Baud Girl FM-1 VA: tafony Unleashes a Pocket-Sized Rave Weapon

Let’s kick off with the real headline: the Baud Girl FM-1 now rocks a virtual analog engine that injects serious attitude. tafony doesn’t waste time – he’s straight into the new firmware, stacking saws, detuning oscillators and hitting that drift for classic analog wobble. The vibe? Fat, gnarly, and surprisingly big for a synth that looks like a Wi-Fi dongle. The engine’s got the basics: sine, saw, triangle, square – and the bonus ‘super’ versions for all your trance flashbacks and acid basslines.

But the real kicker is how much punch you get in such a tiny box. Super saws, stacked to the ceiling, detuned until your neighbours call the council, and a sub that hits harder than your dodgy old Juno. tafony’s not shy about it – he was ready to bin the FM-1, but this update dragged him back in with a grin. There’s even a touch of PWM and enough drift to keep things lively. If you want to know exactly how filthy this engine gets, you’re going to need to watch the video – no amount of words can do justice to that supersaw grind.

Firmware updates usually suck, right? tafony’s refreshingly honest about it – the process is mostly painless thanks to browser-based uploads, but getting the device up to the right version is a proper faff. You’ll need to wrestle with a weird website and dodge some MacOS security hurdles. Still, once you’re past the gauntlet, swapping between FM and VA engines is a breeze. The upside? You keep your FM presets, so you don’t have to sacrifice your e-piano cheese to get brutal new analog tones.

Here’s where the FM-1 steps out of toy territory: the sequencer’s had a proper makeover. Live recording is on the menu, so you can bash out patterns in real time like it’s 1992. tafony shows you can now punch in notes, overdub, and (mostly) keep up with the groove – though don’t expect a metronome to save you from total chaos. Polyphonic sequencing? Yep, it’s here, along with step editing and chaining sequences up to 64 steps for marathon jams.

The best bit? Those four knobs are now always live and tweakable – think proper desktop synth workflow, not menu-diving purgatory. Filter sweeps, resonance, envelope tweaks – all on the fly, all begging to be hammered in a sweaty, strobe-lit club. Sure, the encoders click, but for eighty quid and this much control, who’s complaining? If you’re brave, you can even drop in some accidental Mr. Bean moments. Get stuck in.

Let’s talk filter – it’s no Moog, but you’ve got 12dB and 24dB options, envelope modulation, and key-tracking. tafony gets into filter sweeps that actually snarl, with envelopes that punch through the mix. The resonance isn’t shy, and the filter modes give you enough edge for acid bass or smooth pads. LFOs? Modulation matrix? Of course – this thing’s not just for beginners.

On the effects side, there’s reverb, soft and hard clipping, foldback distortion, and even filter in the FX chain. The reverb won’t win any awards, but it’s fun to smash everything to twelve o’clock for quick dirt. tafony’s not convinced the distortions are all new, but who cares? Run it hot, run it dirty, or just add a touch of space. The main event is still the hands-on control and how easy it is to twist things into submission.