cannot occur, while those crimes are still being committed.

But many Europeans don’t believe that Russia is going to be defeated, nor that the Donetsk->Crimea corridor is worth igniting the rest of Europe over. The most common refrain I hear, is that portion of Ukraine should have independence and neutrality, like Austria. How this is to be attained, of course nobody knows, but it is very definitely a common refrain.

On the other hand, if you think history is the only guide for humans to follow, Europe will self-implode before Russia gets there, anyway.

Fortunately, there are growing segments of European society who actually want to have a bright and prosperous future. This doesn’t happen with war - it happens by making sure your neighbors are well fed, too.

If all we ever do is live in fear of someone, somewhere, using AI to end all humanity - then yes, someone, somewhere is going to use AI to end all humanity.

If we instead stop trying to scare ourselves in the darkness, and use AI to bring light into our metaphorical universe then we humans are a bit more useful, after all, to the AI overlords.

The one singularity I want to see, is humans using AI peacefully to improve life and make it more likely to survive.

Thankfully, I see that almost every day now.

What this story needs, is a dog.

You know, the one to keep the computer away from the human.

A nice, friendly dog, good at playing fetch, to get the human out of the room with the computer, and back out into the sunshine.

I’m that dog. Woof. Thanks for letting me use the computer, human.

It’s not sympathy so much with Russia, more of a complete distrust of US-led causes for war.

The US has betrayed a lot of humanity with the catastrophic wars it has fought since 2003. But in Europe, the results are very, very clear: many Europeans actually have the temerity to establish relations with the refugees who have been arriving for decades now, and through that contact, seek to understand that the world is being kept at war needlessly.

Many Western observers tend to miss the fact that there was a period between the end of the cold war and the beginning of the Ukraine conflict where Europeans were kind of glad to have peace in Europe - like actually with Russia being considered a part of the European community, where after years of distrust, peaceful relations between Europe and Russia were actually kind of happening.

This has all gone to /dev/null now, but there is still an unheard/heavily censored group of European citizens - in pretty much all of Europes’ western sphere - who simply would prefer to establish peaceful relations with Russia, and go back to actually flourishing and prospering.

Oh, and ending all wars on the Middle East, so the refugees from the US’ wars can rebuild their countries and go back home. Some day. Maybe.

Of course you won’t hear about them much, but if you pay close attention in the cafes and bars and riverside grills, you will hear them: many Europeans do actually believe in and want peace and simply don’t think the current crop of leaders are capable of it. So they express this not as sympathy with Russia, but as a willingness to effect the political change necessary to avoid catastrophe.