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Hortator
Drum-machine firmware for the M-VAVE FM-1. Eight tracks of drums, a step sequencer, Grids, a pumping compressor, LFOs, resonators and live effects, all on the FM-1's own keys, knobs and screen.
- Custom firmware
- Beta
- Medium brick risk
- Reversible
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Support the developers
Links from the project's GitHub. The money goes to them, not to Firmware Hero.
Latest release · 28 Oct 2026Hortator 0.26.0
- Steadier key backlight: the glow of BACKLIGHT DIM LO and DIM HI (the unlit keys and idle buttons) is now a very short flash about 900 times a second instead of a longer one 45 times a second. It no longer flickers, and in the Bluetooth version it no longer jumps brighter for an instant while Bluetooth is on.
- MIDI clock out: GLO SYSTEM 2/3 SYNC sends the MIDI clock to USB (OFF / USB; in the Bluetooth version also BLE and BOTH). On the FM-1's own clock PLAY sends Start, then 24 clocks a quarter note on the sequencer's grid (steady through tempo changes, never swung), and STOP sends Stop, so a DAW, AUM or another instrument can follow it. Following a clock (CLK USB, TRS or BLE), the incoming clock and Start / Stop / Continue go on to the SYNC outputs as they arrive, never back to where they came from. Nothing is sent during a firmware update. The FM-1's TRS jack is an input only, so there is no TRS out.
- MIDI in routing: GLO SYSTEM 2/3 ROUT chooses how incoming notes play: NOTE (as before: on the drum channel, the tracks whose NOTE it is), SEL (on the drum channel, the selected track, pitched from C4) or TRACK (channels 1–8 play tracks 1–8, pitched from C4). Pitched notes into an armed track are recorded with their pitch. With TRACK the white keys send on their track's channel at C4.
- MIDI THRU: GLOBAL 3/3 THRU ON passes notes and CCs from each MIDI input to the other outputs (the TRS jack to USB; Bluetooth and USB to each other in the Bluetooth version), never back to the input. It is a setting of the FM-1, kept over power-off.
- SYNC and ROUT are saved with each project; projects saved before load SYNC OFF and ROUT NOTE, and THRU starts OFF.
- Live cue and variations: while a pattern plays, queue the next project slot (A–D) or another variation and it
comes in exactly where the pattern ends (its longest track's), every track from its first step, in time. On HOME
and the SEQ pages the first 8 black keys (F#3 to A#4) queue variations 1–8 of the playing slot: the playing one's
key lit, a queued one blinking (not with KEYS on; elsewhere the black keys work as before). Hold SAVE (0.4 s, or
press a key with it) for the cue map: white keys 1–4 queue slots A–D, the black keys variations 1–8 (lit: used,
winking: playing, blinking: queued, breathing: unsaved edits); a slot key then a variation key queues both
(
CUE>B3on top). The same key again switches at the next step; the playing slot's key cancels; stopped, a cue switches at once; STOP drops a queued cue. The keys pressed with SAVE play no note, send no MIDI and record nothing. A SAVE tap still opens the projects page, now when it is let go.- A slot switch brings the slot's sounds, steps, timing and locks; the tempo, swing, clock, MIDI, the master effects, Grids, the mutes and the selected track stay. The old sounds fade out over the last 5 ms before the switch (no click). A variation switch changes the steps and the timing only; the sounds ring on.
- Each slot has 8 variations, in both the plain and the Bluetooth version: variation 1 is its own steps; 2–8 hold
their own steps and timing and share the slot's sounds and locks. A variation never used before starts as a copy
of the one playing when it is first cued. When a slot's variations are full the cue says
VARIATIONS FULLand the playing one plays on. A slot comes back on the variation it played last. A SONG row plays its slot's variation 1; while SONG plays a cue saysSTOP SONG TO CUE. Following an external clock (USB or TRS) the switch comes on the pulse that ends the pattern.
