The FM-1
Turn your phone sideways for bigger controls.
Tab moves through the knobs, the buttons, the black keys and the white keys. Arrow keys turn a knob, Page Up and Page Down faster. Space or Enter holds a button or key down while you hold it; Shift and Enter keeps it down until you press it again (with a mouse: Shift-click or right-click).
Screen Reader
Getting started
Press Switch on. GIO-1 plays the first song, Feel, from its intro. Turn PRESETS for another song, turn ALGORITHM for another bass pattern. SEL moves on to the next section on the next bar, and EDIT shows the bassline to change (again: the section's chords; again: the drum grid); a tap on REC holds the section you are in.
Play the lead on the white keys: every key is in the song's scale, and the lit ones are the chord's notes. Play three notes or more and pause: the lead answers you, then keeps your notes as its theme. Hold a black key for an effect. FX (the FX pages, or REC held) puts all sixteen effects on the white keys.
This is the same code the FM-1 runs, compiled for the browser. What you save here stays in this browser; Factory reset forgets it.
Pages and knobs
| Page (button) | Knob 1 | Knob 2 | Knob 3 | Knob 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song (HOME) | Tempo | Evolve | Motion | Arrange |
| Mixer (HOME again) | Bass | Pad | Lead | Drums |
| Bass (ENV) | Level | Cutoff | Resonance | Decay |
| Bass FM (ENV again) | Voice: Analog, FM | Cutoff / Ratio | Resonance / FM depth | Decay / FM decay |
| Lead (ARP) | Level | Voice | Busy | Glide |
| Lead 2 (ARP again) | Echo | Reverb | Octave | Tone |
| Pad (LFO) | Level | Colour | Bright | Phaser |
| Drums (SEQ) | Level | Fills | Hats | Swing |
| Bass FX (FX) | Echo | Reverb | Time* | Feedback* |
| Pad FX (FX twice) | Echo | Reverb | Time* | Feedback* |
| Lead FX (FX 3 times) | Echo | Reverb | Time* | Feedback* |
| Drums FX (FX 4 times) | Echo | Reverb | Time* | Feedback* |
| Space (FX 5 times) | Echo | Time* | Feedback* | Reverb |
| Setup (GLO) | Key | Tune | MIDI out | Lights |
| MIDI (GLO again) | MIDI out | Channels | Clock | Clock out |
| Mirror (GLO 3 times) | Mirror on/off | |||
| Bassline (EDIT) | Step | Note | Accent | Length |
| Chords (EDIT again) | Chord | Root | Type | Bars |
| Drum grid (EDIT 3 times) | Drum | Step | Level |
* One echo for all: Time and Feedback are the same on every page. On the FX pages, Echo and Reverb are that instrument's own.
Buttons and dials
| White keys | The lead, a step of the song's scale each; the chord's notes lit. On the FX pages: the sixteen effects. On the Bassline and Drum grid: the bar's sixteen steps. |
| Black keys | Effects while held: Throw, Tape stop, Swell, Low-pass, High-pass, Sweep, Phaser, Freeze, Stutter, Drop, Roll. |
| FX | Bass FX, Pad FX, Lead FX, Drums FX, then Space, then round again; on each, the sixteen effects on the white keys. |
| PLAY / STOP | Plays or stops. From stopped, the song starts at its first section. |
| REC | A tap: the section repeats until you tap again. Held: the effects on the white keys. |
| EDIT | The edit pages, one a press. Bassline: a white key picks a step; KNOB 2–4 its note, accent and length. Chords: KNOB 1 a chord, KNOB 2–4 its root, type and bars. Drum grid: a white key turns a step on or off; KNOB 1 the drum, KNOB 3 its level. |
| SEL | The next section, on the next bar. |
| OCT− / OCT+ | The bass an octave down or up. |
| ALGORITHM | The bass pattern: Song (the song's own), Pump, Pump 16, Arpeggio, Gallop, Octaves, Slow. |
| PRESETS | The song. Each keeps its settings as you left it. |
| SELECT | The previous or next page. With HOME held: the tempo, 80 to 150. |
| SAVE | Saves all the songs. Held for 1.5 s: the song back to its recipe. |
Hold any button for a second and the screen says what it does.
Keyboard
White keys (the lead): Q–I and A–K. Black keys (effects): 1–0 and -. P PLAY, O REC, Esc HOME, Z / X OCT− / OCT+, ↑ ↓ SELECT. Drag a knob up or down, or use the scroll wheel; Shift-click or right-click holds a button down.
Effects
| Row | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Echo | Throw | Time x2 | Tape stop | Swell |
| Filter | Low-pass | High-pass | Sweep | Phaser |
| Space | Reverb | Wash | Freeze | Stutter |
| Moves | Drop | Gate | Octave | Roll |
On the FX pages or with REC held, white keys 1–16 play these, each while held.
The presets
| Preset | BPM | Key |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Feel | 126 | C |
| 2 Gio | 113 | A minor |
| 3 Mutant | 123 | F minor |
| 4 Heaven | 130 | A♭ |
| 5 TickTock | 126 | C, then E♭ |
| 6 Energy | 123 | C minor |
| 7 Fly | 126 | A minor |
| 8 Lover | 130 | C minor |
| 9 Express | 128 | D minor |
Each preset has its own tempo, key, chord changes and shape; the bass lines, leads and drum parts are written by GIO-1 as it plays.