Yamaha FB-01


The FB-01 is simply an inexpensive, 8 part multitimbral digital FM synth module. It's only a 4-operator synth which is less than, say a DX-7. This simply means its sounds are not quite as good. You will need an external MIDI system exclusive editor to edit the patches. This can be accomplished by a dedicated editor program like Unisyn, or by creating SysEx control messages within your sequencing program. The FB-01 has a lot of organ, piano, brass, bass, guitar, percussion, and lead sounds. Basically this is a good source of typical FM-sounds at a low price. It is used by Hardfloor and Moog Cookbook.
- Specifications
- Polyphony - 8 Voices
- Oscillators - Digital 4-operator FM synthesizer
- #Instruments - 8 Part multi-timbral
- Filter - None
- Effects - None
- Keyboard - None
- Memory - 240 presets, 96 user
- Control - MIDI (8 parts)
- Date Produced - 1986 - 1987
- Websites of Interest
- Resources & Credits
Images from Perfect Circuit Audio.
Additional information provided by Jeff Bergman.
Errors or Corrections? Send them here.


Keyboard splitting is another nice thing. You can split it to maximum of 8 zones, freely defining size of each zone.
8 part multitimbrality may be a joke. Any sound needs at least polyphony of 2 if you want it to sound deep, so it's more like 4 part multi-timbre. On the other hand, for this price it's more than I expected.
Programing is a [beep] . Applications meant to help you, if you find any, must synchronize with synth to make any changes, whitch means no real time tweaking.