When people ask me what my favourite genre of electronic music is, i'm gonna say "post modern retro dance music midnight snacks, sandwiched between some crunchy scottish/italian 8bit 909 samples and a touchscreen 303 sprinkled with some 80s FM cheese"
We should suggest distributors to include this genre when uploadiing tracks for music platforms. I am sure their design & database teams will love it! ;) It'd certainly solved MY problems when I upload:))) Very good for SEO...
@@AudioPilz , yeah, FB-01 is silent for sure if working properly. That hum may come due to two reasons : there is either broken PSU filter or shitty shielding in audio path.
I was just about to say that a kid keyboard with something like double ym2164 and a dsp fx would be way better than pcm samples. Btw, is YM 2164 14 bit?
@@dusanvukasovic2525 I mean, I think a lot of people like PCM samples because of they way they sound, I personally would prefer it more as i can't play the keyboard
@@illford When Roland relased D70, keyboard with looped PCM samples that exceeded single waveform, it was emphasized that this way you get "inharmonic" harmonics. Digital synths of the 80s lacked inharmonicity, but 1989 D70 was achieving that in a quite rudimentar way, nothing changed much since then. Some people say "That piano 3MB pcm patch is one of the items to pack in your bag on the trip to deserted island.", but for me is either 1GB piano patch with string resonator, or better forget it. And many natural instruments sound poor when sampled, even 1GB ROM per patch won't help. FM patches seldom sound realistic, but they often put a smile on my face. I know all this is very disputable, but that's my point of view. Recently I've heard some budget Casio demo song with sax patch that sounded awesome, though.
@@dusanvukasovic2525 to be fair I'd argue with sampled instruments you can make them real by butting in work. However I dont usually want realism, if I wanted realsim I'd learn Orchestra.
I used to think it sounded thin and tinny and then I learned that what you do with the FB01 is stack the voices, adjust pan and pitch the tiniest bit, add a touch of reverb, start working with oodles of patch banks available on the internet and easily imported with the Java based editor, and then you have (for €100 maximum in healthy good shape with a replaced battery in my opinion) a superb half-rack 4op FM machine.
I should have thought of that. I was stacking voices, and making manual chorus and delay with a MIDI sequencer and a General MIDI keyboard way before I could afford anything with actual DSP FX.
If I didn’t have a DX-200, and the buttons didn’t stick on the FB-01, I might have kept mine. Sold it a few months ago. I own almost every piece of gear demonstrated on this channel, I’m the king of bad gear I guess. Love this show!!!
The idea of duct taping stomp boxes to the unit is hilarious! I really appreciate your sense of humor and especially the jokes pointed at the "my equipment is holier than thou, all my gear must cost at least $2,000" attitude. It's good to laugh at one's self, thanks for reminding me to stay humble!
Oh no! The trend continues with yet another of my once-cherished possessions under the microscope! To be fair, it was of fairly limited use on its own, but I used it quite heavily in the 80s as a secondary timbre behind another synth - e.g. a bell tone layered with a pad from the Juno-106 to give a D-50 Fantasia type feel, or one of the piano tones layered with a piano patch from the Ensoniq Mirage to beef things up a bit - for that, it was quite cool. And for the money (I couldn't afford a DX-7 back in the day), it was a DX27 in a box for not a lot of dough. I sold mine a few years ago for the princely sum of £12 (disconcerting to see how much they go for now!). Nostalgic vid :-)
This was the first synth I ever used. It was the outboard sound module used in my high-school music composition class circa 1988. I liked it so much then that I bought my own. I still have it to this day and use it regularly. Cheesy, yes. But also really excellent source of FM bass and synth textures. Easy to edit and store sounds with a simple editor and for some reason it isn't as noisy as the DX21, DX9 or any of the other DX synths I've owned over the years. I love my little FB-01.
hey, could you tell me which editor you use and how you are storing sounds? Also I'm not sure how to use more than 1 voice at the same time inside of ableton.
@@EtonFisch I think the editor I have is called something creative like "FB01v2.11". I also have one with the equally sexy name "Yamaha_FB01_Beta". As for using the FB01 with Ableton, you first need to assign each of the 8 parts on the FB01 to a MIDI channel. This is relatively straight forward using the buttons on the front panel. Since the FB01 is 8-part multi-timbrel you can can distribute those 8 pars however you like. For instance you can have one instrument with 8 notes or 8 instruments playing 1 note and any combination in between. You can have 8 separate midi channels for 8 different instruments or all notes played on one instrument. You get the idea. Anyway, set-up the midi channels and instruments using the good ol' fashioned buttons on the synth then simply assign a corresponding MIDI channel to one of the tracks in your sequencer. If you are so inclined you can adjust pitch bend, de-tune and so on in your DAW but I prefer to just reach over and press the buttons. ...Hope this helps.!
So glad to see you’ve covered this one too. No joke, I walked into an antique shop last year and found one of these, a DX7s, and a Pro One. Was able to snag em all for $500. 🥹
This is my new favorite UA-cam channel. Love all your posts, and in particular how you always have your opening theme use the equipment you're talking about. My favorite part is the demo at the end where you truly force the gear into submission.
it kills me that a year ago I was passing over DX7s for $300, and FB-01s for $80, cus I was too obsessed with "Analog synths", now I'm looking to expand my studio with this stuff and its all way over priced!
