Although not directly related to the OP1, I wanted to share this project as lots of us make electronic music live and its always nice to get feedback and perhaps inspire someone to try somethign new, i know i have been inspired by watching videos you guys post on here!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgR0LcD7af8
The project was born from a shared desire to get away from digital perfection of music made using computers and screens, and instead focus on raw sounds offered by analogue synths, tape delays, drum machines and other hardware processes. A philosophy not too far away from the OP1 I feel...
I am using (on the left)
Moog Sub 37 > guitar pedals > Roland RE201
Machinedrum > guitar pedals
He is using (on the right)
Korg Polysix > Guitar pedals > Roland RE501
Everything was improvised on a rough form and all the sequences were done live and on the fly. Moog is doing rhythmic blips and such, polysix is on pad and arp duty.
This is right up my street and really well done too, thanks for sharing. Man, I got my first really spring tank last week but I’m really hankering after a proper tape echo too - how do you find the maintenance on the Roland units?
The OP-1 takes on a lot of these philosophies you’ve show here. Its a portable musique concrete dream that encourages creation rather than chasing for perfection.
@wolflegjon - Cool, which spring tank did you get? So far the maintenance has been ok, took a few tries to get a tape that did the business. I have only had it a few months tho, I got it from this guy (http://analogia.pl) and he has been great to talk to, and sent me replacement tapes when the first ones didn’t work out. Worth the price imo.
@aswefallintostatic - thanks for the info/link. I’m very tempted as love the sounds of the Space Echo (and the Echoplex too) but was concerned that I’d have issues with maintenance (I have no prior experience with these) and/or sourcing tape. Sounds like you’ve had a generally positive experience so far though, I can totally see/hear why its worth the price.
I got a Accutronic tank and a Danelectro Sprink King pedal (real springs in a giant stomp box). The latter is very trashy but in a good way, even has a kick pad just to make crashing noises with. Running analogue synths through it makes thing go a little VCS3 which is always a welcome thing.
@wolflegjon - yeah so far has been positive. You can get them cheaper off ebay but the analogia guy does a great service so its worth paying for that i think with vintage gear. 201 has a built in spring reverb also VCS3 like is always good
I really enjoyed this performance. I could feel your artistic expression through your music and you give off a nice vibe.
The drum level seemed low in the mix however the kick drum came through deep and punchy. I liked that. I’d have liked to hear more of the drums as when you brought them back in on the second part you had some nice fills that were interesting and alternate from the first half. The drums sounded like a bit of afterthought, I am sorry if you intended them to be that way. Personally, I hope you don’t mind me saying but I think the kick drum beating alongside the track showed that the track can work with a simple drum pattern. Like one distorted and delayed hi-hat swinging around in addition to some minimal percussion with editable fx.
Maybe that is too much for two pairs of hands!!?? Hehe
That is just what I think, I hope you don’t mind me sharing, and you know what they say about opinions… They are like as*#oles… Everybody’s got one! Hehehe
The instruments are definitely the focal point and they sound great! I am totally GASing over the Sub 37 now.
Thanks again for sharing and I look forward to hearing more stuff!
@HisMostDarxxxellent - thanks for the thoughts man, much appreciated! Its all a work in progress so super useful to get feedback at this stage
It is probably worth noting that despite being mastered, the recording on the video recorded as a stereo out form the PA, so does not really reflect how it felt in the room which was our main concern! Still, always useful to get outside opinions on the overall aesthetic. Did you mean that you felt going for some more traditional drum sounds (Such as 808 / 909 style hats) would work better than the sounds here? Also, what do you mean by editable effects?
@HisMostDarxxxellent - thanks for the thoughts man, much appreciated! Its all a work in progress so super useful to get feedback at this stage :)
It is probably worth noting that despite being mastered, the recording on the video recorded as a stereo out form the PA, so does not really reflect how it felt in the room which was our main concern! Still, always useful to get outside opinions on the overall aesthetic. Did you mean that you felt going for some more traditional drum sounds (Such as 808 / 909 style hats) would work better than the sounds here? Also, what do you mean by editable effects?
Cheers, t
Hey fella!
That’s cool man, like I said it’s only my opinion and subsequently that opinion may differ if I listened to the mastered version.
Also, my interpretation of the drums that would work akin to your amazing synth sounds may differ to other people’s taste. If you’re open to anything and are willing to broaden your horizons I’d create a drum track to so you can have a chance to listen to my idea.
I probably should mention that the equipment I’d use would be a TR-8, Yamaha E1005, and the Op-1.
Come to think of it, as my aesthetic is in line with yours, I’d also like to try something new. I’d pop the drums through the Yammie and then feed it through the System 1m, then into Jd-Xi’s effects section maybe, before some final Op-1 filterationism! Or maybe have a play around with the line of effects and see what happens!
This hardware stuff is all new to me and that sounds exciting regardless!
Do you live in Japan? Yes, great! When can we jam!??
Hehe
@HisMostDarxxxellent - the track is mastered already but not mixed, as in, there was no option to mix individual aspects of the track as i t was captured direct from the PA as a stereo file so there would be no way to separate out the drum track, hence my comment earlier. We’re also not really looking to bring anyone else in on this project at the moment but thank you for the offer anyway. It sounds like you have an interesting process however, if you have any videos or audio to your work then would be great to have a listen / watch
VCS3 like is always good 