GRUVPAKT

1. Overview

GRUVPAKT is an 8-track step sequencer / groovebox that runs on the M5Stack Tab5. Each track plays either samples (drum kits, one-shots) or one of five built-in synth engines (FM, Wavetable, Granular, Virtual Analog, Phase Distortion) — or drives an external device over USB-MIDI. You build patterns on a touch step-grid, arrange them into scenes, mix everything with the knobs, and save projects to the SD card.

Typical workflow

2. The main screen

The sequencer screen is your home base. It is divided into the regions below.

Top to bottom: the full-width LCD (track tabs T1–T8, the LVL level row, the VU meters and pattern chips, the project / BPM / step line), the 2×8 pad grid (here — a sample track's kit during playback) and the button row at the bottom. Emulator capture.

Buttons while a modifier is held

Hold one keyboard modifier for longer than ~0.35 s and the eight bottom buttons change their captions to that modifier's functions (in the same places); release it and the row comes back. A quick combo (Ctrl+letter) leaves the row alone. Buttons 7–8 (the < > places) are always a “− / +” pair. Orange captions are screen functions, teal ones belong to the open window (PATTERNS, SCENES, KEYS, the grid, the synth editor, the arranger — each has its own row, see their sections).

There is no separate mixer screen: mixing is done with the knobs (§8), sample editing in the SAMPLER workbench (§7.1), note editing in the grid (§7.2).

3. Transport & tempo

A count-in pre-roll can be enabled in Settings so you get a metronome lead-in before live recording starts.

While a microphone recording is running (SAMPLING, §7.1) the transport is locked completely: neither the PLAY / REC buttons nor Space, Ctrl+R, Sym+R work.

4. Tracks

There are 8 tracks (T1–T8). Each track is one of these types:

A track has a fixed category chosen when it is created — a Note track (any synth or external MIDI) or a Sample (drum) track. You can freely change the engine within the Note category (FM → WT → VA…), but Note ↔ Sample cannot be crossed once the track holds data, because a step means a note on one and a slot on the other.

Select a track: press its number key 1…8, or push its encoder on the base knob page (pushing the already-selected track opens its knob page). The pads, steps and knobs all follow the selected track. The bare digit 1…8 selects the track and opens its knob page (press again to walk categories, §8); Ctrl+1…8 = SOLO, Alt+1…8 = MUTE.

Set a track's type & colour

A track's type, MIDI channel, colour and bank live on the track's ROUTE knob category (the bare track digit → the first category, §8). To create a track: Ctrl+T opens a type picker on the pads (SAMPLER / FM / WT / GRAN / VA / PD / USB / BLE) on the first free slot; tapping a type creates the track, while Esc / no pick means no track. An empty (uncreated) slot is not selectable on its own.

Solo & mute

Ctrl+1…8 solos a track, Alt+1…8 mutes it. Mute / solo state shows on the track panel: silenced tracks (muted, or hushed because another track is soloed) are dimmed.

Activity flash

During playback knob N's LED flashes in the track colour every time track N fires a note — you can see what is playing without looking at the screen at all. A sample pad still lights briefly when its sample is triggered. LED DYN sets how bright the flashes are (§8).

The track rows on screen used to pulse instead; the flash moved to the knob LEDs, so the screen no longer repaints on every note and the indication is easier to catch.

5. Choosing sounds

Sample tracks

Every sample track owns its own kit — a set of 16 sample slots (each track has its own). The 2×8 pads show these 16 slots (filled = loaded). A note in a pattern points to a slot, not to a specific sample — replace the sample in a slot and every note of that slot changes sound.

• Tap a pad — plays (auditions) the slot's sample and makes it the active "brush". Flip the pads to the SEQ step lane (the ` key, §6) and tapping a step then places this slot.
• Tap an empty pad — opens the CHOOSE browser for that slot straight away.
• Long-press a pad — a LOAD / CLEAR menu: load another sample or clear the slot.
• Fill a slot — the L key (CHOOSE) opens the SD library browser: pick a category, audition and load a sample into the current slot. Or record from the mic in the SAMPLER workbench (Ctrl+W / EDIT on a Sample track), where you also trim, tune and chop — see §7.1.
• Slot SOLO / MUTE in the current pattern: hold Ctrl and tap a pad — SOLO that slot, Alt + tap — MUTE (again — clear). Such a tap doesn't sound and doesn't change the brush; silenced pads are grey. Stored in the pattern and the project; has no effect on a frozen track.

Button row while Aa is held (kit pads): CHOOSE · CLR SLOT · SOLO · MUTE · UNSOLO (clear all slot SOLO / MUTE in the pattern) · SAMPLER · SLOT - · SLOT +. SOLO / MUTE / CLR SLOT act on the selected brush pad. Hold Alt — the kit & bank row (§2): CHOOSE · CLR SLOT · CLR BANK · REINDEX.

