Just Friends: Version Four (latest version)
A final form
Version four represents the complete vision of Just Friends, though minor updates continue to shore up final intentions.
Download
Get the latest release, with all the instructions and info, at the GitHub release page.
See the JF Firmware Update Instructions for how to complete the update.
Archive: Version Three
It's new, but mostly not. Expand your friends' digital literacy
Upon first release, Just Friends was finished. There was considered to be no path toward 'firmware upgrades' and a bootloader was very nearly left off the module altogether. But for one thing, Just Type, a digital communication layer between Just Friends and monome's Teletype. After a failed attempt to shoe-horn in the functionality, and the whole RUN-jack ordeal in late 2016, rewriting the software (along with changes to the hardware) didn't seem such a bad idea.
The main thing one will notice on first use is that the CURVE control has been switched around – sine and square waves have switched sides. The driving force here was to improve the transition into the square shape; a much more natural fit with the fast-rising logarithmic shape. Many smoother flavours of PWM are thus available.
While Just Type is admittedly aimed at a small userbase of scripting Eurorack users, the broader benefit is that the synthesis engine has been brought into a new RUN mode. SIFT has been removed (it's mostly accessible from SHIFT) and SPILL moved, thus now FLOOM mode can be present. This new mode provides an internal modulation oscillator on every channel. Thus each voice is a 2-operator FM voice. The ratio of the oscillators can be set via RUN voltage, and modulation amount via the FM knob & cv input.
A prior bug in STRATA mode has been remedied, and a hardware calibration mode has been added (though remains mostly unnecessary). Otherwise Just Friends remains largely the same.
Download
Changes
v3.2.a6: 2020-07-07
- FIX ii crash in synthesis mode (sound/sustain settings)
- FIX ii messages could be duplicated (fixes hung notes issue in synthesis mode)
- FIX polyphonic allocator now allows 'voice' and 'note' commands to interract
- FIX polyphonic allocator now balances notes evenly across voices in all synthesis modes
v3.2.a4: 2020-06-29 (Support in Crow v2.0)
- FIX smoother scaling of the INTONE knob around 12:00
- FIX SHIFT mode retriggers correctly when RUN voltage >=5V
- FIX STRATA mode ensures complete attack portion when at fastest attack setting
- FIX when in sustain mode (or STRATA), changing direction no longer causes discontinuities
- FIX ii 'trigger' command always triggers for non-zero values
- NEW ii 'pitch' command sets the denoted voice's pitch without retriggering its envelope
- NEW ii 'address' command allows to use a secondary i2c address for 2 Just Friends devices on a single ii bus
- CHANGE weak pullups enabled on ii lines. Coexists with existing Teletype and/or Crow setups
- FIX 'releases' are now ignored by transient and cycle modes in Synthesis
- NEW support for ii 'getters' so that JF's hardware state can be queried remotely
- FIX more reliable ii communication
- FIX Geode voice allocator uses round-robin algorithm by default
v3.1.2: 2018-11-26
- FIX voltage scaling of RUN jack. Now allows limits to be reached
- FIX mapping of RUN jack to FM-modulator pitch in FLOOM mode
v3.1.1: 2018-08-13
- Adds support for mid-2018 hardware revision
- Fixes mid-2018 modules with unresponsive I2C port
v3.0.5: 2018-04-18
- Reduces FM depth in shape mode
- Cubic shaping on the FM knob for easier setting of small FM amounts
- Frequency ranges tuned toward slower speeds (deprecates v3.0.4_slow)
- Alternate 3.0.4 version with slower ramp times
- Corrects scaling of INTONE cv to cover full range with +/-5v
v3.0.3:
General functionality:
- sine & square waveshapes have switched sides of CURVE knob
- logarithm <-> square transition preserves polarity of PWM
- transient & sustain modes no longer reverse through zero with negative FM
- Fixes rare bug where these modes would get stuck cycling
- STRATA
- Decay is now smoothed logarithmically, relative to TIME
- Crash when FM-ing sustain level / FM input fixed
- VOLLEY
- Burst count is sampled per trigger (can be sequenced via RUN jack)
- Burst count scales exponentially, up to 36 triggers at +5v input
- RUN values below -3v5 will cause a trigger to choke the respective channel
- SIFT (deprecated. use SHIFT w positive CV offset into TIME)
- PLUME
- Decay time sampled per trigger (can be sequenced via RUN jack)
- Decay time range is increased & exponentially distributed
- SPILL
- Reconfigured for less chaotic, and more spectrally-defined use
- Only ID is cycling & will trigger receptive channels at end-of-cycle
- Retriggered channels will soft-sync (change direction)
- FLOOM
- Each channel cycles & has individual sine-wave VCO for FM
- FM ratio controlled by RUN
- +5v ratio is 2:1 *crystals*
- 0v ratio is 1:1 *wavefolder*
- -5v ratio is 1:2 *grumble grumble*
- FM pot controls internal FM amount with standard INTONE / LINEAR response
- FM cv input acts as a FM-index offset (negative values decrease modulation)
Herein Just Type is explained to some extensive degree.