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.
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)
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.
Parameters are either fixed or controllable via accelerometer & light sensor. If controllable, the format is:
Granular mode, patches #1-11 | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Patch No. | Position | Size | Pitch | Density | Texture | Dry/Wet | Spread | Feedback | Reverb | Pre-gain | Post-gain | Comment |
1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | X(-12:12) | 0.89 | 1.0 | 1.0 | Z(0.9:4) | 0.4 | Y(1:0) | 1.0 | 1.0 | pitch shifter |
2 | 0.1 | Y(0.3:0.9) | X(1:12) | 0.89 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.9 | 0.48 | 1.65 | 1.0 | 0.6 | pitch shift w echo |
3 | 0.1 | Y(0.3:0.9) | L(1:12:2) | 0.89 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.9 | 0.48 | 1.65 | 1.0 | 0.6 | fairyland |
4 | 0.0 | X(0:0.5) | -4.0 | 0.89 | 1.5 | 0.75 | 8.9 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.5 | darth vader |
5 | 0.0 | X(0:0.5) | 12.0 | 0.89 | 1.5 | 0.75 | 11.9 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.5 | helium voice |
6 | 0.1 | L(0.9:0:0.5) | X(-17:-11) | 0.109134 | 12 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.0 | Y(0:1) | 0.5 | 0.25 | robot voice |
7 | 0.0 | X(0:0.5) | 0.0 | 0.89 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 8.9 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.25 | reverb chamber |
8 | 0.1 | 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 | 1.0 | reverb w chopper |
9 | 0.204724 | 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 | 0.25 | chopper |
10 | 0.118110 | 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 | 0.25 | variable chopper |
11 | 0.204724 | 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 | 0.25 | random chopper |
Pitch-shifter/time-stretcher, patches #12-22 | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Patch No. | Position | Size | Pitch | Diffusion | Filter | Dry/Wet | Spread | Feedback | Reverb | Pre-gain | Post-gain | |
12 | 0.0 | 0.1 | L(-1:1) | -1.449999 | 0.555906 | Y(1:0) | 5.173229 | 0.381968 | X-(2:0) | 1.0 | 1.0 | |
13 | 0.0 | 0.1 | L(-6:6) | -1.449999 | Z(0:1) | Y(1:0) | 5.173229 | 0.381968 | X(0:2) | 1.0 | 1.0 | |
14 | 0.0 | 0.1 | L(-12:12) | -1.449999 | X(0:1) | 1.0 | 5.173229 | 0.381968 | Y(2:0) | 1.0 | 1.0 | |
15 | 0.0 | 0.1 | L(-12:12) | -1.449999 | Y(0:1) | 1.0 | X(0:6) | 0.381968 | Z-(-2:2) | 1.0 | 1.0 | |
16 | 0.072441 | 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 | |
17 | 0.464567 | 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 | |
18 | L(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 | |
19 | 0 | 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 | |
20 | 0 | 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 | |
21 | 0.598425 | 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 | |
22 | X(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. | Position | Size | Pitch | Diffusion | Filter | Dry/Wet | Spread | Feedback | Reverb | Pre-gain | Post-gain | |
23 | 0.0 | 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 | |
24 | 0.0 | 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 | |
25 | L(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 | |
26 | X(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 | |
27 | 0.018425 | 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 | |
28 | 0.598425 | 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 | |
29 | X(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 | |
30 | Y(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 | |
31 | Z(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 | |
32 | 0.012598 | 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 | |
33 | L(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 |
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.
(the error in "reset all settings" paragraph was fixed in the reprint in summer 2023)