Just found your channel. Consider me a fan from now on. By far the best Channel when it comes to this stuff . Well explained without getting far too nerdy and dry
Making a synthesizer that can be user programmed, but not including the buttons for doing so, is to me completely unforgiveable. Even my Elka X-1000 4-operator FM organ can be user programmed.
@@AudioPilz When I see the questions that are asked in the music production sections of Quora, I think a lot of people still think it is all about the presets. Presets be damned. Go buy some stomp boxes and some 'Bad Gear™" and make your own sounds!
Picked up one of these at a car boot some years back for around 50 quid. Found out recently you can replace the output stage chips with something cleaner and put better caps in and having done that it tidied the sound up a bit. If you want to get some nice retro FM out of it or even use it as a sort-of general midi box it's not terrible but as I said I paid next to nothing for mine. And where it's tiny it still has a space in my rack. Right near my TX7 😁
I got one at a second-hand shop in 1997. Odd though, mine just had an LCD display, no fancy red LED's. My setup wasn't fancy enough to tweak the patches via MIDI, but luckily some of the bass presets were pretty nice for the price.
I have a FB-01 and I actually like it :) IIRC it's possible to set an operator to be insensitive to velocity and by enabling velocity on a modulating operator you can dynamically alter the sound with velocity, when done properly it can emulate a filter cutoff effect.
I bought a broken FB-01 which would not boot. After taking it apart and some measuring i realized that some of the circuits were actually shorted out. The solution was to replace the four big 220uF capacitors on the mainboard, they were shorted out internally which is very unusual for this type of capacitor.
I am SO GLAD, I kept the 2 units I have! I sold ONE unit when I had 3 of these FB01s. The 2 units I have now are in need of TLC(internal battery change and front panel button change outs). Outside that, they are perrrrrfect, for the sounds I want! I play mostly Monophonic legato mode sounds, with very few poly play sound exceptions. These 2 units offer the very thing NONE of the other FM synths out in the market offer.. multitimbrility! Much less 8 parts?! I thought the DX7 and DX7II FD had the 6 operator, 8 part multitimberal functionality.. Sad to hear I was dead wrong.. I do have a DX200 synth/groovebox and a AN200 synth/groovebox as well so looks like I have the upper hand on the stupidly expensive DX units of old.
Not gonna lie, I almost bought one of these bad boys a couple years ago. Ultimately I went for the PreenFM2 instead, because I didn't want to be screwing around with sysex when I could be dialing in patches with a row of knobs. I think the FB-01 is best approached as a "challenge machine" for masochistic hackers... And there are definitely a few people out there who will get fulfillment out of such an approach
@@AudioPilz The PreenFM2 is high on my Bad Gear list, because although it ticks all the boxes, it is a very *very noisy* FM synth. :-( Much noisier than Yamaha gear by far. Of course, Edisyn supports it.
@@seanluke3052 IIRC, there is at least now a fix you can apply to the PreenFM2 to reduce its noise levels (these were caused by an inductor in the LCD screen creating electromagnetic bleed into the signal path, so they can be fixed with a resistor and some shielding)
@@chriskarate I'm aware of this, but it's not what I'm referring to. The sounds themselves are very noisy and this only occurs *when sounds are playing*. That is, it's generated by the DSP code and/or DACs. It's not leakage from the unshielded screen. Compared to (say) the TX81Z, the Preen has very, very noisy *sounds*. :-(
@@seanluke3052 Ah, I see! I am a bit distant from the PreenFM2's community so I hadn't heard about that. I have noticed that its sounds do often have a bit of grime in them, but I thought this was just an effect of how I was programming things in! Still... I rather love my PreenFM2
5:56 presets? When I ran both my FB-01s I had a DOS editor to create my own . I would edit the envelopes to create different attacks and decays and send one version to the left panned FB-01 and the second version to the right panned FB-01. It worked out well for me. I got both in 1990, but I gave them away for free to my brother. But I did not use the presets when I used them on my then 286 midi system. Just like a Blofeld the best thing is to "zap" all the presets and start fresh. Watching this video reminded me of the synths I gave away. Too many synths are judged on presets, and to me, this does not really give the synth a chance. And what's a "real " synth player? I am 43 years in (got my first synth at 14), and I am still trying to figure out what this means.
Great track bud. My first synth was Dx7. I had to learn synthesis with no presets, just figuring out phase modulation on my own. After that, Roland JV1080 felt like a child's play.
Another one I had. There were issues with the LFO. the sound "Lute" played low was a killer for dub. Trying to get percs was fun, but I was fed up with softwares.
It's Friday again. Time to enjoy your video. Thanks for sharing! I used to own that cheap little box. It has good dynamics (velocity) when playing. Now I have a Digitone. A bit easier for sound design :-)
I still have my FB01, bought in 86 or 87. And yes it was limited, but well, FM and multitimbrality at this price and at this time... Having a rubber bass AND a kalimba for cheap money was a great thing in 1987 when you were young and broke. When your setup was an alpha juno 1 and a qx21 with a second hand teac mixing console you were almost happy. Regarding the edition, yes, it was inexistent but you could edit it thru your atari (if you had one). Actualy I used it up until the late 90s as a sub-layering bass for fatening other bass sounds or as a short attack layer for other kind of instruments. Now it rests on a shelf in the back of my studio. Sure, the TX81Z was a better beast (I still have mine too) but it happens years latter.
