BOP-1
BOP-1 turns the M-VAVE FM-1 into a music toy for children that is also a real synthesizer.
- Custom firmware
- Stable
- Medium brick risk
- Reversible
This project hasn't been claimed by its maintainer yet, so its details come from the community. Is it yours? Claim it
The first release: a music and synthesis toy for children, on the M-VAVE FM-1.
- Four doors: Play (3+: music at power-on, the keys in the scale, the knobs change a friend you can see, Surprise!, magic tricks, Loop me), Make (6–8: four layers, sixteen steps, recording in time, help me, parts A–D into a song, happy / sad / brave / sleepy chords), Lab (9+: a real subtractive synth by its real names, a signal-flow picture, a live scope, My Friends) and Games (six games and a sticker book).
- Eight friends whose bodies are the sound: the waveform their shape, the cutoff their mouth, the envelope their hop, the LFO their wobble, the pitch their size, the echo their place.
- A song generator: eight styles, four progressions, a call-and-answer tune that comes home; the same seed always the same song.
- Ten lessons with try-its the firmware checks; printable lesson cards for a class.
- The grown-ups' page (GLO + SAVE, 3 s): the doors shown, the volume cap, calm lights, the screen, a sleep timer, idle, music at power-on, MIDI.
- Safety: an always-on limiter under the volume cap; no squeals in Play and Make; flashes at most three a second (none when calm), measured by a test.
- Printables: a sticker overlay for the buttons and knobs, the lesson cards, a quick guide, a picture quick-start. A browser emulator, a web installer, a manual.
Install
- From the browser (Chrome or Edge, the FM-1 on USB): the web installer. Or try it in the browser first.
- From the command line:
python3 tools/fm1_install.py bop1-0.1.0.fwsc(Python 3 withpip3 install mido python-rtmidi). - Going back: the installer's "Back to the stock firmware", or M-VAVE's M-UPGRADE.
The firmware is bop1-0.1.0.fwsc below; its source is this tag. Installing other firmware is at your own risk; see the manual's Troubleshooting.
Before you start
- How hard is it?
- EasyCopy a file or use a web page. No extra software.
- What you need
- A USB or MIDI cable
- Can it break my device?
- Small chance of trouble, with a way to recover.
- Can I undo it?
- Yes. You can go back to the official software.
Did it work for you?
Did BOP-1 v0.1.0 work on your M-VAVE FM-1?
No reports yet for v0.1.0.
One-tap reports from owners. Bricked reports are checked before they count.
Compatibility
Devices: M-VAVE FM-1.
No compatibility information yet.
Getting started
From the project's README ("BOP-1 for the M-VAVE FM-1"):
BOP-1 turns the M-VAVE FM-1 into a music toy for children that is also a real synthesizer. Switch it on and music plays. Nothing a child can press sounds wrong, and every knob changes something they can see: a friend whose body is the sound. The same toy grows with the child, from pressing things (age 3), to beats, loops and songs (6 to 8), to a subtractive synth with its real names (9 to 12 and up), so they leave knowing what an oscillator, a filter, an envelope and an LFO are.
Try it in the browser The same code the FM-1 runs, with sound. No FM-1 needed. Install it From Chrome or Edge, with the FM-1 on USB. Nothing to install on the computer. Read the manual For grown-ups: getting started, the four doors, the grown-ups' page, safety. Printables Picture stickers for the buttons, ten lesson cards for a class, quick guides. Download The firmware file (bop1-X.Y.Z.fwsc) of every release, and its source. The friends: bodies that are the sound
Each control has one meaning, the same everywhere:
The sound The friend The waveform Its body: sine a round blob, triangle pointy, saw spiky, square a boxy robot, noise a fuzzy cloud, and every blend between The pitch Its size: low is big, high is small; each note makes it bob The filter's cutoff Its mouth: closed and dark ("mmm") to wide open and bright ("aah") …
Risk and recovery
- Brick risk
- Medium
- Reversible
- Yes
- Requires opening the device
- No
From the project's README ("About it"):
BOP-1 is free software (GPL-3.0). It is built on Felucca by Leo Kuroshita (@kurogedelic), Hügelton Instruments, by way of X0X, AMB-1, IND-1, LCD-4 and CRT-4. Children's synthesizers such as Blipblox were an inspiration, in ideas only: BOP-1's friends, music, sounds and pictures are its own. See LICENSING.md; to build it, BUILDING.md; to change it, CONTRIBUTING.md.
M-VAVE and FM-1 are trademarks of their owners. BOP-1 is independent: it is not affiliated with M-VAVE. Installing firmware is at your own risk; the installer can put the stock firmware back.
Releases
| Version | Name | Released |
|---|---|---|
| v0.1.0 | BOP-1 0.1.0Latest | 18 October 2026 |
Credits, license and support
- License
- GPL-3.0