I love the tape workflow because it makes me pay attention to everything I do on the OP-1f. It reminds me of the first 15 years of my musical life where I wrote and recorded full songs on actual 4-track tape. You really need to think things through and it kills the DAW tendency to revise infinitely.
Great video! One arranging technique I use is to work in two tapes. One tape is my “working” area where I compose, sound design and bounce. The other tape is my arrangement tape where I work out the structure. The nice thing about doing it this way is you can lift/drop bounced sections from the working tape to the arrangement tape and get a clean layout of your song. This also leaves three tracks open on the arrangement tape for solos, flourishes and transitions across song sections.
I love it! I’ve only gotten as far as creating a song on the studio reel to reel, and than lifting and dropping that in the portastudio where I destroyed it and turned it into a beat, but I have to try actually working in one and arranging in another. Thanks for the advice and thanks for watching!!
Love your content as always :) The sliding a take around is super handy - it is in the manual, without much description though. On the 'tape mode' page it's called "slide a take". I only bought my OG shortly before the Field came out (that's always the way) but I used this on that to get some stereo delay happening, since OG only had mono tracks. Lift and drop a track back, then drop it to another track also... pan each slightly left and right then slide one forwards ever so slightly. You then get a panning delay where each note hits one speaker later.
This is so useful! I just went back to the manual and now I see how I missed it. Thought for a second I had found one of the Easter eggs they were talking about when they released the field. Hoping someone finds a video game in here at some point. Great advice about panning delay!!🤘🏼
Learning to love the imperfections was definitely a challenge, but worth it in the end, if only for the simple fact of forcing me to quit overthinking shit.
Besides the mpc live 2, this is the only piece of gear I think about using when I’m not using it. Got it last week and every night since, I’ll be trying to fall asleep and I’m like, nope. It’s op-1 time. It’s just a brilliant device that no one has been able to replicate.
@@NovakTheEnjoyer The only thing that bugs me is the pop’s and clicks you mentioned (not all the time) and the quality of samples - no vst/plugin guitar, even from my mpc sounds good. Idk if I’m doing anything wrong? Pianos, synths, etc sound great though.
11:11 no way the voice recording was done that far away with the internal mic?! also: how'd you process the voice recording without the op1 having insert effects? theres clearly some reverb on the final audio
Hey, thanks for watching! When it comes to using the microphone, I never record straight to tape. Instead, I use the vocoder which gives you an effect that is separate from the master effects. In the vocoder settings, when you turn the mix (red) knob all the way up until you see the red dot, you'll hear the full dry signal of the microphone. As long as you're not pressing any keys you won't hear the vocoder. It's a nice little cheat code for getting an extra layer of effects just for the mic.
It's funny that right after this video they released the merge drop feature! It's like they heard the bouncing workflow and were like we gotta do something about this, so handy now :D
Man… this video was around the time when the firmware update 1.5 came out and made bouncing a whole lot easier! I love the shift+blue knob feature, you just blew my mind, didn’t know that was a thing and NOBODY talks about it. I always struggled with creating a short pause followed by a drop, it’s always too short or too long and it sticks to the grid but this is just want I needed!
I’m so glad it helped! Yeah, they came out with that merge/drop function after this, but there are still reasons why you might prefer to bounce instead. That drag feature is clutch! Thanks for watching 🙏🏼
I still have an OG OP-1 which I bought way back when it came out and use it the most of all the music making gear I have. I'm not to keen on the synths but I work mostly with samples. I think it's a device that just works for some people and I'm one of those people. None of the quirks or editing challenges etc have ever bothered me but I understand it does bother some people. Glad you are having fun with yours, nice work!
Yoooo!!! I love it! My filter, out in the world, helping make recordings cleaner and easier! It’s surreal for me, and I hope that it helps you get those hard to reach recordings 💪🏼
great video!, i like how in some instances, you show whay you tell with the OP-1f in front of you (and when you dont do it i miss it :D ) . keep em coming!
Loving these vids Novak! I've been experimenting with recording songs on the OP-1 Field and all the frustrations that comes with it. Actually I gave up for a while, but def got some new approaches to try out now - cheers!
Hey man, glad to hear it! It’s a pain in the ass, but sometimes all you need is a new approach to open the floodgates. Hope it goes well and you’re jamming again 💪🏼, and thanks for watching!!
Man, I was so close to buying an OP-1 Field, but hearing that it still has click / pop issues is probably a dealbreaker. It's my #1 annoyance with the original OP-1 and I've spent too many years fussing with workarounds and hacks in order to get clean audio. I don't think I can handle that on a $2,000 device. Glad I watched this video.
