Intro/preamble first, then some Q’s…
Hey man, I’m not really familiar with the artists you mention except for probably maybe hearing 3 or 4 songs which I wouldn’t like to use as a basis to form an idea of their whole catalogue/overall sound. Maybe you can link a few specific tracks from YouTube?
But in general you ‘can’ do any style on op-1.
You won’t get thick oberheim kind of synth sounds out of it but it definitely isn’t limited to lo-fi or glitch etc. Have you listened to all the battle entries? Might be worth going back and checking all of those out.
But it can be pretty fiddly for linear stuff like you would traditionally record in a daw. Daw has everything laid out at once in front of you and is super easy to switch parts around, edit patterns etc etc. Have you thought about trying something like Reaper (free daw software) and some free soft synths? Just to dip your toe? Otherwise you might begin on Op1 and never know if you’d have found everything much easier and cheaper in daw land you’d need a usb midi keyboard. They can be had very cheap. Also possibly an audio interface if you want to sample etc. Again these can be had very cheap too.
I’d suggest at least trying out a daw. But at the same time I’d also highly recommend op-1. It’s a lot of fun/hands on/versatile/fast/creative etc etc etc. Maybe you can order from a store online and return it if you don’t like it?
If you want to create for example the sound of Kruder and D I would recommend to use samples as the device is a very fun to use as a sampler. There are also lots of downloadable retro synthesizer sounds to feed your synthsampler on the OP-1. Welcome!
But (apart from the cost), the issue is that I have not heard many people making music that does not sound very (I said I was a newb with no vocab…) ‘80’s’, ‘lo-fi’, casio-esque, 8-bit. Sorry if these terms of reference are laughable/confusing. They are not meant to be negative. I just mean that I like, for example, Future Loop foundation, Orbital, Entheogenic, Kruder and Dorfmeister and would naturally end up wanting the music to sound like the music I like. At a stretch Aphex twin is as close to the OP-1 sound as music that I like, IYSWIM?
nailed it.
Eesn has a lot of valid points there. If I didn’t have a daw to use in conjunction with OP I’d probably find a lot of its limitations making it unusable for me for any kind of complex song arrangements/structures. It’s more of a fun/portable/add-on for me. Ideas scratchpad and portable sound design tool. Some people have fully sussed making complete tracks inside OP, but I think you have to be of a certain mindset. Like for complex arrangements you’d have to overdub different instruments on to one track, and there’s no undo etc for that kind of destructive editing. Some people manage to commit to that and not get too precious but I’m a pussy that’s had it too easy with DAWs and that kind of workflow sketches me out.
I’d recommend just listen to all the previous battles, watch a ton of videos etc. You’ll be able to figure out what’s possible from those. If there isn’t any/much of what you’d like to use OP for then that’s probably an indication that it’s not a great tool for that sound/style of production as an all-in-one.
Discussion over then.
Hey @psilop1, as an alternative, have you seen the Novation Circuit?
- all in one portable box with multiple synths and samplers
- no computer, ipad, etc required
- tactile controls (physical knobs and pads)
- the synths are more in the analog style, so probably better to suited to let’s say Orbital’s sound (I don’t really know the other artists you mentioned)
- costs about 1/2 as much as an OP-1
Now as a disclaimer: I don’t have a Circuit, I do have an OP-1, and I wouldn’t trade them But I have piles of other analog and virtual analog synths, so for me OP-1 provides something unique and different.
I would advise to check the tracks made for the (DAWless) battles, especially the last one. For me it’s a proof people complaining about 8 bits sounds don’t know the OP-1 very well…
IMHO, OP1 is perfect for someone that knows nothing to electronic music… I know this, it’s the path I walked
OP1 is far from perfect, and when you come from DAW or Elektron you feel the limitations…
But it’s successful as an all-in-one platform you can bring anywhere and get your track done in no time !
Don’t let other people talk you out of it : it’s a very fine weapon, still unique even 10 years after its conception.
I would advise to check the tracks made for the (DAWless) battles, especially the last one. For me it's a proof people complaining about 8 bits sounds don't know the OP-1 very well... https://soundcloud.com/ohpeewon-battles/sets/battle-42IMHO, OP1 is perfect for someone that knows nothing to electronic music… I know this, it’s the path I walked
OP1 is far from perfect, and when you come from DAW or Elektron you feel the limitations…
But it’s successful as an all-in-one platform you can bring anywhere and get your track done in no time !
Don’t let other people talk you out of it : it’s a very fine weapon, still unique even 10 years after its conception.
damn I wish I heard these earlier. Pretty impressive stuff. Just further inspiring me to attempt to do it DAW-less (I’ve always been an all in one production kinda guy).
