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Ten years of OP-1

teenage.engineering

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Re: Ten years of OP-1

#191

Post by rozab »

capableweb wrote: post #22
Toutouxc wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do professionals use the OP-1? I can imagine a person doing music production for a living not willing to do any significant part of their job on a device the size of a chocolate bar. Who's the thing even for?

> Do professionals use the OP-1? Of course, you can find lots of "boutique" instruments being used by a range of creators. I don't think there are a lot of them only using a OP-1 for full tracks though, although I have seen some live performances made with it together with other instruments at the same time. Actually this submission seems to be about a few pages, one of them being "made on OP-1" where you can see jus…

This is the most insane approach to responsive design I've ever seen. Just scale down everything, including the text, as the window gets narrower?

Re: Ten years of OP-1

#192

Post by intrasight »

bmitc wrote: post #171
intrasight wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, for that much cash, I'd expect something bigger (therefore better interaction unless you have tiny hands) and more robust physically.

The base casing is milled out of an aluminum block. It's quite robust. Alessandro Cortini toured with one with NIN on the Tension tour.

I guess I was stuck with appearances - it just "looks" like a toy - compared to my Seaboard and Lynnstrument anyway.

Re: Ten years of OP-1

#193

Post by tomduncalf »

capableweb wrote: post #186
tomduncalf wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Octatrack Depending on your musical tastes and tolerance for UI complexity, you may be better served by other Elektron devices as your first purchase. The Octatrack is very powerful but pretty complex to wrap your head around. Personally I’d go for the Analog Rytm mk2, especially if you like drum-based electronic music... it sounds fantastic, is a great analog drum machine but each track can also be used as a synth…

I think the complexity of the Octatrack is a bit overstated and probably scares people more than necessary. Only confusing part is the whole track/machine/part/pattern/banks thing, but other Elektron machines have similar complexity. Or maybe it's the sequencer people are scared of? But it's a easy one with just a lot of depth. But I'd agree with you, as a owner of both a Rytm and Octatrack, to go for the Rytm before…

Yeah it is probably overstated, but it is definitely a slightly confusing machine compared to other modern Elektrons (I have the Machinedrum, which you can clearly see how it inspired the Octatrack).

I don't use my OT that often and whenever I pull it out it takes me a while to reorient myself with how I load a sample, why is that track muted, etc. etc. Of course out of this architecture comes great flexibility too, unmatched by anything else hardware based really, and when I listen to the patterns I've made, they do sound unlike anything I make with other gear (in a cool way). I am going to try to integrate it as a live looper for "live" performances (to an audience of one, myself, in the bedroom, but everyone has to start somewhere!).

And yeah, I'm hooked too. Got most of the boxes now, just missing Monomachine (never really grabbed me and definitely not at the second hand prices!) and Analog Heat (which I bet I'd love but it feels expensive for "just an effect"). Don't regret it all though, I love how each one is a self-contained groovebox that I can make a full track on on the sofa, but also they integrate really well for a more advanced setup. And they're just super fun!

Re: Ten years of OP-1

#194

Post by joebaxter »

bzzzt wrote: post #184
bsder wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never put any stock in what gear musicians use unless I see them before they became even slightly famous. Musicians get paid to use gear. I don't know of any moderately famous musician for whom that isn't true. My favorite examples of this are bands that have that cool Rickenbacker sound and shoot a couple of videos with them. And then suddenly once they get some traction, they're playing Telecasters in public all…

There's a national pop festival here which is broadcast on TV; for years I've noticed there's always a high-end Moog synthesizer on the main stage, even when the act only plays guitars... it's just product placement.

To be fair, many bands will use automation through midi or otherwise to "play" synthesizers without actually physically playing them. Normally you'd just see them playing the raw audio as part of the backing track but i could see big money arena bands with fuck-you money doing it with real synths live.

Re: Ten years of OP-1

#195

Post by brandonmenc »

capableweb wrote: post #187
SauciestGNU wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Behringer thing is really confusing to me. I know there are other personal/ethical reasons to dislike them, but cloning out of patent devices is not one of them. That's what patents are for and why they're only valid for a defined period of time. It makes even less sense to criticize them when the originals they are cloning aren't even made anymore.

I don't think Behringer only creates clones of "out of patent" hardware but also current gear that is still being sold. I guess the latest example is the Behringer Swing that is obviously a clone of the Arturia Keystep.

There are only so many ways to arrange three knobs and transport controls on a keyboard.

This is like two mobile phone companies putting their volume buttons in the same place.

This is another weird aspect of the (often amateur, electronic) music production world - making something simple and obvious seem like a mysterious and unique breakthrough.