Yeah, it’s still a bit of an issue. I think I might be willfully ignoring it just because this thing has become so prominent in my writing process. I really hope they can do something about it. I’m surprised you can’t drop in a crossfade with the click of a button. It’s been a staple in my DAW workflow for years 🤷🏻♂️
This might sound insane but, in order to get rid of the clicks and pops (predominately at the ends) loop your bit and record silence over it until they're gone. This was a thing on the OG-1 after one of the later updates. That blue knob shifting is in the OG-1 manual as well
Awesome stuff man! you're incredibly inspiring to watch on the Field! sold my o.g a while ago and been saving up for the field, can not wait!! shall make sure to keep an eye out for your videos
wassup dude! love the video, thanks for the snippet shifting tip. As always, nice to hear about workflows and ideas. Loving the pop filters I picked up from your site!
Somehow the thing passed me by for years, perhaps because I'm old school and just haven't really learned to accept that it's technically possible today to make an instrument the size of a Casio VL-1 that can take on the tasks of a workstation and therefore probably would have ignored it on principle anyway... I've must definitely gotten old! And suddenly I discover a dozen videos that are barely a month old and they're all raving about the OP 1, a device that's already a good ten years old... that really makes me think: should I get one of those things or not? 🤔
First of all, thanks for watching and taking the time to leave a note. I could do a whole video on my path to the OP1. But what I really wanna do is mention that as wonderful as this thing is, it definitely does not do everything that a digital audio workstation does. Close! But no cigar. I started on a 4-track in my early teens, and the only reason why I may seem like I’m championing this thing is because it brought me back to a way of writing that I’ve forgotten. On top of that, its synthesizers, sampling, and sequencers are so immediate, it becomes so easy to do things out of the ordinary. It’s a perfect storm for my creativity. Discovery and nostalgia all rolled into one. This thing single-handedly brought me out of an eight year drought. With that said, you should spend some time with one, but make sure you have a return policy. The first OP1 I bought went back after 2 weeks. I didn’t get it. 7-8 years later, it’s my (almost) everything. ✌🏼😎
@@NovakTheEnjoyer Thank you for your detailed explanation, reading this confirms my gut feeling that it would be best to deal with it practically. I also started with a four-track recorder a long time ago and this feeling of nostalgia resonates with me when I see the OP 1 :) - it even manages to record backwards, something I've never seen with any other digital synth! It's not that I don't imagine the OP1 as a fully-fledged workstation (I don't need it either, I still have a Kronos that still serves me wonderfully)... But perhaps as a compact, uncomplicated and easy-to-transport addition to the existing equipment. The new OP 1 costs a bit too much for me, but there are private offers in my area for around €700... Let's see!
RE clicks and pops: one strategy that i stumbled upon that really does seem to reduce their incidence significantly is to record with the loop ACTIVE and let the recording go back around to the beginning of the loop, dont stop recording before the end, let it loop back with the silence and then stop recording. i dont know why it works but i used to always record without the loop active and then simply use the scissors to trim off the tail -- but when i do that, i get more clicks/pops.
Wow, thanks! I didn't know about the feature where you can drag a sound around using the knob. It even works on the original OP-1. I'm thinking a good process for the og OP-1, since the tracks are mono, is to set the four tracks to different panning lanes, like 1 and 4 are far left and right and 2 and 3 are straddling the middle. Then you have to use overdub to add things to the pan area you want, and use lift and drop to undo mistakes.
youre great dude..I loved making songs with the op1...a field would be cool...I like getting the take right and midi always felt weird and unless im making house type stuff most hardware grooveboxes don't have the feel. killer voice too dude real talk
Thanks, homeboy! I was never a sample kind of player which is why I got the OP1F. Trying to work on those skills. Even got the K.O. II thinking it would be fun, but I keep wanting to do more than it lets me. It’s been all techno so far, which is so much fun, but I have a long way to go. Not giving up 💪🏼
Hey a tip about the drums, I recently got the Akai mpd218 drumpad (mpc beats software completely free), works well with the op-1 except that you need to just shift the first F4 key as the drum pad can never pick it up or map it right, I tried everything with the software that it comes with to no avail. However, the drumpad really gives you a lot of freedom to experiment and you can either record freestyle or encode it into the endless drum looper later. I like my beat to be a bit humanized so it’s not 100% quantized. Thank you for this video I learned a ton!
@@NovakTheEnjoyer I'd venture and say that the experience of drumming on velocity sensitive elastic rubber pads is much different than the keys of the KOII. I never finger drummed in my life and I surprised myself. The rubber of the mpd218 almost kicks back your finger after contact so you're not fully lifting your fingers rendering the experience very enjoyable.
Was thinking about a few questions and you answered them all in the video! Didn't think you would touch on the compressor but you even did that! Thanks for dedicating your time to creating these videos so people like myself can enjoy and learn from you. @@NovakTheEnjoyer
Probably said already, but just in case: SHIFT + LIFT a looped region to lift multiple tracks at once. Then SHIFT + DROP to drop it as one audio clip. Careful: the mixer volumes AND MUTES effect the lifted tracks.
