Play the scale (root on key 1)AMBIENT / EXPERIMENTAL pathChords (hold: on / off)Loops REVERSE / PENDULUM / RANDOMLoops HALF / DOUBLE speedENVELOPE pageEDIT macros (SHIFT: BALLSY)SHIFT
Getting around
- tap FX
- Track 1; SEL, ENV, LFO, EDIT, GLO are tracks 2-6.
- turn PRESETS
- Track's engine: FM, ANIMA, CALIGULA, RUSSOLO, DRUID, BAYAREA.
- turn SELECT
- Track level, OFF to +4.5 dB.
- turn ALGORITHM
- Track pan.
- tap OCT-
- Track octave down (OCT+ up), -3 to +3.
- tap ARP
- SCALE page: SELECT root, ALGORITHM scale; ARP again: back.
- hold FX
- 0.8 s: copy track 1; hold another track's button: paste.
Playing
- tap HOME
- A new generated sound for the chosen track.
- hold black key 11+tap HOME
- SHIFT: a new sound of the same family.
- white key 1-16
- Play the chosen track in the scale, root on key 1.
- hold white key 1-16+tap black key 11
- SHIFT latches the held notes as a drone.
- hold black key 11+white key 1-16
- On a lit (latched) key: let it go.
- tap black key 1
- AMBIENT path for new sounds (key 2: EXPERIMENTAL); again: OPEN.
- hold black key 3
- 0.6 s: chord mode on / off; tap: next chord form.
Sound
- turn KNOB 1
- DJ filter: left low-pass, right high-pass, middle off.
- turn KNOB 2
- Granulator: left dark, right scatter, middle off.
- turn KNOB 3
- Crush: left fewer bits, right lower sample rate.
- hold black key 11+turn KNOB 3
- SHIFT: distortion, 0-100.
- tap black key 10+turn KNOB 1
- EDIT: KNOB 1-4 become the sound's four macros.
- tap black key 9+turn KNOB 1
- ENVELOPE page: KNOB 1-4 attack, decay, sustain, release.
- hold black key 11+tap black key 9
- Back to the sound's own envelope (AS DRAWN).
Sequencer / patterns
- tap REC
- Arm a free loop; first note starts, REC ends; again: overdub (10).
- hold REC
- 1 s: empty all the chosen track's loops.
- tap PLAY
- Stop / restart the chosen track's loops.
- hold PLAY+white key 1-10
- Take loop 1-10 out, or bring it back in.
- hold black key 11+tap PLAY
- Every track's loops off, or all on together.
- hold black key 11+tap REC
- VARY: loops vary notes, levels and pace; again: off.
- tap black key 4
- Loops REVERSE (5 PENDULUM, 6 RANDOM); again: forwards.
- tap black key 7
- Loops half speed (8: double); again: normal.
- hold black key 11+tap OCT+
- All loops one scale step up (OCT- down).
- hold black key 11+tap black key 10
- BALLSY bouncing-ball sequencer on / off; KNOB 1-4 set it.
Effects
- turn KNOB 4
- Track's reverb send (starts at 40).
- hold black key 11+turn KNOB 4
- SHIFT: track's delay send.
- tap SEQ
- REVERB page: KNOB 1-4 SIZE, DECAY, DAMP, MIX.
- hold black key 11+tap SEQ
- DELAY page: KNOB 1-4 TIME, FEEDBACK, DAMP, MIX.
Saving & loading
- tap SAVE
- SESSIONS: PRESETS picks slot 1-64, SAVE loads (empty: new session).
- hold SAVE
- 0.8 s: save the session; first time confirm YES with SAVE.
- tap SAVE+turn PRESETS+hold SAVE
- Save into the slot shown; over a session turn to YES.
- hold black key 11+tap SAVE
- Engine's 64 presets: SAVE loads, hold SAVE stores.
Good to know
- No tempo, no grid: every loop has its own length, so overdubs drift in and out of phase.
- The black keys play no notes; the rightmost one is SHIFT for every combination on this sheet.
- A held or latched note keeps sounding while you choose and play another track.
- Twelve voices are shared by all tracks; CALIGULA and RUSSOLO are one organism per track, silent until a key is down.
- Saving a session overwrites projects, presets or samples another firmware left in the FM-1's user flash.
- Something wrong after an update? Hold OCT- while powering on: RESCUE screen for reinstalling.
A community cheat sheet by the hub, not by the firmware's makers: when in doubt, their manual is right.