ZEN-1
It turns the little synth into a living window: a cherry tree drops petals on a river, koi circle a pond, fireflies blink over a summer stream under a real moon, and every movement you see is a note you hear.
- 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
ZEN-1 1.2: ambient firmware for the M-VAVE FM-1.
- The panel's lights (ENV): On, Auto or Off, kept across power-offs. Auto puts every light out after 30 seconds with nothing touched and brings them back at a touch; Off keeps the panel dark, for a dark room (everything still works). The status card (tap HOME) shows the setting. The koto keeps its own lights. Thanks to ghostly606-gmcg for asking.
- A Key page (FX's fifth): Key (the mood's, or C to B), Scale (the mood's, or Yo, In or Min'yo), Chord (Moving, or Held on the home chord) and Drift (Off, Slow or Often), one setting for every mood and scene, to play along in your key. The drone and the notes glide to a new key or scale. Thanks to anubispop for asking.
- The koto's big instrument names take half the flash (4 shades instead of 16; the same to the eye).
Install: the easiest way is the web installer at https://aceyprime.github.io/zen-1/install/ (Chrome or Edge, with the FM-1 connected by USB). Or download zen-1-1.2.fwsc below and run python3 tools/fm1_install.py zen-1-1.2.fwsc.
Identity FM-1_6010200. Your FM-1 should be on M-VAVE's V15 before installing custom firmware, and installing is at your own risk; the installer can put M-VAVE's firmware back. Try it in the browser first: https://aceyprime.github.io/zen-1/emu/
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
- 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 ZEN-1 v1.2 work on your M-VAVE FM-1?
No reports yet for v1.2.
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 ("ZEN-1 (禅) for the M-VAVE FM-1"):
ZEN-1 is ambient custom firmware for the M-VAVE FM-1. It turns the little synth into a living window: a cherry tree drops petals on a river, koi circle a pond, fireflies blink over a summer stream under a real moon, and every movement you see is a note you hear. Switch it on, set it down, and let it play, soft, slow and never quite the same. When you want to, reach in: the keys play along with the scene, and the knobs shape every part of it.
- Try it in the browser (no FM-1 needed): the emulator runs the very code the FM-1 runs, with sound
- Install it from Chrome or Edge with the FM-1 on USB, or with tools/fm1install.py
- The guide: every control, knob, mood and scene
The emulator, the installer and the guide are on the project's GitHub Pages site (tools/publishpages.sh).
Status: 1.0, the first public release. It runs on the FM-1 and installs and uninstalls the way Felucca, X0X, FoMni and FuMi-1 do; the installer can put M-VAVE's own firmware back. Installing custom firmware is at your own risk.
The scenes
Scene What happens Moods …
Risk and recovery
- Brick risk
- Medium
- Reversible
- Yes
- Requires opening the device
- No
From the project's README ("ZEN-1 (禅) for the M-VAVE FM-1"):
ZEN-1 is ambient custom firmware for the M-VAVE FM-1. It turns the little synth into a living window: a cherry tree drops petals on a river, koi circle a pond, fireflies blink over a summer stream under a real moon, and every movement you see is a note you hear. Switch it on, set it down, and let it play, soft, slow and never quite the same. When you want to, reach in: the keys play along with the scene, and the knobs shape every part of it.
- Try it in the browser (no FM-1 needed): the emulator runs the very code the FM-1 runs, with sound
- Install it from Chrome or Edge with the FM-1 on USB, or with tools/fm1install.py
- The guide: every control, knob, mood and scene
The emulator, the installer and the guide are on the project's GitHub Pages site (tools/publishpages.sh).
Status: 1.0, the first public release. It runs on the FM-1 and installs and uninstalls the way Felucca, X0X, FoMni and FuMi-1 do; the installer can put M-VAVE's own firmware back. Installing custom firmware is at your own risk.
The scenes
Scene What happens Moods …
Releases
| Version | Name | Released |
|---|---|---|
| v1.2 | ZEN-1 1.2Latest | 21 October 2026 |
| v1.1 | ZEN-1 1.1 | 19 October 2026 |
| v1.0.2 | ZEN-1 1.0.2 | 17 October 2026 |
| v1.0.1 | ZEN-1 1.0.1 | 17 October 2026 |
Credits, license and support
- License
- GPL-3.0