Two drum machines
Run two kits at once, each with its own pattern and level. A Linn groove under an 808? Go on.
BB1 · STUDIO · BB–23THE BIG BEATBB1 IS HERE · INSTALL IT FROM YOUR BROWSER
BB1 / FIRMWARE FOR THE FM-1
TWO BEATS.
ONE LITTLE
BOX.
Two drum machines. One bass that bites.
Tape echo and a spring on everything.
BB1 turns the FM-1 into a pocket studio for rhythm. Pick a groove from decades of drum machines, put a second one on top, and let Dillo find the bassline. Then push it until it breaks something.
KIT A + KIT B + DILLO → ECHO & SPRING
01 / WHAT’S INSIDE
A beat to build on.
A bass to push it.
A bass with attitude
A monophonic acid bass synth with nine presets, including Square Acid, from rubbery acid to hollow dub. Every song and era brings its own line, and 205 acid phrases in 27 banks play over any groove.
Space to make a mess
A three-head tape echo and a spring reverb, shared by everything. Hold REC + FX to throw the echo wide open.
THE REAL SCREEN / THE REAL SOUND
Hear it.
Watch it move.
Eight machines
One groove, eight drum machines: the 808 plus LinnDrum, DrumTraks, DMX, LM-1, Simmons, Rhythm King and Drumulator. Each swap lands on the bar.
Eight eras
Motorik to rave in thirty seconds, each era on a machine of its time.
The Armadillo
Leave it playing and the Armadillo takes the screen. Its tower answers the beat.
Captured from the BB1 firmware: its own screen drawing and its own audio engine.
02 / THE MACHINES
Same pattern.
Another personality.
Load a pattern, then swap the machine underneath it. The change lands on the next bar.
808
Synthesised live, voice by voice. Boom first, questions later.
LinnDrum
Crisp, punchy and very 1982.
DrumTraks
Bright and tight, with a little grit.
DMX
Hard-hitting, with that big snare.
LM-1
The first Linn: dry, tight and tuneable.
Simmons
Electronic drums, all pitch sweep and pad.
Rhythm King
A rhythm box with grit and swing.
Drumulator
E-mu's eighties workhorse, punchy and lean.
67 songs · 233 sections
Drum patterns in the style of these records. Patterns only: no recordings.
- Planet RockAfrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force2 sections
- Blue MondayNew Order6 sections
- Sexual HealingMarvin Gaye2 sections
- In the Air TonightPhil Collins2 sections
- Voodoo RayA Guy Called Gerald1 sections
- Paul RevereBeastie Boys8 sections
- ClearCybotron4 sections
- Egypt, EgyptThe Egyptian Lover11 sections
- It's YoursT La Rock & Jazzy Jay4 sections
- Posse On BroadwaySir Mix-a-Lot8 sections
- BasslineMantronix6 sections
- Tainted LoveSoft Cell11 sections
- Behind the MaskYellow Magic Orchestra9 sections
- NumbersKraftwerk7 sections
- The RobotsKraftwerk2 sections
- Computer LoveKraftwerk5 sections
- The ModelKraftwerk3 sections
- Trans-Europe ExpressKraftwerk5 sections
- RadioactivityKraftwerk6 sections
- 777-9311Prince & The Time1 sections
- True FaithNew Order9 sections
- Pacific State (Original Extended Version)808 State3 sections
- Problèmes D'AmourAlexander Robotnick3 sections
- FlimAphex Twin1 sections
- HeliosphanAphex Twin3 sections
- minipops 67Aphex Twin1 sections
- Take My Breath AwayBerlin2 sections
- The Purdie ShuffleBernard Purdie2 sections
- Word UpCameo3 sections
- Around the WorldDaft Punk2 sections
- One More TimeDaft Punk3 sections
- Revolution 909Daft Punk1 sections
- You Spin Me RoundDead or Alive3 sections
- Enjoy the SilenceDepeche Mode3 sections
- Just Can't Get EnoughDepeche Mode3 sections
- Personal JesusDepeche Mode3 sections
- Big Mess Devo3 sections
- Sweet DreamsEurythmics3 sections
- Clint EastwoodGorillaz3 sections
- Dirty HarryGorillaz3 sections
- I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)Hall & Oates2 sections
- Need You TonightINXS1 sections
- Funky DrummerJames Brown1 sections
- Oxygène (Part IV)Jean-Michel Jarre1 sections
- The BellsJeff Mills3 sections
- Voodoo ChildJimi Hendrix3 sections
- AutobahnKraftwerk3 sections
- When The Levee BreaksLed Zeppelin3 sections
- LFOLFO2 sections
- Going Back to CaliLL Cool J3 sections
- BordersM.I.A.3 sections
- VogueMadonna3 sections
- In Full EffectMantronix3 sections
- TeardropMassive Attack3 sections
- CloserNine Inch Nails3 sections
- B.O.B. (Bombs over Baghdad)Outkast3 sections
- Acid TracksPhuture4 sections
- When Doves CryPrince3 sections
- Kid ARadiohead2 sections
- GhostbustersRay Parker Jr.3 sections
- Never Gonna Give You UpRick Astley3 sections
- P.S.K. What Does It MeanSchoolly D3 sections
- Dig ItSkinny Puppy3 sections
- Everybody Wants To Rule The WorldTears For Fears3 sections
- Pump Up The JamTechnotronic3 sections
- I Wanna Dance With SomebodyWhitney Houston3 sections
- 1000 KnivesYellow Magic Orchestra3 sections
21 eras · 168 sections
Big Beat originals, one for each style and year, each with its own Dillo bassline.
