GARVOS User Guide

Everything you need to know about using GARVOS — the full-featured mobile DAW for Android.

Getting Started The Interface Track Types Managing Tracks Import & Recording MIDI Editor FX Rack Mixer Projects Render / Export Settings Device Registration Tips & Notes

Getting Started

GARVOS is a full-featured digital audio workstation for Android. It supports audio recording, MIDI sequencing via SoundFont synthesis, 25+ real-time effects, multi-track mixing, and project export.

Permissions

On first launch, GARVOS requests:

Record Audio — required for vocal recording
Storage Access — to read/write project files, samples, renders, and SoundFonts

Storage Structure

All app data lives at /storage/emulated/0/GARVOS/:

GARVOS/
├── Projects/     ← .garvos project files
├── Recordings/   ← recorded audio (per-project folders)
├── Renders/      ← exported WAV files
├── Samples/      ← imported audio clips
└── Soundfonts/   ← .sf2 SoundFont files

The Interface

Timeline Ruler (top bar)

Time ruler with measure/beat markers
Mixer button — opens the mixer panel
Settings button — opens the side menu

Track Workspace (main area)

Vertical list of track rows. Each track shows:

Sidebar (60dp) — track name, color bar, FX button, mute/solo/fx enable toggles
Region area — audio waveforms or MIDI blocks positioned on a timeline
Playhead — red vertical line indicating current playback position

Transport Bar (bottom bar, 40dp)

Button	Action
Piano	Toggle MIDI keyboard overlay
+ Add	Add new track (Audio / Vocal / SF2 MIDI)
Import	Import audio file from device
Play / Pause	Start / stop playback
Stop	Reset playhead to 0
Record	Start / stop recording to selected vocal track
BPM display	Tap to open BPM / metronome settings
CPU meter	Real-time CPU usage indicator
Hide	Collapse transport bar

Side Menu (slides from right)

Three tabs:

Folders — File browser for projects, samples, etc.
Project — New / Save / Render actions + project info
Settings — Auto-save, Mono Output toggle, version / changelog

Track Types

Audio Track

For imported audio clips. Supports:

Multi-lane arrangement (auto-avoids overlap)
Waveform display
Drag to reposition, resize handles on edges
FX processing (all 25 effects)

Vocal Track

Same as Audio but adds:

Recording — capture mic input
Monitoring — real-time FX on live input (toggle in FX Rack)
AutoTune support

SF2 MIDI Track

For MIDI note sequencing with SoundFont synthesis:

Requires a .sf2 file loaded (via FX Rack LOAD)
Creates MIDI clips (one bar by default)
Opens the MIDI Editor for note editing
Supports mute/solo

Adding & Managing Tracks

Tap + on the Transport Bar
Choose track type: Audio, Vocal, or SF2 MIDI
Tap a track to select it (highlighted background)
Long-press a track to delete it
Tap the FX gear icon to open the FX Rack

Track Sidebar Controls

Control	Action
M (Mute)	Silences the track
S (Solo)	Solos the track (all others muted)
FX toggle	Enables/disables the FX chain on this track
Volume (Mixer)	Fader for track level
Pan (Mixer)	Left/right stereo position

Audio Import & Recording

Audio Import

Tap Import on the Transport Bar
Select a WAV / MP3 / M4A file from your device
File is copied to GARVOS/Samples/ and placed at the playhead
A new Audio track is created (or appended to existing track with auto-lane)

Recording

Select a Vocal track
Position the playhead where you want to start
Tap Record on the Transport Bar
Tap Record again or Play/Pause to stop
Recordings saved to GARVOS/Recordings/<ProjectName>/

MIDI Editor

Open by double-tapping a MIDI clip on an SF2 MIDI track.

Layout

Left sidebar — piano keyboard (116 semitones, C0–G9)
Main grid — Canvas-drawn note rectangles; X = time, Y = pitch
Red vertical line — clip-end indicator
Playhead — follows during playback

Editing Notes

Gesture	Action
Double-tap empty lane	Create a new note at that pitch/time
Single-tap note	Select it
Tap selected note	Open context menu (Delete + Copy)
Long-press note	Open context menu
Drag horizontally	Move note in time (pitch stays fixed)
Resize handle (right edge)	Drag to change note duration
Pinch zoom	Horizontal zoom in/out
Vertical zoom toggle	Enable/disable row height scaling

Context Menu

Two side-by-side circular buttons appear above the note:

Delete — removes the note
Copy — duplicates the note

MIDI Keyboard Overlay

Tap Piano on the Transport Bar to show/hide a playable on-screen keyboard. Tap keys to trigger MIDI notes on the selected SF2 MIDI track.

FX Rack

Open by tapping the gear icon on any track's sidebar.