One key temporarily re-uses the pads (press again to exit):

The second key, A (the VAR picker), is retired: sample variants are flat, sitting next to the source samples.

Kits as a library. In the CHOOSE browser (L), after the sample categories, there is a KITS lane — whole sets of 16 slots:

• Load a kit — tapping a kit replaces all 16 slots of the track at once. The list holds the factory sets (data/samples/banks/*.json) and your saved ones (data/kits/*.kit).
• Save a kit — the + SAVE KIT pad in this lane (or the Ctrl+K hotkey): type a name — the track's current 16 slots are saved to /data/kits/<name>.kit and show up in the list.

The KIT page of the sample parameters (the track's knobs):

• CHOKE (0 = off, 1–8) — a choke group: a new hit cuts the previous sound of the same group on this track (open / closed hat). The cut is a short fade, no click.
• GATE — off: the sample plays to the end (one-shot); on: it stops at the note length (the step's DUR knob). With LOOP on, GATE does nothing.

There is no sample-bank switching any more: each track owns its kit, and changing / editing a kit doesn't touch other tracks (the Roland P-6 / NI Maschine model).

Synth tracks

A synth track has 16 preset slots — the SLOTS view on the pads (Sym+A, or hold Sym → the first button, SLOTS). Tapping a slot makes it active (framed) and switches the track to its sound; a filled slot is captioned with the preset name and coloured in the track colour, an empty one shows “P1”…“P16”.

A slot holds its own copy of the sound. A library preset is only the source: editing with the knobs or in the editor changes the sound of this slot in this project and is saved with the project; the library file is left alone.

The preset list

L — all banks of the track's engine, Alt+L — straight to your user bank (same as holding Alt → CHOOSE / USER). The pads show the banks first (LCD PRESET: pick bank); tap a bank to see its presets. Tap a preset to audition it (the track plays it immediately); ↑ ↓ scroll, ← → or < > turn pages. Enter puts a copy of the auditioned preset into the active slot; Esc goes from presets back to banks, and from banks exits with the previous sound. EDIT in the list opens the selected preset in the synth editor “on trial” (§7.6).

Save, reset

Going deeper: the track's knob pages (the bare track digit, §8) and the synth editor: EDIT while the pads show SLOTS or the preset list (§7.6).

Preset files live in /data/presets/<engine>/ (WT/Gran/VA/PD — .preset, FM — .syx) and are available to any track and project. Ctrl+S saves the project (together with the sound copies of all slots), not a preset.

6. Programming a pattern

A pattern is a sequence of steps for one track. Default length is 16 steps (adjustable up to 128 — eight bars). The 2×8 pads do double duty — they are the instrument by default, and flip to the step grid on demand.

Pads as the instrument (PADS / KEYB)

By default a tap on the pads plays the sound — the bank's samples (PADS) or a chromatic keyboard (KEYB, the K key). You can play them live at any time, including over a running sequence. With PLAY + REC a tap also live-records the hit at the playhead.

Pads as the step grid (SEQ / STEPS)

Press the ` key (grave / tilde, §15) to flip the pads between the instrument and the SEQ step lane — it is a two-way toggle. In SEQ a tap never sounds — it edits the sequence: with REC armed, tapping a step places / clears the active sound on it; without REC a tap just moves the cursor. The step is played by the sequencer when the playhead reaches it — during playback the pads dim where there is data and light brighter as the playhead passes. The LCD shows PADS / KEYB (instrument) or STEPS (SEQ); press ` again to go back.

Two ways to record

KEYS (chromatic keyboard)

K turns the pads into a chromatic keyboard; the octave shifts with the −/+ keys (or the end pads). It is an instrument surface — it plays live and records (as above). Notes are snapped to the active scale.

The pattern grid (GRID)

The VIEW button (or Ctrl+I) swaps the pads for a bird's-eye grid of the whole pattern. On a sample track the rows are the kit slots (the whole kit is visible); on a synth / MIDI track it is a full-range chromatic piano roll — all 128 notes (C-1…G9, note names C4 / D#5… down the left; the window auto-centres on your notes). Across the top: a step-number ruler (it moves with horizontal scroll) and the track number T# in the corner; above the grid — a two-line strip with the knob assignments. Zoom and window position are remembered — each track reopens where you left it. VIEW again or Esc — back to the pads. Note editing — §7.2.

7. Editing — knobs, the grid & the editors

Editing happens in several places: the knob pages (fast sound / track tweaks — §8), the pattern grid (notes), the SAMPLER workbench (sample sound) and the synth editor (synth sound). There are no edit modals any more. Esc closes the top window / overlay.

