The Wave of Hormuz

A VCV Rack 2 oscillator that encodes the 2023–2026 Strait of Hormuz conflict as a dual-closure square wave. The waveform is always +1 (OPEN / free transit) except during the two programmed closure windows, where it drops to −1 (CLOSED / blockade). Every knob name is a pun on the Strait.

Default parameters reproduce the real conflict timeline at data-accurate proportions — 947 days from Oct 7 2023 to May 11 2026 — with all knob defaults set so the unmodified module plays the historical square wave exactly:

Phase	Days	Event
0.000 – 0.200	189	OPEN
0.200 – 0.223	22	CLOSED — Iran seizes MV MSC Aries (Apr 13 – May 5 2024)
0.223 – 0.926	666	OPEN
0.926 – 1.000	70	CLOSED — Renewed blockade (Mar 2 2026 – present)

The panel waveform graphic shows these proportions accurately: the first closure appears as a hairline notch (~1.5 mm at panel scale); the second as a solid block at the right edge.

Prerequisites

Tool	Notes
VCV Rack 2	Free or Pro
VCV Rack 2 SDK	Extract so that `<path>/plugin.mk` exists
MSYS2	Windows build environment
MinGW64 toolchain	Run in the MSYS2 shell: `pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-toolchain`

Platform note: The plugin currently builds on Windows only. The CRT heap bridge at the top of src/WaveOfHormuz.cpp is Windows-specific (see Windows build notes below). macOS/Linux contributors can remove that block and build normally against the Rack SDK.

Building

# Auto-detects the SDK if it is in a standard location.
# Override with RACK_DIR if needed.
RACK_DIR="$HOME/Documents/Rack-SDK" ./build.sh

Command	Effect
`./build.sh`	Compile `plugin.dll`
`./build.sh install`	Compile and copy to the Rack 2 plugins folder
`./build.sh clean`	Remove all build artefacts
`./build.sh dist`	Build a distributable `.vcvplugin` zip

install copies plugin.dll, plugin.json, and res/ to:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Rack2\plugins-win-x64\WaveOfHormuz\

Restart VCV Rack to pick up the updated plugin.

Before running install: close VCV Rack completely. Rack holds plugin.dll open while running; the copy will fail with a “device busy” error otherwise. build.sh will detect this and print a clear message.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	Fix
`install` fails: device or resource busy	VCV Rack is running and has `plugin.dll` locked	Close Rack, then re-run `./build.sh install`
`jq` warnings during build (`pipe: No error`)	`jq` is not installed	Safe to ignore — install with `choco install jq` to silence
Silent `Error 1` compile failure	`make` found Git’s `sh.exe` as its shell	Always build via `./build.sh` rather than bare `make`
Module crashes Rack on load	Wrong CRT in the build toolchain (UCRT vs MSVCRT)	Use the MSYS2 MINGW64 shell, not UCRT64 or Chocolatey MinGW
Closure windows overlap	C1 takes priority over C2 when windows share a phase region	Intended — dial the windows apart

Module reference

16 HP. One module: The Wave of Hormuz. All panel labels are lowercase.

Knobs

Label	Range	Default	Pun	Function
knot speed	−4…+4 oct	0 (C4)	nautical knots	Base pitch; adds to v/oct and swell CVs
opening ceremony	0…1	189/947 ≈ 0.200	strait opening	Phase start of closure 1 (C1)
strait jacket	0…1	22/947 ≈ 0.023	straightjacket / strait	Width of closure 1 (C1)
sanctions	0…1	877/947 ≈ 0.926	international sanctions	Phase start of closure 2 (C2)
embargo	0…1	70/947 ≈ 0.074	embargo duration	Width of closure 2 (C2)
oil slick	0…1	0	oil-tanker spill	One-pole LP smooths hard square edges
choke point	0…1	0	strategic chokepoint	Tanh soft-clip; drive 1× → 10× (gain-compensated)
persian tilt	−1…+1	0	Persian Gulf	Shape inside closures: 0 = flat, +1 = triangle peak, −1 = rising ramp
tanker	0…1	1	oil-tanker cargo	Output level (1.0 = ±5 V peak)
gulf / dry	0…1	1	Gulf of Oman	Crossfade: 0 = plain 50% square, 1 = dual-closure wave

Inputs

All parameter CVs add 0.1× per volt and are clamped to the knob’s valid range, except tilt (0.2×/V, clamped ±1).

Jack	Signal	Function
v/oct	±5 V	1 V/oct pitch CV
tide	Gate/Trig	Hard sync — rising edge resets phase to 0
swell	±5 V	FM — adds ¼ V/oct per volt to pitch
dry cv	±5 V	CV for gulf / dry mix
open	±5 V	CV for opening ceremony (C1 start)
jckt	±5 V	CV for strait jacket (C1 width)
lock	±5 V	CV for sanctions (C2 start)
emgo	±5 V	CV for embargo (C2 width)
slck	±5 V	CV for oil slick (LP filter)
chok	±5 V	CV for choke point (tanh drive)
tilt	±5 V	CV for persian tilt — applies to both C1 and C2
tnk	±5 V	CV for tanker (output level)

Outputs

Jack	Signal	Function
eoc	0 / 10 V	1 ms trigger at the end of every cycle
c1	0 / 10 V	Gate — high while inside closure 1 (yellow LED)
c2	0 / 10 V	Gate — high while inside closure 2 (red LED)
passage	±5 V audio	Main oscillator output (green LED = level)

Windows build notes

Why there is a CRT heap bridge

libRack.dll is compiled against MSVCRT (msvcrt.dll), which uses its own private heap. Modern MSYS2 MinGW64 defaults to UCRT (ucrtbase.dll), a separate private heap.

At runtime Rack calls delete on widgets our plugin allocates with new. Because new used UCRT’s malloc but delete reaches MSVCRT’s free, the two heap handles don’t match and RtlFreeHeap crashes with signal 11.

The fix at the top of src/WaveOfHormuz.cpp overrides global operator new / operator delete to load msvcrt.dll at startup via LoadLibrary and call its malloc/free directly.

Why labels are drawn in C++ rather than SVG

NanoSVG (the Rack SVG renderer) silently discards all <text> elements. All visible text is rendered programmatically via the PanelText widget in src/WaveOfHormuz.cpp.

File layout

WaveOfHormuz/
├── plugin.json          manifest (slug, version, module list)
├── Makefile             standard VCV Rack 2 Makefile
├── build.sh             build helper (build / install / clean / dist)
├── src/
│   ├── plugin.hpp       shared header (Plugin*, Model* declarations)
│   ├── plugin.cpp       init() — registers the module
│   └── WaveOfHormuz.cpp all DSP, widget, and label code
└── res/
    └── WaveOfHormuz.svg panel artwork (16 HP, dark-navy / teal / gold)

License

MIT — free to use, modify, and redistribute (attribution required).