How to install batteries:

To access the battery chamber, remove the electronic sassembly from the wooden shell by lifting the front panel either at the point where the USB connector is, or by gently pulling the "tail" up. Please ensure that the batteries are correctly orientated and fully inserted - otherwise the metal contacts of two adjacent batteries will touch, which may create short circuit. The blue strip should be left under batteries, it helps to remove them easily. You can wrap its end around the last battery, so it does not get under the magnet, which would prevent the front panel and the shell from aligning evenly.



Something does not work as expected?

Just hold POWER and (+) buttons for 5 seconds, this will restart the whale and reset all settings to their factory defaults. Please note there is an error in the printed manual, mentioning CHANNEL instead of POWER button, sorry about that! (this error was fixed in the next batch, so if you bought your Glo in summer 2023 or later, your manual should be fine)



Light sensor

The whale's "eye" responds to the amount of light in the environment. To make it work well in different lighting conditions, such as artificial light or natural sunlight, you need to calibrate it first. To do this, cover the sensor completely and then uncover it fully. This will adjust the instrument's sensitivity to the ambient light levels. The calibration is lost when switching the sensor (or whale) off and on again.

Once calibrated, you can change the sound of the instrument by moving your hand closer or farther from the sensor. In most soundscape channels, this will affect the octave of the chord played by the "plucked string" at the start of each bar (the same instrument usually plays melody as well). It creates sounds similar to a guitar or a harp using Karplus-Strong synthesis. You can also strum the invisible strings by moving your fingers quickly in front of the sensor (a string is plucked when the sensor detects a short dip in the light level). Try this with one, two or three fingers to hear multiple strings plucked at once.

You can also activate a texture scanning mode by flipping the whale upside down. This mode will calibrate the sensor automatically when you move the whale over a surface with contrasting light and dark areas. It does not recognize colors, only brightness levels. The variations in the pattern will affect the sound in different ways, such as adding reverb or changing other parameters. The exact effects depend on the patch you are using.



List of all patches and their controls

Channel #1: Earth element
Channel #2: Wind element
Channel #3: Water element
Channel #4: Fire element
Channel #5: Reverbs and filters
Channel #6: Granular Sampler and Drone
Channel #7: Mutable Instruments Clouds adaptation

Parameters are either fixed or controllable via accelerometer & light sensor. If controllable, the format is:

  1. X/Y/Z/L for type of sensor, with accelerometer axes there can be "-" suffix to indicate flip (e.g. "X-" means that X axis is flipped)
  2. range (from:to), the value will be adjusted between these two values over the 180 degrees of rotation
  3. with L, there can be an optional 3rd value as default (when light sensor disabled), otherwise the default is calculated at mid range

