I would take any sort of linier sequencer, havent been any real updates for quite a while so hopefully they are working on something interesting!
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I agree, I had the Syntakt before a couple machines were added, but I donât think theyâre enough to pull me back. Itâs sound was underwhelming to me. Kinda felt Plaitâsy if that makes any sense, and sooo much stuff now uses those algos that itâs getting tiresome.
On the Analog side, itâs cool to have, but realistically I remember it sounding similar (or exact) to the Analog RYTM DVCO which was just too powerful and demanding for me to have fun mixing it into things. Works great for what itâs intended, if youâre doing drum n bass stuff on the RYTM the DVCO is an excellent voice. not for the stuff I trend towards (trying) to produce.
Anyway, I think you made a solid choice, stoked for you to have one of the limited pieces!
I can see the potential for flipping things between the two machines.
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I have an OP1 field and I have yet to âclickâ with it. I find it incredibly difficult to get along with. I feel a bit stupid typing this. I was so excited about getting my hands on one and all I have really used it for is little embellishments on a couple of tracks.
How do others approach workflow on it?
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Itâs a big question to answer and this forum (and the OP Forum) should already help you find your ways.
Depending on your needs, what you want to achieve and what time you invest in it, the op1 Field can be a precious ally, a perfect tool or hell on earth.
But you just gotta try and work it the way it wanna be worked on.
You could try writing 4 tracks demos (bass, drum, piano, synth). Or try to sample, resample and produce loops and beats. You can use it as a standalone synth or as a 4 track portable recorder.
Although it is limited, it is made for a quick creative input.
Knowing about DAWs, about recording, playing instruments, samplers and sequencers will help, but itâs not mandatory.
It is, I think, self-explanatory if you spend some time with it in the beginning.
You could try and watch @SonWu videos, @cuckoomusic tutorials and Red Means Recording series. Great content, with loads of ideas to help you navigate this tiny wonder of a device
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Thanks for this, I will have a look at the videos online. Straight after posting, I spent some time messing with the endless sequencer and a delay pedal. Honestly the first time Iâve found myself really enjoying exploring the device. I think your right, I had such a high expectation of getting it immediately - a little more patience is required.
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A few days late, but you can also just go to the MIDI page on the OP-1f and use it there as a MIDI controller without the need to create a new silent preset.
yeah that works for using it exclusively as a controller, but not when trying to use the OP-1F in conjunction with other stuff.
I personally dislike the Midi controller mode unless I want to map the knobs and use the thing exclusively as a controller. It works, but I like integrate the op-1f into the other stuff Iâm using (ex. Ableton as a sound source) so I need to use it in regular OP-1 mode not controller mode.
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Stories about how the op1f clicked are numerous. So are the stories about the times it just didnât.
I like to think about it as a creative toy for the passionate creative musician. Although, granted, it can be viewed as a toy for the hipsterish middle aged man getting bored with its synth collection and DAW workflow.
At this price range, one thing for sure, everyone goes in with high expectations. High expectations that should be met.
But I truly think that the op1f is the kind of tool that needs a purpose in your creative universe to make sense and, as proverbial as it gets, click with you.
YouTube tutorials are a great tool, so are the numerous forums. Manuals are a great resource too. Pair that with a bit of practice, a bit of experimentation, and youâll find yourself on a path of weird song crafting, intense soundesign and crazy explorative search.
The Tombola sequencer is intense with a 100% reverb, the Sampler can yield great results when arbitrary chopping loops, varispeed on the tape is great for a quick effect, etc.
I wonât say sky is the limit here. But you can easily aim at the clouds.
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Oh okay, right on! Yeah, your points are 100 valid and correct for sure!
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You can use a novation launchkey into the M8. Awesome little combo.
Reminds me of Myst⌠or exploring some ancient place
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Iâm planning to grab a Woovebox, when I get a new stock email, for just this reason.
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I had a pretty vivid dream in which the OP-1F was actually 8 track, it had a strange but familiar interface for managing it and made good use of âshiftâ as well as encoder presses.
It was just a flash, before it was over and on to the next thing, but I was left with a feeling of not liking it and feeling like the 4 Track is a better interface. Ultimately, weâll probably be stuck with 4Track anyway so thatâs great but when I woke up are started thinking about it, I figured it would be cool to have the option depending on need! Like maybe a certain tape could be an 8 track tape and others still 4.
Additionally iâve been looking at the Squid Salmple from ALM and the Digitakt, and I realized it would be amazing if the OP-1F sample had built in sample rate reduction, anybody else think that would be a useful feature to them?
Of course some sort of timestretch Werp would be kinda fun too, no?
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It may not be exactly what youâre talking about, but each tape can double up as 8 mono tracks. So, depending on one âs needs, it can actually go from 4 to 8 tracks. Just not stereo ones
I love that you had a dream about this! I too have had op-1 on the mind and really want to see improvements to the device.
I had an idea today for a piece of dedicated software (maybe for IOS or Mac/PC/Linux) that leverages the op-1s firmware and acts as a more fleshed out âTE DAWâ which gives you an extended op-1 like experience, complete with effects, mixer, synths, drums etc⌠additionally, Iâm imagining it gives you access to more granular control of the 4 tracks (and maybe even offers more tracks?) and letâs the OP-1 control some of the experience. I imagine when the op-1 connects to this app, itâs sort of a hybrid experience with the app being more of the heavy lifter. When you want to detach the op-1, depending on whether there are more tracks, the app will allow you to collapse the tracks as you desire and push them into the op-1 in 4 track format on whichever tape you choose.
Apologies if this pitch is incoherent. Itâs hard to describe ideas like this!
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It was a new interface I havenât seen, but familiar in font and color. I want to believe it was 8 stereo tracks haha
From what I remember, I saw some sort of mixer screen for the 8 tracks with level meters, kinda like the M8 mixer screen but in TE style; so that implied to me there were 8 tracks.
But yes the 8mono tracks is nice to have functionally, but I have yet to use a track as two mono tracks.
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Thatâs an awesome idea! I could see it being possible with their app experience from the OP-Z and the Pocket Operator Pixel.
I kinda use Ableton in this way, but a deeper integration would be really interesting!
Also Ableton doesnât have audio overdub like the OP-1/F so it would be cool to have audio overdub in a more powerful platform (more tracks, more/better sound design options, more effects, etc)
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I love this idea.
I think we are all hoping TE is gonna start developing and expanding on the op1 field idea.
There are numerous ways for them to take us. A DAW (be it a portable app or a fully fledged app), a bigger version, a new OP-Z Field, etc.
But in the end, I think your idea of a DAW is not so far fetched. After all, they really need to address the lack of homogenization in the Field ecosystem. And a TE DAW would kind of make sense!
A TE tracker would be a crazy piece of gear.
Iâm still hoping for the missing link in between the PO series, the OP-Z, the modular POs and the OP1s.
That could be it.
But damnâŚnow I want these 8 stereo tracks too!