- 1977 / Motorik Electronics8 sections
- 1979 / Late-70s Machine Pop8 sections
- 1980 / New Romantic8 sections
- 1981 / Futurist Pop8 sections
- 1982 / Synth Pop8 sections
- 1983 / Electro Boogie8 sections
- 1984 / Hi-NRG8 sections
- 1985 / Industrial Pop8 sections
- 1987 / Acid House8 sections
- 1987 / Hip-Hop8 sections
- 1987 / Chicago House8 sections
- 1988 / Balearic Afterhours8 sections
- 1989 / Detroit Techno8 sections
- 1990 / Rave Techno8 sections
- 1992 / Boom Bap8 sections
- 1994 / Trip-Hop8 sections
- 1996 / Big Beat8 sections
- 1998 / UK Garage8 sections
- 1982 / New York Electro8 sections
- 1984 / West Coast Electro8 sections
- 1982 / Boogie Funk8 sections
138 classic rhythms
The preset rhythms of four vintage rhythm boxes: waltzes, bossa novas, rock and everything in between.
- Roland CR-800043 rhythms
- Roland CR-7811 rhythms
- Roland TR-6654 rhythms
- Roland TR-7730 rhythms
03 / YOUR FIRST BEAT
Four moves.
Then it’s yours.
Turn MASTER down
Then press HOME. STUDIO shows the whole band: KIT A, KIT B and Dillo.
Pick a groove
Turn ALGORITHM, find a song or an era, press EDIT.
Pick a machine
Turn PRESETS, choose a kit, press EDIT. It swaps in on the next bar.
Press PLAY
Bring MASTER up. Now turn things.
04 / THE CONTROLS
Follow the labels.
Stay in the music.
The four knobs always do what the bottom of the screen says. On STUDIO they mix KIT A, KIT B, Dillo and the effects. On Dillo they’re cutoff, resonance, envelope and decay. MASTER is the volume.
- HOME
- Back to STUDIO from anywhere. Hold it for help on the page you’re on.
- SELECT
- Choose who you’re playing: KIT A, KIT B or Dillo.
- PRESETS
- Turn to browse kits and sounds. EDIT to load.
- ALGORITHM
- Turn to browse eras, songs and, on Dillo, the ACID phrases. EDIT to load.
- PLAY
- Start and stop.
- FX
- Echo, tape, spring, motion and sends. EDIT flips through them.
- REC + FX
- Hold for a dub throw: the echo opens wide, then snaps back.
- GLO
- Tempo, swing, A/B balance and transpose. White key 1 opens MIDI.
- REC + SELECT
- Turn for tempo without leaving the page.
05 / TRY IT NOW
Play it in
your browser.
The BB1 firmware itself, running in your browser: the same screen, the same engine. Turn the knobs, load a song, make some noise.
Open the player →All eight machines play in the browser: the 808 and the sampled LinnDrum, DrumTraks, DMX, LM-1, Simmons, Rhythm King and Drumulator, from the same sound library the FM-1 uses.
FROM THE COLLECTION / INTO THE INSTRUMENT
We collect drum machines.
Then we play them.
BB1 grew out of our collection and the stories behind it at Drum Machines Have No Soul. Four machines that shaped popular music, in one little box.
1980 / ANALOGUE VOICES
Roland TR-808
A programmable rhythm composer built around analogue drum voices. Its step sequencer makes a pattern something you can see and change as it plays.
In BB1: synthesised live, voice by voice. Start here, then stack a second machine on top.
Read the machine’s story ↗
1981 / PATTERNS INTO SONGS
Oberheim DMX
Oberheim’s sampled drum machine brought patterns, overdubbing, quantisation and swing together on a direct playing surface.
In BB1: a sampled kit. Put it beside the 808 and see who wins.
Read the machine’s story ↗
1982 / RECORDED DRUMS
LinnDrum
Recorded percussion meets a hands-on sequencer. The LinnDrum’s timing and feel controls made the way a pattern moves part of the instrument.
In BB1: a sampled kit. Play a familiar pattern on it, then swap machines and hear what changes.
Read the machine’s story ↗
1984 / PROGRAMMABLE PERCUSSION
Sequential DrumTraks
Sequential put sampled percussion, programmable patterns and MIDI into a compact instrument. Its individual sound controls invite a rhythm to be shaped as well as written.
In BB1: a sampled kit on either layer, with its own pattern and level.
Read the machine’s story ↗
THE STORY GOES DEEPER
Old machines.
New possibilities.
The archive brings together period advertising, manuals, photographs and the stories behind the instruments. Meet the machines, then come back and play.
BB1’s kits capture the character of each machine. They don’t recreate every voice or feature of the originals.
Explore Drum Machines Have No Soul ↗06 / GET BB1
Install BB1.
Make some noise.
Open Chrome or Edge and connect your FM-1 with a USB cable. One click installs BB1 and the sounds for every machine. Allow about five minutes.
Install BB1 →What you’ll get
The firmware, the sound library for every sampled machine, step-by-step install, and a way back to your previous firmware if you change your mind. Going back to an earlier BB1 resets GLOBAL settings, MIDI included. Scene bytes remain in storage, but older versions may refuse them: BB1 1.2 refuses scenes saved with the lead switched on. Keep a compatible backup.
Before you install
Keep any backups you already have. The installer saves a music backup when your current firmware supports it.
07 / CREDITS
The small
print.
BB1 is free software under the GNU GPL v3. Source code (GPL v3). Roland, TR-808, CR-78, CR-8000, TR-66, TR-77, LinnDrum, DrumTraks, Sequential, DMX and Oberheim are trademarks of their respective owners. BB1 is an independent project, not affiliated with or endorsed by them.
For curious ears
Visit Drum Machines Have No Soul ↗The machines, their stories and the records they made.