The EDIT button (and Ctrl+E, Sym+I) edits whatever is on the pads right now:

7.1 Sample sound (SAMPLER workbench)

Editing a sample's sound lives in the SAMPLER workbench — open it with Ctrl+W, EDIT on a Sample track, or the SAMPLER button (hold Aa on the kit pads); it stops the transport on entry. There you record from the mic (or SYNTH / NOTE / RESAMPLE / USB), set trim (START / END), PITCH / TUNE, LEVEL / PAN, CUTOFF, DELAY, the ADSR envelope, time-warp (STR % / GRN / MODE), LOOP / REVERSE, and CHOP a sample into slices. SAVE bakes the edit into the WAV and the bank; CHOOSE browses the SD library and LOAD opens a file browser. Del on a Sample track deletes the brush sample or selected variant.

Recording from the mic

Pick a slot (tap its pad), then press SAMPLING:

Why PLAY is dead while recording. On the Tab5 the microphone and the speaker share one audio codec and physically cannot run at the same time: while recording, the codec belongs to the mic. So playback is stopped first and stays blocked for the whole take — otherwise the recording would capture silence and fight the output. Audio returns automatically as soon as the take ends or is cancelled.

A new recording always starts from clean playback settings (trim / pitch / ADSR / filter reset to defaults), so it never inherits edits from whatever used to be in that slot.

7.2 Note editing (the pattern grid)

Open the grid (VIEW or Ctrl+I): rows = kit slots on a Sample track, pitches on a synth track. The knobs edit notes right in the grid, in two layers.

Knobs with no modifier

Hold Aa (Shift) — note parameters

While Aa is held the knobs edit the focused note: E0 OFFSET (micro-timing within the step) · E1 PROB (probability) · E2 RATCHET · E3 COND (trig condition: 100/75/50/25 % or pass ratios) · E4 PITCH · E5 TUNE · E6 PAN · E7 SLIDE (303-style legato). No focused note — the layer is dark.

Selection

• Tap a note — select just that one; Ctrl + tap — add to / remove from the selection; tap an empty spot — clear the selection.
• Ctrl+A — select all notes of the pattern (LCD ALL n SELECTED). It only selects; it doesn't turn move on.
• E5 DUR, E6 VEL and the whole Aa layer act on the whole selection: the focused note gets the value, the others shift by the same amount.
• With REC armed, tap an empty cell to add a note, tap a note to remove it.

Moving notes

Push E7 — move is on (E0 / E1 rings green); push again — off.

At an edge the block doesn't squash — it stops as a whole. The ↑/↓ arrows scroll rows one at a time, ←/→ move the step cursor, < > — the whole window.

Pattern length is set in PATTERNS mode (Sym+P, also straight from the grid): knob 1 = exact length 1–128, knob 2 = ×2 / ÷2 (§10). Notes past the length are kept: a pattern always stores all 128 steps, the length only decides how many of them play. Shorten it and the tail shows dimmed in the grid, Ctrl+A selects it too, and it comes back when you lengthen again; ×2 copies the start over the tail.

7.3 Pattern operations

These act on the current track's active pattern (§15):

A track keeps a pool of patterns; the PATTERNS pad mode (Sym+P) shows the pool and lets you pick / copy / clipboard them — see §10. Ctrl+N is New Project (not new pattern), and Ctrl+D deletes the whole track.

7.4 Project & settings

Project save / load is on the keyboard: Ctrl+S (Save), Ctrl+Alt+S (Save As, type a name), Ctrl+L (Load), Ctrl+N (New Project) — see §12. Device settings (brightness, count-in pre-roll…) are in the Settings dialog reached from the title bar.

7.5 Insert FX & parameter-locks

The FX page on the knobs — Sym+F: the eight knobs show two slots at once — FILTER | EQ, Sym+F again — COMP | SAT, a third time — close. Push E0 / E4 (a slot's first knob) to turn the slot on / off: a "traffic light" on the switch knob: name and ring red — the slot is off, push to turn it on; green — on; the other knobs of an off slot are grey; the LCD header reads FILTER:ON | EQ:off. All slots start off. On the FILTER view the LCD draws the filter curve. These knob moves can be recorded with AUTO (§8.1) — a filter sweep, say.

Step p-lock: on the step surface (SEQ) hold a step pad and turn an FX-page knob — the value goes to that step only; the header shows ST n and the locked parameter turns orange. Release — the knobs edit the track again. A tap without a turn toggles the step as usual. Hold a step + push a knob — clear that parameter’s lock; keep the push down over 0.6 s — clear all the step’s locks. Steps with locks carry a cyan corner; up to 4 locks per step.

Sample-slot sends (DLY / CHO / RVB on a sample block page) are taken from each sample before the track’s insert chain: the reverb gets the sound without the track’s FILTER / COMP. That is what lets every slot have its own send (say, reverb on the snare only). On synth tracks the sends come after the inserts.

There is no separate FX window any more: Aa+Sym+F opens the same FX page.