- Edits stay in RAM until SAVE: a reset or a power cut brings every slot back as it was last saved. Leaving a
slot by LOAD or by a cue keeps its edits in RAM, so going back finds them; a slot with unsaved edits shows
*in the PROJECTS list. LOAD of a slot with unsaved edits (a tempo change counts) asksDISCARD EDITS?; SAVE onto a slot that is not loaded but has unsaved edits asksOVERWRITE B*?. SAVE to another slot moves the edits there (the slot you came from is its saved version again). RENAME of a slot with unsaved edits renames it in RAM only (RENAMED (SAVE TO KEEP)). Unsaved variations of one slot can wait in RAM while another plays: until they are saved, a cue of a third slot (or a LOAD, when the slot you leave has unsaved variations too) saysSAVE C FIRST. - FILL: a step's PROB goes on past 8/8 with
FILL(plays only during a fill) and!FILL(only outside one). Hold REC (0.4 s) on any page but SEQ's to play a fill while you hold it (FILLon top). A shorter REC press arms as before, when it is let go; REC held on STEP, PATTERN, MOTION and SONG does what it did. A learned REC and the SMC-Mixer's REC are always taps. (A long REC hold off the SEQ pages used to toggle REC ALL.) - COPY / PASTE a slot: SAVE's third page, COPY: KNOB 2 COPY remembers SLOT's slot (
COPIED A,#in the list), KNOB 3 PASTE (turn twice) makes SLOT's slot a copy of it: kit, steps, locks, variations and song, named... COPY, unsaved until SAVE. PASTE again on the same slot before saving it undoes it (PASTE UNDONE). Not while playing (STOP TO PASTE). - User sample slot 2 (USR2) now holds up to 48 KiB, as USR3 does: the rest of its flash holds the projects'
variations. A longer USR2 (uploaded under upstream Felucca) is shortened to its first 48 KiB once, at the next
power-on (
USR2 SHORTENED TO 48K). If that ever fails (USR2 CLAMP FAILEDat power-on), SAVE saysUSR2 ERROR: NO SAVEuntil the next power-on. - Projects: a project saved now loads on 0.25.0 and 0.24.0 without its variations. If a project's variations can't
be read, it loads without them and the FM-1 says
VARIATIONS LOSTonce. A power cut during SAVE keeps the previous save whole. - Bluetooth version: a new Bluetooth page, in Hortator's own look. ROLE (HOST / DEVICE), MODE (now also
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.
Open the installerOpens deadactive.github.io
Did it work for you?
Did Hortator drum-v0.26.0 work on your M-VAVE FM-1?
No reports yet for drum-v0.26.0.
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 ("Hortator"):
Drum-machine firmware for the M-VAVE FM-1. Eight tracks of drums, a step sequencer, Grids, a pumping compressor, LFOs, resonators and live effects, all on the FM-1's own keys, knobs and screen. By DEADACTIVE, built on Felucca by Leo Kuroshita.
On a Roman galley, the hortator beat the drum that kept the rowers in time. Felucca is a Nile sailing boat; this is its drummer.
- Play it in your browser: . The page runs the real firmware, compiled to WebAssembly, on a 3D FM-1 you can play with the mouse, a touch screen or the computer keyboard.
- Install it on your FM-1: , in Chrome or Edge, over the FM-1's USB cable.
Beta. Hortator is untested on most hardware and may be unstable. You install it at your own risk: the author accepts no responsibility if your FM-1 is damaged or misbehaves. M-VAVE's own updater takes you back to the official firmware (below).
What it does
- Eight drum tracks. Each plays a drum model: 808 and 909 kicks, snares and claps, hats, toms, cowbell, cymbal, rim, clave, conga, ports of Plaits' drum algorithms, and samples. Every model has TUNE, DECAY, TONE and a fourth knob of its own.
- Step sequencer. Up to 64 steps per track on the 16 white keys, each track with its own length, division and swing. Accents, PROB and RATCH per step, fills that play every other bar, live recording, mutes that wait for the next bar (the MUTE screen: hold GLO). …
Risk and recovery
- Brick risk
- Medium
- Reversible
- Yes
- Requires opening the device
- No
From the project's README ("Back to the official firmware"):
Use M-VAVE's updater, M-UPGRADE, from (Downloads → PC Software → M-UPGRADE), with the official firmware (PC Firmware → FM-1 V15). If the FM-1 stops answering both the installer and M-UPGRADE, a Mac can put the official firmware back through the chip's boot mode, with no extra hardware: docs/RECOVERY.md. If it does not start at all and never reaches boot mode, recovering it needs a Transporter.
Releases
| Version | Name | Released |
|---|---|---|
| drum-v0.26.0 | Hortator 0.26.0Latest | 28 October 2026 |
| drum-v0.25.0 | Hortator 0.25.0 | 27 October 2026 |
| drum-v0.24.0 | Hortator 0.24.0 | 25 October 2026 |
| drum-v0.23.3 | Hortator 0.23.3 | 23 October 2026 |
| drum-v0.23.2 | Hortator 0.23.2 | 22 October 2026 |
| drum-v0.23.1 | Hortator 0.23.1 | 22 October 2026 |
| drum-v0.23.0 | Hortator 0.23.0 | 22 October 2026 |
| drum-v0.16.0 | Hortator 0.16.0 | 11 October 2026 |
| drum-v0.14.0 | Hortator 0.14.0 | 8 October 2026 |
| drum-v0.13.0 | Hortator 0.13.0 | 7 October 2026 |
| drum-v0.12.0 | Hortator 0.12.0 | 7 October 2026 |
Credits, license and support
- License
- GPL-3.0