I'm glad you mentioned this. At the time of recording this I don't believe that update happened yet, but I find myself using SHIFT + DROP now to lift the volume of a good take if it's too quiet in the mix. Otherwise, it always makes me nervous to use this just to consolidate tracks with no undo. One way the OP1F has changed my recording style is that it has simplified my writing. The fear of screwing everything up and the awareness of only getting 4 tracks and whatever you overdub (risky) keeps things refreshingly simple as opposed to the unlimited choices of a DAW where things can quickly and unnecessarily get convoluted and messy.
Cool tips! But did you know you can record into the pattern sequencer while it's playing? Just twist the rightmost knob to the right. And you can do it while the tape is playing too.. just twist and play at the same time :) (It's not quantizing your hit, so you need to be a little bit early on pressing the keys, but doable with practice, amazing for drums)
I did notice that you have to get the notes in early for them to land on time. Hopefully they can fix that in an update. I’ve been getting more and more into the pattern sequence lately. Thanks for watching!!
lol i can relate the loosing 3 days of work. i tend to quickly make backups of the tapes on my computer like once every week or 2 via MTP. doesnt always save me but it did once!
For me to stop working on something once I get going, you have to rip it out of my hands so I usually go until the very last second that I have, or start as soon as I have time. I rarely think of backing things up, unfortunately. It’s a really bad habit.
This is great thanks for sharing your workflow on the OP1 field, that short piece you made is brilliant some of the best music I have heard made with the OP1. I am really considering getting an OP1 OG as the price has come down now. All of the resampling options look like so much fun. I make post rock music I think it would work well, have you used it in live performances too?
Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for taking the time to watch! I haven't used either in a live setting. I've had ideas, but not enough to get me out there. The OG is so much fun. I bought it twice. Once I had it for 2 weeks before returning it because I didn't think it was for me. The second time I bought it, it changed me.
@@NovakTheEnjoyer that’s great I think it would really suit me. But having said that I’ve got a push 2 and a moog mother 32 I really need to start working with too. The push is amazing but it’s got the draw back of needing a computer and audio interface to use it.
9:29 Make those rhythmic patterns 5, 7 or 9...and then you play your guitar or op-1 melodies in even count 4/4, the polyrhythm will be such off-kilter rotating syncopated funkiness///. Keep up the great work.
@@NovakTheEnjoyer you can test the syncopation concept by having the left monkey do odd number (5 or 7) and the right monkey do even. But yea, you get it. Do it with your own melodic non-monkey playing. Love the channel.
you dont need to do all that work to bounce any more! "tape merge drop" came out in mid-December, just after this video. shift+lift to lift all your tracks, shift+drop to bounce to one track when you drop
With these op1 songs, I don’t. They are all done solely on the op1 without any post processing. All of the music you hear throughout the video are op1 jams. 🙂 Thanks for watching!
I absolutely love it. I didn’t think I would. The portability and connectivity are the jam. It’s a little light. I wish it had a bit more heft to it, but for the most part, to have a condenser mic I can carry around with me, despite thinking that I would NEVER take a condenser mic anywhere because of how sensitive they are…. I can take it into a different room in the house if I’m bored of my studio. Into the backyard on a beautiful day…. It’s the shit. My condenser mic for the last 20 years has been my faithful and dependable Rode NTK. It’s big, heavy, needs a stand, comes with a huge box of phantom power. It chains me to the studio. I do a lot of vocals, so it’s a great asset to me. 🙂 …expensive as hell though, lol
@@NovakTheEnjoyer just picked one up today but feel like the gain is either too low or too high with the limited controls on the device. What’s your process for recording audio and setting gain?
@@ColtKirwan I’ve been using mine exclusively with the OP-1 Field. I know what you mean. When I first got it, I thought there was no in between. You have those 3 settings in the back and that’s it, but after getting familiar with it, and playing with the gain on the OP1, I’ve found my sweet spots. With a little bit of time, you’ll definitely find them. I was doing everything on the onboard mic of the OP1 up until about my last 3-4 videos. I got the hang of it now. 👌🏼
@@NovakTheEnjoyer I’ll do some tinkering! Been loving your op1 tips. I’ve had mine for a couple of months now collecting dust because it’s a tricky workflow to get down
This is exactly how I felt the first time I got the original OP-1. It sat and collected dust because I just wasn’t ready for it. I ended up buying it again about 5 years later and I guess my process had changed over that time, because for some reason it made sense. The field came out a few months later and with the feature upgrades, I was all in. It’s definitely a tricky workflow. All I can say is what works for me. When I find I don’t know what to do with it, then I just take baby steps. I’ll choose an effect and sit for 30 minutes and just play with it and try to stretch its boundaries. Over time, not only do I absorb the workflow, but I also get really familiar with its gifts. But I don’t sit with it to learn. I just go for the ear massage 💆♂️
I’ve definitely used it as harmonies to my vocals. I think you can hear it in the “See all of the beauty” video. Aside from that, they make it so easy to put the vocoder on anything.
