Rainbow mode

What it feels like

• Every key shows its note, big, in its own color, like the colored bells in a music class. C is red, D orange, E yellow, F green, G teal, A purple, B pink.
• 73 friends. Each has its own picture, sound, sky and favorite beat: ducks, an axolotl, a unicorn, a ghost, a rocket, a bunny and more. Six of them (a T-Rex, a skeleton, a cowboy, a cowgirl, a vacuum and a space hero) were suggested by u/veecheech on r/MVaveFM1, five play drum kits, every key a different drum, and eight have the classic sounds of the Prophet-5 synth: an elephant's brass, a race car's sync sweep, a jellyfish's strings, a bear's bass, a snowman's bells, a crab's clav, a wolf's howl and a camel's lead. Three more (a scientist, a flytrap and a sunflower) squelch like a 303, for the acid fans. And twelve are her own: Spider Mom, Dragon Duck, Spider Grandma, a night light, a green queen, an axolotl king, a fairy monster, a morning glory, a grouch in a can, a tiger cub, a raccoon with his collection, and goldenrod.
• 13 beats with a bass line that always fits the keys. Dance, March, Spooky, Rock, Disco, Hip Hop, Train, Samba, Reggae, Lullaby, Hoedown, Lofi and Acid.
• Every knob does something you can see and hear: big and small, day and night, echo, wiggle, and a choir of three friends.
• Six sound tricks on the top buttons, one tap on and one tap off: hiccup, backwards, sleepy, squeaky, giant and freeze.
• A dial for how the keys play. ALGORITHM turns from one friend to a choir, an Omnichord-style STRUM, an ACCORDION (black keys play chords, plain on the low row and jazz ninths on the next, white keys the tune), a gentle ear game (GUESS), FOLLOW, eight old songs to learn with the next key lit, and CHORDS, lessons from first chords to lofi with the chord's keys lit and named (an idea from u/Yablan). Each has a picture, for children who do not read yet. Keys held together show the chord's letters and name.
• She can write her own songs. SAVE opens a big staff: each key puts a friend on it as a note, PLAY plays the song back while the friends hop along, and it is still there tomorrow (an idea from u/lastapoc, after Mario Paint).
• A music staff. A treble clef drops in when she plays and writes her notes as colored heads, chords stacked, so she sees where the sounds live. How long she holds a key sets the note: a quick tap is an eighth or a sixteenth, a long press a half or a whole note (an idea from u/theskyisfalling1).
• Eleven skies (rainbow, stars, hearts, bubbles, flowers, confetti, clouds, snow, autumn leaves, a desert, and a street where all the monster friends live), a surprise friend on HOME, and a volume limit for small ears that grown-ups set: eight steps, kept when it is switched off.
• Look-alikes, your call. A few friends are drawn after TV and film characters. Hold HOME for a second and turn PRESETS left to swap them for original stand-ins with the same sounds (a spider, a fox, a bat, an alien and more), right to bring them back (an idea from u/ReallyLongLake).

On the FM-1's screen

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  HelloA greeting every time it starts

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  A color for every notePress a key, see its letter

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  73 friendsTurn PRESETS to meet them

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  13 beatsPress PLAY, and the friend dances

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  Sound tricksTap a top button: GIANT

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  Day to nightA knob changes the sky and the sound

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  Her notes, written downIn color, and as long as she holds them

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  Write a songPress SAVE, then the keys

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  A volume for grown-upsHold HOME, press OCT- or OCT+

Meet the friends

Try it