MONK-1
A firmware for the M-VAVE FM-1 that turns it into MonkSynth, Jonathan Taylor's formant vocal synthesizer (itself an homage to the Delay Lama plug-in by AudioNerdz, 2002), with the twelve characters of its iOS port.
- Custom firmware
- Stable
- Low brick risk
Source codeWebsite: charlesvestal.github.io
This project hasn't been claimed by its maintainer yet, so its details come from the community. Is it yours? Claim it
MONK-1 0.9.1: screen reader support.
- Screen reader: MONK-1 now tells the FM-1 Screen Reader what its screen shows, over the same USB cable: the singer you pick, the page and its knobs, a knob's value as you turn it, the vowel from ALGORITHM, and what each button did (hold, octave, saved, voice reset). "Read the whole screen" tells you everything at once. Open the page in Chrome with the FM-1 plugged in; it speaks with its own voice, or hands the words to your computer's screen reader. Singing and the faces stay quiet.
- Emulator: the velocity and aftertouch readout keeps its place, and nothing beside it moves.
Install from Chrome or Edge: https://charlesvestal.github.io/fm1-monk/install/ Try it in the browser first: https://charlesvestal.github.io/fm1-monk/emu/ Manual: https://charlesvestal.github.io/fm1-monk/manual/
Or from the command line: python3 tools/fm1_install.py monk-0.9.1.fwsc
MonkSynth is offered completely free of charge. If you enjoy it, you are kindly requested to make a donation at https://www.savetibet.org.
Built on Felucca by Hügelton Instruments (GPL-3.0), by way of X0X and FoMni-1.
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
- Comfort with the command line
- A computer
- Can it break my device?
- Very unlikely to break anything.
- Can I undo it?
- The project doesn't say. Assume you can't.
Did it work for you?
Did MONK-1 v0.9.1 work on your M-VAVE FM-1?
No reports yet for v0.9.1.
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 ("Build, test, flash"):
As the other firmwares (see BUILDING.md): ./build.sh makes build/monk.fwsc, sh tests/runtests.sh runs the host tests, python3 tools/fm1install.py build/monk.fwsc --yes flashes. Package identity FM-15 (dev builds FM-1500), USB name "MONK-1 FM-1".
Risk and recovery
- Brick risk
- Low
- Requires opening the device
- No
Releases
| Version | Name | Released |
|---|---|---|
| v0.9.1 | MONK-1 0.9.1Latest | 15 October 2026 |
| v0.9 | MONK-1 0.9 | 14 October 2026 |
Credits, license and support
- License
- GPL-3.0