Just found your channel! I mostly make music with my OG OP-1 without post processing too. Thanks for the helpful video. Those custom knobs look really cool! Did you custom that yourself?
I did! I have them available on my site, novaktheenjoyer.com. Great to meet another fellow explorer 🙂 I would love to hear some of the stuff you do. Thanks for watching!
Clicks and pops suck big time and it should be addressed by TE, I remember at some point og op-1 got it sorta in control with a firmware upgrade but it’s just a mess now on the field. One thing that seems obvious to me is that they happen when you cut on a loop point or when you record with loop on… I try to avoid them by: 1) never looping while recording 2) make sure to slice on silence, and then make sure again that it didn’t trigger a pop because it wasn’t “real silence” But it’s just hopeless, sometimes I just realize I had a poppy slice and didn’t notice and hate the world…
Great advice!! I will definitely take these bits into consideration. You’re right though, I don’t think there’s much you can do on the tape side of things. Thanks for watching!!
I explain it in this ruclips.net/video/cTv8k8_9jXk/видео.htmlsi=3kid4qKS0rKNWrKQ But it’s all intuitive. I’m going by ear because there are no parameters to reference 🤷🏻♂️. Pain in the ass! 😃
Wow!! Your last video explaining your workflow was so filled with content, but that’s another level of sharing one tip after another. Thank you so much for being so generous! 🥹
This is probably my favorite channel. If the internet were a just place, you would have 5 million subscribers. Keep going.
Whoa!!! Thanks man!! I don’t know what to say 🤷🏻♂️
I’m doing my best, and I really hope I can keep it up. Thanks so much for watching!!
My favorite too at the moment. Videos have the perfect balance of nerdy discussions and beautiful music with tasteful editing. Very inspiring.
@@Gear-Tube glad to hear it!
I love the tape workflow because it makes me pay attention to everything I do on the OP-1f. It reminds me of the first 15 years of my musical life where I wrote and recorded full songs on actual 4-track tape. You really need to think things through and it kills the DAW tendency to revise infinitely.
This is exactly the reason why I’m so taken by it. I started on a 4-track and it takes me right back to childhood. Thanks for watching!
Great video! One arranging technique I use is to work in two tapes. One tape is my “working” area where I compose, sound design and bounce. The other tape is my arrangement tape where I work out the structure. The nice thing about doing it this way is you can lift/drop bounced sections from the working tape to the arrangement tape and get a clean layout of your song. This also leaves three tracks open on the arrangement tape for solos, flourishes and transitions across song sections.
I love it! I’ve only gotten as far as creating a song on the studio reel to reel, and than lifting and dropping that in the portastudio where I destroyed it and turned it into a beat, but I have to try actually working in one and arranging in another.
Thanks for the advice and thanks for watching!!
Great tip, I like it.
you mean two projects? switching back and forth?
Great video! So much info in there 👏
Thank you!
my man son wu is everywhere 😂
@@reneeschke always everywhere :D
Novak you’re a breath of fresh air sir. Keep going!
Thanks, man! I appreciate that. Sometimes I wonder what the hell im even doing here (YT)
really fantastic tips in here! hadn’t heard about the “drag” feature anywhere else. groooovy
@@SlowHaste thanks for watching! I watch your videos too!! ✌🏼😎
Love your content as always :) The sliding a take around is super handy - it is in the manual, without much description though. On the 'tape mode' page it's called "slide a take". I only bought my OG shortly before the Field came out (that's always the way) but I used this on that to get some stereo delay happening, since OG only had mono tracks. Lift and drop a track back, then drop it to another track also... pan each slightly left and right then slide one forwards ever so slightly. You then get a panning delay where each note hits one speaker later.
This is so useful! I just went back to the manual and now I see how I missed it. Thought for a second I had found one of the Easter eggs they were talking about when they released the field. Hoping someone finds a video game in here at some point. Great advice about panning delay!!🤘🏼
Learning to love the imperfections was definitely a challenge, but worth it in the end, if only for the simple fact of forcing me to quit overthinking shit.
The overthinking part was the best habit to break. I’m faster now with whatever I’m doing as a result. Thanks for watching!
Besides the mpc live 2, this is the only piece of gear I think about using when I’m not using it. Got it last week and every night since, I’ll be trying to fall asleep and I’m like, nope. It’s op-1 time. It’s just a brilliant device that no one has been able to replicate.
I completely agree. There’s just nothing else like it.
@@NovakTheEnjoyer The only thing that bugs me is the pop’s and clicks you mentioned (not all the time) and the quality of samples - no vst/plugin guitar, even from my mpc sounds good. Idk if I’m doing anything wrong? Pianos, synths, etc sound great though.
