C1ZZL3 Gnarly

C1ZZL3 Gnarly is a dual-oscillator phase-distortion synth card for the Music Thing Modular Workshop Computer.

Gnarly is the most complexVersion of C1ZZL3. It keeps the Web MIDI sound-preset workflow from the advanced C1ZZL3 experiments, but removes the Turing machine panel mode so the hardware controls can focus on oscillator editing, recipe wave banks, ring modulation, and noise/grit.

For the user-facing card guide, see:

CARD_README.md

Status

This folder contains the stable Gnarly card 101 build.

release: 101 / Gnarly protocol v11 stable
draft: false

Core C1ZZL3 remains card 84. Gnarly is prepared here as a separate card identity because its hardware behaviour is substantially different.

Stable Build

Current Gnarly UF2:

uf2/C1ZZL3_GNARLY_V11.uf2

Checksum:

376b856daf2b7ddc2dc5a75728882b27e9423802b33d23ea2a040e5989c5bc94

What It Does

• Runs two phase-distortion oscillator lanes.
• Uses separate Amp1/Amp2, PD1/PD2, and Pitch1/Pitch2 envelopes.
• Supports named sound presets saved on the card.
• Saves either envelope-only data or full sound presets with performance settings.
• Uses four recipe wave banks for simple and CZ-like oscillator pairings.
• Reads and writes settings through the Gnarly Web MIDI Lab.
• Imports Casio CZ .syx patches through the shared C1ZZL3 Import Lab.
• Removes Turing CV, Turing pulse, and generated Turing MIDI behaviour.

Hardware Controls

Switch middle: oscillator 1 page.

• Main: shared pitch
• X: oscillator 1 phase distortion
• Y: oscillator 1 recipe slot in the selected bank

Switch up: oscillator 2 page.

• Main: oscillator 2 base interval/spread, centred at unison
• X: oscillator 2 phase distortion
• Y: oscillator 2 recipe slot in the selected bank

Switch down hold: performance and bank page.

• Main: recipe bank
• X: ring modulation
• Y: noise/grit

Recipe Banks

• Bank 1: simple single-wave families.
• Bank 2: warmer compound pairings with double-sine support.
• Bank 3: brighter resonant/windowed pairings.
• Bank 4: odd/import-faithful CZ-style pairings for translated patches.

Each oscillator recipe slot chooses one entry from the current bank. In Bank 1 the slots are the eight plain C1ZZL3 wave families. In Banks 2 to 4 the slots become fixed compound recipes:

• Bank 1: Slot 1 Saw Slot 2 Square Slot 3 Narrow pulse Slot 4 Double sine Slot 5 Saw pulse Slot 6 Resonant saw window Slot 7 Resonant triangle window Slot 8 Resonant trapezoid window
• Bank 2: Slot 1 Double sine + Saw Slot 2 Double sine + Square Slot 3 Saw + Double sine Slot 4 Square + Double sine Slot 5 Narrow pulse + Double sine Slot 6 Saw pulse + Double sine Slot 7 Resonant triangle window + Double sine Slot 8 Resonant trapezoid window + Double sine
• Bank 3: Slot 1 Resonant saw window + Saw Slot 2 Resonant triangle window + Square Slot 3 Resonant trapezoid window + Narrow pulse Slot 4 Resonant saw window + Saw pulse Slot 5 Resonant triangle window + Saw pulse Slot 6 Resonant trapezoid window + Saw pulse Slot 7 Resonant saw window + Narrow pulse Slot 8 Resonant trapezoid window + Square
• Bank 4: Slot 1 Saw pulse + Double sine Slot 2 Resonant triangle window + Double sine Slot 3 Saw pulse + Narrow pulse Slot 4 Resonant trapezoid window + Double sine Slot 5 Resonant saw window + Saw pulse Slot 6 Narrow pulse + Resonant trapezoid window Slot 7 Square + Resonant saw window Slot 8 Resonant triangle window + Narrow pulse

These are not equal 50/50 blends. Each recipe leans toward its first waveform, with the second waveform mixed in at a fixed amount chosen in the firmware. That is why some pairings feel like a coloured version of one family rather than a completely even hybrid.

On the switch-down page, LEDs 1 and 2 show the selected recipe bank:

• Bank 1: LEDs 1 and 2 off.
• Bank 2: LED 1 on.
• Bank 3: LED 2 on.
• Bank 4: LEDs 1 and 2 on.

MIDI

Gnarly uses CC20 to CC27 as an eight-knob performance block. CC1 is also kept as oscillator 1 phase distortion so a mod wheel remains useful.

• CC1: oscillator 1 phase distortion, mod-wheel friendly.
• CC20: oscillator 1 recipe slot.
• CC21: oscillator 2 recipe slot.
• CC22: ring modulation amount.
• CC23: recipe bank.
• CC24: oscillator 2 interval/spread.
• CC25: oscillator 2 phase distortion.
• CC26: noise/grit amount.
• CC27: oscillator 1 phase distortion, for eight-knob controllers.

The C1ZZL3 Envelope Lab has a hidden Developer-mode MIDI CC Test Suite for checking these messages without a hardware controller. It sends individual CC values, a neutral reset, and sweep tests through the selected Web MIDI output.

Web MIDI Editor

Hosted editor path after Workshop deployment:

https://computer.musicthing.co.uk/programs/101-gnarly-c1zzl3/web/index.html

Local editor from this release folder:

python3 -m http.server 5177 --directory web

Open:

http://localhost:5177

Use Chrome or another browser with Web MIDI and SysEx support. When Web MIDI connects, the editor automatically checks card settings and saved envelope slots so the detected firmware type is shown without requiring a manual read first.

C1ZZL3 Import Lab

Hosted import lab path after Workshop deployment:

https://computer.musicthing.co.uk/programs/101-gnarly-c1zzl3/web/import/index.html

Local import lab from this release folder:

python3 -m http.server 5178 --directory web/import

Open:

http://localhost:5178

Use this page to decode Casio CZ .syx patches into C1ZZL3 drafts with separate oscillator envelopes, pitch lanes, oscillator wave choices, performance values, and recipe-bank-compatible settings.

Build

cmake -S . -B build -DPICO_NO_PICOTOOL=1
cmake --build build -j2

The build creates:

build/C1ZZL3_GNARLY_V11.uf2

License Notes

This project is released under the MIT License. The included computercard.h hardware helper is ComputerCard by Chris Johnson and is also MIT licensed; keep its MIT notice present when copying firmware files into releases or experiments.

USB MIDI host support includes the MIT-licensed rppicomidi files, copyright 2023 rppicomidi. Their copyright and licence notices are retained in the corresponding source files.