Mutable Dreams 1.4 is here. Your ideas shaped a wider, more contrasting Biome atlas, five new scales, clearer mute states and more flexible MIDI. Play it on your FM-1 or explore the same instrument in your browser.
48 new Biomes · 16 new tones · 5 new scales · independent track MIDI channels
MD / INSTRUMENTS FOR WANDERINGAN INSTRUMENT FOR SMALL WORLDSGENERATIVE SYNTHESIS · M-VAVE FM-1 · VERSION 1.4
Mutable
Dreams.
Six synth voices, or three synths and a Lo-Fi kit.
Small worlds, endlessly unfolding.
Explore 156 musical Biomes, shape 352 sounds, or begin with a blank canvas.
small worlds, slowly unfolding
Play the instrument here · Explore it on your FM-1
01 / BIOME ATLASVelvet Mist156 Biomes + Blank ↗
A Biome contains the complete instrument. If you have unsaved edits, you can keep editing, open User Banks to save, or explicitly discard and load. Factory Biomes always remain available.
Two worlds, one instrument
Shape sounds here, or connect your FM-1 and edit it live. BROWSER
The browser and FM-1 keep separate User Banks. Connect with USB to use the hardware banks.
Hardware editing needs the matching Mutable Dreams 1.4 firmware and Web MIDI with SysEx (Chrome or Edge). Audio comes from the FM-1 while connected; the small display is a live parameter view. Export / Import below transfers one complete live Biome as a file. SAVE keeps it on the selected instrument. Full .mddb backups contain the saved project, preferences and all User Banks; unsaved live edits, granular audio and calibration are excluded. A full restore requires STOP, internal clock, and physical SEL confirmation. Save changes before backing up, or export the live patch separately.
Five Motion Sketches
Five editable examples of the new sequence and LFO controls. Start the instrument and stop playback before loading; save or export your current Biome first.
02 / THE BROWSER EDITORChoose a sound · Keep your rhythm
Make this world your own.
Six synth voices, or three synth voices and one Lo-Fi kit, rhythms, filters and effects are playable here. Start the instrument, select a voice, then explore its pages.
Patch files keep your six voices, patterns and settings. Stop before importing. User Banks stores 16 Biomes and 64 sounds in this browser; export keeps as many files as you like. In BROWSER mode, edits stay in this browser. After Connect FM-1, edits affect the selected device. The live granular recording is not stored.
Start the instrument to open your patch library.
YOUR LIVING INSTRUMENTVELVET MIST
MUTABLE DREAMS DISPLAY · 240 × 240
PLAY THE SELECTED VOICE
The living background responds to the selected page: sparse settings leave more space, larger grains draw longer forms, and increased modulation brings more movement. It is a guide to settings, not an audio waveform. Hold a function button to see its controls explained on the display. Tap to use it. EDIT: Sound → Filter → Envelope → Mix → Mixer. SEQ: Rhythm → Groove → Bass → Phrase → Sequence → Expression → Flow. FX: Grain → Tape → Space → Modulation → Tidal Motion A → Tidal Motion B → Air. GLO: Harmony → Journey → System → Look → MIDI → Banks. HOME + PRESET: Biome. EDIT + PRESET: sound preset. Every track can use every engine.
Keep your unsaved Biome? A QUIET LOOK AT THE UPDATEA wider atlas. Clearer control.
Several contrasting sounds recorded directly from the FM-1, with a calm English introduction to what changed. The screen views are native firmware renders.
Watch on YouTube ↗ · Read the transcript
GROWING THROUGH YOUR FEEDBACK
Thank you for listening.
You asked for Biomes that sound further apart, mute states you can read at a glance, more scales and independent MIDI control. Those requests are in 1.4. Thank you for making music with this instrument and telling us where it can grow.
One turn. A different world.
01 / FIND YOUR SOUND48 new Biomes
Distinct ambient, rhythmic, resonant, bass-led and Lo-Fi ensembles sit closer together in the browse order. There are now 156 musical factory Biomes plus Blank, and 352 sound presets. Your existing factory IDs and User Banks remain in place.
02 / HEAR THE HARMONYFive more scales
Ukrainian Dorian, Harmonic Minor, Double Harmonic Minor, Harmonic Major and Double Harmonic Major bring fresh colours to sequences and chord journeys. Your notes remain editable.
03 / PLAY YOUR WAYMIDI per track
Assign each track to its own USB MIDI channel, let several share one, or turn note input off. Channel 10 can play the Lo-Fi kit, and the channel-16 macro shortcut can be disabled when you need notes there.
On Home, a muted track dims across its whole row and meter and says MUTED. Clearer type, stronger contrast and quiet page-responsive organisms make the 240 × 240 screen easier to read. The existing unsaved-Biome guard and contextual held-key help remain close at hand. The browser edition includes the same Biome atlas and a live FM-1 editor.
Browser 1.4 saves have their own key; import a patch file to move an older browser world across. Before updating the FM-1, save a complete .mddb bank backup and export unsaved live edits separately as JSON. All changes · Illustrated guide · Measured qualification · Browsable source archive.
VERSION 1.4 / INSTALL WITH CAREKeep what you made. Explore further.
Save your Biome, back up saved User Banks as .mddb and export unsaved live edits as a separate JSON file. Disconnect the live editor before updating. Connect only the FM-1 you intend to update; keep USB and power connected until its identity is verified.
Install or return to Stock V15 ↗ · Download firmware ↓ · GitHub release ↗
Read the update and recovery guide · Offline installer kit. The exact 1.4 package was installed on the FM-1, returned to original V15 from a device that had entered through V16, and reinstalled with a byte-identical User Bank restore. M-UPGRADE installed manufacturer V16 during earlier testing but rejected the custom Mutable Dreams package. Use the browser or Python installer for this firmware. No direct route from every other custom firmware is claimed.
Physical TRS MIDI awaits an external cable test. Bluetooth MIDI and arbitrary WAV import are not included. A reported black screen after an interrupted third-party installation remains under investigation; keep power connected throughout an update and consult the recovery guide if the device fails to identify.
WITH GRATITUDE / OUR ROOTS
From a generous idea,
new worlds can grow.
Mutable Dreams owes its foundations to Émilie Gillet and Mutable Instruments. Their instruments and openly shared code made this exploration possible. Selected original algorithms from Plaits, Rings and the new Elements Strike subset form part of our sound engine, with their original credits and MIT notices preserved.
Our contribution is a six-voice instrument for the FM-1: editable Biomes, generative rhythms, a custom granular bus, and an interface that invites discovery. We want to carry that spirit of curiosity into something approachable, expressive, and unmistakably its own.
An independent community project, unaffiliated with and not endorsed by Mutable Instruments. These are selected algorithms, not complete module ports. Our granular bus and Round Bass are our own designs. Marbles-inspired remembered variation, Tides-inspired cyclic modulation and Warps-inspired ring blending are original implementations, not complete ports of those modules.
Mutable Dreams · Independent firmware for the M-VAVE FM-1. Selected DSP: Émilie Gillet / Mutable Instruments, MIT. Device platform and simulator: fm1-base / felucca-bsp, MPL-2.0. This browser runs the firmware sound engine; FM-1 performance is measured separately. Browser saves stay on this computer. 16 named User Biomes and 64 user sound slots; factory Biomes remain available. Export your finished Biomes as files for safekeeping. Granular memory: 2.97 seconds, mono PCM16 at 44.1 kHz, with stereo grains. ECO uses half-rate FM / VA / Harmonic voices.
Read the measurements and limitations ↗