11:11 no way the voice recording was done that far away with the internal mic?! also: how'd you process the voice recording without the op1 having insert effects? theres clearly some reverb on the final audio
Hey, thanks for watching! When it comes to using the microphone, I never record straight to tape. Instead, I use the vocoder which gives you an effect that is separate from the master effects. In the vocoder settings, when you turn the mix (red) knob all the way up until you see the red dot, you'll hear the full dry signal of the microphone. As long as you're not pressing any keys you won't hear the vocoder. It's a nice little cheat code for getting an extra layer of effects just for the mic.
I have no idea what this device is, but I enjoy watching these vids from start to finish.
🙏🏼❤️🙏🏼❤️🙏🏼
Love the OP1 Field. It’s pure torture.
Masochists of the worst kind 😆
It's funny that right after this video they released the merge drop feature!
It's like they heard the bouncing workflow and were like we gotta do something about this, so handy now :D
I know! It was a little embarrassing, but hey, we got a feature that has had such a crazy impact on workflow. Stoked!!
Thanks for watching!! 🤙🏼
ever since i learned it can only record audio i thought this thing is designed for mazochists
Man… this video was around the time when the firmware update 1.5 came out and made bouncing a whole lot easier! I love the shift+blue knob feature, you just blew my mind, didn’t know that was a thing and NOBODY talks about it. I always struggled with creating a short pause followed by a drop, it’s always too short or too long and it sticks to the grid but this is just want I needed!
I’m so glad it helped! Yeah, they came out with that merge/drop function after this, but there are still reasons why you might prefer to bounce instead.
That drag feature is clutch! Thanks for watching 🙏🏼
@@NovakTheEnjoyer definitely, if you're creating a new sound bouncing is the only way to do it.
I still have an OG OP-1 which I bought way back when it came out and use it the most of all the music making gear I have. I'm not to keen on the synths but I work mostly with samples. I think it's a device that just works for some people and I'm one of those people. None of the quirks or editing challenges etc have ever bothered me but I understand it does bother some people. Glad you are having fun with yours, nice work!
I totally agree. When I’m working with samples and loops, is a blast.
Thanks for watching!!
Yes! Love the "bounce" at 3:55 onward! Wamazing!
Thanks, homeboy! 😎
Loving your videos and the recently acquired pop filter + knobs combo. Thanks for making the op-1 field even more interesting, Novak!
Yoooo!!! I love it! My filter, out in the world, helping make recordings cleaner and easier! It’s surreal for me, and I hope that it helps you get those hard to reach recordings 💪🏼
@@NovakTheEnjoyer Absolutely! My pleasure! Excited to do some songwriting with the OP-1. Your tips have been really helpful so thank you again!
great video!, i like how in some instances, you show whay you tell with the OP-1f in front of you (and when you dont do it i miss it :D ) . keep em coming!
Loving these vids Novak! I've been experimenting with recording songs on the OP-1 Field and all the frustrations that comes with it. Actually I gave up for a while, but def got some new approaches to try out now - cheers!
Hey man, glad to hear it! It’s a pain in the ass, but sometimes all you need is a new approach to open the floodgates. Hope it goes well and you’re jamming again 💪🏼, and thanks for watching!!
Man, I was so close to buying an OP-1 Field, but hearing that it still has click / pop issues is probably a dealbreaker. It's my #1 annoyance with the original OP-1 and I've spent too many years fussing with workarounds and hacks in order to get clean audio. I don't think I can handle that on a $2,000 device. Glad I watched this video.
Yeah, it’s still a bit of an issue. I think I might be willfully ignoring it just because this thing has become so prominent in my writing process. I really hope they can do something about it. I’m surprised you can’t drop in a crossfade with the click of a button. It’s been a staple in my DAW workflow for years 🤷🏻♂️
About to get my hands on one of these at the end of the month and I’ve watched all of your vids. Can’t wait to get started man!
Nice, duuuude!! It’s so much fun. Thanks for watching my videos. I’m so stoked to hear that you’re gonna be jammin’!!
This might sound insane but, in order to get rid of the clicks and pops (predominately at the ends) loop your bit and record silence over it until they're gone.
This was a thing on the OG-1 after one of the later updates.
That blue knob shifting is in the OG-1 manual as well
Oh shit! I’ll try that 👍🏼👍🏼. I just think that you’re overdubbing at that point, so it won’t do anything to what exists already 🤷🏻♂️
Great way to start my Monday! EnLIGHTENing as always and can't wait to give some of these tips a try tonight!
Yeeaaaahh!!! Get after it!
Awesome stuff man! you're incredibly inspiring to watch on the Field! sold my o.g a while ago and been saving up for the field, can not wait!! shall make sure to keep an eye out for your videos
I appreciate the kind words! Thanks for watching 🙏🏼
Bro I just discovered your channel and I’m hooked! Love your style and wish you much deserved success🤘🏻
No way!! I’ve watched so many of yours, what a trip! Thanks for the kind words, homeboy! I really appreciate it! 😊
wassup dude! love the video, thanks for the snippet shifting tip. As always, nice to hear about workflows and ideas. Loving the pop filters I picked up from your site!