This is a community that likes to use the terms “aleatoric” and “euclidian” instead of “random” and “evenly distributed”. Yes, I know the origins of those two terms but I don’t care - I eyeroll every time I hear them.

Re: Ten years of OP-1

#196

Post by Spunkie »

jh3 wrote: post #15
Toutouxc wrote: post #4

I use a Mac. I have a PlayStation AND a Switch, I can come up with reasons to buy almost every gadget imaginable, but no matter how lovely and enchanting the OP-1 is, €1121 is just too much for something that wouldn't make me more money (as my job is not in music production).

They retain value. You could buy one used and sell it for more, if not the same price you purchased it at. I think the worst case is you'll essentially be renting it for $100-200 if you really don't like it. This was my experience, anyway. It's a great device even if your job isn't music production. Easy to use, lots of fun, though I didn't enjoy the form factor.

They only retain value if they sit unused. Units that see regular use almost always have some break in the first year or 2, and replacement parts are not cheap.

Re: Ten years of OP-1

#197

Post by moron4hire »

romwell wrote: post #24
kazen44 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

do you know any good hardware for hobbyists to get started?

There's just so many! Korg Mini/Monologue and Volcas, any Behringer analog stuff, Arturia Mini/Micro Brute/Freak, Roland Boutique, Yamaha Reface CS/DX, Modal Electronics Skulpt, Waldorf Rocket.... And Teenage Engineering has a more affordable OP-Z, and not to mention their Pocket Operators that are wonderful machines for $60 or so (I use PO-12 as a drum sequencer for jamming). And that's not even going into the old/u…

I love my Korg Minis, both the monotribes and the kaoss pads. They don't have a lot of features, but I see them kind of like musical Lego. You just plug them into each other in different ways and then just play around all day. And I think buying all of them, plus enough cables to connect them all, would only set you back about $800 total.

Re: Ten years of OP-1

#198

Post by SauciestGNU »

capableweb wrote: post #187
SauciestGNU wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Behringer thing is really confusing to me. I know there are other personal/ethical reasons to dislike them, but cloning out of patent devices is not one of them. That's what patents are for and why they're only valid for a defined period of time. It makes even less sense to criticize them when the originals they are cloning aren't even made anymore.

I don't think Behringer only creates clones of "out of patent" hardware but also current gear that is still being sold. I guess the latest example is the Behringer Swing that is obviously a clone of the Arturia Keystep.

I forgot about that, I'm not such a fan of that one.

Re: Ten years of OP-1

#199

Post by SauciestGNU »

brandonmenc wrote: post #195
capableweb wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think Behringer only creates clones of "out of patent" hardware but also current gear that is still being sold. I guess the latest example is the Behringer Swing that is obviously a clone of the Arturia Keystep.

There are only so many ways to arrange three knobs and transport controls on a keyboard. This is like two mobile phone companies putting their volume buttons in the same place. This is another weird aspect of the (often amateur, electronic) music production world - making something simple and obvious seem like a mysterious and unique breakthrough. This is a community that likes to use the terms “aleatoric” and “eucli…

>There are only so many ways to arrange three knobs and transport controls on a keyboard.

>This is like two mobile phone companies putting their volume buttons in the same place.

In this case I think Behringer directly copied the look and feel of the keystep because of its amazing success in the low budget controller space. I don't expect much innovation in the budget controller space, but this one seems to be a clear case of trademark/copyright infringement if "rounded corners" can be protected.

Re: Ten years of OP-1

#200

Post by capableweb »

tomduncalf wrote: post #193
capableweb wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the complexity of the Octatrack is a bit overstated and probably scares people more than necessary. Only confusing part is the whole track/machine/part/pattern/banks thing, but other Elektron machines have similar complexity. Or maybe it's the sequencer people are scared of? But it's a easy one with just a lot of depth. But I'd agree with you, as a owner of both a Rytm and Octatrack, to go for the Rytm before…

Yeah it is probably overstated, but it is definitely a slightly confusing machine compared to other modern Elektrons (I have the Machinedrum, which you can clearly see how it inspired the Octatrack). I don't use my OT that often and whenever I pull it out it takes me a while to reorient myself with how I load a sample, why is that track muted, etc. etc. Of course out of this architecture comes great flexibility too,…

Funny that you mention the Heat as I just got that one a few days ago as a complement to my Rytm and Octatrack. It is so much more than "just an effect" and currently sitting on my master output, making everything sound just better. Thinking of getting a second one to put between the Octatrack and my other instruments too, but have to let the GAS build up a bit first I think.
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