FM‑1’s new best friend

Plug in your keys. Pop in a new instrument.

Outrigger runs the show

A palm-sized touchscreen on the hub. It sends your playing to the FM-1, shows you what's connected, and handles every firmware switch, backup first.

Outrigger's Play screen: hub, controller and FM-1, all green
Everything's connected
Outrigger's firmware list: Skiff running, Felucca holding your songs
Your firmwares
Outrigger's switch plan for Felucca
What a switch will do
Get an ESP32 ↓

One hub, one charger

Outrigger, the FM-1 and your MIDI controller all plug in here, and one charger powers the lot. The trick is a hub that can charge a laptop through it: Outrigger sits where the laptop would.

What to look for ↓

The FM-1

M-VAVE's $60 pocket FM synth, with 27 keys, a speaker and a battery. Its players have written more than a hundred alternative firmwares for it, which turn it into a groovebox, a sampler, a drum machine and more.

Get one ↓

MIDI controller

Any MIDI controller with a USB port that works without installing a driver: keys, pads, knobs, faders. Plug it in and it plays the FM-1.

Has a 5-pin or 3.5 mm MIDI out? A plain MIDI cable into the FM-1 does that part, no Outrigger needed.

Plug in your keys

Any MIDI controller with a USB connection plays the FM-1: full-size keys, pads and knobs on a pocket synth. No laptop on the table, no MIDI adapters, one charger for everything.

Pop in a new instrument

A groovebox tonight, a sampler tomorrow: switch between more than a hundred community firmwares in about a minute, right on Outrigger. It backs up before every switch, so your songs are waiting when you come back.

SLOOP on the FM-1's screen
SLOOP a live groovebox
X0X on the FM-1's screen
X0X 909, 808 and two 303s
zp12 on the FM-1's screen
zp12 a 12-bit sampler
winampFM on the FM-1's screen
winampFM a synth that looks like Winamp
100+ more at the Firmware Hub ↗

What you need

ESP32-S3 board with a screen

This runs Outrigger. Most ESP32-S3 boards with a screen should work; we're still testing.

The nitpicky part: picking the right ESP32
  • ESP32-S3 or ESP32-P4. A plain ESP32 can't connect USB devices.
  • Native USB. The USB-C port goes straight to the chip. Listings say "native USB" or "OTG".
  • No "one-click download". Those boards route USB through a converter chip that can't host.
  • A TF card slot is worth having for a coming version. The tested board doesn't have one.
  • Touch helps, but isn't required.

Tried another board? Tell us how it went.

Powered USB-C hub

Most hubs that can charge a laptop through them work. Outrigger plugs in where the laptop would.

The nitpicky part: picking the right hub
  • A charging input, marked "PD in" or "pass-through". A 30 W USB-C charger is plenty.
  • Host charging. The hub powers the laptop port; that's what Outrigger runs on.
  • Two data ports, for the FM-1 and your MIDI controller.
  • Four data ports or fewer. Bigger hubs hide a second hub chip that Outrigger can't reach.
  • No card reader or Ethernet. Each takes one of Outrigger's eight USB connections.
  • Plug the charger in first, and leave it alone while a firmware switch runs: unplugging it restarts everything on the hub.

FM-1

M-VAVE's pocket FM synth, about $60–70.

MIDI controller with USB connection

We suspect any MIDI controller made in the last fifteen years works.

What's coming

Over Wi-Fi

Set up, update and check on Outrigger from your phone or laptop, without plugging it in.

In testing

Wi-Fi

Join your network from Outrigger's screen, so updates, downloads and its web page need no cable.

In testing

outrigger.local

Open Outrigger from any browser on your Wi-Fi: status, backups and settings.

Planned

Firmware over Wi-Fi

Browse the Firmware Hub on Outrigger's screen and download straight to Outrigger.

Planned

Backups on your computer

Copy any backup off Outrigger, and restore the one you choose.

In testing

Troubleshoot from your browser

Outrigger's page shows what it sees: the devices, its log and any crash. A fix starts with a link, not a guess.

Playing and recording

More of your rig on one hub, and a way to capture what you play.

In testing

Record the FM-1

Capture its audio over USB at 44.1 kHz stereo and pull the takes off over Wi-Fi. Streaming comes after.

Planned

A general-purpose MIDI hub

Route any MIDI controller with a USB connection to any USB synth, not just the FM-1. The router is built; pointing it at other synths is a small change we haven't made or tested yet.

Planned

More devices at once

Several controllers together, Bluetooth MIDI, and twice the USB room on ESP32-P4 boards.

Planned

The whole catalog on a TF card

Boards with a card slot keep every firmware locally, about 60 MB in all.Pro tip: buying an ESP32 now? Get one with a TF card slot, like the 1.8-inch AMOLED.

For builders

Outrigger is meant to be extended.

In testing

Write your own apps

Outrigger is one core with plug-in apps. The core hands out USB, Wi-Fi and storage, and every screen renders and tests on a laptop. Next: a documented way for anyone to add an app.

In testing

More ESP32 boards

Support for a wide range of ESP32-S3 and ESP32-P4 boards: round and square screens from 1.69 to 4.3 inches, touch or buttons, with or without a card slot. Each gets a profile, and the screens already lay out at three sizes.

Troubleshooting

How do I update Outrigger?

Outrigger's USB port is busy running your MIDI gear, so first hand it to your computer: in Settings, open Computer mode and hold the button. Then plug Outrigger into your computer and click Install. It goes back to MIDI by itself afterwards, and your backups stay.

Outrigger's Settings, with Computer mode: for updates over USB
Settings
Computer mode screen: hold to restart in Computer mode
Hold to restart
Why can't the installer find my ESP32?

Try another cable: charge-only cables never show up. Or hold BOOT, tap RST, let go of BOOT, and click Install again.

My FM-1 won't start. Is it broken?

It's almost certainly not dead: its install mode lives in ROM. The Firmware Hub's Rescue or the Unbricker brings it back from a computer.

Why doesn't my second MIDI controller play?

For now, Outrigger has room for one MIDI controller next to the FM-1. Unplug the other one. More than one is coming.

Where do my backups live?

On Outrigger itself, never online. Copying them to a computer is coming.