I think about this from time to time. And I’ve made the statement that if I had to get rid of all my equipment, I’d keep my martin tenor koa ukulele, my taylor gc5e acoustic, my OP-1 and one electric guitar. The rest could go and I’d likely actually probably make more music! As it is, I rarely use my OP-1 as much as I did the first year. Not that it isn’t capable, in fact, it’s my #1 favorite instrument of all time for all that is and can be. My lack of use is because the OP-1 is a very solitary instrument, meaning, I only use it by myself, with headphones and it requires all my concentration. I rarely have a second to myself these days, let alone one that I can fully concentrate for an unlimited amount of time. That is why I end up playing all my other synths, Live, Push 2, etc. more. I can do it at home with others on the fly, using loudspeakers and they all have a larger interface that doesn’t require such minute concentration. Weird to say all of that “out loud” but it’s still my current truth. I hope to travel soon and that it gives me that solitary time to experiment with my OP-1 again!
Making synth patches.I guess it's fair to say that I'm interested in sound design at least as much as I'm interested in producing music.
I co-authored a free orchestral library for Kronos. It's based on public domain samples and for reasons I forgot now I had to use the on-board UI for multisample editing and mapping. Let me just tell you: that was not fun. I still haven't gotten around to adding control articulation and improving FX. It felt too much like a second job.
I use my op1 with an MPC touch and my guitar/pedalboard. I do guitar into op then op into MPC. The mpc basically lets me turn the op1 into a 128 track powerhouse with upto 4 effects on each track. PLUS everything else the mpc does.
I’ve been seriously considering getting rid of mostly all my hardware and just keeping 1 or 2 good analog synths to complement the op1 since those kinda analog sounds can’t be made on the op1 very well. Also 1 advanced sequencer for the op1 would be good too but we will see how the op-z fills that gap otherwise I’m thinking something like a cirklon for advanced sequencing or what’s been working fine is just finishing up the details in your d.a.w of choice. I think I’ll eventually end up with just 2 op1’s, an op-z, and an analog synth.
I use an OP-1 (and a portable turntable for sampling) and have been for a little while.And now for the shameless plug, here is a beat tape made solely with the op-1. I learned tons doing this in terms of tape tricks. Some combinations aren’t obvious at all and make for great variations. Beats recorded one by one from tape to album:
http://le-filou.bandcamp.com/album/op1-bt
Superb stuff mate. Care to ellaborate a little on the tape tricks? It’s something I’m working on to get a little variation but I tend to do the same old cheesy scratching stuff!
I use an OP-1 (and a portable turntable for sampling) and have been for a little while.And now for the shameless plug, here is a beat tape made solely with the op-1. I learned tons doing this in terms of tape tricks. Some combinations aren’t obvious at all and make for great variations. Beats recorded one by one from tape to album:
http://le-filou.bandcamp.com/album/op1-bt
Your OP-1 hip hop has always been my favorite. Mine’s just back from repairs. I felt like half a person until it was safely back home.
@lescour1 Thanks man, well first of, I always have M1 set as a low cut EQ and M2 set as delay sort of synced with the beat. They do a great combination in a live context on snares or bits of melody on single tape tracks. The same way you can also use the 2Ms combined with say a melodic sample on a single track and reverse it in rythm…
@unflattered love your stuff too dude, thanks. I haven’t done much lately but I should be starting a new office job soon which weirdly usually forces me to find time to produce. The less time I have on my hands the more I produce, go figure. Also I recently took down my nicer turntable and set it in my living room along with a stack of records I dug ages ago. I realised that all these years I have been mostly sampling records, not really listening to them… which has been a pretty amazing experience because I found much more potential samples along with the simple yet satisfying pleasure of listening to them.
@unflattered love your stuff too dude, thanks. I haven't done much lately but I should be starting a new office job soon which weirdly usually forces me to find time to produce. The less time I have on my hands the more I produce, go figure. Also I recently took down my nicer turntable and set it in my living room along with a stack of records I dug ages ago. I realised that all these years I have been mostly sampling records, not really listening to them... which has been a pretty amazing experience because I found much more potential samples along with the simple yet satisfying pleasure of listening to them.So, more beats soon I guess :)Glad your OP is back home safe!
That’s the beauty of hip hop production; it obliges you to expand your listening habits. No jazz artist has a stronger grasp of the enormity of jazz history than a guy like Premier.