7.6 Synth editor

Opened with the EDIT button while the pads show a synth track's presets: SLOTS (Sym+A) or the preset list (L / Alt+L). It works with every synth engine: FM, WT, GRAN, VA, PD.

At the top is the synth channel page: the LCD shows the selected block's knobs, a header and the sound's block diagram (OSC → FILT → AMP → ENV, LFO, NOISE, MOD…). In place of the pads are all instances of the selected block side by side in frames (e.g. OSC 1 | OSC 2 | OSC 3): every value, with a picture underneath — the waveform, the 3D WT table, the PD envelope.

A WT preset from the list “on trial” (LIB Morph_Saw_2): the OSC block is selected, below are three oscillators with 3D tables.

What is being edited and where to save it

The right side of the LCD header shows what you are editing:

• SLOT 3 name — the active slot's sound (entered from SLOTS, or from the list with no preset picked);
• LIB name — the preset picked in the list, “on trial”: the track plays it, but the slot doesn't change until you save it into the project;
• * after the name — the sound has changed since you entered; [ENTRY] — the original sound is playing right now (A/B).

Hold Aa — the bottom row turns into an action row:

Leaving — Esc or BACK: back to where you came from (the list or SLOTS). If a preset “on trial” was changed and not saved, the first Esc only warns (ESC AGAIN: DISCARD), the second leaves without saving. Any exit from a trial without > PROJ gives the track back its slot's sound.

Editor messages (SAVED P12, IN PROJECT: SLOT 3…) take the name's place in the header for a couple of seconds.

8. The knobs & the HUD

The eight physical knobs (the 8Encoder unit) are the fast way to shape sound and mix. The LCD's top two rows are always the HUD — one cell per knob, showing what it controls right now.

The knobs are incremental encoders (they spin endlessly): they are always live and move a parameter from its current value. There is nothing to catch — what the HUD shows is what the knob is on, always. Switching knob pages never jumps a value.

These used to be absolute pots, which needed soft-takeover ("pickup"): a knob only came alive after you passed through the current value, and the HUD showed an arrow telling you which way to crank. Encoders make that unnecessary — pickup and the direction hints are gone.

Knob N = Track N

On the base layer each encoder owns its track completely — it is more than a dial:

LED brightness (LED STAT / LED DYN)

Two knobs on the global page (9, knobs 2 and 3) set how bright the lights are, each with its own job:

This is a device setting, not a project one: it lives in its own data/settings.json and survives a reboot and a project change (brightness doesn't travel with a scene).

ENV / FILT on the knobs = the amplitude envelope & main filter. The channel knob page gives you the amplitude envelope (Attack / Decay / Sustain / Release) and, on WT and VA, the main filter (Cutoff / Resonance / Mode / Env-amount). For deeper design — extra envelopes, per-operator settings, the modulation matrix — use the synth editor (EDIT on SLOTS or in the preset list, §7.6).

The LCD's middle band mirrors the knobs: on the ADSR / ENV categories it draws the envelope, on FILT the filter curve, otherwise the sample waveform — so what you see matches what you turn.

8.1 Recording knob moves (AUTO)

A knob move can be recorded into the pattern and replays on every pass, like automation in a DAW. It is armed separately from notes: Sym+U (LCD AUTO ON; REC records notes only, so a knob brushed while recording notes changes nothing).

1. Start playback (PLAY) and arm AUTO.
2. Turn a track parameter's knob. The first touch picks the parameter — the screen flashes AUTO: <parameter>.
3. Latch: while AUTO is on, the touched parameter is written continuously — while you turn it and while you hold it still (the value you set is recorded too), pass after pass.
4. Disarm AUTO (or Stop) — from there the parameter plays what was recorded.

Sample-track slots are recordable too: on a sample block page (level, pan, pitch, filter, sends and so on) the recording targets that slot — the MOTION window and the grid strip label the curve with the slot number, e.g. S4 LEVEL. A sample that is already sounding follows the curve at once, without waiting for its next hit — so a long one-hit-per-pattern «stem» can be ridden in level or filter. Edits of a slot variant are not recorded.

• What can be recorded: the track's synth parameters (block page and the ENV / FILT categories), the track level and the DLY / CHO / RVB sends. Global parameters (BPM, MASTER, brightness) are not recorded into patterns.
• How many: up to 16 parameters per pattern. Recording is stored compactly (only the bends of a move), so room lasts long; if it does run out — AUTOM FULL.
• The pattern is a loop: a move glides on through the end of the pattern back to its start, no jump.
• The hand wins: without AUTO you can grab a knob with a recorded move at any time — your hand rules until the end of the pass, then the recording resumes.
• A recorded move belongs to the pattern: switch the pattern — the moves switch too.
• Ctrl+Shift+R — delete every recorded move of the current track in the current pattern.

