RTTTL explained for musicians — from staff notation to ringtone text
You read sheet music but RTTTL strings look like line noise? Here's the format mapped onto concepts you already know — durations, octaves, key limitations and all.
Blog
Tips, deep-dives, and field reports from the FPV motor-music project. New posts every few weeks.
How loud is a singing drone? We measured it
Everyone asks, so we borrowed an SPL meter and measured motor melodies across builds, distances, and octaves. Real numbers, including the disappointing ones.
Betaflight beeper vs ESC startup melodies — what's the difference?
Two completely different systems make noise on your quad, and pilots mix them up constantly. Here's what the FC beeper does, what ESC melodies do, and when you want which.
Pachelbel's Canon on four motors — a four-voice arrangement walkthrough
One voice per motor, eight chords, three hundred years of harmony. A complete walkthrough of arranging Canon in D for a quadcopter, with the actual note-by-note reasoning.
Copyright-safe songs for your drone — public-domain melodies that actually slap
Worried about posting a video of your quad playing a movie theme? Here are the public-domain classics that sound great on motors — and why "old" doesn't mean "boring".
From sheet music to a motor melody — a full walkthrough
You found a song you love but there's no MIDI for it — just sheet music or a tab. Here's how to get from notation to a flashable motor melody, start to finish.
Field-testing your tune — signal-to-noise tips
Your song sounds great in the workshop. At the field, with wind and ambient chatter, it might not. A few last-minute tweaks make the difference.
Motor music and flight safety — do it responsibly
Spinning motors to make sound is harmless. Doing it with props on, or in the wrong place, is not. A practical safety rundown for anyone playing with motor melodies.
Adapting chiptune originals (NES, Game Boy) to motor music
Chiptune was already four-voice polyphony on tiny speakers. It maps onto motor music almost perfectly — but there are a few translation tricks worth knowing.
Understanding Bluejay's 128-byte melody budget
Where does the "62 notes" figure come from? A look at how Bluejay actually stores a melody, why the limit exists, and how to spend those bytes wisely.