I would advise to check the tracks made for the (DAWless) battles, especially the last one.
wha?.. That Monotone Eddie was DAWless? As in… am I right in thinking it was made only with the OP-1?
Hey @psilop1, as an alternative, have you seen the Novation Circuit?
- all in one portable box with multiple synths and samplers
- no computer, ipad, etc required
- tactile controls (physical knobs and pads)
- the synths are more in the analog style, so probably better to suited to let's say Orbital's sound (I don't really know the other artists you mentioned)
- costs about 1/2 as much as an OP-1
Now as a disclaimer: I don't have a Circuit, I do have an OP-1, and I wouldn't trade them :) But I have piles of other analog and virtual analog synths, so for me OP-1 provides something unique and different.
Thanks MacFergus… I will check out the Novation Circuit for sure…
There’s also the new Synthstrom Deluge coming out which looks like a potentially amazing portable synth/sequencer/sampler. Portable like op-1 with battery/speaker/mic/line in and out/midi and cv/tons of polyphony and tracks… Possibly going to be around same price as op-1. Details arrive in a couple of days. Looks like it will be a lot more complicated to use than an op-1 but only because it does a lot more. I imagine you could use it similarly to a Circuit very quickly/easily. Worth keeping an eye in while you’re deciding…
In the last battle there was one outboard instrument allowed to use, but nothing that dominated the track @psilop1
I would advise to check the tracks made for the (DAWless) battles, especially the last one.wha?.. That Monotone Eddie was DAWless? As in… am I right in thinking it was made only with the OP-1?
I can get my head around fetching samples from radio or from other places as…? a wav file, then using them on the OP-1…but the above M’E’ tune was made without other devices or computers?If so, then I am again swayed in the other direction. The twists and turns of orbiting an OP-1!
Battles are DAWless, at least most of them.
@psilop1 The music you refer too (Orbital etc) was made with lots of hardware boxes ,an old midi seq software and a pro mixing desk or full studio to blend the lot… This workflow creates a sound as much as anything.
OP-1 super simplifies this process into a micro 4 mode portable synth, designed as a thing of beauty. Which is so easy to work compared to other methods .Yes limiting , but I’m glad you have discovered the above tracks from here.
Also check this thread…
https://www.operator-1.com/index.php?p=/discussion/18/op-1-videos#latest
…so many more power users of similar grade.
@psilop1 The music you refer too (Orbital etc) was made with lots of hardware boxes ,an old midi seq software and a pro mixing desk or full studio to blend the lot.. This workflow creates a sound as much as anything. OP-1 super simplifies this process into a micro 4 mode portable synth, designed as a thing of beauty. Which is so easy to work compared to other methods .Yes limiting , but I'm glad you have discovered the above tracks from here. Also check this thread... https://www.operator-1.com/index.php?p=/discussion/18/op-1-videos#latest ..so many more power users of similar grade.
Good point about Orbital. I’ve learned a lot in the past few days reading online. I do appreciate that the ‘finish’ characterises the sound a great deal. The vid’s you linked to show OP-1 output that is very much more diverse (than the 8-bit esque sounds) in being largely from samples- which is fine. I have yet to get any sense of whether samples over internally generated sounds are preferable, or ‘worth’ more. Funny being so naive ha ha!
Ableton Push comes with hidden costs : the software, Ableton Live (or even Suite if you want to use Push to its max) and a computer.
But even if you don’t take this into account, I personally take much more pleasure playing hardware than software, too much screen in the day I guess…
This and the fact that you soon knows what each knob does, while in Live you have to know a bit about producing music to be able to choose the right configuration of lnobs (here I need a cutoff, here the delay time while there I’ll set the reverb decay…)
It’s a matter of personal taste, what drives you to get a track done.
I’d say the OP-1 sound is “unique” rather than bad. It’s an instrument that sounds like itself, which is kind of the point of having a particular instrument.
Many definitions to creativity and it’s even more complicated with inspiration into account. Some synths put a lot of immediate controls under your hands. The OP1, with its modal controls, is not one of them. Is it a great sketchpad? Yes. Can you do anything on it? Yes, in the same way you could do anything on mid 90s trackers - by sampling and by hacking cleverly to overcome the limitations of the system. Is it equally suited to “anything” - yes, if “anything” has a few specific traits, which is where the discussion began. Worth putting on a pair of headphones and listening for the sound quality you’re after.
Bear in mind that some of the brilliant tracks you’ll have heard in battles take a lot of work to put together on the OP-1.