8.2 The MOTION window

Aa+Sym+U opens the current track's automation window: the pads step aside for 16 windows, 4×4 — one per recorded parameter, each with its curve and a running playhead. Pressing again moves the highlight to the next row; after the last row the window closes.

The highlighted row (4 windows) is on the encoders — one pair per window:

8.3 How to see that a parameter is automated

8.4 The curve in the pattern grid

When the pattern has at least one recorded curve, the pattern grid (VIEW) shows an automation strip under the note rows. Its columns are the same steps as the notes: the grid's scroll and zoom move the curve together with the notes, so you see exactly where in the pattern the knob rises against the notes. On the left is the parameter's name; the last touched parameter is shown, a tap on the name switches to the pattern's next curve. Recorded points are small ticks, the playhead runs through the strip too; on a pass skipped by COND the curve is dim. It draws the same curve that plays (without VAR's random spread). No curves — no strip, the grid is as usual. Finger drawing: run a finger along the strip — the shown parameter’s curve is redrawn under it (points on a quarter-step grid; redundant points on straight runs are dropped on release). Use it to fix a recorded curve or draw a new shape over it.

9. Generative track (GEN)

Any Note track can be turned into a generative track: instead of playing its own steps, it listens to other tracks and generates notes in their context — a cross-track, ever-changing part inspired by the Kaleidoscope synth. The track keeps its own sound; "generative" is a mode, not a type. (Sample tracks can't be generative — the GEN controls are greyed there.)

GEN page on the knobs — Sym+G: the eight knobs show two groups at once — TRIG | EUCLID; press Sym+G again for PITCH | RATE, a third time for POOL (T1–T8 on all eight knobs), a fourth time to close. Switches (ENABLE and the POOL tracks) flip with a press of the knob and show a traffic light: red = off, green = on; while GEN is off the other knobs are grey. Moves of these knobs can be recorded with AUTO (§8.1) — e.g. DENS density over the pattern. Ctrl+G and Aa+Sym+G open the same page. Turn ENABLE on to activate the mode:

Trigger priority: euclidean > internal clock > mirror. A generative track can also trigger a later generative track (cascade). FREEZE (Ctrl+Alt+G) bakes one pass of the generated output into the track's pattern and turns GEN off — capture a good take, then edit it like a normal pattern.

10. Patterns & scenes

Each track keeps a pool of patterns (up to 32), and a scene (up to 32 per song) is one chosen pattern per track plus length, colour and offsets. Two pad surfaces manage them: Sym+P and Sym+E (or the SCENES button in the bottom row, or hold Sym → PAT / SCN).

PATTERNS mode (Sym+P)

The pads become the current track's pattern pool: a page of 16 — P1…P16 or P17…P32; it follows the active pattern, and once the first 16 are taken the second page opens. Patterns are in the track colour, captioned P<n>.<len>; a red border = the one playing now.

• Tap an existing pattern — makes it the scene's active pattern for this track.
• Tap an empty pad — copies the active pattern there (or NEW if the pool is empty).
• Knobs (one detent = one value): knob 1 = LENGTH (1–128) · knob 2 = X2 / ÷2 (rungs 1 · 2 · 4 … 128: double copying the start / halve) · knob 3 = COLOR ("TRK" = the track colour) · knob 4 = PROB (0–100 %: probability for the whole pattern — each note rolls its own die, multiplied by the note's own probability; 100 = as recorded).
• Hold Aa: NEW · CLONE · COPY · PASTE · CLEAR · DEL · LEN /2 · LEN x2.
• Keys: Ctrl+C / V / X — copy / paste / cut a pattern across tracks (same category only); Ctrl+Backspace — clear; Del — delete the active pattern from the pool.
• Leaving: Esc (or Sym+A / `) returns the pads to the instrument. Sym+P jumps here from the grid too (the grid closes).

SCENES mode (Sym+E or the SCENES button)

The pads become the song's scene list — a page of 16 (S1…S16, then S17…S32; the page follows the current scene by itself). The caption S<n>.<len> = scene length in steps, in the scene colour. The playing scene has a red border (white when stopped), the queued one — green.

• Tap a scene — switch to it: instantly when stopped; while playing — per the arranger mode: PERF (default) — when the current scene finishes, STUDIO — from the next step (§11).
• Tap an empty pad — add a new scene.

• Hold Aa: NEW · CUT · COPY · PASTE · CLEAR · MOVE · SCN - · SCN +. MOVE turns on reordering: buttons 7–8 become MOVE < / MOVE > (the current scene one place left / right, LCD SCENE 6 -> 5, the numbers in the SONG chain follow), button 6 — DONE.
• Keys: Ctrl+C / V / X — copy / paste / cut a whole scene; Ctrl+Backspace — clear the scene.

The full picture — scenes across all tracks at once — is the Arranger (§11).