Gettin' creeped out. A weirdly high number of my supported synths on Edisyn have now been given the Bad Gear treatment: Microsampler, Microkorg, DX7, Venom (coming soon on Edisyn), DarkStar, D-110, and now FB-01. Not sure what to think of all the overlap. What's next, the Drumstation? Proteus? Kawai K5? CZ-101? TG33? Also, LatelyBass and SolidBass are not identical at all: this is a myth. There's a quite significant difference between them.
I agree, it's clear they are totally different basses. I own an FB-01 and actually prefer LatelyBass, idk it sounds better to me. Haven't bothered to fuck around with it on an editor to make SolBass sound the same, but it should be possible.
Video idea: Kawai K4 - professionals hate it (even today) for its toy appearance (plastic case, small LCD and spongy keys) but in fact it can soung unique and quite good.
I agree! I love my FB01. I also really enjoy the much cheaper FM home keyboards the PSR-36 and the PSS-480. All different but very interesting in their own way.
I got an FB-01 in '07 on Ebay for €13,, P&P included from the UK to Ireland. For my FM requirements, it was the best €13 I ever spent. Love the reviews on here.
Lambert Lambert I paid about $150 the year they came out new. Over time they were on Reverb for that price, or less depending on condition. When I gave it to my son to sell I told him to check the average price for one in mint condition and go with that. Well that price was about $225 a month after the video and someone picked it up, and paid shipping, quite happily for that price within a day of being put up for sale. Coincidence? Maybe.
Another great episode. I think this is an underrated synth and many mangled textures can be teased out of it using a computer based editor. I used to hate FM because it sounded like bad pop music to me (e.g., e-piano sounds and bad bells) but then I learned how to program it to get awesome growls and evolving pads and whatnot. Plus, this instrument asks to be run through FX.
I've been LOVING all of these 80s synths! Would love to see you get ahold of a Kawai K-series synth ;) Not FM, but trying to compete with DX synths... they've got a ton of character, I think you'd love them!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA ....I knew you have a portal into my house !!! ps. I have a korg Karma, so gimme a shout when you're doing this one as well.....still love the show.
Er, I got a Blofeld so I'd have a bunch of timbres in one small device... but eventually I gave up on dawless and now I don't need more than one timbre at a time.
@@ToyKeeper thank you for the support. I've always used mono-timbral instruments myself, but it might be time for me to experiment a bit, see what the world has to offer you know.
@@tezeta3725 Some recent synths like the Summit have definitely made a lot of people timbrally bi-curious. It gives people all sorts of ways to stack, layer, and split.
after i sold my Yamaha MSX cx5m i got a FB01 back in the 80's eventually replacing that with a Sy77 and a TG33 as we turned into the 90's.. was a proper yamaha Nut back then... now i'm a roland nut! ( plus MPC)
@@AudioPilz it was.. i remember carrying home the boxes home on the train in december! programming music via a stave...on the supplied music cartridge . was a quite capable seq really.. no mouse remember btw! 4 octave keyboard .. no pitch bend or mod wheel! 8 bit days and cassette data storage
Oh Florian... Somehow I knew you would like this more than most. I still own one of these, but today I'm too lazy to fire up the MIDI editor to tweak it out. (Had a CX5M too, BTW, so spot on dude) I would also add that's quite a sandwich you got going there. I won't be having a bite of any Italian synths (oh god, I won't even talk about that one time ... no, nevermind.) Maybe a bit of Crumar.. CROUTON on my Japanese salad of synth.
Thanks! Oh, I was referring to the modded TR-505 I was using in the track. The mod kit was made by Ewan Colsell who indeed is a Scotsman in Italy and it has VERY crunchy 909 samples on it now
I was actually thinking of suggesting this one! I picked one up a couple months ago for about 100$ and its.. pretty rough to work with. But god do i love how it sounds for some reason. Thats part of why I decided against asking if you'd do an episode on it. But im glad you did! Its amazing bit of insight into how to properly use this thing for the biggest synth fool on the planet here lol. Also for whatever reason my display is more orange than red. Amazing music and video as always!!
Holy cow - completely forgot I have my boxed FB-01 in the attic. Bought it new and haven't touched it in about 30 years. My old DX-100 will still be in its box there too, together with a Roland R5 and an Atari. Wonder if they all work; doubt Pro-24 will boot though.
When people ask me what my favourite genre of electronic music is, i'm gonna say "post modern retro dance music midnight snacks, sandwiched between some crunchy scottish/italian 8bit 909 samples and a touchscreen 303 sprinkled with some 80s FM cheese"
You forgot about the Deli Meats ;)
@@AudioPilz the deli meats is the secret ingredient you never reveal for free
We should suggest distributors to include this genre when uploadiing tracks for music platforms. I am sure their design & database teams will love it! ;) It'd certainly solved MY problems when I upload:))) Very good for SEO...
The genres this show spawned alone should be considered works of art, let alone the music pieces that belong to them.
Long name but you probably will get more understanding nods in the pub for listening to that than if you said Power-Electronics.
