POTT - Pocket Operators Trick Tips

Blimey, good tip! Gonna take heed on that one!

^ If the POs firmware is hackable we could try doing something with that Function key, like solo/mute perhaps?

That’s talking !

But for starters, I’d prefer to move the retrig on this one :smiley:

One other trick : sooner or later, you won’t remember if this groovy phrase is yours.
First thing you want to do when you start recording patterns ERASE ALL FACTORY PATTERN !

:smiley:

@lyingDalai so true. I did that when i discovered pattern chaining. Everytim i turn on my PO im like i made this?!

I’ll most definetely record the 16 patterns next reset ^^

So far for me Factory > Rythm > Sub.
Factory is so immediate.
One thing I’m missing more than sharps is to offset the pattern, I always let the beat slide…
But I really think that Factory is the one you got to have so far.
So much fun.

The feature I like the most on the PO is the easiness you have to chain patterns, this is so cool :slight_smile:

Mine is not a real tip, but maybe it will help some people. How to sync with an OT, Ableton, etc, or sync multiple OP’s at different signatures/rates.


http://operator-1.com/index.php?p=/discussion/791/tutorial-pocket-operator-sync-w-octatrack-or-any-other-sequencer

@lyingdalai have you played much with them all together synced up? Can you tell us about pros and cons if so?? I’m wondering about their relative volumes and if you can clearly hear all 3 when you’re playing one through the next.

AND have either of you used with OP-1 yet?

I have used my PO with my OP-1.


I finally linked all my Korg Box’s and my PO using an iphone with sync kontrol linking it all to my Ipad running gadget. All of these seperate linked inputs are being fed into my op1 for album recording; tape layering; effects; etc…

Was testing recording PO’s to OP1 and uploading; its very seamless.
https://soundcloud.com/sam-holzberg/po14-2
https://soundcloud.com/sam-holzberg/side-a

really wish you could control both the synth and drum volume on the PO-14. you can only automate the drum volume or control the master volume. Synth volume is fixed…
I have used my PO with my OP-1.

I finally linked all my Korg Box's and my PO using an iphone with sync kontrol linking it all to my Ipad running gadget. All of these seperate linked inputs are being fed into my op1 for album recording; tape layering; effects; etc...

Was testing recording PO's to OP1 and uploading; its very seamless.
https://soundcloud.com/sam-holzberg/po14-2
https://soundcloud.com/sam-holzberg/side-a

really wish you could control both the synth and drum volume on the PO-14. you can only automate the drum volume or control the master volume. Synth volume is fixed...

Nice and I can tell how much fun it is just by listening. Thanks for posting

I just synced the 14, 16 and a monotribe. It’s really a blast to jam with these machines and they really pair up very well with the monotribe for sweeps, fx, synth and basic drums. Another machine for drums would be fine but more may be too much to control.


Set up a couple of alternating patterns in both machines and started to jam away. Didn’t even bother to save them, just kept writing over and over. Punching in fx, styles and changing sounds and notes, it really goes a very long way. Once you get ahold of a couple of fx, styles and sounds you can get more expressive and in control of things as opposed to just smashing buttons and see what happens next. At times it doesn’t respond with precision, like changing a sound or punching an fx won’t happen at that moment, so you need to let it carry you a bit and not be too anal about things being perfect.

I tried to route the monotribe sync and audio through the POs and even though it worked perfectly it sounded very low in comparison, having the PO volumes set at 9, so I’ll have to try again later to find the balance between all machines’ volume.

The machines have a limiter and compressor so I’m not sure yet if the order of the signal chain alters much the final result depending on what goes in first. Just in case I’m using sub as last since I felt otherwise factory was pulling it’s volume down at times but it could have been my imagination.

Beast machines for the price. Limited but lots of fun.

Tried to solve the input volume problem but couldn’t. Input volume is tied to output volume so you have to input a very strong signal. Monotribe at max can hardly be heard. Oh well, it works well with the other POs.

@knobheadso you need to let it carry you a bit and not be too anal about things being perfect.” All of the OP1’s shortcummings i think of this exactly!

@lyingdalai have you played much with them all together synced up? Can you tell us about pros and cons if so?? I'm wondering about their relative volumes and if you can clearly hear all 3 when you're playing one through the next.
My setup is OT clock > Volca MIDI in > Volca CV out > POs And each PO audio out in the mixer. I haven't tried to output audio through PO chain yet. I couldn't come with something decent for the Sub, but after some practice I'll get some sound here. I'm not quite sure about the sync mode setup, but it worked quite wll, not much noise. You can set the volume of each PO with BPM+trig, so no volume pb. And you can set the secondary instrument relative volume with one of the knob, so it's good.

A very hard exercise is to achieve to replicate a loop you liked from scratch… Like if you started your lead loop a step too soon… But after this I must say that I know the toy much better :smiley:

Jamming with these things is too much fun. It’s very easy to improvise variations on the base pattern with all the fx, sounds and styles, and also partially clearing fx and styles. You really can go on and on constructing and deconstructing, and keep the patterns you like most with pattern copy.

Tried to solve the input volume problem but couldn't. Input volume is tied to output volume so you have to input a very strong signal. Monotribe at max can hardly be heard. Oh well, it works well with the other POs.

Just tried with different cables and volume is perfectly fine as long as you use the synth part alone. Once you mix in the monotribe drum parts, specially the bassdrum, the PO compressor or limiter seems to pull the synth part down quite noticeably and you can’t hear much with the PO synth going on.

Maybe on of these could help =) http://operator-1.com/index.php?p=/discussion/785/tiny-mixer-for-tabletop-jams#latest

Just spent a good few of hours jamming on my PO-14… It’s actually a lot deeper than it first appears.


A very basic tip is to simply understand that very small adjustments of the knobs can greatly change the sound of each synth voice. Try turning them very carefully and slowly while holding down the write key to find new sounds as the sequencer runs. I’m getting completely different sounds out of it compared to yesterday’s little play, when I wrongly assumed each synth sound was basically just what you hear when you choose it.

With the sequencer stopped and out of rec mode you can also adjust the sound knobs while pressing the notes. It helps to preview sounds too, though knob settings will not be saved in the sequencer.

Also, the little speaker is surprisingly accurate, if you want to write some patterns while in bed or wherever.