First Moves

Course map

Work through the parts in order, or jump to what you need. A tick means you finished that lesson.

Part 0 Meet your Move

Get to know the hardware and get it ready to play.

  1. Tour of the hardwareFind every group of buttons, knobs and pads on Move, so you know where things are before you make a sound.
  2. Power, charging, Wi-Fi & updatesSwitch Move on and off, charge it, and use the Setup menu to check the battery, change the brightness, join Wi-Fi and update Move's software.

Part 1 First sounds

Sets, tracks, the three views, playing the pads and choosing sounds.

  1. Sets, tracks & clipsUnderstand how Move organises your music into Sets, tracks and clips, and hear the four sounds inside a Set.
  2. The three viewsFind your way between Move's three views (Set Overview, Note Mode, Session Mode) and play a demo Set.
  3. Start a new SetMake a fresh Set, give its pad a colour you like, and copy or remove Sets without losing work by accident.
  4. Playing the padsPlay drums and melodies on the pads, softly and loudly, and switch Full Velocity on and off.
  5. Scales & octavesPlay a scale on the pads, move it higher or lower, and change the key and scale your melodies use.
  6. Choosing soundsBrowse Move's sounds, swap the sound on a track, and save a sound you've tweaked so you can use it again.

Part 2 Make a beat

Steps, tempo, recording, Capture, editing and loops.

  1. Beats, bars & stepsBuild your first drum beat, with a kick, a snare and a hi-hat, using the 16 step buttons.
  2. Tempo, metronome & grooveMake your beat faster or slower, give it a swing, and switch a click track on and off.
  3. Record liveRecord what you play on the pads in real time, add more on top, and tidy up the timing with quantize.
  4. Capture: never lose an ideaUse Capture to keep something you just played, even though you never pressed Record.
  5. Edit steps: velocity, length, nudgeFine-tune single notes in your pattern by making them louder or softer, longer or shorter, a little early or late, and higher or lower.
  6. Loop length & Loop ModeMake a clip longer than one bar, double it, and change the second bar so your beat doesn't repeat the same way every time.

Part 3 Melody & bass

Basslines, chords, the arpeggiator and shaping your sounds.

  1. Bassline & chordsStep-sequence a simple bassline and a pair of chords that fit together with your drums.
  2. Arpeggiator & note repeatTurn a held chord into a rippling pattern with the arpeggiator, and play fast drum rolls with note repeat.
  3. Shape the sound: knobs & automationChange a sound with the knobs while your loop plays, record those knob moves, and remove them again.

Part 4 Build a song

Session Mode, mixing and performing.

  1. Session Mode: clips & scenesLay out your ideas as clips and scenes in Session Mode, and launch them in time to switch between parts of a song.
  2. Mixing: volume, mute, soloBalance your four tracks with their own volumes, and use mute and solo to take parts out or listen to one part closely.
  3. Main effects & performingShape the sound of your whole Set with its two main effects, and perform your song live by launching scenes, dropping parts out and restarting clips.

Part 5 Sampling & audio

Record the world around you and turn it into music.

  1. Sample with the micRecord a sound with Move's built-in microphone onto a pad, then play it like any other drum sound.
  2. Line-in sampling & slicingRecord a drum loop from your phone through the Audio in port, then slice it across the pads and replay the pieces in a new order.
  3. ResamplingRecord what Move itself is playing onto a single pad, then play and reshape that recording as a brand-new sound.
  4. Audio tracksTurn a track into an audio track, record your voice or a clap straight into a clip, and bounce a pattern into audio.

Part 6 Beyond the box

Move Manager, Cloud, Link, MIDI and Live.

  1. Move ManagerOpen Move Manager in a web browser, back up a Set to your computer, and put your own sounds on Move.
  2. Cloud, Link, MIDI & LiveTake a quick tour of the ways Move connects to other gear and apps, and find out where to keep learning.