DEEP FIELD · Cheat sheet
DEEP FIELD at a glance
For DEEP FIELD 0.2, checked against its source.
An ambient drone machine for the M-VAVE FM-1. Each key starts a body, one voice that
swells in and keeps sounding. KNOB 1–4 shape every body at once, and PLAY sets them moving.
FX a button
PRESETS a knob
white key 1 a key, counted from the left
Q your computer's keyboard, in the browser
Getting around
- tapHOME
- HOME page: MASS, DRIFT, SPACE, TIDE on KNOB 1–4.
- turnSELECT
- The next or previous page.
- tapEDIT
- BODY: model, shape, sub, air. Turn SELECT for NOISE and NOISE 2.
- tapENV
- ENVELOPE: swell, fade, press, glide. Turn SELECT for LEAD.
- tapLFO
- MOTION: tide rate, wobble, walk, width. Turn SELECT for MOTION 2.
- tapFX
- ENSEMBLE. Turn SELECT for DELAY, DELAY 2, REVERB.
- tapARP
- ORBIT. Turn SELECT for ORBIT 2.
- tapGLO
- GLOBAL: scale, root, view, morph. Turn SELECT for MIDI and USB.
- turnMASTER
- Volume.
Playing
- tapany key
- Start a body: it swells in and keeps sounding (LATCH on, SEL lit).
- tapits key again
- Stop that body; it fades out. If ORBIT moved it, press the half-lit key it started on.
- lean ona key
- Brighter, with more wobble, while you lean. The top seven keys can't sense a lean.
- tapSEL
- LATCH off: the bodies keep sounding, and each key plays a lead over them while you hold it. Tap again for LATCH on.
- holdSEL1 s
- Stop every body.
- holdSEL+tapa keywithin 1 s
- TRANSPOSE: each key you play then moves the whole latched chord, its lowest note to that key. Tap SEL to leave.
- tapOCT-OCT+
- The keys an octave down or up, two each way.
Shaping the sound
- turnKNOB 1
- On HOME, MASS: dark to bright.
- turnKNOB 2
- On HOME, DRIFT: how much each body wanders.
- turnKNOB 3
- On HOME, SPACE: how much reverb.
- turnKNOB 4
- On HOME, TIDE: each body slowly fades down and back up.
- turnALGORITHM
- The model: SOLAR, VOID, GLASS, STRING, CHOIR, BELL, SHEPARD, FOLD.
- tapLFO+turnSELECT
- MOTION 2: SPREAD, CROSS, TIMBRE and SWAY make the bodies sound like separate voices.
- tapEDIT+turnSELECT
- NOISE: wind, rain or crackle under the bodies.
Orbit: the bodies move
- tapPLAY
- ORBIT on or off. PLAY's colour shows the mode.
- holdPLAY
- ORBIT page: KNOB 1 picks the mode, KNOB 2–4 set it.
- WANDER
- One body at a time moves to a nearby note.
- CHORD
- The whole chord shifts along the scale.
- SCATTER
- Several move at once, each its own way.
- ARP
- An arpeggio through the bodies' notes.
- CYCLE
- The chord walks a progression (I IV V and seven more).
- ECHO
- Your last eight leads (LATCH off, over a latched bed) come back, quieter each time.
- PULSE
- Each body dips and swells back in turn: a slow strum.
Effects
- holdFX+tapwhite key 1–4
- Ensemble, delay, reverb, shimmer on or off, on any scene.
- holdFX+tapwhite key 5
- The noise layer on or off.
- tapSEQ
- FREEZE: the reverb holds what it has. Tap again to let it go.
- tapFX+turnSELECT
- DELAY: time, feedback, mix, colour. DELAY 2: diffuse. REVERB: size, damp, shimmer, space.
Scenes and saving
- turnPRESETS
- Change scene; the one you stop on blends in over MORPH (4 s).
- holdGLO+lean ona key
- Blend toward the next scene: the harder you press, the further. Let go and the blend stays.
- tapSAVE+turnPRESETS+tapSAVE
- Save the sound and its bodies to U1–U16. HOME cancels.
MIDI and Bluetooth
- in overUSBTRSBluetooth
- Notes (any channel by default), and clock to time ORBIT.
- out overUSBBluetooth
- The keys and ORBIT's moves. The TRS jack is in only.
- tapREC+turnALGORITHM+tapREC
- Find a Bluetooth MIDI keyboard and connect to it. REC again disconnects.
- holdREC1 s
- Bluetooth on or off.
- tapGLO+turnSELECT
- MIDI: in and out channels, local, velocity. Turn again for USB: recording and clock out.
- sendCC 16–19
- MASS, DRIFT, SPACE, TIDE. CC 20 is the noise level, 64 sustain, 123 stops every body.
- sendprogram 0–31
- Load F1–F16, then U1–U16.
In the browser
- typeQtoIAtoK
- White keys 1–8 and 9–16.
- type1to0-
- The black keys.
- typePOEsc
- PLAY, REC, HOME.
- typeZX
- OCT- and OCT+.
- draga knob
- Up or down to turn it.
- shift-clicka buttona key
- Keep it held (right-click works too); click it again to let go. That's how to do the hold combos, or hold a chord, with a mouse.
- clickthe panel
- The typed keys work while the panel has focus. The Keyboard shortcuts box under it turns them off.
Good to know
- A button always opens the same page, and SELECT steps between pages. The four boxes at the bottom of the screen are the four knobs.
- SEL, PLAY and SEQ are lit while their mode is on: LATCH, ORBIT, FREEZE.
- F1–F16 are the factory scenes; U1–U16 are yours. F3 GLASS ORBIT and F11 GAMELAN were made for ORBIT.
- Key lights: bright is what you're playing, half is the machine (a body fading, the key ORBIT moves to next), a glow is the scale.
- The settings (scale, octave, MIDI, Bluetooth on or off) are stored only when you save a scene. SAVE is lit while something is unsaved.
- SEL is a button (LATCH) and SELECT is a knob (pages): different controls.
- Update mode: hold REC while you switch on. Hardware calibration (buttons and knobs): hold OCT- and OCT+ while you switch on.
- Back to the stock firmware: the installer puts M-VAVE's own back.