3.1pick a groove

Turn select to the layer you want: KIT A, KIT B or Dillo. Turn algorithm and scroll: the eras come first, then the songs. oct− oct+ jump a page, and the keys pick straight from the list. Press edit.

3.2move through a song

Songs have sections: intro, verse, hook, fills. rec+algorithm moves to another one, on the bar.

3.3a song sets its tempo

Loading a song sets the tempo and swing written on its source sheet. Moving to another section of the same song keeps whatever tempo you've set since. Chapter 9 lists some of them.

3.4pick a machine

Turn presets through the machines listed in chapter 10. Press edit. The new machine swaps in under the same pattern.

3.5two at once

KIT A and KIT B each have their own machine and pattern. On STUDIO, an empty KIT B reads ADD KIT: choose one and it joins in on the bar.

3.6dillo's phrases

On Dillo, algorithm carries on past the songs into ACID: bass phrases with no drums, which play over any groove. Chapter 9 explains the bank.

4.1play it live

• Press arp. The keys become drum pads, kit mutes and sections, or Dillo's notes.
• k1–k4 set the drum groups: kick, snare and clap, hats, percussion.
• scl adds swing to drums, or sets Dillo's scale.
• Hold rec and hit a key for an accent. rec+glo taps the tempo; rec+select turns it.

4.2write your own

• Press seq. The 16 white keys switch steps 1–16 on and off.
• rec+presets chooses the drum you're writing. edit changes the step type.
• Longer patterns: oct− oct+ or rec+seq move to the next 16 steps.
• arp takes you back to playing live. rec+home silences everything.

5.1the acid bass

Dillo is a monophonic acid bass synth: square or saw, a resonant filter, accents and slides. Turn select past KIT A and KIT B to Dillo. Every song and era brings a Dillo line, and the ACID bank (chapter 9) holds phrases for Dillo alone.

5.2play and write

• arp: the keys play Dillo's notes. oct− oct+ move the keys an octave.
• seq writes Dillo's line. edit changes the step type: gate, accent or slide.
• rec+edit mutes Dillo.

5.3the knobs

On Dillo's PLAY and PATTERN pages the knobs read CUTOFF · RESO · ENV MOD · DECAY. On SOUND (env) they reach accent, drive, slide and the wave.

5.4sounds

Turn presets on Dillo to browse its sounds, and press edit to load one.

Square Acid is a square wave with high resonance, little envelope and a long decay. It suits the ACID phrases.

Dillo's second voice, a lead, follows in an update.

6.1five banks

Press fx for ECHO, then edit for TAPE, SPRING, MOTION and SENDS. ECHO WET and SPR WET set how much you hear. SENDS sets how much of the layer you're on goes into each.

6.2the dub throw

Hold rec+fx: the echo opens wide while you hold, then snaps back. On STUDIO, k4 is FX RET, the overall effects level.

8.1the armadillo

Top right, it keeps the beat while playing and curls into the BIG BEAT ball when stopped. Leave STUDIO alone for 30 seconds and it takes over the screen. Press anything to bring the page back.

8.2help, any time

Hold home on any page to see what its buttons do. Let go to return.

9.1song tempos

Each song carries the tempo and swing from its source sheet, and loading it sets them. Some examples:

777-9311 is written in 32nd notes, so it runs at 247 BPM on BB1's 16-step grid to sound at its real speed. Songs whose sources give no tempo start at 118 BPM. Change any of them on GLOBAL with k1; other sections of the same song keep your setting.

9.2the acid bank

• Turn select to Dillo and turn algorithm past the last song. The list moves into ACID; the screen reads DILLO / ACID.
• 27 banks hold 205 phrases, up to eight to a bank. Pick a phrase with the keys, or step through them with rec+algorithm, as with a song's sections. edit loads it.
• The phrases are Dillo's alone, so they play over whatever the drums are doing.
• The banks are named after Texas: its history, cities, rivers, mountains, plants and animals. Alamo, Lone Star, Rio Grande, Davis Mtns, Bluebonnet and Armadillo are among them.
• Try them with the bass sound Square Acid (chapter 5).
• Many of the phrases are adapted from transcriptions at Acid-Tabs.com by J. McConaghy, used under CC BY-SA 4.0. BB1 renames, re-voices and re-times them; those adapted phrases are shared under the same licence.

11.1the midi pages

• Press glo, then white key 1 for MIDI CHANNELS or white key 2 for MIDI CLOCK.
• On CHANNELS, k1–k3 set the channels for KIT A, KIT B and Dillo, 1 to 16 or OFF. Two parts can't share a channel.
• Stop, then press edit to keep your settings: the screen says GLOBAL SETTINGS SAVED. home or glo leaves.
• Notes arrive by USB or the TRS input, whichever you use.

11.2clock, start and stop

• Clock in (k1): USB or TRS. One source at a time; USB to start with.
• Follow (k2): when on, BB1 takes its tempo from the incoming clock, to the nearest whole BPM. It follows the tempo, not the exact beat. Unplug and the tempo stays where it was.
• Start/stop (k3): when on, Start plays from the top and Stop stops. Continue and song position are not used.
• Clock out (k4) reads OFF: BB1 sends no MIDI clock.
• Program change, pitch bend and sustain are not used.

12.1store a scene

• A scene keeps the whole setup: both drum layers, Dillo, their sounds and levels, the effects and the tempo.
• Stop first: BB1 only saves while stopped.
• Press save, choose one of the four scenes with k1, press edit. SAVED / FLASH VERIFIED means it's stored and has been read back.
• To load a scene: while stopped, press save, then hold rec and tap the numbered white key.

12.2a scene with other data

On an FM-1 that came with its own firmware, a scene may still hold that firmware's data. BB1 then shows, for example, SCENE 4 HAS OTHER DATA and writes nothing. To replace it, hold save for two seconds: the old data is replaced by your setup. Letting go early, or leaving the page before the hold finishes, leaves that data untouched. BB1 never loads that old data and can't copy it to your computer first, so if you need it, leave that scene alone. Replacing old data has been tested on an FM-1, including a load, a power cycle and a second save.

12.3older scenes

Scenes saved with BB1 1.2 load as they were. A scene saved with a sampled machine at the very first default level comes in at today's default level instead.

13.1install or update

• Open the installer in Chrome or Edge on a computer.
• Connect the FM-1 with a USB data cable. A charge-only cable won't do.
• One click installs the firmware and the sounds together. Allow about five minutes and leave the cable in until it says it's finished.
• The same page updates a unit that already runs BB1. Your scenes stay as they are.

13.2going back

• The installer can put the previous BB1 back, or the FM-1's own firmware.
• Going back to BB1 1.2 resets your global preferences, including the panel settings, favourites and MIDI settings, to their defaults. Note them first if you'll want them again. Scenes saved with 1.2 still load. Scene bytes remain in storage, but BB1 1.2 refuses scenes saved with the lead switched on. Keep a compatible backup.
• Keep any backups you already have. The installer saves a music backup when your current firmware supports it.

• Start with master low, and bring it up once you're playing.
• Changes land on the next bar, so you can line up the next groove while this one plays.
• On KIT B, the 808's synth and zap sounds play as cowbell and high tom. PATTERN says SUBST when that happens.

• The sampled machines have a little vintage hiss. It's in the samples.
• A song's tempo arrives with it. If you'd rather keep yours, change section instead of loading the song again.
• In the browser player, the top tempo display can stay at 120 after loading a song. Playback initially follows the loaded tempo, but the first tempo edit can jump from the stale 120 setting. Set your intended tempo explicitly.
• Global settings, MIDI included, are saved with edit on the MIDI pages, and only while stopped.