Groove OS 2.0 beta · for the M-VAVE FM-1
Now it samples.
Sample anything from your phone, or from the FM-1 itself. Chop it, play it and build your song right there on the FM-1, with no laptop in sight.
Included for every Groove OS owner. 1.4 goes back on from the same page any time. New to Groove OS? Get it for $29, 2.0 included.
Made on the FM-1
Piano Flip.
A piano phrase played in over USB, warped to the beat, chopped into a new hook. Made on the FM-1, nothing else.
Recorded on 2.0 · piano: Versilian samples, CC0 · Credits
01 · Sampler
A sampler, inside the groovebox.
SAMPLER is a page of its own, right after KEYS on the SELECT wheel. Whatever you record is on a pad in seconds and in your song a moment later. No computer, no app, just the FM-1.
02 · Record
Press REC. It's on a pad.
Plug in your phone, set INPUT to USB and play anything: a record, a voice memo, a sound from a video. Press REC and the take lands on the next empty pad, levelled and ready to play, never over another take.
- Your phone or computer plays into the FM-1 over USB-C: choose FM-1 Audio as its sound output.
- Never late. It was already listening: press REC a moment late and the take still starts on the first hit.
- Exactly in time. With the song playing, set BARS and it records exactly those bars from the next bar line, then stops by itself.
- Best sound, or longer. HIGH keeps the best sound. LONG gives you about twice the recording time.
03 · Chop
One turn chops it across the pads.
Turn CHOPS and the take splits on its hits, a chop on each pad after it, ready to finger-drum. Want a cut somewhere else? Tap an empty pad while it plays and it chops right there.
- On the hits. Up to fifteen chops, each on a pad of its own. A warped loop is cut on its sixteenths.
- Tap to chop. An empty pad pressed while a take plays cuts it from that moment.
- Trim by ear. START and END play the edge as you turn them.
- Clean cuts. Every edge snaps to a clean start, so a chop never clicks in.
04 · Shape
Tune it, flip it, make it yours.
Every pad keeps its own settings, so a kit of chops plays like a kit you built from scratch.
- Tune. Up or down two octaves, a pad at a time.
- Reverse. Flip a hit into a swell.
- Level and choke. Balance the kit, and let the closed hat cut off the open one.
- Play it your way. Any pad plays once, plays while you hold it, or loops.
05 · In time
Any loop, at your tempo.
Turn on WARP and a loop fits its bars at your song's tempo, so a break from an 88 BPM record plays in time at 100. Or go the other way: SET TEMPO takes the song's tempo from the loop.
- TONES stretches a loop and keeps its pitch, and keeps its length when you tune it.
- BEATS stretches a drum loop and keeps its hits where they land.
- PITCH speeds it up or slows it down, as a record does.
- SET TEMPO gives the song the tempo of a loop you love.
06 · Resample
Sample your own groove.
Nothing to plug in: set INPUT to MAIN and the FM-1 records itself. Bounce a beat into a loop, chop it, and play it back in a new order.
- MAIN records what you hear. With the song playing, REC starts and stops on the bar.
- DRY records it before the main effects.
- One track records a single track on its own.
- Capture. On the SAMPLER it is listening. Played something you love? Hold HOME and press SAVE: it captures what you just played, and the beat plays on.
07 · Instrument
Or play it as an instrument.
Switch MODE to INST and one sound spreads across the keys, its C as you recorded it. Hum a note into your phone and play a bassline or chords with it.
- Across the keys. Every key a pitch, the C where you recorded it.
- Loop it to hold it for as long as the key.
- Shape it. Attack and release, from a soft swell to a pluck.
- One hit, in pitches. ON THE KEYS puts a drum across the keybed.
08 · Into the song
Straight into the beat.
Every kit and instrument you make is a sound in PRESETS, the newest first. Add a sample track, record your playing into it, and it sits in the song like every other track.
- In PRESETS. Your kits and instruments, the newest first, ready for any track.
- A sample track plays them: record your playing into it, as on any track.
- Change it in place. EDIT opens a sample track's sound in the SAMPLER, EDIT again takes you back, and the KIT page shapes any sample pad.
- Twice the samples. A project holds up to 32, twice what 1.4 could.
09 · Samples
Everything you've made, in one place.
The SAMPLER opens on your samples, kits and instruments, newest first. Pick up where you left off, start something new in one move, and make room when you need it. On your computer, the Samples page adds any sound, backs them up and tidies them.
- Everything in one place. It opens on your samples, kits and instruments, newest first, with what's in use and the room left. Show just kits, instruments or samples.
- Pick up where you left off. The cursor waits on the kit you were building. SEL opens it, and HOME goes back.
- Start something new in one move. + NEW KIT or + NEW INSTRUMENT opens an empty one. REC records into the highlighted kit.
- Hear it before you open it. Turn through the list and each sound plays as you reach it.
- Make room safely. Delete asks first and says what still uses a sound. DELETE UNUSED clears the rest, then asks once.
- Tweak a sound inside your song. EDIT on a sample track opens it in the SAMPLER. EDIT again takes you back.
10 · Also new
Built new, underneath.
