M6 M7 M9s2 s4 (sus)m6 m7 m9M m (major, minor)Off: single notesScale degrees: white key 5 = I (the key)
Getting around
- tap HOME
- Play screen: chord name, flower, QUANTIZE, KEY, SCALE, GLIDE.
- ENV twice
- Any screen's own button again: back to HOME.
- turn ALGORITHM
- Key layout: Top Lock (default), Top, Side Lock, Side.
- tap OCT-
- Octave down (OCT+ up, -3 to +3).
- hold OCT-+tap OCT+
- Both together: octave 0 and all notes off.
- tap GLO+turn SELECT
- Multi-page screens (GLO, ARP, ENV, EDIT, SAVE): SELECT turns pages.
Playing
- tap black key 1-10
- Pick the chord type; it stays latched (Lock layouts).
- white key 1-16
- Play that scale degree as a chord, with a bass note.
- hold black key 7+tap black key 8
- Combine buttons: m7 + m9 latch together as m9.
- tap black key 11
- Off: white keys play single notes, several at once.
- black key 1-10 twice
- Tap the latched button again: unlatched, single notes.
- turn KNOB 1
- On HOME: QUANTIZE Off / On / Full (chords stay in key).
- turn KNOB 2
- On HOME: the key (tonic); KNOB 3 the scale (27).
- turn KNOB 4
- On HOME: glide between chords, Off to 2000 ms.
- tap ARP+turn KNOB 1
- Arpeggiator on / off; KNOB 2 mode, 3 octaves, 4 rate.
- tap ARP+turn SELECT+turn KNOB 4
- Feel page: LATCH keeps the arp going after you let go.
Sound
- turn PRESETS
- Chord sound.
- turn SELECT
- On HOME: bass sound.
- tap LFO
- BASS page: bass on / off, level, octave, octaver.
- tap ENV
- Attack, decay, sustain, release; SELECT: chord + bass, chord, bass.
- tap EDIT
- Sound editor; black keys pick the section, SELECT the page.
- tap EDIT+black key 9
- Edit the chord sound (black key 10: the bass sound).
- tap SEL+black key 1-10
- Edit that chord button: type, added notes, inversion, bass tone.
Sequencer / patterns
- tap REC
- Looper: arm a take, the first chord starts it; again ends it.
- tap PLAY
- Play / stop the loop; with no loop, the metronome.
- hold REC
- 1 second: undo the last layer (the last one clears the loop).
- hold PLAY
- LOOPER page: LENGTH, MODE New / Overdub, QUANTIZE, COUNT-IN.
- tap SEQ
- Metronome: LEVEL, SOUND, TEMPO, TIME SIG; clicks while open.
Effects
- tap FX+turn SELECT
- Pick an effect: filter, drive, chorus, phaser, delay, reverb.
- tap FX+turn KNOB 1
- Selected effect on / off; KNOB 2-4 its values.
- tap FX+turn ALGORITHM
- Move the selected effect along the chain.
Saving & loading
- tap SAVE
- SAVE page; SELECT: chord sound, bass sound or loop.
- tap SAVE+turn KNOB 1
- Replace the sound or save it as new.
- tap SAVE+turn KNOB 2+turn KNOB 3
- Name: KNOB 2 picks the letter, KNOB 3 changes it.
- tap SAVE+hold SAVE
- 1 second: save (KNOB 4 Delete: delete your own sound).
Settings
- tap GLO
- Display: COLOR theme, BACKDROP, BOOT SND.
- tap GLO+turn SELECT
- MIDI: MIDI OUT, CHORD CH, BASS CH, CLOCK IN.
- tap GLO+turn SELECT+turn KNOB 1
- Play page: VELOCITY (keys have none), GLIDE, LIGHTS, RETRIG.
Good to know
- A new FM-1 starts in Top Lock with no chord latched, so the white keys play single notes: tap a black key first.
- Default: key C major, Quantize On. With On, M/m/s buttons keep their type on every degree; with Full every chord tone snaps to the scale (diatonic chords).
- Without Lock (Top, Side) a chord only plays while you hold its black key.
- Octave 0 sounds an octave below the keys' printed notes.
- Settings save themselves a moment after a change, once nothing sounds; sounds and the loop need SAVE.
- Install went wrong? Hold OCT- while powering on: update mode (black screen), then press Install again on the site.
A community cheat sheet by the hub, not by the firmware's makers: when in doubt, their manual is right.