Granular mode, patches #1-11
Patch No.PositionSizePitchDensityTextureDry/WetSpreadFeedbackReverbPre-gainPost-gainComment
10.1 0.0 X(-12:12) 0.89 1.0 1.0 Z(0.9:4) 0.4 Y(1:0) 1.0 1.0pitch shifter
20.1 Y(0.3:0.9) X(1:12) 0.89 1.0 1.0 2.9 0.48 1.65 1.0 0.6pitch shift w echo
30.1 Y(0.3:0.9) L(1:12:2) 0.89 1.0 1.0 2.9 0.48 1.65 1.0 0.6fairyland
40.0 X(0:0.5) -4.0 0.89 1.5 0.75 8.9 0.1 0.9 0.7 0.5darth vader
50.0 X(0:0.5) 12.0 0.89 1.5 0.75 11.9 0.1 0.5 0.3 0.5helium voice
60.1 L(0.9:0:0.5) X(-17:-11) 0.109134 12 1.0 0.9 0.0 Y(0:1) 0.5 0.25robot voice
70.0 X(0:0.5) 0.0 0.89 1.5 1.0 8.9 0.1 1.0 1.0 0.25reverb chamber
80.1 0.0 L(-1:1:0) X(0.2:0.4) 1.3 1.0 0.9 Z(0.2:0.33)Y(1.5:0) 1.0 1.0reverb w chopper
90.204724 0.236220 L(0:6:0) X(0.35:0.4)3.968504 1.0 7.086615 0.031181 Y(0.3:1.2) 1.0 0.25chopper
100.118110 X(0.2:1.0) L(0:6:0) 0.335197 11.622047 1.0 6.236220 0.038976 Y(0.3:1.2) 0.2 0.25variable chopper
110.204724 X(0.2:1.0) L(0:6:0) 0.732756 3.968504 1.0 7.086615 0.031181 Y(0.3:1.2) 0.3 0.25random chopper
Pitch-shifter/time-stretcher, patches #12-22
Patch No.PositionSizePitchDiffusionFilterDry/WetSpreadFeedbackReverbPre-gainPost-gain
120.0 0.1 L(-1:1) -1.449999 0.555906 Y(1:0) 5.173229 0.381968 X-(2:0) 1.0 1.0
130.0 0.1 L(-6:6) -1.449999 Z(0:1) Y(1:0) 5.173229 0.381968 X(0:2) 1.0 1.0
140.0 0.1 L(-12:12) -1.449999 X(0:1) 1.0 5.173229 0.381968 Y(2:0) 1.0 1.0
150.0 0.1 L(-12:12) -1.449999 Y(0:1) 1.0 X(0:6) 0.381968 Z-(-2:2) 1.0 1.0
160.072441 0.351181 Y(-6:6) -1.5 L(0.15:0.9)1.0 5.173229 Z(0.1:0.24) X(0:2) 1.0 1.0
170.464567 0.919685 X(-6:6) Z(-1.5:1.5)L(0.15:0.9)1.0 2.346457 0.452126 Y(2:0) 1.0 1.0
18L(0:0.5:0.472441) 0.551181 0.377953 -1.5 X(0:1) 1.0 2.173228 0.381968 Y(2:0) 1.0 1.0
190 L(0:1:0.551181)0.377953 -1.5 X(0.1:1) 1.0 2.173228 0.381968 Y(2:0) 1.0 1.0
200 Y(0.1:0.9) 0.377953 -1.5 X(0.1:1) 1.0 2.173228 0.381968 L(2:0:0.75)1.0 1.0
210.598425 0.262205 Z(-0.779528:1) -1.5 Y(0:1) 1.0 7.007874 L(0.5:0.1:0.414488)X-(2:0) 1.0 1.0
22X(0:0.7) 0.262205 Z(-2:2) -1.5 Z(0.3:0.9) 1.0 7.007874 0.381968 Y(1:0) 1.0 1.0
Looping delay, patches #23-33
Patch No.PositionSizePitchDiffusionFilterDry/WetSpreadFeedbackReverbPre-gainPost-gain
230.0 0.5 X(-1:1) 0.9 L(0.2:0.8:0.4) 1.0 2.5 0.45 Z(1.5:0) 1.0 1.9
240.0 0.3 Z-(0:12) 1.25 L(0.2:0.8:0.4) 0.9 2.5 0.55 Y(1.5:0) 1.0 1.9
25L(0:1:0.246457)0.283465 X(-1:1) 1.417323 Y(0.1:0.8) 0.75 7.275591 0.125 6.173228 1.0 1.9
26X(0:1) 0.283465 L(-9:9:4.53543)1.507323 Y(0.1:0.8) 0.75 20.0 0.425 6.973227 1.0 1.7
270.018425 0.198425 X(-11:-13) L(11:0:2.457) Z(0.3:0.6) 0.4 5.952756 0.148 Y(1.133858:0) 1.0 1.5
280.598425 0.598425 X(21:15) L(11:0:2.457) Z(0.3:0.6) 0.4 5.952756 0.148 Y(1.133858:0) 1.0 1.5
29X(0:0.291339) 0.299213 Z(1:-1) L(6:0:2.835) Y(0.1:0.8) 0.4 5.858268 0.314 1.763780 1.0 1.5
30Y(0:0.1) 0.196850 Z(12:-12) 11.905512 X(0.5:0.9843) 1.0 0.188976 0.117 L(2:0:0.512) 1.0 0.5
31Z(0:1) 0.196850 Y(12:-12) 11.905512 X(0.5:0.9843) 0.8 0.188976 0.117 L(2:0:0.512) 1.0 0.6
320.012598 Y(0:1) X(2:-2) 9.805510 Z(0.8:0.01) 0.25 0.188976 0.217 L(2:0:0.819) 1.0 1.0
33L(0:1:0.1496) Z(0:4) X(3:-3) 6.519685 Y(0.1:0.8) 1.0 2.834646 0.187 0.440945 1.0 0.6
Channel #8: Infinite Looper with octave up/down pitch shifter

You can use (-) and (+) buttons to control the tape speed, or CHANNEL + POWER to clear the tape (hold CHANNEL, press POWER briefly, release CHANNEL). Accelerometer controls mixing ratios from the 2 tape loops and 4 play heads, flipping the whale upside down reverses the tape direction.



Below is the printed manual that you will receive with your Glo.

 

(the error in "reset all settings" paragraph was fixed in the reprint in summer 2023)