11. Arranger (scenes & song)

The arranger is the bird's-eye view of the whole song. Open it with the SONG button (or Sym+S); Esc or SONG again — back to the sequencer. It has three views: MATRIX (scenes × tracks), CHAIN (the scene chain — the song) and EXPORT. Switch by holding Aa: MATRIX · CHAIN · EXPORT · LOOP (loop the song).

MATRIX

Scenes run in columns, every track has its own row with its pattern pool (patterns that don't exist aren't drawn); the selected scene's patterns are filled. Corner badges show a track's non-zero START / PLAYS and the scene's ROT.

• Tap a scene — select it; tap again — launch it. When stopped, the first tap makes it current — PLAY starts from it.
• Tap a pattern — it plays in the selected scene; tap an already-filled one — the track is silent in that scene.
• “+” after the last scene — add a scene.
• When a scene launches: the PERF / STUDIO button — PERF (default) switches when the current scene finishes, STUDIO — from the next step. Saved with the project.

CHAIN — the song

The song is a chain of scenes with repeats (up to 64 positions). PLAY plays the chain; the status line reads SONG 2/5 x1/2 LOOP. With LOOP the song loops; without it, it stops at the end (with a fade if FADE OUT is set, §12).

MIDI import (Ctrl+Alt+I, files from data/import/) fits a song into these limits: up to 32 scenes and up to 32 patterns per track, up to 128 bars; whatever doesn't fit is cut, and the report says so outright. Repeats are merged on the way in.

MIDI & WAV export

Hold Aa → EXPORT (the 3rd button). The panel shows in advance what will be written: how many bars, where, and the approximate size (~N MB).

START (in PLAY's place, or push E0) runs it; while rendering, the same place reads CANCEL with a percentage. Bottom row: MATRIX · CHAIN · — · — · START.

Where it lands: everything goes to data/export/ — export_NNN.mid, export_NNN_master.wav, export_NNN_T01_LEAD.wav (track number and name), export_NNN_fx_delay.wav. NNN is the next free number — an export never overwrites an earlier one. In MIDI, samples go out as notes 36 + slot (pad 1 = C1). A short tail is appended to a WAV so reverb decay and delay repeats are not cut off.

What will NOT be in the files. A stem is written only for a track that is named and audible: one muted, or suppressed by another track's solo, gets no file — it would be silence. Same for buses: no fx_reverb.wav if nothing sends to the reverb or its return is closed. The report says so explicitly (BASS MUTED - NO STEM, reverb UNUSED - NO FILE).

While a WAV export runs the instrument does not respond to playing: pads, keys, incoming MIDI and auditions stay silent — otherwise they would land in the files. The export runs faster than real time; the transport stops for the duration. A file over 4 GB is not written: the panel shows TOO LONG >4 GB.

12. Mixing & saving

Mixing (with the knobs)

There is no separate mixer screen — mixing is folded into the knobs and the LCD:

• Track levels — the base knob page (the eight knobs = the eight track levels), with the LCD's meters.
• FX sends — arm a send row with D (Delay) / C (Chorus) / V (Reverb); the eight knobs then set that send across the eight tracks.
• FX returns & master — the global knob page (the bare 9 / Sym+M): the three return levels and MASTER. An FX bus is on when its return is above zero (fresh projects start with FX off).
• MASTER sets the overall level of the speaker and the headphones. The headphones run a fixed −8 dB lower; plugging them in switches the output automatically.

Master fades (FADE IN / FADE OUT)

The global page (9), third tab SONG: two values in bars (0 = off, up to 32). The MASTER knob does not move during a fade — the fade works on top of it.

• FADE IN — every start of playback begins from silence and reaches the level in N bars.
• FADE OUT — Shift+Space while playing: the master fades out over N bars, then stops. In SONG mode without LOOP the last N bars of the song fade out by themselves.

Track FREEZE

FREEZE takes load off the CPU: the track stops playing its engine and plays a recording of its own sound instead. It is a compromise for live playback — use it when so many tracks and voices play that the sound starts to crackle.

• How it works. Press FREEZE while playing: the track finishes the current loop, the next loop is recorded (the track button shows it baking), then the track plays that recording. It sounds exactly like that loop did — probability, VAR, automation, generative steps and tails included.
• When stopped, FREEZE waits: after PLAY the first loop is skipped (it has no tails from a previous loop yet) and the second is recorded. STOP in the middle of a recording restarts it as a whole loop after the next PLAY.
• Stays live: everything after the track's sound — the fader, mute/solo, the insert effects (FILTER, EQ, COMP, SAT) and the Delay/Chorus/Reverb sends.
• Gets fixed: the sound itself — every loop is the same. Editing a frozen track's pattern or sound is locked (“FROZEN — unfreeze to edit”): unfreeze, edit, freeze again.
• Tempo is part of the recording: after a BPM change a frozen track keeps its old tempo (the notes inside the loop do not move). This is by design: changed the tempo — freeze the track again.
• Export (WAV and stems) does not use freeze: frozen tracks are written as live playing, with all their loop-to-loop variation.
• Not to be confused with Ctrl+Alt+G — that “freezes” a GEN track's generator into a normal pattern (§9).

