Groove OS · Tracks and sequencer
Build the whole song.
Build a beat, find a bassline and add the chords. Sequence each part or play it in, then turn your patterns into a song across eight tracks.
$29, once. 1.4 and 2.x updates included. Already own it? Update to 2.0
01 · Tracks and sequencer
Every part of your song has its lane.
Build a bassline, add some drums, then find a melody that brings them together. Each part has its own sound and pattern, so you can work on one while the others play.
02 · Tracks
Add a track. Play it at once.
Choose a synth, a drum kit or your own samples and start playing. Each new track gives you another part to build on.
- Five kinds. FM SOUND, VA SOUND, SAMPLE, FM KIT or VA KIT: a synth, a sound you recorded, or a whole drum kit on one track.
- Try it with your part. Play a chord or bassline as you browse sounds to find the one that feels right.
- Four macros each. Every sound's four knobs are named for what they do to it: a kick reads TUNE CLICK DECAY DIRT.
- Room for eight. Eight tracks play at once. Drums take one track, not four: a kit's pads are one part.
Every track loops over its own length, one to eight bars, so a short hat and a long chord part run together and realign by themselves
03 · Steps
Write a line, one step at a time.
Write a melody at your own pace and hear it loop as you go. Change a note, extend a phrase or shift the rhythm until it feels right.
- Write at your own pace. Enter notes and rests one step at a time, without needing to play the part in one take.
- Stack a chord. Press several keys together and they share one step: up to four notes.
- Make small adjustments. Change a note, its length, loudness or chance of playing while you listen to the pattern.
- Every step in view. The rows are the notes of your scale, and a small bar under each step shows how loud it is.
A pattern is one to 64 steps long, up to four bars of 16 steps
04 · Step options
Give any step its own settings.
Let a snare skip a hit, make one note brighter or add a roll at the end of a bar. Small changes can keep a repeating pattern interesting.
- Keep it changing. Let a step play some of the time, or only on certain passes through the loop.
- Ratchet. Repeats the step within its length, up to four times.
- Accent, slide, tie, flam. A louder hit, a glide into the next note, a note held into the next step, a quiet grace note just before.
- A sound for each step. Give one note a different tone or attack while the rest of the track keeps its sound.
A project holds up to 64 locks
05 · Drums
Tap out a beat.
Build a drum pattern while it plays. Start with the kick and snare, then add hats, accents and little variations around them.
- Steps on the white keys. A tap sets or removes the selected pad's hit on that step.
- Pads on the black keys. Each black key picks a pad and sounds it, so you hear it before you place it.
- Room for your own kit. Use up to sixteen drum sounds, from the built-in kits, sample packs or your own recordings.
- Try a new variation. Generate a different beat with the same drums. Undo it if you prefer the one you had.
Each hit can carry its own velocity, chance, ratchet, flam and nudge in the PAD menu
06 · Arpeggiator
Hold a chord. It plays the rest.
Hold a few notes and turn them into a repeating phrase. Change the direction, range and rhythm to find a bassline or melody you might not have played yourself.
- Five orders. Up, down, up and down, random, or the order you pressed the keys.
- Any speed, any reach. From quarter notes to thirty-second notes, triplets included, and up to four octaves before it starts over.
- Latch it. LATCH keeps the arpeggio going when you let go, until you play a new chord.
- Keep the phrase. Turn the arpeggio into recorded notes on the track, ready to keep as part of your song.
A track plays its arpeggiator or its sequencer, not both: the button you press wins
07 · Patterns
Store it. Vary it. Chain a song.
Keep a pattern you like, make a variation, then chain them into a longer part. Each track can develop at its own pace.
- Sixteen slots. Patterns A to P, for any sound track to play. STORE asks before it writes over one.
- Switches in time. While the music plays, a new pattern takes over at the end of the one playing.
- Chains. CHAIN plays patterns in order: add up to sixteen entries and the track steps through them.
- Play whole sections. Recall patterns and mutes across your tracks together, so you can move from verse to chorus on the bar.
Everything is saved with the song: the stored patterns, the chains and the scenes
08 · Record
Record a part. Give it some movement.
Play notes and record knob movements as the song loops. Add another layer on the next pass, or undo a take and try it again.
- Your timing, or the grid. Keep the feel of your playing, or snap recorded notes to sixteenths for a tighter part.
- Layer notes and movement. Add notes on each pass and record your sound controls, levels, sends and filter movements as automation.
- Room to experiment. Undo and redo up to sixteen changes across your tracks, including recorded takes and knob movements.
- Keep a happy accident. Capture the last loop of notes and knob movements you played, even if recording was off.
Recording has a fixed event limit. The manual explains how longer takes and dense parts use it.
09 · Keys
Pick a scale. Every key sounds right.
Choose a key and scale to keep your playing in tune. Chord pads let you play a whole chord with one finger, then build a progression from there.
- Twelve scales. Major and minor, the modes, harmonic and melodic minor, the pentatonics and the blues, on any root.
- Stay in your scale. Choose whether out-of-key notes move to the nearest note in your scale or stay silent.
- Chord pads. The white keys become chord pads, each the chord of your key on its own letter: press A and play the A chord.
- One key, one chord. In PLAY, every in-key key plays the chord on its degree, so one hand can play a bass line and chords.
The sequencer's rows and what DICE writes follow your scale too. A kit's pads and the SAMPLER's keys keep their own
10 · Questions
Questions before you start.
How many tracks can I have?
Eight. Drums take one track, not four, because a kit's pads are one part. New projects start with four, and + ADD TRACK stays on the screen until you have eight.
Can a track play a pattern and the arpeggiator at once?
No. A track plays its sequencer pattern or the arpeggiator, and the button you press wins. There is one arpeggiator in a project, and it plays on one track at a time.
Do the keys respond to how hard I press?
No. Every key plays at the same velocity, so a part sits at one steady level. Set the level you want in the KEYS menu, and shape each step's velocity in the sequencer.
Do I need to know music theory?
No. With IN KEY on SNAP, a wrong key slides to the nearest note of your scale, so you can leave it there and never think about scales at all.
What if I record something I do not want?
A tap of HOME + REC takes back the newest thing you did on any track, up to sixteen steps, and HOME + PLAY brings it back. A take, a DICE roll, a clear and even a deleted track can all be undone.
How much can a track hold?
A track holds 384 recorded note events and a whole project 1,536, and a note is two events. A take that goes past a limit stops. Pattern steps do not count against them.
Does it cost anything?
Tracks and the sequencer are part of Groove OS. A new purchase is $29, once, including Groove OS 1.4 and 2.x updates.
What do I need?
An FM-1, a USB data cable for the install, and Chrome or Edge on Mac, Windows, Linux or ChromeOS.
Add it. Write it. Play it.
A whole song, from the first track to the last take, on the FM-1 alone. Included for every Groove OS owner.
Installs from Chrome or Edge over USB · your projects are kept · Already own it? Update to 2.0
More of Groove OS
- SamplerPlay a sound in from your phone or the FM-1 itself. Chop it, play it and build your song on the spot.
- SoundsFM and virtual analog on every track, with sound packs for every genre to add.
- Mixer and effectsLevel, pan and effects for every track, then reverb, delay and chorus for the whole mix.
- PerformDrop parts out on the bar, punch in effects, throw the mix and launch scenes.
- ConnectPair a phone with no code, play tracks from your music program and put effects on your controller's faders.