Speak vs KO

Pocket Operators
81

I thought you could change the scale?

82
Sampled a C. It seems key 5 plays the note you recorded unaltered. The notes surrounding it make up a combination of the natural minor/harmonic minor scale. C,D,Eb, F,G,Ab,Bb,B,C. I haven’t found a way to change scales, but you could record your own scale into a drum bank as a way around that. If anyone finds a ways to change the default scale that’d be super helpful!
Did you recorded on Speak or KO?
83

It’s on the ko. Seems scale is set and can’t be changed.

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84

Sampling pitches talk, regarding the PO-35, has me wondering if a certain thing exists…

So you have a few words of speech (as you would sample on the 35), obviously it doesn’t have one specific pitch.

But is there any program you can run it through that would tell you the average pitch (i.e. C# occurs most frequently throughout this sample) or key (assuming a couple of different pitches recur)?
So that you could sort “tune” your PO-35 vocal snippets to the rest of your track (or vice versa).

85

@pianobar will do a little drum set soon with the PO-35 to give a glimpse to everyone here! :slight_smile:


The Speak is impressive. Very fun to use, absolutely Teenage Engineering stylee. I love the Pocket Operators and truly believe in their potential (obviously in a strict form). Indeed, I even made a beat tape only with the Tonic and the Arcade, released last year, and it worked - however, using the Speak, I can see that they are a truly evolution and shows even more deep and technical acumen.

The sample texture is quite unique and the chromatic key playing works for more “melodic” stuff, like the voice and synths - indeed, there´s an acid sample on it that made me want to do an stripped down version of my acid techno live only with the POs!


1 Like
86
it seems that speak can be used for non speech samples and its pretty good
Hmmm you sure? From this video it seems to be good only for speech.

I never said it doesn’t change the sound, it is a vocal synth not a sampler after all, but certain sounds definitely can be converted quite recognisable to their original form, squelchy synth bass and other resonant sounds, and sounds with noise in them and changing harmonics, stuff like drum loops can also be interesting. But yeah if you want a sampler get the KO, obviously.

87

Hi there,
Future owner of both here ! I’m so excited !
I was planning doing some granular stuff whil recording a po-33 while shortening a clip, to make some strange sounds. Are there other specfic things, one can do with several PO-35 or several PO-33 ?
Thanks !!

88

After some light research I am thinking of going with the Tonic and the Speak. Are these a good combo for live performance? I also have an op-1 so between the 3 of these I feel like I will have a lot of freedom live.

89

@flux_corsair I do a lot of performances with the Pocket Operators - mostly the Tonic and the Arcade. Indeed, I released last year a beat tape (just Pocket Operators beats) in my trip to Japan and performed twice there only with those POs + the Robot for the transitions and it was very smooth. It´s the ultimate mobile live performance set :slight_smile:


Although the Arcade have nice features for live performances (specially the chords!), the sample memory and polyphony of the Speak are ace and opens an universe of possibilites - for example, in the factory memory bank, there´s a really cool little acid sequence. However, if I had to choose, I would select a more synth based PO for the first pair to Tonic: Arcade or Factory (which really shines with a delay or reverb box).

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@aeoner Any luck with the drum samples into the Speak? :smiley:

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I was just reading that LPC, the algorithm used for speech processing like the PO Speak, does not hand transients very well, because the sampled audio is broken up into small sample packets of 20-40ms duration, which kills any changes in the original envelop faster than that.

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@aeoner

thanks for the info!
This a question for you or anyone else. Do you feel the cases are necessary? They are kind of expensive so I don’t know if I want to spring for them. Also I’d love to hear those pocket operator only beats you mentioned. Are they online somewhere?

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@aeoner

thanks for the info!
This a question for you or anyone else. Do you feel the cases are necessary? They are kind of expensive so I don't know if I want to spring for them. Also I'd love to hear those pocket operator only beats you mentioned. Are they online somewhere?

@flux_corsair cases are definitely not necessary. Yes, they offer some protection and feel much nicer when using, but you can get by without them for sure.