The FB-01's power supply hum ist the official ambient sound of my home studio 🥰
Mine is silent, fortunately. Hate that sound!
@@AudioPilz , yeah, FB-01 is silent for sure if working properly. That hum may come due to two reasons : there is either broken PSU filter or shitty shielding in audio path.
@@MSM5500 or the power supply capacitors
Transformer laminating getting weak.
This man can make a kids keyboard feel like the greatest synthesizer in existence.
FB-01 - empowering Bontempis since 1986 ;)
I was just about to say that a kid keyboard with something like double ym2164 and a dsp fx would be way better than pcm samples. Btw, is YM 2164 14 bit?
@@dusanvukasovic2525 I mean, I think a lot of people like PCM samples because of they way they sound, I personally would prefer it more as i can't play the keyboard
@@illford When Roland relased D70, keyboard with looped PCM samples that exceeded single waveform, it was emphasized that this way you get "inharmonic" harmonics. Digital synths of the 80s lacked inharmonicity, but 1989 D70 was achieving that in a quite rudimentar way, nothing changed much since then. Some people say "That piano 3MB pcm patch is one of the items to pack in your bag on the trip to deserted island.", but for me is either 1GB piano patch with string resonator, or better forget it. And many natural instruments sound poor when sampled, even 1GB ROM per patch won't help. FM patches seldom sound realistic, but they often put a smile on my face.
I know all this is very disputable, but that's my point of view.
Recently I've heard some budget Casio demo song with sax patch that sounded awesome, though.
@@dusanvukasovic2525 to be fair I'd argue with sampled instruments you can make them real by butting in work. However I dont usually want realism, if I wanted realsim I'd learn Orchestra.
WELCOME TO BAD GEAR is exactly what i needed on a Friday
Thank god it's Friday!
Correct!
Traded mine for an EDP WASP in 1989. He already had an FB-01 and two units would work together to expand polyphony. We were both happy with the trade.
Nice trade!
I used to think it sounded thin and tinny and then I learned that what you do with the FB01 is stack the voices, adjust pan and pitch the tiniest bit, add a touch of reverb, start working with oodles of patch banks available on the internet and easily imported with the Java based editor, and then you have (for €100 maximum in healthy good shape with a replaced battery in my opinion) a superb half-rack 4op FM machine.
Yeah, that's the way to ho with this one
I should have thought of that. I was stacking voices, and making manual chorus and delay with a MIDI sequencer and a General MIDI keyboard way before I could afford anything with actual DSP FX.
Thanks for the advice. I ordered one of these today and can't wait to play with it. Great idea to stack the voices.
@@AudioPilz The way to "ho" eh? hahahah
Hmm. Pimping out synths...nice idea :P
If I didn’t have a DX-200, and the buttons didn’t stick on the FB-01, I might have kept mine. Sold it a few months ago. I own almost every piece of gear demonstrated on this channel, I’m the king of bad gear I guess. Love this show!!!
Thanks! Great minds... ;)
Hey now. The fb-01 is great. Still integrated in my set up.
I'll most certainly keep it. Handy little synth!
Subscribed just for that. 😃
@@KC9UDX thanks!!
Agreed! I still have mine in my rack.
@@WIDOW.OFFICIAL how is it rack mounted.
The idea of duct taping stomp boxes to the unit is hilarious! I really appreciate your sense of humor and especially the jokes pointed at the "my equipment is holier than thou, all my gear must cost at least $2,000" attitude. It's good to laugh at one's self, thanks for reminding me to stay humble!
Thank you so much!
Oh no! The trend continues with yet another of my once-cherished possessions under the microscope! To be fair, it was of fairly limited use on its own, but I used it quite heavily in the 80s as a secondary timbre behind another synth - e.g. a bell tone layered with a pad from the Juno-106 to give a D-50 Fantasia type feel, or one of the piano tones layered with a piano patch from the Ensoniq Mirage to beef things up a bit - for that, it was quite cool. And for the money (I couldn't afford a DX-7 back in the day), it was a DX27 in a box for not a lot of dough. I sold mine a few years ago for the princely sum of £12 (disconcerting to see how much they go for now!). Nostalgic vid :-)
Thanks! It is a great synth for tone stacking!
I'm late on this but, it's exactly what I used this for, and worked wonders!!
12€? You was robbed!
The thing for me is he’s such a good musician he can get good stuff out of anything. It makes the channel work!
Thanks! Very happy to hear that!
3:40
That music from Rise of the Triad, the How'd I do with the FB-01 is a bit worse than the other versions but still awesome.
Big ROTT fan here!
I like waiting an hour or so after uploading to watch so I can enjoy the comments and responses along with the content. 👍
Highly appreciated!
This was the first synth I ever used. It was the outboard sound module used in my high-school music composition class circa 1988. I liked it so much then that I bought my own. I still have it to this day and use it regularly. Cheesy, yes. But also really excellent source of FM bass and synth textures. Easy to edit and store sounds with a simple editor and for some reason it isn't as noisy as the DX21, DX9 or any of the other DX synths I've owned over the years. I love my little FB-01.
Agreed! Noise issues were not really a problem with the FB01 unlike many people posted
hey, could you tell me which editor you use and how you are storing sounds? Also I'm not sure how to use more than 1 voice at the same time inside of ableton.
