Battle 34 - Battery Operated

The focus of this battle will be to incorporate other mobile, battery powered gear with the OP-1.

-Any battery powered sound making device is permitted to be used as long as it is UNABLE TO CONNECT TO THE INTERNET.

-All facilities of the OP-1 are allowed, including FM radio and internal microphone.

-All tracks must be recorded and produced entirely within the OP-1 (no bouncing to a computer, importing from a computer).

Examples of acceptable tools:
Pocket Operators
Korg Volcas
Speak and Spell
Portable cassette players
Happy Meal toys
Old School Gameboy

Examples of unacceptable tools:
Laptops
iPads/ tablets
Nintendo DS/ PS Vita
Smart phones

I’m sure there’s more stuff that people will think of to use that runs on batteries, but just make sure you can’t use it to go online.
Submissions should include a list of gear used in addition to the OP-1.
Submissions due Tuesday, June 2nd.

Get those summer jams on.

Nice! I’m in on this one!

:smiley: hehe, a less restrictive brief than most, but I think most people will ‘get’ what this is about and we’ll see some cool stuff… I’m in, definitely :slight_smile:



Ok. Ooooh kaaaaay. I’m going to try this one, I think I have time.

Love it !!

:slight_smile:

Can’t you run the new Electribe(s) on AAs/LR6s? Seems a bit of a heavy hitter outside the spirit of this, imo of course.

Great! I should reactivate my Game Boy Camera. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SDQ7vF5CIQ

What about effects pedals?

If they’re battery and aren’t connected to the internet, I guess they’re ok!

Great idea! My son has this cool (battery operated) toy synthesizer with a microphone that really distorts. I hoooooope it also has a headphone socket now!!

Sounds awesome. Time to bust out the volcas and monotrons!!

"Monotrons, I invoke your power! "

This is a comp I gotta get psyched about, haha. Kinda overwhelmed to be honest.

Came up with some Avalanches sound with my Volca Sample tonigt.
Not sure it’s good enough for the Battle (I think the level is going to be very high for this one)

A question though : life would be easier if I had an easy way to sync Volca to OP-1…
Would you accept a configuration with an ICM4 within, or should I use an OP track for synchronization ?

I’m going to say ‘no’ on the iconnect midi or kenton or OPlab or anything that tethers the user to a wall socket. This battle is a celebration of the OP-1’s place at the center of the new world of mobile electronic music production. Ok, ok… So the mpc500 has been around, and we’ve always had the sk1, CZ101, dx100, and the like, but there’s never really been a tool as complete as the op-1 for the traveling electronic minstrel that did not also tempt its user to write an email or check facebook. I’m sure you’ll find a way to sync everything quite nicely.

I’ll just make a cross on the sync, I can live without ^^


What about acoustic instruments ?
Do they HAVE to be battery powered ?
:smiley:

Nice idea :slight_smile:
Is it possible to master the finished track on a DAW ?

@quarantequarte Mastering in a daw is not allowed.

@lyingdalai I thought about the option to use acoustic instruments, but made no mention of them in the original post. On one hand, they are not battery powered. On the other hand, they provide an opportunity to use “all facilities of the op-1” with the built in microphone. I would probably say that it’s ok to use them as long as they are recorded on the op1 directly or transferred from a battery powered recording device, but maybe some other people won’t find that fair. I say go for it unless there is some backlash here. This also creates potential for people to include vocals in their tracks if no one speaks against it. Keep in mind a track might suffer in the voting phase if it lacks a certain op1 character as that may not be what listeners and voters are expecting (supposing you recorded a song just with a mandolin that lacked a certain electronic flair). I obviously cannot speak for everyone who may vote, so proceed as you wish.

Thanks for the answer Lymtronics.
Then, it is possible to use a zoom microphone as it’s battery powered :D. As LyingDalai, I was planing to record an acoustic hang drum.

I thought I could use some uke samples on my Volca Sample, but in fact it seems I HAVE to use a third device that would not comply to the rules.

So I’ll just use the original samples of the Volca.

Very hard to come up with something I really like, but I’ll try until I do.
And try to forget that Witcher 3 is now fully installed on my wife’s PC ;°)