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@aeoner

thanks for the info!
This a question for you or anyone else. Do you feel the cases are necessary? They are kind of expensive so I don't know if I want to spring for them. Also I'd love to hear those pocket operator only beats you mentioned. Are they online somewhere?

@flux_corsair cases are definitely not necessary. Yes, they offer some protection and feel much nicer when using, but you can get by without them for sure.


I actually haaate the feel of the cases. Mainly the buttons, cause they are squidgy and you lose the gr8 accuracy, and tactile nature of the click of the naked buttons.

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There are third party cases available that seems to be a lot more responsive and better feeling… But have never owned one

96
everybody has got their own taste and they are like half the price of a PO so its like more POs or a case or a couple dinners, etc?

personally tho, i like the feel of the case buttons on the POs.
am able to finger drum a bit easier w/ the case vs. bare.
also makes it sturdier if on a table, keeps it from moving around.
and the board/metal stand doesn't flex if u push too hard on buttons in certain spots.
which was causing my PO to sometimes randomly reset at times when the jam/my fingers got heavy.

i kinda wish i had never gotten the case, b/c now i feel compelled to always get the case if i want to get a new PO.
they are kinda wasted money if u decide to flip. but my PO hasn't randomly reset since i put the case on it so all in all was worthwhile.

as for protection, i think the pots are the main thing that really need to be watched if u are throwing them around, traveling with them, etc.
and the screen too if u don't want it to get all scratched up.
both things, the case doesn't really provide any protection for.
yea it protects the board, buttons and such, but i bet those would be pretty okay without the case unless u really gave it a whomp.
in which case, if anything was damaged the screen or pots would prolly be fucked w/ the case or without it.
97
everybody has got their own taste and they are like half the price of a PO so its like more POs or a case or a couple dinners, etc?

personally tho, i like the feel of the case buttons on the POs.
am able to finger drum a bit easier w/ the case vs. bare.
also makes it sturdier if on a table, keeps it from moving around.
and the board/metal stand doesn't flex if u push too hard on buttons in certain spots.
which was causing my PO to sometimes randomly reset at times when the jam/my fingers got heavy.

i kinda wish i had never gotten the case, b/c now i feel compelled to always get the case if i want to get a new PO.
they are kinda wasted money if u decide to flip. but my PO hasn't randomly reset since i put the case on it so all in all was worthwhile.

as for protection, i think the pots are the main thing that really need to be watched if u are throwing them around, traveling with them, etc.
and the screen too if u don't want it to get all scratched up.
both things, the case doesn't really provide any protection for.
yea it protects the board, buttons and such, but i bet those would be pretty okay without the case unless u really gave it a whomp.
in which Case, if anything was damaged the screen or pots would prolly be fucked w/ the case or without it.

Really interesting that you prefer the feel of thr case. To each their own:)

98

Gotta say I’m not a huge fan of the silicon cases either. I now own every PO except factory and have cases for all except tonic and speak. I find I’m constantly mashing buttons on the metal series and the responsiveness is exactly what I need w/o a case. I just got KO-33 delivered w/ the pro case and I’m like meh it’s too stiff…
The cases are pocket lent magnets too I’ve noticed.

99

Hmm, that’s 2 no case, and 1 pro case…


This topic almost needs its own thread “the case of to case or not to case” lol

When I get my next PO, I’ll get a 3rd party case I reckon…

This one seems like the buttons might be clickier… https://ask.audio/articles/these-cases-for-teenage-engineering-pocket-operators-are-sturdy-transparent

Ultra triple case of doom - https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/534964051/po-case-button-skins

These are funny looking https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1604818

Then there’s these https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:799834

… I can’t remember which of these, but one is supposed to have really thin button covers which give you that “clicky” feeling, for those of us that enjoy it.
100

I have the original Pro cases on my PO-12, 14, 16 and the new CA-X cases on my Metal Series. i do like the extra…heft that the cases add to the POs, but in general, and even with the newer CA-X case, I’m not really a fan of the button feel or the way it makes seeing the LEDs tougher. The fit is great, it keeps finger funk off the front panel, but I agree that 1. These are lint magnets and 2. The “clicky” feel of the naked buttons is much more enjoyable to work with.