@@EtonFisch I think the editor I have is called something creative like "FB01v2.11". I also have one with the equally sexy name "Yamaha_FB01_Beta". As for using the FB01 with Ableton, you first need to assign each of the 8 parts on the FB01 to a MIDI channel. This is relatively straight forward using the buttons on the front panel. Since the FB01 is 8-part multi-timbrel you can can distribute those 8 pars however you like. For instance you can have one instrument with 8 notes or 8 instruments playing 1 note and any combination in between. You can have 8 separate midi channels for 8 different instruments or all notes played on one instrument. You get the idea. Anyway, set-up the midi channels and instruments using the good ol' fashioned buttons on the synth then simply assign a corresponding MIDI channel to one of the tracks in your sequencer. If you are so inclined you can adjust pitch bend, de-tune and so on in your DAW but I prefer to just reach over and press the buttons. ...Hope this helps.!
@@lo-firobotboy7112 thank you
And there it is: the birth of the “really long and hyper specific genre name for a song showcasing the gear of the week before the verdict” segment.
There is not bad gear in your hands , you make any trash device sounds realy good! excelent video!
Thank you!
So glad to see you’ve covered this one too. No joke, I walked into an antique shop last year and found one of these, a DX7s, and a Pro One. Was able to snag em all for $500. 🥹
This is my new favorite UA-cam channel. Love all your posts, and in particular how you always have your opening theme use the equipment you're talking about. My favorite part is the demo at the end where you truly force the gear into submission.
Thank you so much!
it kills me that a year ago I was passing over DX7s for $300, and FB-01s for $80, cus I was too obsessed with "Analog synths", now I'm looking to expand my studio with this stuff and its all way over priced!
Yeah, DX prices are mad ATM
I made the same mistake... now I'm feeling I'm too late to go back to the party =(
@@DhinCardoso whilst not the same you can used Dexed and Exalt Lite for free in the meantime
As a former DX-100 and current DX-21 owner I fully endorse this video. Great content as always my friend!
Thank you so much!
“At first glance... ticking all the boxes” never gets old when you say it
Happy to hear that! Since the first episode;)
thank god this guy doesnt have ads in his videos im subbing
Sorry for that but Bad Gear doesn't come for free ;) Still trying to find the least annoying way
The Marimba was to die for..... super punchy & dynamic. It was the only sound on it that I loved, and couldn't duplicate with sampler synths.
FM maribas are great in general!
Just found your channel. Consider me a fan from now on. By far the best Channel when it comes to this stuff . Well explained without getting far too nerdy and dry
Thanks! Happy to hear that!
Making a synthesizer that can be user programmed, but not including the buttons for doing so, is to me completely unforgiveable. Even my Elka X-1000 4-operator FM organ can be user programmed.
I assume it was all about the presets back then
@@AudioPilz When I see the questions that are asked in the music production sections of Quora, I think a lot of people still think it is all about the presets.
Presets be damned. Go buy some stomp boxes and some 'Bad Gear™" and make your own sounds!
Since it's controlled by SYSEX maybe it was also considered an upgrade module for Yamaha MSX computers?
No one programmed DX synths. Everyone just used the presets.
Don't ever try an MT-32 then.
So glad you keep these coming! Your show is one of my favorites!
Thanks!
Picked up one of these at a car boot some years back for around 50 quid. Found out recently you can replace the output stage chips with something cleaner and put better caps in and having done that it tidied the sound up a bit. If you want to get some nice retro FM out of it or even use it as a sort-of general midi box it's not terrible but as I said I paid next to nothing for mine. And where it's tiny it still has a space in my rack. Right near my TX7 😁
Nice find!!!
About 10 years ago I used on of these as the main synth for a whole album. Bit of a pain to edit but I still love it honestly!
Yeah, great oldschool FM!
Link your album I gotta hear this
Well it does 1 thing well: Fatt Bass....it's why it's called FB1🎵
Didn't think of that! Good one!
and i thought it means "Fuck Boutique" ;)
I got one at a second-hand shop in 1997. Odd though, mine just had an LCD display, no fancy red LED's. My setup wasn't fancy enough to tweak the patches via MIDI, but luckily some of the bass presets were pretty nice for the price.
Plenty of nice presets in this one!
I have a FB-01 and I actually like it :) IIRC it's possible to set an operator to be insensitive to velocity and by enabling velocity on a modulating operator you can dynamically alter the sound with velocity, when done properly it can emulate a filter cutoff effect.
Nice technique! Will try that!
Your videos keep getting better and better! I love it!
Happy to hear that! Thanks!
Remember, the algorithm only learns from you...do not thank the algorithm...you are here because you are you
lol😂😂😂 Host scho wieder des Orakel befrogt?
I bought a broken FB-01 which would not boot. After taking it apart and some measuring i realized that some of the circuits were actually shorted out. The solution was to replace the four big 220uF capacitors on the mainboard, they were shorted out internally which is very unusual for this type of capacitor.
Weird!
The Digitakt jam was tasty.
I vaguely remember thinking the drumkits on that unit were ass, and I guess I was mostly right.
They are...
Wie immer super geil! Macht so Spaß deinen Kanal wachsen zu sehen
Besten Dank! Geht mir genauso ;)
"my taste in electronic musical instruments is [...] special?"
