Quick Start

Press the round buttons in the middle of the screen to make music. Try pressing them when the bouncing ball at the bottom reaches one of the colored markers — that is the beginning of a new cycle in the music.

Play sounds

Each button controls a stem (an individual instrument in a track — drums, bass, vocals, synths). Tap a button to bring that instrument into the mix. Tap it again to mute it. Combine different buttons to build your own version of the track.

By default, stems start in sync with the beat. To start a stem freely from its beginning — regardless of where the beat is — enable Free Trigger in Settings.

Understand the buttons

Each button shows visual feedback to help you understand what is happening:

  • Active buttons light up with a ring that reacts to the sound being produced.
  • A small spinning needle on each button follows the playback progress of that stem.
  • Buttons pulse with the beat — their size changes slightly in rhythm with the music.
  • Button colors indicate state: one color for the current track, another for stems still sounding from a previous track, and a distinct color for stems started in Free Trigger mode. The exact colors depend on your selected theme.

Follow the beat

At the bottom of the screen, you will see a bouncing ball that moves from left to right, following the rhythm. Colored markers indicate where each cycle of the music restarts. White markers show intermediate beats in between. Use the colored markers as visual cues to trigger stems right when a new cycle begins.

Start and stop everything

Press the Joymixa logo button at the bottom center of the screen to stop all music at once.

Press any stem button to restart from the beginning.

To resume from where you stopped instead of restarting, hold Shift (keyboard) or the corresponding gamepad button and press the Joymixa logo button.

Change the speed

The current BPM (speed) is displayed in the top-right corner. Use the up/down arrows (keyboard) or the D-pad (gamepad) to increase or decrease the speed. All stems adjust automatically — they stay in sync at any BPM.

You can also use tap tempo: tap the T key (keyboard) or the assigned gamepad button repeatedly at the desired speed, and Joymixa will match the BPM to your tapping rhythm.

Add effects

Joymixa includes five real-time audio effects: filter, delay, flanger, reverb, and phaser. Move the analog sticks on your gamepad to control these effects live. Each direction on each stick is mapped to a different effect.

On touch devices, use the on-screen circular areas at the bottom-left and bottom-right of the screen.

The current status of each effect is shown below these areas. Release the stick to turn the effect off.

Change tracks

Open the library from the top of the screen to browse the available tracks. You can search by name, artist, genre, or BPM. Sort and filter to find what you want. Select a track to load it — its stems replace the current buttons.

When you switch tracks, any stems still sounding from the previous track continue until you mute them or they are replaced. This lets you transition smoothly between tracks.

Record your sessions

Press the REC button (top-left corner, red circle) to start recording. Everything you do — every button press, effect change, BPM adjustment — is captured. Press REC again to stop.

Find your recordings in the My Recordings tab of the library. You can replay them, rename them, or delete them. Recordings are saved in your browser and persist across sessions.

Create playlists

Organize your favorite tracks into playlists for quick access. In the library, use the "+" button next to a track to add it to a playlist, or create a new one with "New Playlist". Playlists are saved in your browser.

Settings

Open Settings (gear icon, top-left corner) to customize your experience:

  • Volume — master volume control.
  • Theme — choose your visual theme or create a custom one.
  • Performance — adjust visual quality. Use Low for older or less powerful devices.
  • Pitch Lock — keep the original pitch when changing BPM. By default, pitch changes with speed (like a turntable). Enable Pitch Lock to keep it fixed. Uses more CPU.
  • Free Trigger — start stems from the beginning immediately, without waiting for beat sync. Useful for creative and experimental mixing.
  • Gamepad — view connected gamepads, remap buttons, test inputs, adjust dead zone and stick smoothing.
  • Sub-bass Filter — reduce deep low sounds below a selected cutoff. Useful on small speakers or in rooms with too much bass.
  • Output Limiter — soften loud peaks for a cleaner and more consistent sound.
  • Master Boost — increase overall loudness.
  • Visualizer — enable or disable the reactive background animation.

All stems are always synchronized to the master BPM automatically — there is no separate sync setting to configure.

Devices and browsers

Joymixa works on phones, tablets, and desktops. Horizontal orientation is recommended for the best experience.

Tested and supported browsers: Chrome, Brave, Safari, Firefox, and Edge. For the best performance, we recommend Chrome or Brave.

Gamepads tested: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5. Other gamepads are supported through the mapping wizard in Settings.

Learn more

Check our social media channels for video tutorials showing all features in action.

To learn about uploading your own music, see the Uploading Tracks guide.

For a full list of keyboard shortcuts and gamepad button mappings, see the Controls guide.