Saving & loading projects

Projects (scenes, patterns, sample references, synth settings, mix) are saved to the SD card as .gps files in /data/songs/.

Saves are verified. Every file is checked after writing; if that fails — PROJECT: SAVE FAIL, and the previous file is untouched. The previous version stays alongside as <name>.gps.bak; if a project is damaged, that one is loaded (PROJECT DAMAGED - BACKUP LOADED). The project also stores the sound of every synth slot (§5).

Undo and redo (Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Alt+Z)

Ctrl+Z undoes the last action, Ctrl+Alt+Z redoes it. An action is one key press, one tap (a touch from press to release — e.g. a curve drawn with a finger) or a knob turn (turning one knob without pausing for more than a second is one action). The last 64 actions are kept.

• Undoable: notes and everything in the grid, automation curves, length / PROB, the pattern pool (NEW, CLONE, PASTE, DEL), scenes and the SONG chain, knob turns (synth sound, levels, sends, inserts, GEN, GLOBAL), kit slots, tracks, BPM / SWING / key.
• Not undoable: transport, switching views, saving and export, track freeze. Loading, a new project and MIDI import clear the history. Auditioning a preset in the list and A/B in the synth editor are not edits.
• You see what came back: the rings of the knobs whose value changed flash (on the base page, the track's ring); the LCD says UNDO: NOTES T1, UNDO: SOUND T2, REDO: …. The view does not switch.
• An edit of a frozen track cannot be undone (FROZEN - unfreeze to edit) — just as it cannot be edited.

USB archive (Ctrl+U)

Plug a USB stick into USB-A and press Ctrl+U: BACKUP — copy from the device's card to the stick, RESTORE — the other way. What to copy: FULL · SAMPLES · PROJECT · PRESETS · EXPORT · IMPORT. The NO DELETE switch — don't delete files on the destination that aren't in the source. At the bottom — a copy / skip / err count. Esc closes.

13. How-to (step by step)

Make a drum beat

1. Select a SAMPLER track (press 1…8), or set a new track's type to SAMPLER on its ROUTE knob (§8).
2. Optional: press L, open the KITS lane at the end of the category list and tap a kit — the pads show its samples.
3. Tap a sample pad (e.g. kick-808) to audition it and make it the active brush.
4. Flip the pads to SEQ (the ` key), arm REC, and tap the steps where it should hit. Use the top-bar </> to page if the pattern is longer than 16.
5. Tap ` back to PADS, pick another sample, and add it on other steps (snare, hat…).
6. Press PLAY. Fine-tune per-step velocity / timing in the pattern grid (GRID) — tap a note and edit it (§7.2).

Export the song to WAV

1. Open the Arranger: the SONG button or Sym+S.
2. Hold Aa and press the 3rd button, EXPORT.
3. Knob E1 FORMAT → WAV (it starts on MIDI).
4. Knob E0 SPAN: the whole song (SONG) or one scene (SCENE, which one — E4). Check the bar count and size on the panel.
5. Want tracks to mix in a DAW — knob E2 FILES → M+STEMS or STEMS. Want a long loop — knob E3 LOOP x.
6. START (the button in PLAY's place). The instrument goes quiet and the percentage climbs; CANCEL stops it. When it finishes, the panel keeps the file name and the report.
7. The files are on the SD card in data/export/: take the card out, copy them to a USB stick (Ctrl+U, §12) or fetch them over WiFi (§16).

The master volume does not affect the file: an export is always written at unity, otherwise a quietly-turned-down speaker would give you a quiet file. If the card is short of room, the export refuses before starting and shows the numbers (NEED 412 MB, FREE 380 MB) instead of dying halfway.

Record a sample from the microphone

1. On a SAMPLER track, open the SAMPLER workbench (Ctrl+W or the SAMPLER button).
2. Set the source to MIC, arm SAMPLING, and make the sound into the Tab5 mic.
3. Stop, then trim (START / END), tune and (optionally) CHOP it, and SAVE — it lands in the bank as the active brush.

Play a melody on a synth track

1. Select a track; set its type to a synth on the ROUTE knob (TYPE: FM / WT / GRAN / VA / PD).
2. Press K — the pads become a chromatic keyboard (−/+ or the end pads shift the octave).
3. Play live, or press PLAY + REC to live-record into the loop.
4. For step entry: REC with the transport stopped, tap a key to write a note on the cursor step; keyboard ←/→ move the cursor.

