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Medieval

teenage.engineering

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Re: Medieval

#291

Post by tayistay »

yungporko wrote: post #172
lewisflude wrote: post #132

I know many musicians who love using Teenage Engineerings products for making music, performing live etc. However, I do think there is a case to be made for falling into the trap of being more interested in the gear than the thing you're meant to do with the gear. At the very least, Teenage Engineering hardware is generally very well designed, high quality and built to last. At least this product has some creative sp…

> However, I do think there is a case to be made for falling into the trap of being more interested in the gear than the thing you're meant to do with the gear. that is literally the intention behind all modern music hardware (eurorack especially) i think. i've been a producer for nearly 20 years and i've still never seen anybody make genuinely good music with any of these things. not even once. these 30-40 year old…

Well, probably wouldn't be able to convince you that the artists playing shows using Euroroack (or Elektron, or TE) in front of bigger audiences that you ever have are "genuinely good."

Re: Medieval

#292

Post by SonOfLilit »

vundercind wrote: post #255
objclxt wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is "musicians who don't even know the genre they'll use professionally yet" a valid market in the first place? That's not really Teenage Engineering's primary market, in the same way Rolex's primary market isn't "people who need to tell the time". Both T.E and Rolex products do their jobs really well, but the people buying them are buying more for the aesthetic than the function. Teenage Engineering are primarily a…

I think their main market is people who definitely won’t use the product they can convince to think “I will definitely use this product”. (This one came pretty close to getting me)

I own an OP-1, I regularly take it on flights then never use it...

Re: Medieval

#293

Post by SonOfLilit »

disconcision wrote: post #274
diggan wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe start with something cheaper to evaluate if it's something you want to do long-term, and if it fits, start looking at the TE stuff, you'll know better what you want then too. Good entrypoint is the Novation Circuit family of devices. Circuit Rhythm is mainly around sampling and a drum machine, Circuit Tracks a all-in-one groovebox. Both of them are a lot of fun :) Eventually you'll probably be better served by…

the novatron devices appear to be more expensive than the linked TE one?

The linked TE device is basically a toy and useless on its own, the useful TE device is the OP-1 which is much more expensive.

Re: Medieval

#294

Post by SonOfLilit »

winstonrc wrote: post #228

Does anyone have recommendations for a more practical, entry-level device for making small songs? I’m making a survival-horror game for the Playdate and need some music that fits the vibe. The reason I’ve been eyeing hardware is because I spend all my time writing code and drawing pixel art, so it would be nice to have something away from the computer to work with.

My favorite device for standalone music authoring is the NI Maschine. They sell an expensive standalone version but a cheap second hand controller feelssvery off-the-computer with your laptop connected but the screen closed.

Re: Medieval

#295

Post by [deleted] »

rigonkulous wrote: post #108
DAlperin wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fwiw Teenage Engineering is a design firm who was originally contracted by Rabbit to design the physical device. I don't think they had anything to do with the functionality.

Teenage Engineering use a type of design that is intended to obfuscate the functionality of the device. For example, their Pocket Operator series use LCD displays which have very little utility to the experience of music-making. The OP1 has an OLED display which mostly displays non-sequitur nonsense. Those of us who despise Teenage Engineering are reacting to a design ethos which devalues the users knowledge and unde…

[deleted]

Re: Medieval

#296

Post by groby_b »

dkdbejwi383 wrote: post #217
diggan wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Seems like the people at TE have fun over-designing gadgets that are more aesthetic than usable You're saying this like their over-designing blocks/prevents basic usability, but the small amount of TE devices I've tried, they just look good, are easy to understand and are easy to use. Maybe the sound/workflow isn't revolutionary, but not every device needs to be either. I'll still keep mostly to Elektron, but can't…

> You're saying this like their over-designing blocks/prevents basic usability I meant it more like they are not building products that are there to meet some need for the general population that isn't met, they aren't designing and building general use-case type products, but instead building extremely niche things like medieval samplers. Oddball, extreme niche uses. Like they aren't trying to build something like a…

As a guitar player: Nobody wants strings that never break. How would we ever try new strings? ;)

But as much as this is a half-joke, it also encapsulates an attitude that Teenage Engineering caters to: A lot of musicians love new experiences, even if they are minute changes. Because music is ultimately about taste, and playing it is about finding just the right minute changes, and creating it is about finding just the right inspiration.

Yeah, it's a bit gimmicky, but that's the point: Novelty to stimulate new ideas.

Re: Medieval

#297

Post by groby_b »

echelon wrote: post #248
zeristor wrote: post #109

An ornate piece by B&H: “Tales of the EP-1320: Medieval (teenage engineering)” https://youtube.com/watch?v=BaIx0KMOg5I

I had no idea the B&H folks were this cool. I've ordered mundane stuff like C-stands and apple boxes from them. They looked like a dated 2000's era storefront.

If you thought B&H is cool, you haven't met Sweetwater yet ;)

(B&H is great for photo/video, but for music, they're not it, IMHO)

Re: Medieval

#298

Post by rigonkulous »

tayistay wrote: post #284
rigonkulous wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not a fan of Teenage Engineering (Disclaimer: I make audio products too). The reason is, they set a standard for useless gimmicks which are far, far too expensive, designed to appeal to style over substance. The OP1 is one of the most over-rated 'instruments' out there. It has a fancy, expensive OLED, a fancy, expensive casing, and useless gimmicks. The OLED never really shows you anything useful to the act of m…

> The OLED never really shows you anything useful to the act of music-making. Thou art prone to hyperbole! Said instrument of synthesis ("Operator-1") has a step sequencer, mixer, ADSR envelopes, recorder, and other useful indications for the bard. One ponders how thou hast not consulted the scrolls [1]. [1] https://teenage.engineering/_img/54b7f9bf8681400300255cab_or...

I owned an OP1 from the day it was released until 6 days after I discovered it rotting in a drawer, unused, in a room full of far better examples of synthesizer interface. I tried really hard to accept Teenage Engineering's priority of non-sequitur over functionality.

Sure, the OLED occasionally shows you a few things. But its completely useless compared to, say, the utility eked out of the display of the Deluge, or Bluebox. By comparison to either of these devices, the OP1 is unacceptably paltry for the price.

And then, there are the Pocket Operators. Don't get me started on just how useless that very expensive bespoke LCD print is to the musician...

Re: Medieval

#299

Post by groby_b »

stingrae wrote: post #282
eweise wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of the stuff seems way overpriced https://teenage.engineering/products/field-desk Looks like a $100 desk for $1,600

This is the cost of doing business when you have to pay for engineering (and tooling + certification) on niche products. Nothing they do is really designed for mass market.

Uhuh. You can get a desk reasonably close to this for $80 at IKEA. I love TE, a lot, but that desk is just shamelessly milking the audience.

More power to them, they created an audience who wants to pay that, but you're not paying for engineering here.

Re: Medieval

#300

Post by barrenko »

theahura wrote: post #252

O man I love teenage engineering. I built a visual archive of their work just a few days ago -- https://play.soot.com/teenageengineering

What is this soot thing, it's as if tumblr and pinterest had an art school baby.
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