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Flues v0.1.0 - Experimental Synthesis Plugins

13 Dec 09:33
@danja danja
v0.1.0
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Flues Project v0.1.0 Release Notes

Overview

Flues is a collection of experimental physical modeling and distortion synthesis instruments for Linux. This release includes 7 LV2 plugins and a standalone headless synthesizer for Raspberry Pi.

What's New in v0.1.0

Major Features

  • 10 New Distortion Synthesis Algorithms - Expanded from 7 to 17 algorithms in Disyn/Floozy
    • Combination algorithms (7-13): Hybrid Formant, Cascaded, Parallel Bank, Feedback, Morphing, Inharmonic, Adaptive Filter
    • Novel extrapolations (14-16): Multi-Stage, Frequency Asymmetry, Cross-Mod
  • param3 Support - All new algorithms support 3-parameter control via CC 19
  • Program 6 Re-enabled - Full Hybrid program fixed after race condition resolution
  • 29 MIDI Programs - Complete program set with dynamic slider remapping

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed race condition in interface_module.c that caused segfaults
  • Fixed param3 integration across C/C++ boundary
  • Calibrated output levels for all 17 distortion algorithms
  • Fixed CC message routing for programs 18-27

Improvements

  • Added program6-test for stability verification
  • Updated all documentation (algorithms.md, midi.md, PROGRAM_CHANGE.md)
  • Improved slider mappings for new programs
  • Better level management (dual DC blocking, formant makeup gain)

Included Components

LV2 Plugins (7 total)

  1. Disyn - Distortion synthesis instrument

    • 7 primitive algorithms (Dirichlet, DSF Single/Double, Tanh Square/Saw, PAF, ModFM)
    • Attack/Release envelope
    • Schroeder reverb
    • Monophonic

  2. Floozy - Hybrid distortion + physical modeling

    • Disyn source block feeds PM signal chain
    • 12 interface types (Reed, Pluck, Hit, Flute, Brass, Bow, Bell, Drum, Crystal, Vapor, Quantum, Plasma)
    • Full modulation and reverb
    • X11/Cairo UI

  3. Chatterbox - Formant speech synthesizer

    • Source-filter vocal tract model
    • 4 formants (F1-F4) + optional nasal
    • Vocal modes: Nasal, Sing (vibrato), Shout, Fry
    • IPA vowel quadrilateral joystick
    • 20 parameters via MIDI CC

  4. ChatGen - Text-to-speech MIDI generator

    • English text → phoneme parsing
    • 40+ phoneme support
    • Generates Note On/Off + 7 MIDI CCs
    • Designed for serial routing with Chatterbox
    • Half-note timing (2 beats per phoneme)

  5. Drumkit - Industrial drum synthesizer

    • 8 synthesized voices (Kick, Snare, Clap, Toms, Hi-Hats, Crash)
    • Master FX: Bit crusher, distortion, reverb
    • General MIDI note mapping (36-50)
    • Velocity sensitive

  6. PM-Synth - Physical modeling synthesizer

    • 8 DSP modules (Sources, Envelope, Interface, Delays, Feedback, Filter, Modulation, Reverb)
    • 12 interface strategies
    • X11/Cairo UI (raw, no GTK dependency)

  7. Flues-Control - MIDI CC controller

    • 29 program selector
    • 9 slider controls (CC: 73, 72, 28, 30, 74, 71, 1, 27, 7)
    • Context-dependent slider remapping
    • Designed for controlling flues-synth from DAW

Flues-Synth (Headless Raspberry Pi)

  • Monophonic synthesis engine
  • 29 MIDI programs with dynamic parameter routing
  • 17 distortion synthesis algorithms
  • ALSA MIDI/audio backends
  • Optimized for Raspberry Pi 4
  • 48kHz sample rate, ~10ms latency

Installation

System Requirements

  • Linux (x86_64 or ARM)
  • ALSA (libasound2)
  • X11 and Cairo (for plugin UIs)
  • LV2 host application (Ardour, Reaper, Carla, etc.)

Quick Install

# Extract tarball
tar xzf flues-v0.1.0-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
cd flues-v0.1.0

# Install (requires root)
sudo ./install.sh

Manual Install

LV2 Plugins:

cp -r lv2-plugins/* ~/.lv2/

Flues-Synth:

sudo cp flues-synth/flues-synth /usr/local/bin/
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/flues-synth

Verify Installation

# Check LV2 plugins
lv2ls | grep flues

# Test plugin
jalv.gtk https://danja.github.io/flues/plugins/disyn

# Run synth
flues-synth

Usage Examples

Chatterbox + ChatGen (Text-to-Speech)

  1. Load both plugins on same MIDI track in DAW
  2. Route: [ChatGen] → [Chatterbox] → Audio Out
  3. Type text in ChatGen UI
  4. Press Play in DAW
  5. Text converted to speech via formant synthesis

Flues-Synth (Raspberry Pi)

# Auto-detect audio device
flues-synth

# Specify device
flues-synth hw:2,0

# Enable debug
FLUES_MIDI_DEBUG=1 flues-synth

MIDI Control:

  • Program Change 0-28: Select synthesis program
  • CC 73-7: Hardware sliders (context-dependent)
  • Notes 60-84: Chromatic keyboard (C4-C6)

Floozy (Hybrid Synthesis)

  1. Load in DAW or run standalone: jalv.gtk https://danja.github.io/flues/plugins/floozy
  2. Select Disyn algorithm (0-16)
  3. Adjust algorithm parameters (param1, param2, param3)
  4. Choose interface type (Reed, Pluck, etc.)
  5. Blend distortion source with physical model feedback

Documentation

Complete documentation in docs/ directory:

  • FLUES-SYNTH.md - Synthesis engine architecture
  • algorithms.md - 17 distortion synthesis algorithms reference
  • midi.md - MIDI CC mapping and control reference
  • PROGRAM_CHANGE.md - 29 program descriptions
  • PROGRAM6_FIX.md - Race condition fix notes

Known Issues

  • Flues-synth is monophonic only (polyphony planned for future release)
  • Plugin UIs require X11 (no Wayland support yet)
  • ChatGen phoneme parsing is basic (no prosody or timing variation)

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for detailed version history.

Building from Source

See project README for build instructions:

git clone https://github.com/danja/flues.git
cd flues
./scripts/build-release.sh 0.1.0

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development guidelines.

License

See individual component licenses in source repository.

Credits

  • Design & Implementation: Danny Ayers
  • Development assisted by: Claude (Anthropic)

Support

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