Tweak a synth sound and save it

1. On a synth track press L, tap a bank, then a preset — the track plays it right away.
2. Press EDIT: the synth editor opens (§7.6), with LIB name on the right of the header.
3. Pick a block on the diagram (or ↑ ↓) and turn the knobs. Aa + A/B (the 5th button) — compare with the original.
4. Hold Aa: > PROJ (2nd) — the sound goes into the track's active slot, > PRESET (1st) — into the library, to use in other projects.
5. Esc — back to the list. Not saved — the track goes back to its slot's sound.

Enter notes step by step

1. Stop the transport and arm REC.
2. Play a note on the instrument pads (or flip to SEQ with ` and tap a step) to write it on the cursor step — the cursor advances.
3. Keyboard ←/→ move the cursor; open GRID and tap a note to inspect / edit it (§7.2).

Build a pattern pool & scenes

1. Program a pattern, then press Sym+P (PATTERNS): tap an empty pad to copy it as a variation, tweak, and you have two patterns in the pool.
2. Press Sym+E (SCENES): tap an empty pad to add a scene. Pick which pattern each track uses in the Arranger (§11).
3. While playing, tap scenes (SCENES mode or the Arranger) to switch on the bar — that's a live arrangement.

Solo a track

1. Select the track (1…8).
2. Ctrl+1…8 solos that track (Alt+number mutes); press again to release.

Set up a generative track

1. Have drums on one track and a bass / melody on a couple of others.
2. Select an empty track and give it a synth sound.
3. Open GEN (Ctrl+G) and turn ENABLE on. Set TRK (trigger track, e.g. the drums), LANE (e.g. kick), DENS (density) and ALGO (pitch algorithm). Toggle the POOL tracks that feed the pitch pool.
4. Press PLAY. When you like a take, FREEZE it (Ctrl+Alt+G) into a normal pattern.

Mix the tracks

1. On the base knob page, set each track's level with its knob (watch the LCD meters).
2. Arm a send row (D / C / V) and dial each track's Delay / Chorus / Reverb send.
3. 9 for the FX returns and MASTER.

Browse the SD sample library (LST)

1. On a sample track, press L.
2. Pick a category, then audition samples and load one into the current slot (arrows scroll / page, Enter = load).

Save, load, or start a new project

1. Ctrl+S saves (auto-numbered .gps); Ctrl+Alt+S saves under a typed name; Ctrl+L loads; Ctrl+N starts a new project (§12).

14. Tips

• Pick the track first — pads, steps and knobs always follow the selected T1–T8 track (press 1…8).
• The ` key flips the pads between playing (PADS / KEYB) and the step grid (STEPS).
• REC + stopped = step input; REC + playing = live record. Remember which one you're in.
• Learn the Sym layer — Sym+P/E/K/S jump straight to PATTERNS / SCENES / KEYS / the Arranger.
• Sample from the mic in the SAMPLER workbench (Ctrl+W) — record, trim, chop, save.
• Solo to focus one track (Ctrl+number; Alt+number mutes) while you program it.
• Try a GEN track on top of drums + bass for an evolving lead, then FREEZE the take you like.
• Save often — Ctrl+S writes a new numbered file each time.

15. Physical keyboard (Tab5 Keyboard)

The M5Stack Tab5 Keyboard (70 keys, attaches over I2C) is the primary control surface — it works alongside the touch screen and knobs. It has four physical modifiers (Ctrl, Alt, Sym, Aa / Shift) that stack (e.g. Ctrl+Alt+X). The active screen decides what the keys do; below is the map on the main sequencer screen.

Transport & tracks

The SYM layer (mode jumps)

Sym+letter jumps straight to a pad surface, mode or knob page (the mode name on the LCD updates). The eight main jumps are also on the bottom row — hold Sym (§2).

Pads & notes

The same 2-octave piano also plays in the synth editor (§7.6) — hear the sound while you edit it (the arrows there are busy picking the block and instance).

Views & editors

Pattern & track operations

Project & files

Navigation (context-sensitive)

LEDs: the LEDs on the knob unit show status — a progress bar at boot, then the track / parameter colour and flashes of the playing tracks (§4, §8).

16. Specifications

Not in this build yet: MIDI Learn, MIDI clock, waveform zoom and finger editing.

WIFI FILES & firmware update

On the mode-select screen at power-on — tile 5 (or the 5 key): WIFI FILES. The device joins the network and shows an address: open it in a browser on a computer or phone on the same network — it is the card's data/ folder, and you can download and upload files (samples, projects, exports). The device clock is set from the network (NTP) along the way. Exit with Esc: the screen shows please restart with the button — restart the device with its button.

Updating over WiFi: in WIFI FILES press U — the device shows its own version and the one on the server; Enter installs the new one, Esc goes back. The server address is taken from the data/update.json file on the card. After installing, restart the device with its button.