Preston!! Thanks for watching! I hope you get a lot of mileage out of those filters. It’s always a trip to realize they’re out in the world 😃
@@NovakTheEnjoyer I can only imagine!
I had to get two b/c I knew the cats would take an interest in them haha. So far, all good 😎
I love that endless sequencer bit you did. 🔥
thank you for the tip on the sliding function!!! and for showing your process
My pleasure, thanks for watching!
You’re hilarious man! Love the tips. Can’t wait to see what u think about the TE mic.
Much appreciated, dude! I’m stoked about that video. Thanks for watching! 🤙🏼😃
Very useful information. Thank you
My pleasure, thanks for watching!
Somehow the thing passed me by for years, perhaps because I'm old school and just haven't really learned to accept that it's technically possible today to make an instrument the size of a Casio VL-1 that can take on the tasks of a workstation and therefore probably would have ignored it on principle anyway... I've must definitely gotten old! And suddenly I discover a dozen videos that are barely a month old and they're all raving about the OP 1, a device that's already a good ten years old... that really makes me think: should I get one of those things or not? 🤔
First of all, thanks for watching and taking the time to leave a note.
I could do a whole video on my path to the OP1. But what I really wanna do is mention that as wonderful as this thing is, it definitely does not do everything that a digital audio workstation does. Close! But no cigar.
I started on a 4-track in my early teens, and the only reason why I may seem like I’m championing this thing is because it brought me back to a way of writing that I’ve forgotten. On top of that, its synthesizers, sampling, and sequencers are so immediate, it becomes so easy to do things out of the ordinary. It’s a perfect storm for my creativity. Discovery and nostalgia all rolled into one.
This thing single-handedly brought me out of an eight year drought. With that said, you should spend some time with one, but make sure you have a return policy. The first OP1 I bought went back after 2 weeks. I didn’t get it. 7-8 years later, it’s my (almost) everything.
✌🏼😎
@@NovakTheEnjoyer
Thank you for your detailed explanation, reading this confirms my gut feeling that it would be best to deal with it practically. I also started with a four-track recorder a long time ago and this feeling of nostalgia resonates with me when I see the OP 1 :) - it even manages to record backwards, something I've never seen with any other digital synth! It's not that I don't imagine the OP1 as a fully-fledged workstation (I don't need it either, I still have a Kronos that still serves me wonderfully)... But perhaps as a compact, uncomplicated and easy-to-transport addition to the existing equipment. The new OP 1 costs a bit too much for me, but there are private offers in my area for around €700... Let's see!
@@maval4537 you just might end up loving it as much as I do 😊👍🏼
@@NovakTheEnjoyer I think that's highly probable😉!
had no idea about the drag function. keep killing it dude. good shit
🤘🏼😎
solid video man
Thanks!🙏🏼
subbed! great videos brother. recently started using the op1 to record acoustic guitar and vocals. so much fun, might have to order that pop filter.
Thanks man!! 🤙🏼
RE clicks and pops: one strategy that i stumbled upon that really does seem to reduce their incidence significantly is to record with the loop ACTIVE and let the recording go back around to the beginning of the loop, dont stop recording before the end, let it loop back with the silence and then stop recording. i dont know why it works but i used to always record without the loop active and then simply use the scissors to trim off the tail -- but when i do that, i get more clicks/pops.
I have to try this. Thanks for the tip!
Wow, thanks! I didn't know about the feature where you can drag a sound around using the knob. It even works on the original OP-1.
I'm thinking a good process for the og OP-1, since the tracks are mono, is to set the four tracks to different panning lanes, like 1 and 4 are far left and right and 2 and 3 are straddling the middle. Then you have to use overdub to add things to the pan area you want, and use lift and drop to undo mistakes.
My pleasure. The best way to discovering the nuances of this thing is through exploration. Run those tests!
I loved your video my friend. Thank you so much for sharing all these tips and doing it so well! Awesome
Thanks for watching!!
youre great dude..I loved making songs with the op1...a field would be cool...I like getting the take right and midi always felt weird and unless im making house type stuff most hardware grooveboxes don't have the feel. killer voice too dude real talk
Thanks, homeboy! I was never a sample kind of player which is why I got the OP1F. Trying to work on those skills. Even got the K.O. II thinking it would be fun, but I keep wanting to do more than it lets me. It’s been all techno so far, which is so much fun, but I have a long way to go. Not giving up 💪🏼
Amazing video, thanks!
These videos are really good! Thanks!
Thanks for watching!!
