Its a real shame about some of the design decisions, both construction and features, because a lot of what it has is really good, which makes it a bitter sweet product IMHO. Could have been excellent if it were a bit more ergonomic and better built.
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Agree with all of these…and most importantly how it all comes together. The ease and speed of use…which translates into arranging whole songs in no time.
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Yes it‘s really amazing. I sold it due to the build quality… I still have OPz only tracks for 2 albums laying around, which still surprises me, given that I only had it for a short period of time. But that sequencer is just inspiring.
I also loved that it was without display. The LED thing is really well thought out and muscle memory takes over quickly
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exactly…the fact it doesn’t have a display made them have to think really hard about the UI, which again makes it really quick. Another big factor is also having the keyboard keys on there…as compared to other devices where the sequencer buttons also function as keyboard input.
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I agree. A detail that also makes the A4 much nicer to use than the DN for me. The little extra keyboard.
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I don’t think it matters what materials they use, they just don’t build things very well.
I think the biggest thing is that the OP-Z separates trig conditions and param locks.,.
So you could have a trig set to to trig 2/2 and have a parameter lock occur every 4/4. And on top of that you have step components which is its own thing, so you could for instance set a step component which does a filter sweep at 8/8.
This separation of conditions makes for some really dynamic sequences. The thing is though you have to let go of that 4 bar box which everyone seem to find so important, embrace step components instead.
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hey in general i agree but am still learning…i thought part you mention about trig probability was one of the step components
how do you handle them outside of that?
I like TE but it’s legit part of their business model to not give people what they want. I do wish another company would step in with an OP-Z inspired device though.
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Well In sense it is a step component… but on the last three buttons there is spark components (as TE calls them) and they each handle conditions for trig, parameter locks and step components… on Elektron it’s just one conditional trig for both trig and parameter lock
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The fill commands are the best part of OP-Z imo, super fun and playable
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Digging that ‘tache
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I love the idea of the OPZ and really wanted to love it, but the keys were so small (and I have tiny hands) and the build so poor, I sold it and bought an MPC Live instead.
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Also step components can be say 1:4 (play every 1 out of 4 times) or NOT 1:4 (play every time except 1st of 4) , something I asked Elektron to implement for years now….
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It seems like a lot of people panic sold theirs when they found out about the “issues”. They can all be fixed at this point just FYI. Not that you should have to fix them… But it is what it is .
I’m amazed nobody has made an app that copies the OP-Z sequencer. I’m sure it’s hard, but there are so many great ideas in there it seems worth the effort.
Off topic, but I just realized you can control the tape track with the pitch pad… holy crap is that cool… I just love this thing… sure it feels like it is made of cardboard… But to me that is the charm of their stuff… I’m not sure I would love it as much if it felt like a Roland or something… then again mine had been perfect so … I’m biased.
It also is there only thing I have that can make videos… So I really appreciate that, it’s is great to make fodder for videos to put on YouTube.
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ahh ok
i always forget the names of stuff but i’ve been using trigger spark the most…still need to mess with the other two more often to add variety to my patterns
You know you can sequence the tape track, and also apply it to live external audio, right? It’s as cool as it sounds.
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Totally unrelated, but I wanted to say I’m a big fan of your tutorial content on YT. When I was just getting started on the OP-Z I watched a ton of your backlog and it was great to see some high quality jams produced piece by piece. Thanks a ton for making them!
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