To say the OP-1 is a curiosity is an understatement, in a world where VSTs and virtual synths rule the roost, the OP-1 is a generous slice of luxurious physicality.
Its diminutive form and neat lines might lure you into thinking it is just another nano controller. It isn’t just another nano controller. Its small display and neat colour coded iconography might make you think it’s just another play-by-numbers synth toy. It isn’t just another play-by-numbers synth toy. So what is the OP-1? Let’s start at the beginning:
OP-1 – Build
Surprisingly, and reassuringly heavy for its tiny size, the OP-1 feels rock solid, and not at all as cheap or plastiky as it might first look. The device comes in a neat and boastfully recycled box, which when opened reveals the synth snuggly inside covered in a ‘quickstart’ transparent overlay. On the left hand side are many of the main controls and utility buttons, above this is a small speaker, which also sits next to the main colour vector display. Continuing towards the right are four colour coded knobs that sit above some numbered function keys, below which is the main keyboard section.
OP-1 – Synth
First and foremost, the OP-1 is a bonafide Synthesiser, a somewhat deceptively powerful one at that. Choose from one of seven different synthesis engines:
FM – Frequency Modulation synthesis made easy.
Cluster – Up to six oscillators chained in a cluster.
Dr Wave – Raw 8-bit style engine.
Digital – Pure digital raw engine.
String – Physical modeling of a string instrument.
Pulse – Square wave engine.
Phase – Phase distortion type engine
Each of these engines is complimented with an envelope, and effects section and an LFO, easily accessible via the keys numbered 1 – 4 below the display. The four colour coded knobs to the right each control predetermined parameters in real time, providing quick sound control possibilities. There are a small collection of preset sounds available for each synthesis engine, all of which can of course be used as starting points for your own sounds.
The synthesis engines can feel a little limited or complicated upon first investigation, but with a little persistence you soon gain an understanding of how the OP-1 likes to work, and as such, the possibilites become more apparent. After a few minutes you definitely get the sense that the OP-1 can spill out sounds much larger and robust than its small footprint might suggest.
OP-1 – Drum Machine
As well as the fully stocked Synth engines, the Scandinavian manufacturers have also included a Drum Machine. Choose from one of the eight ‘kits’ and fully edit each individual drum hit/sample within an inch of it’s life with a sampler like interface (edit sample length etc). Once you have tweaked all your sounds to your liking, you can play (and record) them right from the keyboard, there is however a handy, if not a little fiddly, drum/grid sequencer also. Get the hang of this, and you can record your drums off without having to worry about playing them in. Record you say?
OP-1 – Tape Record
Yup that’s right. Pretty much one of the key features of the OP-1 – after the sound making engines – is the built in tape recorder. This is what separates the device from most of the other hardware in either its size or price (more on this later) range. Rather than work like a groove box (although it can to some degree), or have some complex built in arrangement options, the OP-1 sports an old-but-new-school style tape recorder, complete with reel to reel style graphic.
Once you’ve created your drums, record them in to track one. When you’ve got your melody sorted, play that in and record it into track two… and so on. This may seem a little unwieldly at first, but after a while you get used to it, and it adds to the devices ‘musical’ appeal, also making it feel a lot more Analog than it would do with a step sequencer alone.
The ‘recordings’ are then stored on an internal drive and can be accessed and backed up once the device is connected to a computer via USB.
OP-1 Additional features
Truly a standalone device, Teenage Engineering have crammed in not only its own audio interface, but also a speaker for you to hear it through. Admittedly it’s not going to fill the average room with sound, but if you want to experiment with some ideas without the shackles of headphones, you can. There is a mic input which can be used to record in external audio as well as a 3 axis gyroscope for hands on shakey-to-modulate fun. Bizarrely there is also an FM radio which can not only be sampled/mixed in directly to your song, but also used as a modulation source..??!?
All this functionality is powered by an internal battery that boasts an impressive 16 hour lifetime, which should be plenty enough to thrash out a few songs worth of material while away from the power socket.
OP-1 Conclusion
A little bit bonkers, a lot a bit awesome, this defiantly different bit of kit is one of those rarities in the modern music world. It dares to be different, it also has the audacity to let you decide what to do with it. If you want to use it primarily as a studio based sound source, you can, and it will perform that task very well. Should you want to use it as a stand alone composition tool either out right, or just when on the road, it’s going to eat this task for breakfast.
Maybe you want something that will let you take it to the limits of your imagination, as a live performance device, a sound masher and, well radio… all of these boxes ticked. It’s begging to have its boundaries pushed and it couldn’t have made this task and easier.
The only limitation on the device is its price. At around £799-899 this is a touch above your average controller-that-does-sound price range. In fact, it’s a touch above many price ranges, including some fairly high end bits of kit. But then perhaps it’s tiny footprint is deceiving you into thinking this is an accessory, a stop-gap tool. It isn’t.
Imagine this to be much bigger in your mind and not only might you justify the price, you’ll get a better grip on what it can do. Awesome.
Rating: 
Related posts:
Add A Comment