128 more presences, and the album The Wave finds its karaoke stage

September 1, 2026 was a calmer day than the great shifts of late August, but it still leaves an important mark: the Wave continues to advance by transmission from one person to another. During that full UTC day, 128 people took their place, and all 128 arrived by invitation.

After August, the month the Wave changed scale, another kind of movement appears. Less spectacular than a 10,000 threshold, but very valuable: humans keep talking about FreeWillWave, inviting, sending energy, and keeping alive what was opened.

Meanwhile, I worked on two very concrete tasks: making the entire The Wave album available as karaoke videos, and making some reading data private when it does not need to be displayed publicly. A Wave also grows like this: through presences, and through small adjustments that make the experience fairer for everyone.

UTC day of September 1	Result
Free Humans at start	10,498
Free Humans at end	10,626
New presences	128
Arrivals by invitation	128
People who invited at least one person	37
Countries represented	96
Energies sent during the day	1,427
People who sent at least one energy	245

A softer day, but still carried forward

The map gained no new country that day: we stayed at 96 countries represented. But staying at the same number of countries does not mean nothing is moving. The Wave strengthened in several already lit places, with 49 new presences in Nigeria, 38 in India, 11 in South Africa, 6 in Kenya, 4 in Uganda, and 3 in Malaysia.

What matters most is that the day's 128 arrivals came by invitation. 37 different people allowed someone else to find the door. Since the days described in 10,000 presences, seven more countries and a Wave that becomes easier to follow, this thread remains strong: FreeWillWave moves forward because one person can show the way to another.

Thank you for today's invitations to #805 Chizo1germany (Germany), with 13 direct invitations, to #9824 Sanusi Ajiya (Nigeria), with 7, and to #10560 Prosenjit (India), with 3. Since the opening, #805 Chizo1germany (Germany) has reached 3,664 direct invitations, #2029 Nura USMAN MUSA (Nigeria) has 181, and #869 Ibrahim Sani (Nigeria) has 170.

The day's last presence was #10626 Senthilkumar Jeyaprakash (India), arriving at 23:57 UTC. I really like these end-of-day presences: they make it feel like the page refuses to close completely. Three minutes remained, and someone still took their place.

The energies remain very much alive

During the day, 1,427 energies were sent by 245 different people. Nigeria accounted for 1,201, Belgium 68, and Niger 49. Since the site opened, the cumulative total has reached 31,341 energies.

Thank you for today's energies to #9782 Usman (Nigeria), with 120 energies, to #9125 Adamu Bello (Nigeria), with 112, and to #6974 Abdulkarim Iliyasu (Nigeria), with 83.

Since the opening, #5453 Sadik Goni (Nigeria) has reached 1,515 energies, #3377 Babayo Haruna (Nigeria) 1,476, and #486 Musa Muhammad (Nigeria) 1,320. The details of the progression remain visible on the Wave in numbers, and the countries' presence can still be read on the Wave map.

On the support side, two $5 gestures have been recorded since the opening: mine, in Belgium, and one from #79 Oddur Tom (Australia). The Support the project page remains open for those who want to help FreeWillWave continue.

The Wave album arrives as karaoke videos

The day's major visible project concerns The Wave album. The 11 tracks now exist as karaoke videos for FreeWillWave TV, in a playlist called `Album "The Wave" + Karaoke`. The first video is public, and the next ten are scheduled to come out one per day, at 11:23 UTC.

The idea is simple: someone who discovers a song should not only hear it. They should be able to follow it, read the lyrics, enter the rhythm, understand what is being sung. So I prepared each track with its cover on the left, the karaoke on the right, and a word-by-word sweep in English over 503 lines of timed lyrics.

There was real work of looking, not only of production. A subtitle size that seems right on a big screen can become tiny on a phone. So I enlarged the lyrics to judge them from the viewer's device, not from my desk comfort. It's a useful small lesson: if FreeWillWave is shared a lot on phones, we have to think with a phone in hand.

Two pieces of information were also missing on screen: the name of the album, and the fact that a download is available. Putting them only in a description was not enough. They are now visible in the video itself, placed in an area that avoids being cut off when a very elongated screen fills the image. The edges of a phone can be greedier than one might think.

The layout of the lyrics was also reworked to resemble the live feed: a compact centered block, with the sung line and the next line just below. The lyrics are no longer scattered over the height. They stay together, readable, with that visual calm that allows you to simply sing or follow without searching where to look.

There was a very concrete incident on the last video: it went out to YouTube while its file was not yet complete. YouTube accepted it, then its processing failed. I deleted that version and sent the complete file again, then added a simple check: before sending a video, it must last as long as its own sound. A file that exists is not necessarily a finished file. That's the kind of sentence you learn once and remember very well.

Each video also indicates that the creation was made with AI. This is stated on YouTube and repeated in the description, with Suno named, and one important clarification: the members are real. Music can be assisted by tools, but the Wave tells of humans taking their place.

Finally, I placed the end screens by hand on the videos: subscribe, continue to another video, keep a door open. It's not spectacular, but it's exactly the kind of detail that turns an isolated song into a possible path.

Clearer pages, more private numbers

I also reworked the experience film, with a more direct welcome. The title now says: “Something good is happening. Now.” And just above the player, a sentence reassures the arriving person: “No account needed. Just watch.”

The old welcome was too vague. This one says more quickly what it offers: watch, understand, then decide freely. The page has been reread in 15 languages, so that this entrance remains clear beyond French. When someone discovers FreeWillWave from another country, the first sentence should not demand unnecessary effort from them.

The previous story was also carefully adjusted. One language was missing from the first preparation, and the publication stayed hidden until all 15 versions were ready. Once the correction was made, the original URL was kept. It's a discreet detail, but an important one: when an article is shared, its address should not change on those who have already received it.

Because the candles had already been used twice in three days in the illustrations, a new gold-weave banner was also created to vary the image of the Story. It's not the biggest project in the world, but I like these small signs: they show that the logbook is not only published, it is maintained.

Last point, more important than it seems: the numbers of views and reads. The articles and the film were already hiding their counters from the public. The music page, on the other hand, still displayed the number of plays under each title as soon as it was not zero. That is no longer the case. Plays continue to be counted, but their display is now reserved for the administration.

It's fairer this way. Not everything should become a public number. A person can listen to a song without the site turning that listen into a small counter visible to everyone. The measurement remains useful for improving the project; the display, for its part, is kept only where it really serves.

What this day adds

September 1 did not open a new country, and it did not cross a round threshold like the two new countries of August 28 as FreeWillWave approached 10,000 presences. But it added something solid: 128 presences arrived by invitation, 1,427 energies, an album that becomes easier to follow in karaoke video, a clearer experience page, and better-protected counters.

It's a day of consolidation, and I really like that word. Consolidating is not slowing the story down. It's making what comes next more livable for those who will arrive later.

The next page will still depend on the same free gestures: taking one's place, inviting someone, sending energy, listening to a song, supporting the project, or suggesting an improvement via the Send an idea or a remark page. The Wave advances when humans make it visible, and when each door becomes a little easier to open.