What is the OP1?
It’s a portable synthesizer/sampler and sequencer with an inbuilt four-track recorder, designed by the quirky Stockholm based music company – Teenage Engineering
At first, the learning curve is steep, and there are a few basic things you need to know when navigating the operating system. I whizzed through the brilliant introduction video Red Means Recording made (find it here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB3NVnONcFE)
After learning the basics, you can spend hours playing around with the different synth engines and sequencers. I’m currently in a weird middle ground of knowledge about the device. I know you can add custom synth and drum packs, but I’ve not touched any of that side yet and I’ve yet to use the sampler, which I’ve heard is one of the most powerful tools of the device.
Currently, It feels like I’m using a Katana to slice a melon – it's immensely fun… but if I learn a little more, I’m going to be able to dice up all sorts of fruit.
Things I like –
The synth engines are incredible, the engine itself is massively customisable, then you can run the sound through filters and effects that are also incredibly editable, as a final layer of sound building you can create low end modulations based on elements within the synth engine or the effects themselves. Basically you can fuck around with the tones a lot.
The visual feedback on the small screen is amazing. All the synth engines have a different user interface that is creative and intuitive, it feels like you are visually building the tone as much as audibly.
Build quality = it's slick, it feels and is expensive.
It’s generally been designed incredibly well. Lots of nice colour coding.
Things I don’t like
Destructive Editing – The four-track tape recorder operates in the same way an old tape recorder would. Meaning you can record and layer over and over on one track, but there’s no way of filtering each time you’ve recorded, so if you mess up and it’s recording you either have to start that track from scratch or accept the fuck up and lean into it. In a perfect world, I’d like to see 8 or 12 tracks. On the upside, it’s good practice.
Velocity-sensitive keys – the Piano keys are simply pressed or not pressed. On or off. There’s no sensitivity to how hard you press, I’d like velocity-sensitive keys to create more expression.
in general, I find a thing I want to do, then I search for the most accessible version/way of doing what I want to do, then do it. With the OP1 and music-making, this manifested in creating ambient/atmospheric soundscapes. Check out my first soundscape below (Btw it’s long and strange)