Dirtywave M8 User manual
I
Dirtywave M8 Operation Manual
Operation Manual
Version 2.0.6 - 19/09/2021
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Dirtywave M8 Operation Manual
FCC Compliance Statement
CAUTION: The manufacturer is not responsible for any changes or modications not
expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance. Such modications could
void the user’s authority to operate the equipment.
NOTE: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class
B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to
provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation.
This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy, and if not in-
stalled and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to
radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur
in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio
or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment o and on,
the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following
measures:
– Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
– Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
– Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit dierent from that to which the re-
ceiver is connected.
– Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.
ISED Compliance Statement
This Class B digital apparatus complies with Canadian ICES-003.
Cet appareil numérique de la classe [B] est conforme à la norme NMB-003 du Canada.
CAN ICES-3 (B)/NMB-3(B)
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Dirtywave M8 Operation Manual
Credits and Acknowledgments
Concept & Inspiration
Timothy Lamb, Johan Kotlinski, Émilie @ Mutable Instruments
Sound Library / Factory Content
Avrilcadabra, Electronisounds, Mikey303, Tobokegao, Trash80
User Contributed Documentation
Disposable Planet, Gunnbr, Jonbro, Lazerbeat, Mare Corax, Peter Swimm,
Roboctopus, rootnode
Help and Feedback
Everyone who has contributed with time and eort in beta testing and continual support
via Patreon and Discord. Thank you!
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Dirtywave M8 Operation Manual
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Operation Manual Conventions 2
Overview 3
Physical Layout 3
Powering Up 3
Charging 3
Audio Output and Volume Control 4
The microSD Card 4
Getting Started 5
Introduction 5
Song Structure 5
Navigation 6
Global Key Shortcuts 7
Common Editing Shortcuts 7
Hexadecimal 8
Firmware Updates 8
Additional Help and Resources 8
Loading a Demo Song 9
Views 10
Song View 10
Live Mode 11
Chain View 12
Phrase View 14
Instrument View 16
Instrument Envelope View 18
Table View 20
Groove View 22
Mixer View 24
Eect Settings View 26
Project View 28
Theme View 30
MIDI Mapping View 31
MIDI Settings View 32
Render View 34
Eect Command Help View 35
V
Dirtywave M8 Operation Manual
Instruments 36
Wavsynth 36
Macrosynth 38
Sampler 40
Sample Editor 42
FM Synth 44
MIDI Out 46
USB Features 47
Appendix 48
Troubleshooting 48
Key Shortcuts 50
Relative and Absolute FX Commands 51
Sequencer FX Commands 51
Mixer & Eects Commands 54
Instrument FX Commands 56
Macrosynth Models 57
Common Groove Examples 62
Hexadecimal Table 63
Specications 64
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Dirtywave M8 Operation Manual
Introduction
Thank you for exploring the M8. This ambitious little music maker is the end result of a
MIDI tracker project that was started in 2013. Inspired by controlling external synthe-
sizers with Little Sound DJ to bring simplicity and eciency to modern music making.
In 2019 it was expanded with a more powerful processor, realizing the project could do
more than MIDI alone.
Originally the plan was to have basic sample playback, MIDI, and a version of one of my
chiptune inspired software synthesizers (Oki-Computer, Digitech, Blittersynth). Howev-
er the concept was pushed further over the last 2 years to include original eects al-
gorithms (reverb, delay, chorus, and compressor/limiter), a port of Mutable Instruments
“Macro” synth, a unique 4-op FM synthesizer, song rendering, and sample recording/
editing.
The M8 has transformed from a simple concept to a powerhouse of sound in a portable
form factor. It has been quite the journey and I hope you nd it inspirational and useful
for your creative endeavors.
Cheers,
Timothy Lamb - Trash80
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Dirtywave M8 Operation Manual
Operation Manual Conventions
The following format is used for describing key combinations:
Examples
• [OPTION]+[EDIT] Hold down the option key and press edit.
• [OPTION, then EDIT] Press and release the option key, then press and release the
edit key.