Structure

Track color bar at top with track name
Menu icon to Add FX / Clear Rack
Monitoring toggle (Vocal tracks only)
SoundFont LOAD button (SF2 MIDI tracks only)
FX list — each effect with its controls

SoundFont Loading (SF2 MIDI)

Place .sf2 files in GARVOS/Soundfonts/
Select an SF2 MIDI track and open its FX Rack
Tap LOAD
Choose a SoundFont from the list
Name turns green when loaded

Available Effects (25 total)

Vocal

AutoTune — automatic pitch correction (speed + scale settings)

Dynamics

Compressor — threshold, ratio, attack, release, gain
Limiter — ceiling, threshold, release
Gate / Expander — wet, beat-synced
Clipper — threshold, max dB

Filters

Parametric EQ — low/mid/high bands
High/Low Pass — filter type, frequency, resonance
DC Offset Remover — on/off
Mid-Side EQ — separate low/mid/high for Mid and Side

Modulation

Flanger — wet, depth, LFO beats, stereo
Tremolo — rate, depth
Auto-Pan — rate, depth (auto L/R panning)
Chorus — wet, depth, rate
Vibrato — rate, depth (pitch modulation)
Phaser — rate, feedback, depth
Roll / DJ FX — wet, beat-synced

Delay

Delay / Echo — wet, beats, decay (beat-synced)
Multi-tap Delay — delay ms, feedback, taps, mix

Reverb

Reverb — mix, room size, damp, width, predelay, low cut

Distortion

Bitcrusher — frequency reduction, bit depth
Saturation — drive, gain

Utility

Gain Trim — level adjustment
Stereo Widener — stereo width control
Time Stretcher — rate, pitch shift (independent tempo/pitch)
Panner — stereo position
Spectrum Analyzer — real-time FFT visualization
Correlation Meter — stereo phase correlation display

Monitoring (Vocal Tracks)

Enable MONITOR in the FX Rack to hear live mic input with the full FX chain applied in real-time. Each FX's settings automatically sync to the monitoring chain when toggled.

Mixer

Open via the Mixer button on the Timeline Ruler.

Track strips — horizontal row for each track
Volume fader — slide to adjust level (shows dB value)
Pan knob — left/center/right
Mute / Solo / FX buttons — same as sidebar controls
Master strip — always on the right
Master limiter — real-time gain reduction meter
Peak meters — L/R stereo bars for each track
Reset Zoom button

Projects

Creating a New Project

Open Side Menu → Project tab
Tap NEW
Enter a project name

Saving

Manual: Side Menu → Project → SAVE
Auto-save: Enable in Settings (saves every 60 seconds)
Files saved as .garvos in GARVOS/Projects/

Opening

Side Menu → Folders tab
Navigate to GARVOS/Projects/
Double-tap a .garvos file
SoundFonts are auto-reloaded on project open

Project Info

View in the Project tab: name, length, time spent editing, creation date, last saved date, app version.

Render / Export

Side Menu → Project → RENDER
Configure options:

Master FX — ON to process with effects, OFF for dry/bypass
Mono — ON to sum to mono, OFF for stereo

Tap RENDER
Progress dialog shown while rendering
WAV file saved to GARVOS/Renders/

Settings

Open Side Menu → Settings tab

Setting	Description
Auto-save	Save project automatically every 60 seconds
Mono Output	Force master output to mono (sum L+R)
Version	Current app version
View Changelog	Full version history

Folder Navigator

Navigate through GARVOS/ directory tree
Tap folder to enter, back arrow to go up
Double-tap .garvos file to open project
Double-tap audio file to preview in MiniPlayer
Refresh button — reload file listing
Select mode — checkbox selection for batch operations

MiniPlayer

When previewing audio, a compact player appears at the bottom:

Play / Pause
Seek bar (tap to scrub)
File name display
Close to dismiss

Device Registration (v1.3.2+)

Starting with v1.3.2, GARVOS enforces single-device licensing. When you verify an Itch.io purchase key, the app registers your device with the EdgeOne server. This prevents the same license from being used on multiple devices simultaneously.

How it works

On successful license verification, the app sends a registration request with your username and device ID
If the same account is already registered on a different device, verification is rejected with a clear error message
Network issues or server unavailability are tolerated — the app only blocks on a definitive already_registered response
When you tap CLEAR in the license panel, the device is automatically unregistered

Offline tolerance

Registration is best-effort. If the EdgeOne server is unreachable, the registration is skipped silently and the license is accepted. This ensures GARVOS remains fully functional offline — the device check only kicks in when the server can confirm a conflict.

Tips & Notes

MIDI notes only move horizontally (time changes) — pitch editing is done by deleting and re-creating
Vertical zoom affects row heights in both the workspace and MIDI editor
Pinch zoom changes pixels-per-second and track scale together when vertical zoom is enabled
.garvos files are plain JSON — editable externally if needed
SoundFont files must be placed in GARVOS/Soundfonts/ before loading
The app runs in forced landscape orientation with immersive fullscreen (system bars hidden)