Morphagene / mg204+cBrowser-local

UNOFFICIAL COMMUNITY FIRMWARE

More room to play.
Patched in your browser.

Expanded Varispeed, independent Gene density, switchable Morph Loop and live settings reload. Built on Briskcat’s Morphagene mods.

OFFICIALmg204COMMUNITY PATCHmg204+c
01

The first time

Required

The first time, install your mod build using Make Noise’s official audio update procedure, just as you would an official firmware update.

The SD-card updater is itself one of the mods. It becomes available after this first audio install; subsequent updates can come from the card.

Follow the instructions supplied with Make Noise’s official update and Briskcat’s first-install guide.

Recovery: use the same audio procedure with the original official mg204.wav. The mods do not replace the bootloader.

  1. Build below and download the update WAV, mg204+c.wav.
  2. Remove the SD card. Connect your computer or phone to Left Signal IN, at about 80% player volume. Disable effects, EQ, notifications and other sounds.
  3. Power on while holding REC. Only the SPLICE window lights green. Release REC.
  4. Play the update WAV from start to finish. The windows flash while it loads, then all lights flash when it is done.

    Do not touch the module or interrupt playback. If the update fails, power off and start again from step 3.

  5. Finish with Make Noise’s Varispeed calibration: power off, then power on holding SPLICE. Release SPLICE when its window lights green. Turn Varispeed fully counterclockwise and clockwise, press SPLICE, then power-cycle.
  6. After this first audio install, put mgmod.bin at the root of the card and power on for later updates. A successful update renames it mgmod.ok.
02

Make your firmware

Download official Morphagene mg204 firmware, extract it, then choose mg204.wav. The file is verified and patched locally; nothing is uploaded.

Before installing: back up the entire card and keep the original Make Noise update for recovery.

Use the original Make Noise update, even if your module already runs custom firmware.

Choose a file to begin.

mg204+c includes every feature. Morph Loop defaults to off; enable it with mlop 1. No separate Morph Loop firmware is needed.

THE EXTENDED VERSION

From pitch to performance.

A single build, with options for the way you play. All extended range, density, normal quantization and Morph Loop switches default to off.

Pitch & timing

Expanded Varispeed

Enable vrng 1 for +/-4x, or combine it with vsop 2 for stop to forward 8x. Scale locking works across the expanded range.

Pitch & timing

Quantize your way

Choose octaves, fifths, semitones or a custom scale. vqnt 1 keeps pitch quantized normally; SHIFT + Varispeed temporarily frees it. The default vqnt 0 retains SHIFT-to-lock.

Pitch & timing

Independent Gene density

With dens 1, startup density comes from dstr, with 8 Genes/sec as the default. Hold SHIFT and turn Gene Size to adjust it from 0.1 to 128 Genes/sec, independently of pitch and Morph. Knob changes remain until adjusted again, recalled by dstr reload or powered off; they are not saved across power cycles. Set dstr to choose a startup and card-recall rate (0.1-128, in 0.1 steps). In the options editor, check “Recall density on settings-only reload” to recall dstr, or uncheck it to preserve the live rate. At 0.1, a new Gene is requested every ten seconds. The knob midpoint remains 8/sec. External clock takes priority; dense, long Genes remain limited by available voices.

Pitch & timing

Morph Loop, on demand

Set mlop 1 for seamless looping at the bottom of Morph. Set mlop 0 for the original gaps. Included in mg204+c, disabled by default.

Sound & movement

Tape feedback & playback effects

SHIFT + S.O.S. controls tape overdub feedback or classic TLA feedback. SHIFT + Morph adds sample-rate reduction or tape warble. The Morph cap helps keep tape overdubbing within the CPU budget.

Sound & movement

Jitter & Turing patterns

SHIFT + Slide scatters Gene start positions. Enable sldm 1 for repeating random steps: SHIFT + Organize controls evolution, and SHIFT + Gene Size sets Genes per step when independent density is off.

Live workflow

Trusted-card settings reload

Remove the idle card, hold SHIFT alone for one second, then insert a prepared matching card while still holding SHIFT. Settings apply without resetting the reel or playback position; the card remains mounted for recording and saving.

Live workflow

Small conveniences

Input gain is remembered. Mono input can copy L onto both channels. Updates can be installed from SD after the first audio install. Includes Briskcat’s splice-overdub fix and flash prefetch.

OPTIONS.TXT

Set it up your way.

Load the options.txt created by your Morphagene. Its first line, other stock settings and unknown lines are preserved. Recognized duplicates are reduced to one entry. Invalid editable values reset to their documented defaults; review the preview before saving.

Stock option. Choose forward-only for stop-to-8x with Extended range enabled.

Off keeps stock ranges. On gives +/-4x in vsop 0/1, or stop to forward 8x in vsop 2.