• [SHIFT]+[OPTION, then EDIT] While holding down the shift key, press and release
the option key, then press and release the edit key.
• [SHIFT]+[UP or DOWN] While holding down the shift key, press and release either
the up or down direction keys.
• [DIRECTION] Use any of the 4 directional keys: left, right, up, or down.
3
Dirtywave M8 Operation Manual
Overview
Physical Layout
Powering Up
The power button is located on the right side of the unit. Press the button for 1 second
to turn on, 2 seconds to turn o. The button is slightly recessed by design to prohibit
unintentional power cycles when stored.
Note: If a software crash occurs or unit is non-responsive, you can power down the unit
by depressing the button for 7 seconds. The unit can be powered back on to continue
Charging
Charge the unit with the included Micro USB cable and an adequate USB power source
(500mA - Standard USB). Battery level and charging indicator status can be found at
the top right of the display. The M8 is charging when the battery icon is animating. You
can operate the M8 while it is charging, however please allow the M8 to fully charge for
the rst time before using it without external power.
SONG
12345678
00>00 -- -- -- -- -- -- --
01 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
02 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
03 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
04 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
05 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
06 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
07 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
08 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
09 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
0A -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
0B -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
0C -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
0D -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
0E -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
0F -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
T>120
1E-3
2---
3---
4---
5---
6---
7---
8---
P
SCPIT
M
AUDIO USB MIDI
OPTION EDIT
PLAY
SHIFT
Micro SD - Use suggested
cards in proper format
dirtywave.com/sd
USB power, audio, MIDI,
and virtual display.
MIDI Input (TRS Type A)
MIDI Output (TRS Type A)
Refer to the key command
section of this manual
Battery level indicator
Current song tempo
Track note monitor
Power button
(Press to power on/off)
Screen navigation position
(Mini-map)
Stereo audio Input
(Line-level only)
Headphone/audio output
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Dirtywave M8 Operation Manual
Audio Output and Volume Control
The audio output connector is suitable for both general output and headphone use.
When an output is connected the built-in speakers will stop functioning. You can adjust
the output and speaker volume by navigating to the Project view [SHIFT]+[UP], high-
light the “OUTPUT VOL” setting, and adjust with [EDIT]+[DIRECTION]. Please note
that levels above “F0” will be quite loud when using small headphones/earbuds/IEMs
and as such for your hearing protection “F0” is the maximum volume recalled when the
M8 powers up- regardless of what it was previously set to.
The microSD Card
The M8 uses a microSD card to store data including songs, samples, instruments and
themes. When samples are played, they are streamed directly from the SD card. They
are not read from memory. Therefore the random access read speed of the SD card is
critical to the proper operation of the M8. Most cards are optimized for working with
a single le sequentially and can have performance issues with playback of multiple
samples at the same time. A complete list of tested cards with the M8 is available here:
https://dirtywave.com/sd.
Please be careful inserting the card. The slot in your unit might be slightly bigger than
the card reader. Misaligned insertion may result in the card being stuck in the enclosure.
See the troubleshooting section for more information.
Cards used with the M8 must be formatted using the SD Association SD Memory Card
Formatter tool: https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter. This will ensure the card’s
format is optimized for reading data quickly.
The SD card that ships with the M8 has been tested to have a high enough read speed
to handle most workloads. However, even the included card does have limits. If song
playback is halted with a “CPU TOO BUSY” message, this is most likely the cause. To
limit this issue there are multiple steps you can take:
• Convert stereo samples to mono where stereo is not necessary - e.g. Kick drums
• Convert 24-bit samples to 16-bit or 8-bit where volume detail is not critical
• Avoid playing samples an octave or higher above their recorded frequency (each
octave doubles the amount of data that needs to be read each second)
Converting to mono or dropping the bit rate or sample rate can be done in the sample
editor view. More information can be found in the Sample Editor section of this manual.
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Dirtywave M8 Operation Manual
Getting Started
Introduction
The M8 is an 8 track sequencer and synthesizer. Each track can play one single note
at a time using any one of up to 128 instruments in the song. Every instrument can be
congured to be a synthesizer, a sample, or to control external equipment using MIDI.
