Getting Started with SquishFM: Your First Beat in 5 Minutes
Whether you’re a seasoned producer or picking up a beat maker for the first time, SquishFM is designed to get you from zero to a finished beat as fast as possible. Here’s how.
Step 1: Load Your Samples
When you first open SquishFM, you’ll see a 16-pad grid. Tap any pad to assign a sample. The built-in library is organized by category:
- Kicks — punchy sub-heavy kicks, layered kicks, acoustic kicks
- Snares — snappy, cracking, or soft snares and claps
- Hi-hats — open, closed, and pedal hats in multiple styles
- Percussion — congas, bongos, shakers, tambourines
- FX — risers, crashes, and vocal chops
Tap a sample name to preview it, then tap Assign to load it onto the pad.
Step 2: Program Your Pattern
Switch to the Sequencer tab. Each row represents one pad, and each column is a 16th-note step. Tap a cell to activate it — that sample will play at that point in the loop.
A classic four-on-the-floor house pattern looks like this:
- Kick: steps 1, 5, 9, 13
- Hi-hat (closed): every step (1–16)
- Hi-hat (open): step 3 and 11
- Clap: steps 5 and 13
Hit Play to hear your pattern loop.
Step 3: Adjust Velocity
Press and hold any activated step in the sequencer to adjust its velocity. Lower velocity means a quieter, softer hit. This is how you add humanization — real drummers don’t hit every beat at the same force.
Step 4: Add Effects
Head to the Mixer tab. Each pad has a send knob for reverb and delay. Add a touch of reverb to your snare (around 20–30%) and a subtle delay on hi-hats for depth.
Step 5: Export
Tap the Export button in the top right. Choose your format (WAV recommended for DAW use) and tap Render. Your beat is saved to Files and ready to share or import into your DAW.
That’s it — you just made your first beat with SquishFM. Experiment with different sample combos and sequences. There’s no wrong way to make music.