Groove OS 2.0 is new from the ground up, made to give the sampler room. Everything 1.4 does comes along, and the things you use every day get better.
- Save while it plays. It lands the moment you stop, and a new project asks for its name first.
- More pads. Every drum kit gets a second page of pads: HOME and OCT flip between them.
- Room for loops. Whole breaks and phrases, where 1.4's drum pads held short hits.
- Steadier timing. The beat holds steadier when the whole song is playing.
- Help on the spot. Hold GLO for a short card on the page you are on.
- HOME, held. K1 to K4 show their second jobs, and every HOME combination says on the screen what it did.
- Fewer fiddly moments. Switching tracks, editing steps, moving bars and printing the arp are all simpler.
- One cable. The same USB-C cable charges, carries MIDI and brings in the sound you sample.
Everything from 1.4 comes along: eight tracks, the FM and VA engines, effects on every track and the mix, MIDI and sync over USB, the six Learn courses, PERFORM, takes and undo.
11 · The beta
Try it first. Go back any time.
The 2.0 beta is yours to try at no extra cost. It is ready to make music with and still being finished, so 1.4 stays the default and goes back on from the same page whenever you like.
How it works
- Step 1
Install.
Connect the FM-1 with a USB cable and open the beta's install page in Chrome or Edge. Your samples come with you, and your projects come back on your FM-1.
- Step 2
Sample.
Open SAMPLER, right after KEYS on the SELECT wheel: it opens on your samples. Plug in your phone, play something, press REC.
- Step 3
Tell us.
Something odd, or something you love? Write to us. We read every report.
Good to know
- Microphones go through your phone or computer: the FM-1 has no audio input of its own.
- Samples are mono, and two stretched loops play at once; a third keeps time by changing pitch.
- While the song plays, up to three takes wait, and they are saved the moment you stop.
- Undo on the SAMPLER goes one step back, and every take stays in SAMPLES.
- Projects come back on your FM-1 after every install, each in its own slot, with a copy in your downloads.
The way back is one click. The install page puts 1.4 back on with its own courses, and your projects come back too. Bluetooth is off on 1.4: turn it on in SETTINGS. 1.4 can't play 2.0's sample tracks, and your 2.0 samples wait in this browser for when you return.
Coming from 1.4
- 1HOME is the new name for SHIFT. Hold it and K1 to K4 show their second jobs.
- 2GLO: a tap opens SETTINGS, a hold shows the card for the page you are on.
- 3SAMPLER sits between KEYS and PROJECT on the SELECT wheel, and opens on SAMPLES, a list of everything you've made. SEL opens the editor, HOME comes back.
- 4SAVE while the music plays waits for the stop, then saves.
- 5SEL and a turn always move by tens. Clear a recorded lane in TRACK MENU › AUTOMATION.
- 6On SEQ and KIT, OCT moves the bar. HOME and OCT set the octave, or flip the kit's pads.
- 7Your own kits are in PRESETS as KIT USER, and SETTINGS › SAMPLES opens SAMPLES.
- 8Bluetooth is a row in SETTINGS, on or off, with no pairing.
- 9If Groove OS ever can't start, the FM-1 shows its own rescue screen and waits for the Install page. M-VAVE's screens are gone.
12 · Questions
Questions before you try it.
Does it cost anything?
No. 2.0 is included for every Groove OS owner, beta and final. New to Groove OS? It is $29 once, 2.0 included.
Is it ready to use?
It is a beta: ready to make music with, still being finished. If something misbehaves, tell us, and 1.4 goes back on from the install page in a few minutes.
What happens to my samples and projects?
Your samples come with you: each 1.4 kit becomes a 2.0 kit. Your projects come back on your FM-1, each in its own slot, with a copy in your downloads.
Can I go back to 1.4?
Yes, any time, from the same page, with 1.4's own courses. Your projects come back on 1.4, though 1.4 can't play 2.0's sample tracks. Bluetooth is off there (turn it on in SETTINGS), and your last unsaved session is in your downloads. Your 2.0 samples and kits stay safe in this browser and go back on when you return to 2.0.
Can I sample with a microphone?
Through your phone or computer. The FM-1 has no audio input of its own, so record on your phone, then play it into the FM-1 over USB-C.
How much can it hold?
Choose HIGH for the best sound or LONG for about twice the recording time, in the SAMPLER's menu. SAMPLES shows how much room is left, and DELETE UNUSED gives room back whenever you need it.
Do I need a computer to sample?
No. A phone plays into the FM-1 just as a computer does, and everything after that happens on the FM-1.
Anything I should know about?
A few things we are still finishing. Bluetooth can fail to connect while the FM-1 is working hard: try again. After an install from M-VAVE's V16, Bluetooth may come back off: turn it on in SETTINGS. While the Samples page writes, don't record on the FM-1. Samples are mono.
What do I need to install it?
An FM-1, a USB data cable, and Chrome or Edge on Mac, Windows, Linux or ChromeOS.
Sample it. Chop it. Play it.
A whole beat, from the first sound to the finished song, on the FM-1 and your phone. Groove OS 2.0 beta, included for every Groove OS owner, with 1.4 one click away.
Installs from Chrome or Edge over USB · back to 1.4 any time · Tell us what you find