The sequencer used in the M8 is known as a “music tracker” commonly found in clas-
sic composition software dating as far back as the late 1980s. Unlike typical DAWs and
step sequencers, musical notes and events are arranged from top to bottom and the
tracks are arranged from left to right. At rst glance it might look complicated, but it is
really quite elegant. The advantage of using this layout is that any instrument changes
or commands entered appear more intrinsically tied to the note they reside next to.
PHRASE 00
N V I CMD1 CMD2 CMD3
0>E-3 64 00 KIL05 ---00 ---00
1--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
2G#3 -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
3G-3 60 01 CUT10---00 ---00
4--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
5--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
6--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
7--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
8--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
9--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
A--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
B--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
C--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
D--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
E--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
F--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
T>120
1E-3
2 ---
3 ---
4 ---
5 ---
6 ---
7 ---
8 ---
G
SCPIT
M
On a traditional music tracker a song is constructed by arranging patterns together
where a pattern consists of tracks grouped together for a predened number of steps.
What makes the M8 dierent is each track has its own independent play position, and
the pattern is broken up even further into what are called chains and phrases. Typically
songs are composed of a list of chains per track, where each chain contains a list of
phrases. This structure avoids repetitive copying and pasting, as well as allows for eas-
ily duplicating, cloning, and transposing sections of a melody or progression.
Song Structure
Songs are comprised of 8 functionally identical tracks that play through a list of chains
vertically. Chains are groups of phrases, and phrases contain the notes, velocities, in-
strument assignments, and command eects.
SONG
12345678
00>00 -- -- -- -- -- -- --
01 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
02 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
03 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
04 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
05 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
06 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
07 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
08 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
09 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
0A -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
0B -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
0C -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
0D -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
0E -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
0F -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
T>120
1E-3
2 ---
3 ---
4 ---
5 ---
6 ---
7 ---
8 ---
P
SCPIT
M
INST. 00
TYPE SAMPLE LOAD SAVE
NAME ------------
SAMPLE TEST-SAMPLE-TACOS-1
SLICE 00OFF
PLAY 00FWD-PP
START 00
LOOP ST.00
LENGTH FF
DETUNE 80
DEGRADE 00
FILTER 00LOWPASS
CUTOFF FF
RES 00
PAN 00
DRY 00
CHO FF
DEL 00
REV 00
TRANSP. ON TABLE TIC 01
AMP 00
LIM 00CLIP
PHRASE 00
N V I CMD1 CMD2 CMD3
0>E-3 64 00 KIL05 ---00 ---00
1--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
2--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
3--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
4--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
5--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
6--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
7--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
8--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
9--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
A--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
B--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
C--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
D--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
E--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
F--- -- -- ---00 ---00 ---00
T>120
1E-3
2 ---
3 ---
4 ---
5 ---
6 ---
7 ---
8 ---
G
SCPIT
M
CHAIN 00
PH TSP
0>00 00
101 00
2-- 00
3-- 00
4-- 00
5-- 00
6-- 00
7-- 00
8-- 00
9-- 00
A-- 00
B-- 00
C-- 00
D-- 00
E-- 00
F-- 00
T>120
1E-3
2 ---
3 ---
4 ---
5 ---
6 ---
7 ---
8 ---
P
SCPIT
M
TABLE 00
N V CMD1 CMD2 CMD3
0>00 -- ---00 ---00 ---00
100 -- ---00 ---00 ---00
200 -- ---00 ---00 ---00
300 -- ---00 ---00 ---00
400 -- ---00 ---00 ---00
500 -- ---00 ---00 ---00
600 -- ---00 ---00 ---00
700 -- ---00 ---00 ---00
800 -- ---00 ---00 ---00
900 -- ---00 ---00 ---00
A00 -- ---00 ---00 ---00
B00 -- ---00 ---00 ---00
C00 -- ---00 ---00 ---00
D00 -- ---00 ---00 ---00
E00 -- ---00 ---00 ---00
F00 -- ---00 ---00 ---00
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