AISLINGby CU_STE

aisling · the controls on the SMK-37 Elite

by CU_STE · www.stephen8n.com

Checked on an Elite. Each button, knob, key, pad and fader here was tried by hand on an SMK-37 Elite in November 2026. The FM-1 version's manual and cheat sheet say more about each job; where they or the screen name a button, it is the FM-1's name, in the second column here.

PITCHMODNot used yetKNOBBANKNothing yetFADERBANKFaders' bank<All pads let go>With a pad: latchOCT−Octave downOCT+Octave upK1VolumeK2Level(a layer's page)K3VoiceK4PieceK5K6K7K8The four values on the screenStutterHalf timeGateRollRepeatMacallaTape stopReverseReverbShimmerFreezeWashFlangePhaserDriveCrushRhythmEchoSpaceColourA pad: its effect on the whole music while it is down. It glows in its group's colour, bright while held.> held, a pad hit: the effect stays on (its light beats). <: every pad let go.A pad down, K5 to K8 turned: a throw of Filter, Wet, Energy or Duck.F1DroneFilterF2SequenceWetF3Sequence 2EnergyF4LeadDuckThe mix; under it, with FADER BANK litARPSequenceNOTEREPEATLeadSCALEPerformheld: LockCHORDDroneGLOBESetup, Archeld: saveBTAtmosphereheld: savePATCHAisling,KeyPARAChordsheld: nextFXSpaceSEQSequence 2SEQPLAYPlay /restSEQRECHoldheld: effectsC3DEF3GABC4DEFGABC5DEFG5ABC6CeoMacallaFrasRepeatShimmerFreezeOctaveReturnRiseCloseTransposeF3 to G5 play. White keys: the Lead, in the piece's scale. Black keys: an effect each while held.Silent for nowSilent for nowSCALE (PERFORM): every one of the 27 keys an effect while held. OCT− with OCT+, five seconds: the update mode.

The diagram alone, at full size.

EliteFM-1What it does
The buttons
SEQ PLAYPLAYPlay / rest
SEQ RECRECA tap: hold (the echo repeats what it holds), held: the effects grid (16 effects on the white keys)
PARAEDITA tap: the Chords page, held: the next chord
SCALESELPERFORM (again: back to the page you came from): the knobs Filter, Wet, Energy, Chorus; every one of the 27 keys an effect on the whole music while held (the white keys in fours: Rhythm, Echo, Space, Colour); SAVE tapped there: the Lead forgets its ideas and its theme. Held: Lock
PATCHHOMEThe Aisling page (Filter, Evolve, Motion, Drift; ALGORITHM, Evolve's timing); again, the Key page (Tempo, Root, Mode, Transpose). Held, with OCT− or OCT+: undo or redo
CHORDENVThe Drone (Pedal, Reso, Phaser, Attack); again, its sound (Colour, Release, Reverb, Echo); again, its Move page (Width, Time, Rate, Intro)
ARPARPThe Sequence (Density, Octave, Length, Grid); again, its sound (Cutoff, Decay, Reverb, Echo); again, its Repeats (Repeat A, A time, Repeat B, B time); again, its Move page
NOTE REPEATLFOThe Lead (Phrases, Octave, Ornament, Vibrato); again, its sound (Tone, Attack, Reverb, Echo); again, its style (Ornament, Glide, Vibrato, Memory); again, its Move page
SEQSEQSequence 2 (Chance, Octave, Length, Level); again, its sound; again, the Pattern page (write the steps on the keys); again, its Move page
BTSAVEThe Atmosphere (Density, Width, Drift, Air); again, its sound (Colour, Ring, Reverb, Echo); again, its Move page. Held: save
FXFXSpace (Echo, Echo time, Feedback, Reverb); again, the Echo page (Blur, Tone, Width, Size)
GLOBEGLOSetup (Tune, MIDI out, Lights, Save; ALGORITHM, the sleep timer); again, the Arc (Lead in, Bridge, Arc, Memory). Held: save; held on: the piece back to its recipe
OCTAVE− / OCTAVE+OCT− / OCT+On the Sequence's, the Lead's and Sequence 2's pages, its octave (lit while it's above or below where the piece was loaded)
FADER BANKThe faders: the mix, or (lit) Filter, Wet, Energy and Duck.
>Held, with a pad: latches that pad's effect. Lit while any is latched.
<Lets every pad and latch go.
KNOB BANKNothing yet.
The knobs
K1MASTERThe volume. The Elite's knobs turn without end, so this one starts at half (−6 dB) each time it is switched on; 43 clicks take it from silence to full.
K2SELECTOn a layer's pages, its level; on the Aisling page, Energy (elsewhere nothing)
K3ALGORITHMOn a layer's page, its voice (the Atmosphere: its character); on the Aisling page, Evolve's timing; on the Setup page, the sleep timer
K4PRESETSThe piece
K5–K8K1–K4The four settings the screen shows, in order.
The keys
White keys F3–G5the 16 whitePlay the Lead (the piece's flute, fiddle or voice), in the piece's scale
Black keys F♯3–F♯5the 11 blackEleven effects, each while held: Ceo, Macalla, Fras, Repeat, Shimmer, Freeze, Octave, Return, then Rise, Close, Transpose (in PERFORM: the solos)
C3–E3, G♯5–C6Silent for now: the FM-1 has 27 keys, and these are the Elite's other ten.

The pads and the faders

  • The 16 pads: PERFORM's effects, on any page, each on while its pad is down. Top row: Stutter, Half time, Gate, Roll, Repeat, Macalla, Tape stop, Reverse. Bottom row: Reverb, Shimmer, Freeze, Wash, Flange, Phaser, Drive, Crush.
  • The pads' lights: each glows in its group's colour: orange for the rhythm effects, sea green for the echoes, heather for the space, yellow for the colour. Bright while held, beating while latched, dark asleep.
  • > held, a pad hit: that effect stays on; the same again lets it go. > is lit while any is latched.
  • < tapped: every pad and latch let go.
  • A pad down, K5 to K8 turned: a throw of Filter, Wet, Energy or Duck, which go back when the last pad is up.
  • The 4 faders: the mix, left to right: the Drone, the Sequence, Sequence 2 and the Lead. With FADER BANK lit: Filter, Wet, Energy and Duck. A fader does nothing until it is moved. The mix is saved with the piece; Filter, Wet, Energy and Duck are not.

Not used yet: the pitch and mod wheels, the pedal, KNOB BANK, the outer keys and Bluetooth.

What the Elite doesn't have

  • Lit keys. The FM-1 lights the key the Lead sounds, and the black keys (dark while held); the Elite's keys have no lights. Its buttons do, and AISLING uses them as on the FM-1.
  • MIDI in on the TRS jack. On the Elite, MIDI comes in over USB only.