Hey a tip about the drums, I recently got the Akai mpd218 drumpad (mpc beats software completely free), works well with the op-1 except that you need to just shift the first F4 key as the drum pad can never pick it up or map it right, I tried everything with the software that it comes with to no avail. However, the drumpad really gives you a lot of freedom to experiment and you can either record freestyle or encode it into the endless drum looper later. I like my beat to be a bit humanized so it’s not 100% quantized. Thank you for this video I learned a ton!
Thanks for the tip!! I’m still getting used to finger drumming on the KOll. It’s never been one of my strengths.
@@NovakTheEnjoyer I'd venture and say that the experience of drumming on velocity sensitive elastic rubber pads is much different than the keys of the KOII. I never finger drummed in my life and I surprised myself. The rubber of the mpd218 almost kicks back your finger after contact so you're not fully lifting your fingers rendering the experience very enjoyable.
@@husssamo I guess I have to try this thing then. Thanks for the tip!
@@NovakTheEnjoyer I think someone like you will be able to do a lot more with it than I can. And thank for indulging me
Dude was just thinking about you while i was finishing up my track inside the op1-field asking myself "how does he do it?" and then you upload!
Neal!! You’re always so quick to reach out, I love it! How’s it going with the track??
Was thinking about a few questions and you answered them all in the video! Didn't think you would touch on the compressor but you even did that! Thanks for dedicating your time to creating these videos so people like myself can enjoy and learn from you. @@NovakTheEnjoyer
Probably said already, but just in case: SHIFT + LIFT a looped region to lift multiple tracks at once. Then SHIFT + DROP to drop it as one audio clip. Careful: the mixer volumes AND MUTES effect the lifted tracks.
I'm glad you mentioned this. At the time of recording this I don't believe that update happened yet, but I find myself using SHIFT + DROP now to lift the volume of a good take if it's too quiet in the mix. Otherwise, it always makes me nervous to use this just to consolidate tracks with no undo. One way the OP1F has changed my recording style is that it has simplified my writing. The fear of screwing everything up and the awareness of only getting 4 tracks and whatever you overdub (risky) keeps things refreshingly simple as opposed to the unlimited choices of a DAW where things can quickly and unnecessarily get convoluted and messy.
@NovakTheEnjoyer I always try to keep an "unmerged version" at the back of the track somewhere
@ yes! This is the way 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Cool tips! But did you know you can record into the pattern sequencer while it's playing? Just twist the rightmost knob to the right. And you can do it while the tape is playing too.. just twist and play at the same time :) (It's not quantizing your hit, so you need to be a little bit early on pressing the keys, but doable with practice, amazing for drums)
I did notice that you have to get the notes in early for them to land on time. Hopefully they can fix that in an update. I’ve been getting more and more into the pattern sequence lately.
Thanks for watching!!
This is rad man, thank you
lol i can relate the loosing 3 days of work. i tend to quickly make backups of the tapes on my computer like once every week or 2 via MTP. doesnt always save me but it did once!
For me to stop working on something once I get going, you have to rip it out of my hands so I usually go until the very last second that I have, or start as soon as I have time. I rarely think of backing things up, unfortunately. It’s a really bad habit.
This is great thanks for sharing your workflow on the OP1 field, that short piece you made is brilliant some of the best music I have heard made with the OP1. I am really considering getting an OP1 OG as the price has come down now. All of the resampling options look like so much fun. I make post rock music I think it would work well, have you used it in live performances too?
Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for taking the time to watch! I haven't used either in a live setting. I've had ideas, but not enough to get me out there. The OG is so much fun. I bought it twice. Once I had it for 2 weeks before returning it because I didn't think it was for me. The second time I bought it, it changed me.
@@NovakTheEnjoyer that’s great I think it would really suit me. But having said that I’ve got a push 2 and a moog mother 32 I really need to start working with too. The push is amazing but it’s got the draw back of needing a computer and audio interface to use it.
9:29 Make those rhythmic patterns 5, 7 or 9...and then you play your guitar or op-1 melodies in even count 4/4, the polyrhythm will be such off-kilter rotating syncopated funkiness///. Keep up the great work.
@@Station2Station-du2gh yeeessss!!!! I’ll be focusing on this now, thank youuuu!! Hell yeah!
@@NovakTheEnjoyer you can test the syncopation concept by having the left monkey do odd number (5 or 7) and the right monkey do even. But yea, you get it. Do it with your own melodic non-monkey playing. Love the channel.
@ 🙏🏼
I just record into Ableton. If I do something on the Tape and I like it then record each part into a daw.
you dont need to do all that work to bounce any more! "tape merge drop" came out in mid-December, just after this video. shift+lift to lift all your tracks, shift+drop to bounce to one track when you drop
Great Video! Do you do any post production in a DAW? for example the track (which is great) you showed near the end?
With these op1 songs, I don’t. They are all done solely on the op1 without any post processing. All of the music you hear throughout the video are op1 jams. 🙂
Thanks for watching!
I found that using the vocoder as an input allows me to process a signal coming in.