_50 Shades of Pilz_
Sometimes I wonder if there's something wrong with me...😅
This guy could make my beloved Casio VL tone sound like a Elka Synthex.
I am SO GLAD, I kept the 2 units I have! I sold ONE unit when I had 3 of these FB01s. The 2 units I have now are in need of TLC(internal battery change and front panel button change outs). Outside that, they are perrrrrfect, for the sounds I want! I play mostly Monophonic legato mode sounds, with very few poly play sound exceptions. These 2 units offer the very thing NONE of the other FM synths out in the market offer.. multitimbrility! Much less 8 parts?! I thought the DX7 and DX7II FD had the 6 operator, 8 part multitimberal functionality.. Sad to hear I was dead wrong.. I do have a DX200 synth/groovebox and a AN200 synth/groovebox as well so looks like I have the upper hand on the stupidly expensive DX units of old.
I would unironically LOVE to have a DX200!
Love your little IDM tune there with the pad
Thanks!
Not gonna lie, I almost bought one of these bad boys a couple years ago. Ultimately I went for the PreenFM2 instead, because I didn't want to be screwing around with sysex when I could be dialing in patches with a row of knobs. I think the FB-01 is best approached as a "challenge machine" for masochistic hackers... And there are definitely a few people out there who will get fulfillment out of such an approach
Wow, didn't know the PreenFM2! Thanks for posting!
@@AudioPilz The PreenFM2 is high on my Bad Gear list, because although it ticks all the boxes, it is a very *very noisy* FM synth. :-( Much noisier than Yamaha gear by far. Of course, Edisyn supports it.
@@seanluke3052 IIRC, there is at least now a fix you can apply to the PreenFM2 to reduce its noise levels (these were caused by an inductor in the LCD screen creating electromagnetic bleed into the signal path, so they can be fixed with a resistor and some shielding)
@@chriskarate I'm aware of this, but it's not what I'm referring to. The sounds themselves are very noisy and this only occurs *when sounds are playing*. That is, it's generated by the DSP code and/or DACs. It's not leakage from the unshielded screen. Compared to (say) the TX81Z, the Preen has very, very noisy *sounds*. :-(
@@seanluke3052 Ah, I see! I am a bit distant from the PreenFM2's community so I hadn't heard about that. I have noticed that its sounds do often have a bit of grime in them, but I thought this was just an effect of how I was programming things in!
Still... I rather love my PreenFM2
5:56 presets? When I ran both my FB-01s I had a DOS editor to create my own . I would edit the envelopes to create different attacks and decays and send one version to the left panned FB-01 and the second version to the right panned FB-01. It worked out well for me. I got both in 1990, but I gave them away for free to my brother. But I did not use the presets when I used them on my then 286 midi system. Just like a Blofeld the best thing is to "zap" all the presets and start fresh.
Watching this video reminded me of the synths I gave away. Too many synths are judged on presets, and to me, this does not really give the synth a chance.
And what's a "real " synth player? I am 43 years in (got my first synth at 14), and I am still trying to figure out what this means.
I'm pretty sure that I'm NO real synth player ;)
Great track bud. My first synth was Dx7. I had to learn synthesis with no presets, just figuring out phase modulation on my own. After that, Roland JV1080 felt like a child's play.
Thanks!
That was my first also. And I totally agree that everything after that was child's play compared to learning FM lol
Oh yes! A friend owned one of these. We hated it so much we never even really tried to use it. Thank you for doing this for us only 33 years later.
I think I would have tossed it 20 years ago ;)
Another one I had. There were issues with the LFO. the sound "Lute" played low was a killer for dub. Trying to get percs was fun, but I was fed up with softwares.
Yeah, having to use software for programming it can be quite a buzzkill
I felt like travelling in time again during that snack, thanks!
Happy to hear that! Thanks for watching!
6:22 that sounded epic!!!!
Thanks!
Yes, Fair Play.
It's Friday again. Time to enjoy your video. Thanks for sharing!
I used to own that cheap little box. It has good dynamics (velocity) when playing.
Now I have a Digitone. A bit easier for sound design :-)
Digitone is indeed today's "bees knees"😅
There's so much untapped potential in Yamaha's FMs, even just stacking them makes a world of difference.
Stacking is extremely essential!
So true, thats why I love my v50! A tx7 would be my favourite addition on a single 4op
I still have my FB01, bought in 86 or 87.
And yes it was limited, but well, FM and multitimbrality at this price and at this time...
Having a rubber bass AND a kalimba for cheap money was a great thing in 1987 when you were young and broke. When your setup was an alpha juno 1 and a qx21 with a second hand teac mixing console you were almost happy.
Regarding the edition, yes, it was inexistent but you could edit it thru your atari (if you had one).
Actualy I used it up until the late 90s as a sub-layering bass for fatening other bass sounds or as a short attack layer for other kind of instruments.
Now it rests on a shelf in the back of my studio.
Sure, the TX81Z was a better beast (I still have mine too) but it happens years latter.
Still nice for Dat Bass ;)
@@AudioPilz You almost gave me the idea to plug it in again this week end!
Gettin' creeped out. A weirdly high number of my supported synths on Edisyn have now been given the Bad Gear treatment: Microsampler, Microkorg, DX7, Venom (coming soon on Edisyn), DarkStar, D-110, and now FB-01. Not sure what to think of all the overlap. What's next, the Drumstation? Proteus? Kawai K5? CZ-101? TG33?
