Wanted: The OP-1 Patchinarium extension to op1.fun

OP-1 Collaborations
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I had an idea a few years back that I can’t get out of my head but I have no idea on how to get the details right:

I would love something similar to the “Patternarium” from Fredrik Lindstörm
(https://soniccharge.com/patternarium and https://soniccharge.com/forum/topic/1336)
for the OP-1. Meaning: Synth and D-Box patches which are generated from a genetic algorithm, based on user votes and some other generation features (frequency range in the audible spectrum, harmonics, whatever).

The main building blocks for this are all here:

But the road blocks are clear as well:

  • the synth engines only exist in the OP-1, so there is no easy way to “listen” to the sounds on a website

The question I pose here now is: Can we automate the process of:

  1. generate a set of 100 patches
  2. clear an OP-1 via scripting
  3. send all the 100 patches to it
  4. automate the process of loading each patch, playing some given pattern and record the sounds
  5. order the recordings to each generated patch and store them in a database

The above process would also make it easier to pre-listen to anything that is synth or d-box on op1.fun, which would be a really nice convenience feature.

Apart from using an Arduino or RasPi with actual stepper motors to press buttons and turn knobs on the OP-1, I have no idea on how to achieve this. But maybe some of you MIDI wizards have found ways to control the OP-1 in such ways?

Would love to hear some feedback on this idea and how to get closer to solving the problems.

4 Likes
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@TabascoEye I love this idea of searching the patch space of the OP-1. I think everything you mentioned is doable except one major roadblock: automatically loading a patch in the OP-1. I believe there is no way to change patches automatically on the OP-1, right? (i.e. with MIDI or some other magic?)

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I love this idea! But yeah, there’s no way to change patches via MIDI. But an OP-1 operated by a robot, which would be the mastermind behind the website, would be awesome.

Pay no attention to the robot behind that curtain.

Is there anybody with the time and the skills to pull that off here on the forum? I’d totally pitch in if this was a crowdfunded thing. :smile:

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@vehka I suspected as much. Of course it would be great to have a robot arm, but there is actually a relatively easy way to do it with a manual step.

  1. (manual) Generate 100 random patches and load them onto the OP-1. Turn OP-1 in to synth mode and set the selector (green knob) to the top of the list of patches.
  2. (automatic) Turn recording on. Use a single servo with rubberband attached to selector (green knob) to turn to next patch. Use MIDI to play one note / chord. Turn recording off. Repeat automatically.

The manual step could also be done automatically but it would require additional servos (or servo + robot arm) to press the keys, SHIFT, COM, 3, SYNTH and “1 IN”. Those keys are all needed to turn on/off COM mode and switch to the synth list.

Whats the most up-to-date spec for the OP-1 synth .aif layout?