Off: SHIFT + Varispeed locks to the scale. On: pitch is normally quantized; SHIFT + Varispeed temporarily becomes continuous. Release snaps back.

Applies to both quantization modes. Off disables quantization.

For octl 4: comma-separated 1-11, e.g. 3,5,7,10. Root and octaves are always included. 0 means root/octaves only.

With dens 1, startup density comes from dstr (default 8 Genes/sec). Hold SHIFT and turn Gene Size to adjust it from 0.1 to 128 Genes/sec. Knob changes remain until adjusted again, recalled by dstr reload or powered off; they are not saved across power cycles. The configured dstr value is kept in options.txt. Overrides the Turing rate gesture; external clock takes priority.

Checked: include dstr and recall the rate above. Unchecked: omit dstr and preserve the live density; startup then defaults to 8 Genes/sec. The module adds dstr back when it rewrites options.txt, so check the file again after a normal mount or options save.

0.1-128 Genes/sec in 0.1 steps; default 8. Sets the startup rate and recalls the rate on settings-only reload whenever dstr is present, even if unchanged. Use the checkbox below to recall this rate or preserve the current density during settings-only reload. Requires dens 1; external clock takes priority.

Always included in this firmware. On removes the silent gaps at minimum Morph. Higher overlap settings stay unchanged.

Stock option: choose the original or smoother Gene envelope.

Tape mode activates on the first SHIFT + S.O.S. turn after startup. Sets feedback while the ordinary knob still sets the listening mix.

Effect applies to Gene playback. The amount resets on power-up. Warble uses less CPU than sample-rate reduction.

Limits overlap while tape-dubbing. 0 disables the cap; 1-9 means 0.1-0.9. Higher values can increase glitches.

SHIFT + Organize: evolution; SHIFT + Slide: repeating scatter; SHIFT + Gene Size: Genes per step when dens is off.

Chance of choosing the root rather than a chord ratio from mcr1-mcr3. 100 disables pitch changes.

Number of repeating random steps, 1-16.

Always copies L to both channels and ignores R. Auto copies L only while R is quiet.

Stock gain index, 0-3. REC held + SHIFT taps changes it on the module; the mod saves it after about 3 seconds.

Writes cpulog.txt periodically. Leave off for normal performance.

ADVANCED LIVE WORKFLOW

Swap settings. Keep playing.

Trusted cards only: no reel-content verification. Prepare cards with identical reel names, WAV contents and splice files; change only options.txt. Same card capacity alone is not enough. A mismatched card can cause wrong saves or overwrite audio.

Recording, splice edits or reel changes make other copies stale. Synchronize them again before the next settings-only swap. Do not record or edit while the card is out.

  1. With the card mounted and ordinary card activity finished, stop recording and remove the card. Wait for the mounted SHIFT light to go out.
  2. Hold SHIFT alone for one second, until its LED is steady. Arming is unavailable while a card is mounted. Avoid knob movement or other buttons.
  3. Keep SHIFT held and insert the prepared matching card. Two short flashes mean success; three mean failure. Keep the card inserted through confirmation, then release SHIFT.
  4. Success keeps the reel and playback position and leaves the card mounted for recording/saving. Failure leaves playback settings unchanged and the card unmounted. Remove it and mount normally to recover.
  5. To load a different reel, use normal mounting without the armed hold. That retains the usual playback interruption.

Performance & credits

The trusted-card reload removes full-reel scanning; SD mount, options reads and file reconnection still take time. Hardware testing confirmed armed insertion and changed options applying without an audible playback interruption. Exact latency and every performance combination have not been measured. High Morph, short Genes, dense scheduling and overdubbing can exhaust CPU headroom. Try lower density/overlap, the tape Morph cap, or warble instead of SRR.

Upstream firmware mods, browser patcher and audio encoder: Briskcat / morphagene-mods (MIT). Extended version: vwal / mg204+c source. Bootloader encoding derives from Émilie Gillet’s stm-audio-bootloader. Upstream MIT license. Morphagene and Make Noise are trademarks of Make Noise; this project is unofficial and not endorsed by Make Noise.

Free to use and share. Not for sale.

Copyright © 2026 vwal for our original additions. Use, modify and share them for free with copyright, attribution and license notices retained. Selling them, including in paid bundles, products containing them or paid firmware services, is prohibited except under the Make Noise exception or separate written permission. Make Noise may include our additions in its official firmware and products, including commercial distribution, with notices retained. This also covers authorized distribution and resale of those official products. Paid performances, recordings and other musical output remain allowed.

Upstream copyright © 2026 the morphagene-mods contributors remains under MIT. Our no-sale terms do not restrict the upstream work alone. Read the complete Attribution - No Sale license and upstream notice. This extended release is source available; it is not MIT or OSI open source.