Also, LatelyBass and SolidBass are not identical at all: this is a myth. There's a quite significant difference between them.
Maybe it's because people tend to hate instruments they need an editor for. Thanks for posting, didn't know Edisyn
I agree, it's clear they are totally different basses. I own an FB-01 and actually prefer LatelyBass, idk it sounds better to me. Haven't bothered to fuck around with it on an editor to make SolBass sound the same, but it should be possible.
I’m always so excited for your videos!
Happy to hear that! Thanks for watching!
Dude, the little terminator was HILARIOUS.
It received some critizism because the gun wasn't right ;)
Video idea: Kawai K4 - professionals hate it (even today) for its toy appearance (plastic case, small LCD and spongy keys) but in fact it can soung unique and quite good.
Great idea! This channel needs more Casio!
No such thing as worst "FM synth" they are all brilliant in their own way
Even if there was, I'm pretty sure it's not this one;)
I agree! I love my FB01. I also really enjoy the much cheaper FM home keyboards the PSR-36 and the PSS-480. All different but very interesting in their own way.
So true
If nothing else, the problems with the fb meant the tx81z got a bunch of sound waves.
I got an FB-01 in '07 on Ebay for €13,, P&P included from the UK to Ireland. For my FM requirements, it was the best €13 I ever spent. Love the reviews on here.
Thanks! Wow, great price!!!
Finally a piece of bad gear, that didn’t give me BadGear GAS😅
I really liked it, tbh!
You are wrong!
@@scoreeclectic Still...
Great review! I am a big fan of the FB-01. I have the pair mounted in the RFB-01 rack! Even more fun can be had with two.
Thanks!
anyone know if there is an "audiopilz effect" with increasing used prices for the bad gear? would be ironic if there was.
The Zoom ARQ AR-48 had a little price peak after the episode, AFAIK
I sold my rhythm wolf for a very tasty profit about a month after that video came out. No regrets.
@@artemisshaffer8654 Did the price of rythme wolf really increases after audiopilz video ?? Hard to believe.
Lambert Lambert I paid about $150 the year they came out new. Over time they were on Reverb for that price, or less depending on condition. When I gave it to my son to sell I told him to check the average price for one in mint condition and go with that. Well that price was about $225 a month after the video and someone picked it up, and paid shipping, quite happily for that price within a day of being put up for sale. Coincidence? Maybe.
How to get rich: buy hated synths, suggest to audiopilz for a video, profit
Appreciate your honest attitude plus your demo tunes always rock. Retro but slammin for 2020.
Thank you!
3:05 - I'll see you in court.
Shouldn't we resolve this like real gentlemen? Antique single shot guns at dawn?
We should resolve it mono a mono.
I'm going with the ARP Odyssey.
A true connaisseur!
@@AlexBallMusic I think it would only be fair if you brought some Bad Geert to a showdown…
Like the acid jam at the end. Instant nostalgia...
Thanks!
Another great episode. I think this is an underrated synth and many mangled textures can be teased out of it using a computer based editor. I used to hate FM because it sounded like bad pop music to me (e.g., e-piano sounds and bad bells) but then I learned how to program it to get awesome growls and evolving pads and whatnot. Plus, this instrument asks to be run through FX.
So true! Great soundscapes!
Mine had an Alesis Microverb II as his best buddy - What a great team they made!
Would look at home in my 2003 Corolla, right under the cassette tape deck!
As a replacement for the cassette tape deck. Maybe an Atari on the backseat...
I've been LOVING all of these 80s synths! Would love to see you get ahold of a Kawai K-series synth ;) Not FM, but trying to compete with DX synths... they've got a ton of character, I think you'd love them!!
Thanks for the input! This show needs more Kawai! (✿◠‿◠)
I saw the video and it was love at first sight, I think this synth will be on my list of synthesizers to have, cheers from Chile!
Happy to hear that! Nice FM oldie!
That's a strange looking alarm clock, the eighties are a strange era indeed
At least it doesn't have shoulder pads (maybe as rack ears)
The intro today was the cutest thing I heard today
Thanks! Happy to hear that!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA ....I knew you have a portal into my house !!! ps. I have a korg Karma, so gimme a shout when you're doing this one as well.....still love the show.
There should be an FB-01 in every household ;)
You ought to listen to some tunes by Tappy made on the X68000 computer, which had the largely similar YM2151 built in. Very good stuff, believe me.
Gotta say... Sometimes you make me question my timbrality
Nothing to be ashamed of
It's okay to be who you are. I recently came out as mono-timbral, and my loved ones didn't disown me.
Er, I got a Blofeld so I'd have a bunch of timbres in one small device... but eventually I gave up on dawless and now I don't need more than one timbre at a time.
@@ToyKeeper thank you for the support. I've always used mono-timbral instruments myself, but it might be time for me to experiment a bit, see what the world has to offer you know.
@@tezeta3725 Some recent synths like the Summit have definitely made a lot of people timbrally bi-curious. It gives people all sorts of ways to stack, layer, and split.
You're killing me! You're reviewing all the stuff I had in the 80's that I still have but don't use!
