Just curious what type of apps you’re running on the iPad? I’ve had all sorts of wonderful hardware and toys, but Op1 is just so darn good as a creative sketchpad. I do like my iPad for tinkering with music a bit more stealth when whipping out a synth on the commute just attracts unwanted attention. I only really use Samplr and Borderlands though, so just wondering what you feel could replace the Op1?
Just curious what type of apps you're running on the iPad? I've had all sorts of wonderful hardware and toys, but Op1 is just so darn good as a creative sketchpad. I do like my iPad for tinkering with music a bit more stealth when whipping out a synth on the commute just attracts unwanted attention. I only really use Samplr and Borderlands though, so just wondering what you feel could replace the Op1?
People always point to Korg Gadget as the all-in-one solution, but I didn’t get on with it too well. Fiddly interface. I prefer to use the ipad with single apps and pretend it’s a dedicated piece of hardware. Patterning is probably my favourite app, Samplr is cool as well and very OP1-like, Borderlands for granular definitely, and also planning on picking up Odyssei as soon as I have a USB splitter so I can use midi and audio from the ipad at the same time.
Nothing can replace the OP1. The fundamental ‘ughh’ with ipads is tapping glass. I would forget apps and invest in a proper controller for the ipad. Something like the Kordbot would be ideal has its got plenty of assignable knobs and very nice arps to play the apps with
I had the opposite experience with Gadget. I really like it. But I’m liking groove-box-ish kind of things and it fits that mold, and unlike some groove boxes, I can actually make more than one or two bars with it. What I like with Gadget - lots of automation possibilities that are tied in automatically. I’ve tried using Modstep as a sequencer/host for other apps and I just haven’t clicked with it. Garageband tries to force me into ‘normal’ music and doesn’t have the automation that I love (but on a modern iPad (Air 2 or later), you do get a version of Logic’s Alchemy synth).
I do like some of the standalone synths and, as I think I said earlier, I end up using them with the Octatrack (sequencing from OT) and I treat the iPad as a fancy synth module. It’s great for things like the Korg M1, Wavestation, Odyssey, etc, that I don’t have full need in real life.
But Gadget is the one I can do complete songs and complex phrases in. It’s aided by being able to share projects via iCloud to my iPhone, so I can just tinker on projects on the bus or something when I have ideas and don’t have the iPad handy; and it’s now my excuse for leaving the OP-1 behind when traveling and when luggage space is tight.
Nothing can replace the OP1. The fundamental 'ughh' with ipads is tapping glass. I would forget apps and invest in a proper controller for the ipad. Something like the Kordbot would be ideal has its got plenty of assignable knobs and very nice arps to play the apps with
Have you tried Borderlands Granular and iDensity? Definitely can’t do that in an OP1 as much as I love it
A problem with iPad apps is that they get abandoned. Especially ones by small developers. There’s a granular app that I loved named ‘Curtis’ that I used to use a lot but it got old and crusty and even if it still runs, it probably won’t run come iOS 11 time. Man I used to have fun running that through the Monotron’s filter!
That said, I was just listening to some old stuff of mine done in weird little granular/generative macOS apps that were long abandoned, wondering if there are ways I could trick the Octatrack or OP-1 into doing some of these tricks. Probably not worth the fight and I should look at iPad apps instead.
While iOS 11 is going to kill off a lot of abandoned 32-bit apps, I’m hoping that the long overdue file management app may make the process of loading/managing/sharing samples between apps a lot easier (if they update themselves to support it).
Thanks all for reminding me how much I love my OP-1.
I hate the thought of doing music on an iPad. There’s something about the iPad that just is friction for the creative process. For example, I’d need to keep it charged. The OP-1 needs to be charged too, but I do it pretty rarely. Then I might get distracted by the solitaire game and play that instead of making music. Most important, I’d need to connect a keyboard to it and then holding the iPad and keyboard at the same time is a pain unless I use some sort of stand, but then it’s not truly portable anymore without some sort of setup, which is just added friction.
Another issue with the iPad is that every program has a different UI. There’s a type of mental fatigue that comes from switching between many different user interfaces.
As I think about it, the OP-1 is actually a lot like an old Ensoniq ASR-10. Purpose built hardware for music production. The Oktatrack sounds like it’s similar. They’re specifically designed to create music quickly and easily. At the moment the market doesn’t seem interested in this sort of electronic instrument but maybe in the future there will be a comback…
“At the moment the market doesn’t seem interested in this sort of electronic instrument but maybe in the future there will be a comback…”
?? There are tons of instruments like this right now, new ones every day.
Another issue with the iPad is that every program has a different UI. There's a type of mental fatigue that comes from switching between many different user interfaces.This is kind of what I was getting at, too. Just fussing around with making sure everything is inter-connected properly, then having to switch back and forth between apps and everything is different, and interacts differently... it can just be a real workflow killer. This is exactly the problem the OP-1 famously kind of solved.
Don’t ever sell it. It’s a work of art, and there’s absolutely nothing else like it.
People always point to Korg Gadget as the all-in-one solution, but I didn't get on with it too well. Fiddly interface. I prefer to use the ipad with single apps and pretend it's a dedicated piece of hardware. Patterning is probably my favourite app, Samplr is cool as well and very OP1-like, Borderlands for granular definitely, and also planning on picking up Odyssei as soon as I have a USB splitter so I can use midi and audio from the ipad at the same time.
Yeah, I bought Gadget, used it on aerooplane trip once, but didn’t warm to the sounds in it. I actually use my modular very little now as it’s just in the studio all the time and I tend to always be out and about and the Moog Model 15 satisfies a certain wigglyness. That and I’ve just bought another Organelle after not getting on with it the first time around, but there’s oodles of awesome new community patches out now that threatens my beloved op1 in a good way, but I’ll never sell this beauty.
IDIOT! And also, buy both 
I guess being lumbered with a Digikat when you once had an OP-1 isnt helping
After using OP-1 for more than a year now, I feel like the only item I would sell OP-1 for is less used or new OP-1 
I guess being lumbered with a Digikat when you once had an OP-1 isnt helping
Whos that?
I guess being lumbered with a Digikat when you once had an OP-1 isnt helpingWhos that?
Haha, join the club.
Everyone that sells their OP-1 regrets it
Post definitely needs to be sticky.
Just took receipt of an OP-1 for my third time around (technically fourth, but that’s because I bought a demo unit that turned out to have a bum screen). First time sold it because I was annoyed with some of the unit’s quirks (mostly the loop clicking), and second for financial reasons. Since they (mostly) fixed the loop clicking and I’ve successfully paid off my debt, this one is staying for good.
Still, looking back, I wish I would have never sold the first one. It’s really the only thing I need as a hobbyist producer (and a computer, but I feel like that is basically a necessity now). It’s the piece of gear that I have created the most music with and I’ve tried a few different workflows (Ableton w/ Push, iPad, collection of hardware boxes, etc.).
The MPC Live was dead on arrival - when I turned it on, it’d only produce sound about 50% of the time.