Tines (lowest in the middle)Chords I-vii7th chords I IV V vi
Getting around
- tap HOME
- Tine page: Material, Hardness, Decay, Tone; again: Character.
- tap EDIT
- Step through all eleven pages in turn.
- tap SEL
- Keys page: Layout, Scale, Key, Black; again: Play (Strum ms).
- tap OCT-
- Octave down (OCT+ up), -2 to +2.
- tap SAVE
- Save now; it also saves itself seconds after a change.
Playing
- white key 1-16
- Pluck a tine; the lowest (dim-lit white key 9) sits mid.
- black key 1-7
- Thumb-roll chord on scale degrees I to vii.
- black key 8-11
- Seventh chords on I, IV, V and vi.
- turn ALGORITHM
- Scale: Major, Minor, Penta, ... Hirajoshi, Blues, Mbira, Chromatic.
- turn PRESETS
- Key C to B (Keyboard layout: transpose).
- tap REC
- Palm mute: damp every ringing tine.
- tap SEL+turn KNOB 1
- Layout: Tine, Keyboard (keys as printed), Mirror.
- tap SEL+turn KNOB 4
- Black keys: Chords, Sharps (second row) or Perform.
Sound
- turn SELECT
- Material: Steel, Brass, Bronze, Aluminium, Bamboo, Glass.
- tap HOME+turn KNOB 2
- Hardness: soft thumb pad (0) to bright fingernail (100).
- HOME twice
- Character: Worn, Glide, Tuning (Equal / Just), Release (Ring / Damp).
- tap ENV
- Body page: Body, Buzz (mbira rattle), Wah, Wah rate.
- tap ENV+turn KNOB 1
- Body: None, Board, Box, Gourd.
- tap ENV+turn KNOB 3
- Cover the sound hole for the wah (Box, Gourd only).
Sequencer / patterns
- tap ARP
- Mbira pattern on / off over the last chord chosen.
- tap ARP+black key 1-11
- Pattern running: a chord key gives it a new chord.
- hold ARP
- Pattern page (same as SEQ), without starting it.
- tap SEQ+turn KNOB 1
- Pattern: Thumbs, Cascade, 3 over 2, Interlock.
- tap SEQ+turn KNOB 2
- Pattern tempo 40-200 BPM; MIDI clock takes over.
Effects
- tap FX
- Space: Reverb, Size, Delay, Time (ping-pong).
- FX twice
- Color: Tape, Lo-fi, Chorus, Filter (low-pass left, high-pass right).
- tap LFO
- Grain: a granular cloud of what you play; KNOB 1 level.
- LFO twice
- Spread: Spray, Feedback (echo repeats), Width.
- tap PLAY
- Freeze the grain cloud as a drone; again to go live.
Settings
- tap GLO
- Setup: Tune, MIDI ch, MIDI out, Theme; header shows version.
- tap GLO+turn KNOB 2
- MIDI channel: Omni or 1-16.
- tap GLO+turn KNOB 3
- MIDI out: send the keys as MIDI notes.
- tap GLO+turn KNOB 4
- Theme: Light or Dark screen.
Recovery
- hold SAVE+tap SAVE
- 1.5 s: RESET? Then SAVE resets the sound to defaults.
- hold OCT-+hold OCT+
- Both for 5 seconds: update mode, for installing firmware.
- hold OCT-+hold OCT++power on
- Hardware calibration: teach each button and knob.
- tap PLAY
- On the SAFE MODE screen: try starting again.
Good to know
- Try it in the browser first: jadamsowers.github.io/fm1-fimba runs the same firmware code.
- Keys don't sense velocity: Hardness sets how firm every pluck is (MIDI velocity does it over MIDI).
- Wah needs a body with a sound hole: on None or Board its knobs show -- and NO HOLE.
- Black keys in Perform: 1 mute, 2 cover the hole, 3 freeze, 4 / 5 octave down / up while held, 6-11 the six materials.
- SELECT, ALGORITHM and PRESETS work on every page; the header shows key and scale.
- A dot in the header means unsaved changes; the reset keeps the Setup page.
A community cheat sheet by the hub, not by the firmware's makers: when in doubt, their manual is right.