P.S It did have a decent harmonica patch when I recorded Country artists!
That harmonica is indeed country AF;)
Everyone is mentioning 'How Am I Doing?' so I'll just mention Tom Hall. And Tempest.
Spot on!
after i sold my Yamaha MSX cx5m i got a FB01 back in the 80's eventually replacing that with a Sy77 and a TG33 as we turned into the 90's.. was a proper yamaha Nut back then... now i'm a roland nut! ( plus MPC)
Yamaha MSX CX5m is the real deal!
@@AudioPilz it was.. i remember carrying home the boxes home on the train in december!
programming music via a stave...on the supplied music cartridge .
was a quite capable seq really.. no mouse remember btw!
4 octave keyboard .. no pitch bend or mod wheel!
8 bit days and cassette data storage
Spamming this vid I know, but that last groove was pretty cool
Any plans on an album or do you have one already?
Thanks! Working on it! Full tracks should be ready early 2021!
@@AudioPilz awesome.
U r always on such high level, Herr...putting so much effort in all your uploads...it´s artistic high level, brilliant stuff...
Thank you so much!
At first glance this synth looked like another car unit
Damn, it killed my cassette tape again!
I used an FB-01 for my music course at PSU in 1995. I still use two of them in my studio.
Nice and compact FM synth!
Dislikers are bad people. Great channel, always makes me lol ❤️😂etc love it 👍
Thanks! Dislikes are welcome, too ;)
I have two of them... i trimed down the plastic housing around the buttons inside, to avoid the sticky keys.
Great idea! Didn't think of that!
It surely ticks all the Yamaha black boxes
True that! ;)
Was confused for a minute. You started with a clip of the Virtual Boy and that was ABSOLUTELY Bad Gear...
True! Wasn't it the same shade of red? ;)
A VirtualBoy was the first video game anything I ever had :D
Did it make you dizzy?
@@AudioPilz very.
Oh Florian... Somehow I knew you would like this more than most. I still own one of these, but today I'm too lazy to fire up the MIDI editor to tweak it out. (Had a CX5M too, BTW, so spot on dude) I would also add that's quite a sandwich you got going there. I won't be having a bite of any Italian synths (oh god, I won't even talk about that one time ... no, nevermind.) Maybe a bit of Crumar.. CROUTON on my Japanese salad of synth.
Thanks! Oh, I was referring to the modded TR-505 I was using in the track. The mod kit was made by Ewan Colsell who indeed is a Scotsman in Italy and it has VERY crunchy 909 samples on it now
Yikes. It costs as much as a TX81Z. BUT WHY!?
This one is quite a mystery
Because of it's compact size, chiptune enthisiasts and 10bit dirtier DAC of FB01
You could disguise it as a book easily.
Not quite.
was just thinking of this channel today! lets go, new bad gear!!
Thanks for thinking ;) Still lotsa Bad Gear to cover
@@AudioPilz and i'll be there for it! i'd like to see you cover microphones sometime!
"bad gear"
This guy: Arby's
Thank you!
I was actually thinking of suggesting this one! I picked one up a couple months ago for about 100$ and its.. pretty rough to work with. But god do i love how it sounds for some reason. Thats part of why I decided against asking if you'd do an episode on it. But im glad you did! Its amazing bit of insight into how to properly use this thing for the biggest synth fool on the planet here lol. Also for whatever reason my display is more orange than red. Amazing music and video as always!!
Thank you so much!
Should have had Espen Kraft demo it. He is the 80s.
Espen really knows his stuff!
You need to pull up most hellish, weird setup for 2021. I mean, of all youtube synth channels you have the right gear to finnish this hell of a year
Currently, I'm struggling to find the right location for that. Winter and lockdown is a hellish combination
In my area the FB-01 was used for bass only. For other sounds it's hardly usefull.
The bell sounds are pretty nice, too but it excels at bass.
oooh, extra-extended cut of bad gear! You know I'm gonna be here with Tubular Bells on 🔔
Tubular bells, tubular bells, tube 'em all the way...
Nothing represents Bad Gear quite like a Virtual Boy. XD
I am so glad I've never tried one;)
@@AudioPilz I did, at a Nintendo demo booth. TBH the biggest reason it didn't catch on is really just that there was one and a half good games for it.
7:24 Bad gear but you make it sound so good. Waiting to buy the album.
Thanks! Working on it!
in some cases, complaining a synth is basic, is like complaining that a potato can't magically turn into a delicious dish by itself.
I'd buy that potato;)
@@AudioPilz for a dollar? ;-)
I’m literally on the Southside of Chicago picking one up right now. Used to have one but sold it. Was missing my poorman’s DX100
It ain't so poor after all;) have fun!
The moon rover was the cherry on top of the last meme-jam!
Thanks! (I have to use the word meme-jam more often)
you must have a huge grin on your face every time you make one of those music videos Lol, they're wonderful. Keep up the awesome work!
Thanks!
When's the album release : "I Did Some Bad, Bad Gear" ?
It's gonna be the Best Of;)
Holy cow - completely forgot I have my boxed FB-01 in the attic. Bought it new and haven't touched it in about 30 years. My old DX-100 will still be in its box there too, together with a Roland R5 and an Atari. Wonder if they all work; doubt Pro-24 will boot though.
Nice collection!