NU//METAL SKRATCHMASTER PRO
A scratch instrument for the M-VAVE FM-1. Version 4.0: SKRATCH. Jog. Tap. Cut.
The FM-1 becomes one turntable. SAM (the 1982 Software Automatic Mouth) says 27 words onto a virtual record, or the
deck carries an endless record that is generated as you scratch it (a WORLD). Your left hand is on the jog, your right
hand taps and holds the keys, and the four knobs are four effects you can ride at once. It follows your drum machine's
MIDI clock, so it locks to the beat you are already playing.
4.0 is a cut-down. Everything that got in the way of scratching is gone: RAP MODE, the TONE and BEAT modes, the step
sequencer, the LFO page, the mixer, the 9-effect list and the band. What is left is the deck, the 17 techniques, the
endless record, four knob FX and a drum beat to practise over.
Status: 4.0, runs on the FM-1. Identity FM-1_926: it installs over NU//METAL 1.0 and PRO 2.x / 3.x.
Installing firmware is at your own risk; M-VAVE's official firmware can be reinstalled at any time.
Want the old one back? 3.1 TOYBOX
(RAP MODE, the sequencer, the LFO, the toys) is still in docs/firmware as numetal-pro-3.1.fwsc.
Install
- In the browser: open the web installer in Chrome
or Edge on a computer, plug the FM-1 in with a USB data cable, press Install. It uses Web MIDI, and nothing
else needs to be installed.
- From the command line: download
numetal-pro-4.0.fwsc from docs/firmware, then
python3 tools/fm1_install.py numetal-pro-4.0.fwsc
(needs pip3 install mido python-rtmidi).
- Rescue: hold OCT- while switching on. No sound, only the updater. Install anything from there.
The saved settings changed shape in 4.0, so the first start sets everything to its defaults: the record on WORLD 0,
the filter open, ECHO 3, SYNC on FOLLOW, 120 BPM.
Play
- Switch on. The FM-1 says its name and the record is WLD 0 (an endless WORLD).
- Tap a key to drop the needle on one of 27 spots. Hold a key to scratch there in the technique that
ALGORITHM picks. Tap the same key again quickly for finger strokes.
- Turn SELECT to scratch by hand. Flick it and let go, and the record coasts on.
- Ride KNOB1-4: FILTER, ECHO, CRUSH, STUTTER. Hold FX to drop them all at once (DRY).
- Press PLAY for a drum beat to practise over, or plug in your drum machine's MIDI and it follows the clock.
| Encoder | Turn | HOME held + turn: SETTINGS |
|---|
| SELECT | JOG: scratch by hand. The faster you flick, the further each click throws the record | BPM 60..180 (when no clock comes in) |
| ALGORITHM | TECHNIQUE: the 17 techniques and COMBO | REACH 1..8: how far a technique throws the record |
| KNOB1 | FILTER: LP 7 .. OPEN .. HP 7, a resonant low-pass to the left, a high-pass to the right | SAM VOICE: MC, GROWL, ROBOT, SAM, ELF, E.T., STUFFY, OLD LADY |
| KNOB2 | ECHO 0..15: a dotted-eighth echo locked to the tempo | FLOW 0..15 (WORLD records): 0 = separate sounds with gaps, 10+ = one continuous landscape |
| KNOB3 | CRUSH 0..15: fewer bits and a lower sample rate | VERB 0..15: the plate reverb |
| KNOB4 | STUTTER: OFF, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, locked to the beat | BEAT 0..15: the practice drums' level (12 = normal) |
| PRESETS | RECORD: WORDS, or WORLD 0..99 | motor TORQUE: LOW, MID, HIGH, MAX |
| Button | Does |
|---|
| Keys | 27 spots on the record. Tap = drop the needle, tap again quickly = finger strokes, hold = the technique while held, locked to the beat |
| PLAY | the practice beat on / off |
| FX | hold = DRY: every FX off while held |
| ENV | hold = FREEZE: loop a sliver of the record |
| LFO | hold = CUT: the crossfader chops on 32nds |
| REC | BACKSPIN |
| SEQ | BRAKE: the turntable winds down (works under an external clock too: only the record stops) |
| GLO | AUTO: the robot scratches by itself. On a WORLD record it is ETERNAL SKRATCH: it rides the record forever |
| SEL | HAMSTER: flip the crossfader in the techniques that click |
| ARP | flip between WORDS and the last WORLD you used |
| HOME | hold + turn = SETTINGS; tap = pitch back to 0 |
| OCT- / OCT+ | the deck's pitch, a semitone a press |
| SAVE | save now (settings also save themselves when the deck is quiet) |
| EDIT + SAVE | SYNC: FOLLOW an incoming MIDI clock / OFF |
| EDIT (hold) | shows the button map and the audio load |
The screen shows the record under the needle (the waveform of a word, or a WORLD scrolling by as a landscape), the
technique's score while you hold a key, a 16-step bar with the playhead (yellow when it follows an external clock,
green on its own BPM), the four FX, and chips for BEAT, AUTO, HAMSTER, SYNC and the pitch.
Playing with a drum machine
Plug the drum machine's MIDI out into the FM-1's TRS input (or send clock over USB). With SYNC on FOLLOW (the
default), the top bar says EXT and the tempo; ECHO, STUTTER, CUT and the held techniques all lock to it.
Its Start puts the FM-1's bar back on the one, but it does not start the practice beat: your drum machine is the
beat. Stop and Continue are ignored. Run the FM-1's audio into the same mixer.
The practice beat
PLAY starts a drum beat, drums only: a swung boom bap with the kick, the snare on 2 and 4 and eighth-note hats.
Most bars one small thing changes (a kick moves, a ghost snare, an open hat, a quick hat roll) and then drifts back.
Every 8th bar ends in a fill (a snare roll, toms, flams or a hat roll) and the next bar can land on a crash. Now and
then it moves on to a new pattern. Set its level with HOME + KNOB4.
This is the beginning of the README. Read the rest at the original. Read the full README ↗
