sex drive ¶¶ night drive ¶¶ op1 electro beats (cassette & digital release)

the archaeologist // SEX DRIVE // NIGHT DRIVE {{OP1 Beat Tapes #3 & #4}}
made entirely on the op1. using a little bit of volca bass & keys via op1 midi

available on cassette tape & digital. tape comes w/ a pair of 3D Glasses.
http://music.digdugdiy.com/album/sex-drive
https://digdugdiy.bandcamp.com/album/sex-drive
https://soundcloud.com/digdugdiy/the-archaeologist-sex-drive
<#ªªºº

I Always think your posts are spam at first!

lol, don’t be fooled homie!

This is mad! Very good stuff.
I would love to understand what your producing method is. You just made me very positively envious.
Now I just want to go home and my OP on!
Thanks

Wild all the way around, and your tunes match the graphics accordingly. Nice!

Cassettes come in a glitter finish now?!

Is this all OP? In any case it’s bloody brilliant.

wow thanks y’all! much appreciated & much love ¡¡¡¡


@lefilou haha yea thats the spirit! fire it up! my flow is pretty loose, but on the op1, i mainly like to work in like 30 sec - 1 minute segments. making lil short microwave beats. somehow i find this to be in the op1 spirit (maybe not, but it just feels like it in my head ^_^). i just keep adding parts until i like it. then jump to next segment, rinse and repeat until i’ve filled my tape up. then i’ll start going back and listening to what i’ve made as a whole, deciding whether i like it or not, and if any parts need more work. then i’ll just do that until i’m happy or really stoned or something…i always try to keep my drums and bass on separate tracks, but i’m mixing mostly everything on the fly w/ the orange knob on the tape screen. i always try to use the LFO and the FX on the sounds, to give movement. as well as turning knobs while jumping around different screens and changing the sound params as i record. this one was also fun for me b/c it was largely my first time messing w/ the midi as well

@kites lol, only this batch will be glitter finish! i got the can for 97 cents on clearance on a whim, and within like 3 sprays the spray cap got stuck in the spray on position and proceeded to spew its contents all over the place. felt like i was holding a bomb or something lol. needless to say there is now glitter all over my kitchen >.<

@erhenius yes everything was done inside the op1, everything recorded to the tape, mixed, mastered w/ the op1. there were a couple homies hanging out (volca bass & keys, minikp2) but even then, the volca’s were sequenced or played by the op1 keyboard and then recorded onto the tape via the line-in. and extra fx were resampled back onto the tape using my external fx method that i’ve posted about here.


This guy is a crazy genius. Keep up the excellent work, mate, it seriously keeps amazing me. So fresh, raw, spontaneous and unique ! You’re a true, authentic artist. Sincere congrats ! (y)

Wowwwww… wow. I have no idea how you’ve made the OP-1 sound like this!! Really deep and dark and textured/organic.


One thing in particular that I’d love to hear about is the gated/ducked “reverb swell” after some snare hits (eg at 2:15: snare hit, then a huge rush of reverb that gets stomped by the kick).

(Actually, forget about the ducking part, I’d just like to know how you’re doing that reverb sound!! Is it resampled + pitched down or something? It really roars and doesn’t sound anything like Spring)

Really cool vibe :slight_smile:

Yeah I could recognize the Volca’s I owned them too for a short period, very distinctive. I am gonna dissect this track cuz it is an excellent tutorial for using Tape. I have been mucking about with Cubasis, all nice and dandy but it just slows your process. OP-1 Tape is sooo much more accessible and fast.

Thanks for the inspiration.

@oper_8 wow! thank u so much! i would like this to be quoted on my headstone when i have my celestial awakening!!


@raigan thank u much as well! the reverb is no secret. its a minikp2, pump reverb effect. one of my favorite fx of all time, up there w/ the SP vinyl sim compression for sure! such a silky verb, & the compression/drive on the op1 really makes it pop IMHO
i seriously love using the send/return method for external fx. u don’t have to break free from the op1 flow, and it really opens up your resampling/fx game!

@erhenius anytime :slight_smile: thank u much also! i found that using the tape exclusively is the best way to get comfortable w/ it. i made a ton of mistakes along the way, and hopefully learn from them. LIFT+DROP BEFORE U OVERDUB is my mantra…lol
i really like how the tape forces u to really think about what u are about to lay down. i may not be able to come back later on and fix it or i may have to perform some serious operation and rebuilding to work it out so i better make it count now. obviously things happen, u can’t sweat mistakes. but i think its really stepped up my game, my approach and my mixing even when i use other things to make beats too. yea i’m the same way w/ those iPad DAWs. its been on my list, but i never get to it because of those same reasons. i’ve been geekin out heavy w/ Gadget tho. thats an upcoming release prob.


thanks everyone for listening/peeping/living! forever humbled & socially awkward <#

Cool stuff :slight_smile:


I particularly like the ending of track A, and all of track C!

Between Zulumonk’s sampling and tape tutorial videos and this post I think I have a lot to chew on for the weeks to come. And I happen to have a minikp2. Very inspiring post. I will make sure to check your send/return method as well. I really like this community. Thanks very much sir!!

Yep, really cool!


You’ve managed to get an organic and evolving sound all the way through. Will have to take a page out of your book with using the LFO’s and routing ext. effects :slight_smile:

Sick, keep it up!!

@docshermsticks: awesome, thanks for the info! :slight_smile: I guess someday I’m going to have to try using other pieces of gear…

@johnl thanks man!!


@lefilou here’s the link to the send/return stuff!
http://operator-1.com/index.php?p=/discussion/comment/1933/#Comment_1933

@josker thanks yo! yea! even if its subtle, it adds a nice flavor to the sounds.

@raigan anytime! each time i go to fill up my tape, i always try to do something new or learn a new piece of the op1 that i previously didn’t use a whole lot. certain things i even practiced a bunch until i was comfortable doing them, like overdubbing on the tape scared the hell out of me at first, but now its like second nature.

Great stuff. Ordered a volca bass and beats after hearing this. Inspiring stuff.

@lymtronics … nice! and thank you :slight_smile: volcas are pretty heady, especially w/ some midi to bypass its shortcomings. the 3 individually sequence able OSCs on the bass are really fun to play with… wish it had a few more waveforms tho. i guess thats what the keys is for tho


i definitely used the keys for some baselines, and the bass for some lead lines.

Wow this is amazing stuff! I’ve owned the OP1 in the past and sold it off cuz I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Thought I’d check in to see what people were up to and this is the first thing I hear and it’s super inspiring! I think I’ll have to get it again and use this as a benchmark haha.


When you work with your little segments, do you tend to make them with the tape tempo synced or just free forming the beats off the grid? And if it’s tempo synced, do you just make a bunch at the same tempo until you fill the tape?

@megamaeng thanks g!! <# i usually pick a new tempo each time for the tape at the start and just use that for the whole thing. u can still do half time, triples, etc. w/o changing the tempo, sometimes like the intros is just free flowing and not adhering to the tempo of the tape. i like tapping/playing everything in by feel and not worrying about the bpm sometimes.


i was very close to selling my op1 several times in the first year-year and a half as i was using it mostly as just a synth and wasn’t sure if i would really figure out the other features or find them useful in the greater sense of things. i think its mainly just getting comfortable w/ everything, the tape especially, and finding a flow between the sounds and the tape. its beautiful tho man, i will never part w/ my op now