It’s the only way! 🙌🏼
How do you like the cm-15?
I absolutely love it. I didn’t think I would.
The portability and connectivity are the jam. It’s a little light. I wish it had a bit more heft to it, but for the most part, to have a condenser mic I can carry around with me, despite thinking that I would NEVER take a condenser mic anywhere because of how sensitive they are….
I can take it into a different room in the house if I’m bored of my studio. Into the backyard on a beautiful day…. It’s the shit.
My condenser mic for the last 20 years has been my faithful and dependable Rode NTK. It’s big, heavy, needs a stand, comes with a huge box of phantom power. It chains me to the studio. I do a lot of vocals, so it’s a great asset to me. 🙂
…expensive as hell though, lol
@@NovakTheEnjoyer just picked one up today but feel like the gain is either too low or too high with the limited controls on the device. What’s your process for recording audio and setting gain?
@@ColtKirwan I’ve been using mine exclusively with the OP-1 Field. I know what you mean. When I first got it, I thought there was no in between. You have those 3 settings in the back and that’s it, but after getting familiar with it, and playing with the gain on the OP1, I’ve found my sweet spots. With a little bit of time, you’ll definitely find them.
I was doing everything on the onboard mic of the OP1 up until about my last 3-4 videos. I got the hang of it now. 👌🏼
@@NovakTheEnjoyer I’ll do some tinkering! Been loving your op1 tips. I’ve had mine for a couple of months now collecting dust because it’s a tricky workflow to get down
This is exactly how I felt the first time I got the original OP-1. It sat and collected dust because I just wasn’t ready for it. I ended up buying it again about 5 years later and I guess my process had changed over that time, because for some reason it made sense. The field came out a few months later and with the feature upgrades, I was all in.
It’s definitely a tricky workflow. All I can say is what works for me. When I find I don’t know what to do with it, then I just take baby steps. I’ll choose an effect and sit for 30 minutes and just play with it and try to stretch its boundaries. Over time, not only do I absorb the workflow, but I also get really familiar with its gifts. But I don’t sit with it to learn. I just go for the ear massage 💆♂️
Would love to know about using the vocoder as a way to add another effect to what you record from the inputs.
I’ve definitely used it as harmonies to my vocals. I think you can hear it in the “See all of the beauty” video. Aside from that, they make it so easy to put the vocoder on anything.
Just found your channel! I mostly make music with my OG OP-1 without post processing too. Thanks for the helpful video. Those custom knobs look really cool! Did you custom that yourself?
I did! I have them available on my site, novaktheenjoyer.com. Great to meet another fellow explorer 🙂
I would love to hear some of the stuff you do. Thanks for watching!
@@NovakTheEnjoyer Awesome! I'll check out your site for sure!
Clicks and pops suck big time and it should be addressed by TE, I remember at some point og op-1 got it sorta in control with a firmware upgrade but it’s just a mess now on the field.
One thing that seems obvious to me is that they happen when you cut on a loop point or when you record with loop on… I try to avoid them by:
1) never looping while recording
2) make sure to slice on silence, and then make sure again that it didn’t trigger a pop because it wasn’t “real silence”
But it’s just hopeless, sometimes I just realize I had a poppy slice and didn’t notice and hate the world…
Great advice!! I will definitely take these bits into consideration. You’re right though, I don’t think there’s much you can do on the tape side of things. Thanks for watching!!
Dawg how are you mixing your vocals on this? They sound awesome
Thanks man, which part?
11:12! They sound so clean
@@vaye2663 awe dude, the Mother reverb is the shit. It evens everything out. Other than that, it’s all about mic positioning 👍🏼
Fresh channel! Subscribed 🤝
Thanks, homie! You too!
Why do you have Stephen Colberts voice . Great vid
How do you do gainstaging & balancing on the OP-1?
I explain it in this ruclips.net/video/cTv8k8_9jXk/видео.htmlsi=3kid4qKS0rKNWrKQ
But it’s all intuitive. I’m going by ear because there are no parameters to reference 🤷🏻♂️. Pain in the ass! 😃
Dope video
Thank you!!
Don't quit.
💪🏼
you rock! 🤘
🤘🏼😎
OP-1F is great!
Awe man, it’s so good!!
02:56
WHATTT?!?! :0
😎
AHAHAHAH MACRO MUSH, you just made up my new nickname !!
Dude, when I said, I thought “shit, I don’t know if that’s right” 😆. Thanks though!
You can avoid popping noise by looping the part you recording and stop recording after it started the second loop. Hope you understand 😂
I totally get it and I’ll try that! So maybe staring on the 3rd count of the loop and having it wrap around?
Wtf never seen this
Wow!! Your last video explaining your workflow was so filled with content, but that’s another level of sharing one tip after another. Thank you so much for being so generous! 🥹
Awe man, it’s my pleasure!! Whatever helps make better music! Thanks for watching 😃