The Woovebox - a tiny and cheap but ridiculously powerful groovebox

What would you say about a Model:cycles costing 400 bucks then? :slight_smile:

I was thinking the same. A bigger brother with an oled and better keys.

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M:C has knobs, velocity sensitive pads and a real screen. I wouldn’t expect a drum machine with a proper interface to cost the same as a pocket operator

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For small values of “sensitive”

[Edit: don’t get me started on the screen]

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Novation should hire this woovebox guy to develop the circuit pro.

It’s certainly better than a cryptic 7seg. No hate on the woove, I haven’t used it, but let’s not compare apples to oranges…

I want one. Sad I have to wait to order.

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Same!

I wonder if “lock” and “unlock” sequences could be incorporated into the Woovebox. It would be nice, in certain cases, not having to hold down a button while editing the corresponding parameter with the value knob. Could a button combination be used? For example, while holding the first button press, press a particular other button to “lock” it, then press the same button, later, to unlock it?

From an ergonomics standpoint, it takes a certain amount of pressure to press a button. But to maintain the button press while turning the knob (with whatever mild disruption happens each time the knob clicks)…this takes an excess amount of pressure. Again, pressing the button with the crook of my thumb has alleviated most of the stress associated with this action. You should all try it.

The inconvenience of sustained button presses will, I think, diminish as I program the wb in a more deliberate fashion. But in some instances, sweet spots can only be discovered by dialing through all the values on the knob. In which case a “lock” might be nice (but is nowhere near make-it-or-break-it feature).

I discovered a handy feature for dialing in precise values. I don’t recall reading about this feature in the docs. Typically, continuing turns of the knob will progressively dial in larger changes, potentially causing the user to overshoot their target value. As I am approaching the desired value, however, I can momentarily release and re-press the button one or more times. This seems to reset the value knobs behavior to changing only small values.

I am fairly certain the algorithms for the value knob are going to keep improving. The dedication of the dev. to this project is amazing! There are certain values I find mildly inconvenient to dial in. For example, numbers such as 5.000 or 7.000 in the fine freq. adjustment of Osc1 and Osc2 (for paraphony). Perhaps there could be another “lock” that converts the button matrix into numerical entry?

Edit: Responding to concerns about the minimalist display. Does it help that much to know that T.W.En means thresholded wave ending? The real challenge, IMO, is understanding the behavior of any setting. I don’t think we can blame our confusion on the display. Don’t confuse information with knowledge. The Woovebox is deep. If knowledgeable, experienced users are still complaining about the display in one year, then maybe they are onto something.

That said, I wouldn’t mind having the complete settings, their abbreviations and long-form descriptions, of the Woovebox in a single page/document…rather than scattered through the documentation.

Edit: Does the Woovebox really need more buttons and knobs?

Kemper needs to hire these guys and others to develop the next Virus synthesizer that works with new Mac OS.

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I would rather have Novation hire this guy to make the new circuit pro. He could squeeze more synth power out of it.

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that would be awesome!

Definitely interested in a non-Smurf version.

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The question is not whether the Woovebox is too small, but whether our brains are too small. Or whether the time we have to explore it in our remaining lives is too small compared to its potential for musical expression.

After one month with the Woovebox, I have not produced any real songs. Instead, I’ve fallen down dual rabbit holes. The first hole was learning how the interface works. Pretty confusing at first. The second hole was sound production. I am currently happily stuck in that hole.

These holes didn’t really exist on my well-used Digitone. I produced nice-ish sounding stuff on it from almost the beginning. My relationship with the Digitone has been about getting things done. I’ve spent very little time just screwing around on it. The reason for this, I believe, is that the DN offers a nice set of choices and a set of accessible controllers for sound production. I don’t really care about the sounds I produce on the DN, other than that they should work together in the mix. The parts all look toward the whole.

With the Woovebox, it is the opposite: I am focusing much more on details. Its workflow forces me to understand the synthesis concepts behind the controls. While I still learn from “playing around” with it, I find that my understanding can only improve by going to the internet and studying synthesis techniques.

Some of the things that are blowing my mind are likely staple items for those of you with more experience. Like how the second oscillator can function as an LFO. And how adjusting the phase changes the articulation. These are new concepts to me.

have noticed, while re-visiting the docs, that the developer is working hard to update them. A lot more detail is going to be added to the docs. For example, setup instructions for Linux Bluetooth MIDI was added recently.

I am still fearful of producing music (for my cheesy website) on the Woovebox. I believe that it has more potential that my Digitone for musical expression. But that potential will not be unlocked without more work and study on my part. The whole process has encouraged my to keep working!

Hope others feel the same…

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Very interesting. I’m still keen to be able to actually place an order for mine :slight_smile: Using OSC2 as an LFO is something I’ve done on my ARP 2600 clone… but it’s not normally something that can be done on something the size / price point of the Woovebox. It is indeed a deep animal.

Question - I know this is an Elektron forum primarily but I know Teenage Engineering users lurk here too, so here goes:

If you have an OP-Z and a Woovebox and could only keep one, or only take one on holiday - which one would you keep or take with you?

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Honestly, I prefer the layout of the OPZ, BUT, from what I’ve seen the Woovebox is way above feature wise. And it doesn’t bend :slight_smile:

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The woovebox, with it’s infinite pool of sounds(design), samplekits and recording options, you won’t miss a a thing. If you have an android phone, you can manage backups of songs and upload new samples etc, you would not need to bring a computer. I can fiddle for hours on the sound design and not sequence a little loop and still be happy the time I spent with it.

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I’d say the same - woovebox is so inconspicuous, you could sit fiddling with it at a bar or cafe and not appear to be doing anything odder than playing with a mini gameboy … or calculator (which would be a little odd)

Rubber plugs for unused ports would make sense for the beach …

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I was thinking of finding some rubber “things” that fit on top of the buttons… for dust, skin oils… etc… I bet it’ll look cool too.
Maybe somebody makes a rubber skin