Hügelton Instruments Felucca: custom multi-engine M-VAVE FM-1 firmware gets a major 1.0 update

Hügelton Instruments Felucca is a new custom M-VAVE FM-1 firmware that turns it into a multi-engine Synthesizer.

And the journey continues—not with a new one, but with a major update for the Felucca firmware by Leo Kuroshita (Hügelton Instruments).

The Felucca firmware 1.0 is out with many additions and improvements.

Update 1.0

Felucca 1.0 is a free update for the open-source custom firmware for the FM-1. When you turn it on for the first time, you immediately notice a completely new design. Now everything is in color, with extra symbols, etc. Very well done.

The new update introduces a whole range of new engines. Version 1.o now comes with 13 engines to choose from, many of which are based on other open-source projects.

You can now work with: FM6, phase, LoFi, sample, voice synth, trio VA, wheel, grain, physics, noise, slice, and drum.

A highlight is the implementation of physical-model algorithms from the open-source Mutable Instruments Plaits and Rings modules: modal resonators, strings, struck membranes, and sympathetic strings.

The list also includes the slice engine, which you can find in the X0X firmware by Charles Vestal. It creates a drum break or cuts your own samples into slices (one per key…). Also new is a drum engine with an 8-lane kit of Felucca’s own drum voices.

Felucca 1.0 also introduces a new FX layer you can activate by holding the repeat button: reverse, filter sweeps, tape stop, freeze, and a harmonizer (OCT UP / OCT DN with shimmer). There is also a new reverb bus with selectable room or spring.

A new sequencer has also been implemented with a piano roll, drum grid, song mode, motion recording, per-step chance, and more. Other changes include:

• chord keys
• modulation matrix (4 slots with MIDI controllers as sources)
• quick layers 
• USB audio for the master output without a driver (44.1 kHz stereo input (“Felucca”) 
• TRS MIDI in, pitch bend, sustain, panic; clock from internal, USB or TRS
• Web app for full backup and restore, sample recording and trim, return to the official firmware, and more.

It’s crazy how fast the firmware is evolving. But I’m done with the FM-1 for today. 

Felucca 1.0 by Leo Kuroshita (Hügelton Instruments) is available now as a free update from GitHub.

More info here: GitHub

Article from October 2, 2026

The M-VAVE FM-1 was the Synthesizer hit of the summer. Ever since Baud Girl demonstrated with the FM-1+VA that you can create custom firmware for this mini synth (priced at around €70), more and more developers have been popping up to build their own versions.

Leo Kuroshita, aka Hügelton Instruments, who has already released several AI-generated plugins, has now released Felucca—another custom firmware for the FM-1.

Hügelton Instruments Felucca

Felucca is a new custom firmware for the M-VAVE FM-1 FM Synthesizer. Hügelton Instruments released the firmware as a beta on X last night. There is no complete feature list, but he does show off some of its capabilities.

A highlight of the new firmware is the engine—or rather, multiple engines. Felucca transforms the FM-1 from a simple DX7-style synth into a multi-engine instrument with five main engines.

The five main engines are virtual analog, digital FM, phase distortion, Lo-Fi (NES, SID), and a sample player. If you look at the display in the video, you can recognize these engines:

• analog: acid, saw lead, sine key, hoover, sub bass, pluck,  brass, wind, and strings, each with cutoff, resonance, and AR envelope.
• digital: e-piano, bell, bass, brass, organ, pad, marimba, FM lead, and clave, each with IDX, MDEC, FB, and release envelope
• phase: glass, glass, bell, pluck, and fold, each with DPT, ratio, fold, and release envelope 
• Lo-Fi: NES lead, GB bass, SID ARP, ZAP, and noise HH: wave selection, duty, crusher, and release envelope 
• Sample: sample selection (piano, string, viola, pizz, brass, clarinet, koto, kit, perc…), cutoff filter, and AR envelope

Alongside this, Hügelton Instruments also added a polyphonic allocation function on the synth and VCA. It’s unclear whether there are other features or whether the original assets are accessible.

It also appears to include a sequencer—either a new one or the original.

FM-1のCFW完成した！
殺意を持って今まで作ってるもの全部入れてみた。
VA、FM、PD、NES、SID、サンプラーとエフェクター。

後でフリーで配布します。 https://t.co/AT8ygIMgWj pic.twitter.com/7FVyalpdfr

— kurogedelic (@kurogedelic) October 2, 2026

 

Before you dive into the firmware, a bit of caution is in order. The firmware is currently in early beta. It can brick the hardware. The developer is working on a recovery tool, however.

First Impression

It’s crazy how quickly the little FM-1 FM synth has become a platform where developers can let their creativity run wild and turn it into new hardware. From First Baud Girls to Hügelton Instruments—it’s amazing but also scary what’s possible with AI. I

I’m sure we’ll see plenty more alternative firmwares for this synth, and I reckon in the future we’ll need several FM-1s to play with them.

Hügelton Instruments Felucca is available now as an early beta version. Use it at your own risk! 

More information here: Hügelton Instruments GitHub

M-VAVE FM-1 is available from my partners

AliExpress Amazon.de

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