The Teenage Engineering OP-1 is a

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

, sampler and sequencer designed and manufactured by the

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

-based company Teenage Engineering. The OP-1 was Teenage Engineering's first product; it was released in 2011 following an introduction at the

NAMM Show The NAMM Show is an annual trade show in the United States organized by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), which describes it as "the industry’s largest stage, uniting the global music, sound and entertainment technology commun ...

. It is also considered their core product. The OP-1 is well known for its unconventional design,

AMOLED AMOLED (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode; ) is a type of OLED display device technology. OLED describes a specific type of thin-film-display technology in which organic compounds form the electroluminescence, electroluminescent materi ...

display, and the depth of its synthesis engines.

Development

Teenage Engineering was founded in 2005 by Jesper Kouthoofd, David Eriksson, Jens Rudberg and David Mollerstedt. The OP-1 is the first product developed by the company. At the time, the team consisted of nine engineers and software developers. Following an announcement at Frankfurt Musikmesse in 2009, they presented a prototype of the OP-1 at the 2010

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the tenth-most ...

, and it was released in the following year. The design of the OP-1 was influenced by the VL-Tone, a synthesizer and

pocket calculator An electronic calculator is typically a portable electronic device used to perform calculations, ranging from basic arithmetic to complex mathematics. The first solid-state electronic calculator was created in the early 1960s. Pocket-siz ...

manufactured by Casio in 1979. The VL-1 is known for its toy-like novelty sounds and cheap build quality, as well as its inorganic design. In an interview with Damian Kulash of

OK Go OK Go is an American Rock music, rock band originally from Chicago, Illinois, now based in Los Angeles, California. The band is composed of Damian Kulash (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, guitar), Tim Nordwind (bass guitar, bass, backing vocalist, v ...

, CEO Kouthoofd explained that he worked in a music store when he was young, and he was inspired by Japanese synthesizers of the 1980s, such as the VL-Tone and the

Casio SK-1 The Casio SK-1 is a small sampling keyboard made by Casio in 1985. It has 32 small sized piano keys, four-note polyphony, with a sampling bit depth of 8 bit PCM and a sample rate of 9.38 kHz for 1.4 seconds, a built-in microphone and line level ...

, an inexpensive sampler. Kouthoofd has also stated that "limitations are OP-1's biggest feature". The synthesizer's designers attempted to use the limitation of physical hardware to encourage the unit to stimulate creativity, which might become unfocused in a limitless environment, such as a

digital audio workstation A digital audio workstation (DAW ) is an electronic device or application software used for Sound recording and reproduction, recording, editing and producing audio files. DAWs come in a wide variety of configurations from a single software pr ...

In 2012, Teenage Engineering introduced several "accessories" for the OP-1. These can be used to manipulate the unit's macro effect knobs. One of the accessories makes the OP-1 compatible with

Lego Lego (, ; ; stylised as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. Lego consists of variously coloured interlocking plastic bricks made of acrylonitri ...

gears and motors, which can be used to mechanically modulate low-frequency oscillators and other effects. The OP-1 became unavailable for a period from late 2018 to early 2019 due to Teenage Engineering exhausting their stock of the

display screen. Due to rumors that the synthesizer had been permanently discontinued, the resell value of the OP-1 dramatically increased to surpass its original retail price. In February, Teenage Engineering announced that they would resume production of the OP-1; however, the retail price increased by approximately 35% to cover the new parts and redesigned hardware. The price increase was met with criticism due to a perception of poor resource planning.

Features

Sound synthesis

The OP-1 includes eleven synthesis engines. For each engine, the OP-1's four knobs act as different macro controllers. In addition to a sampler, the OP-1 is preloaded with sampled drum hits. The synthesizer is monotimbral, with six voices of

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chord ...

. It also includes an FM radio, which can be recorded into the sampler or used to modulate effects. The operating system was updated in 2014 adding additional effects and features. The OP-1's eleven synthesis engines are FM, Cluster, Digital, DNA, DSynth, Dr Wave, String, Phase, Pulse, Sampler, and Voltage. Each is represented by a different graphic on the display screen. The FM engine is a simple FM synthesizer. The Cluster engine produces a distorted sound reminiscent of the

Roland JP-8000 The Roland JP-8000 is an analog modeling synthesizer released by the Roland Corporation in 1996. Overview The Roland JP-8000 was released in early 1997 as part of the first wave of virtual analog modeling synthesizers (VA synths). Others fro ...

supersaw. DNA is a

noise generator A noise generator is a circuit that produces electrical noise (i.e., a random signal). Noise generators are used to test signals for measuring noise figure, frequency response, and other parameters. Noise generators are also used for Random numbe ...

. Dr Wave resembles the sound of a

talk box A talk box (also spelled talkbox and talk-box) is an effects unit that allows musicians to modify the sound of a musical instrument by shaping the frequency content of the sound and to apply speech sounds (in the same way as singing) onto the so ...

. Digital provides

ring modulation In electronics, ring modulation is a signal processing function, an implementation of frequency mixing, in which two signals are combined to yield an output signal. One signal, called the carrier, is typically a sine wave or another simple w ...

and wave shape parameters to distort the sound signal. String creates

string instrument In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners. Musicians play some ...

emulation, ranging from

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

to string pads. Pulse is a square wave engine. Phase provides two

pulse wave A pulse wave or pulse train or rectangular wave is a non-sinusoidal waveform that is the periodic version of the rectangular function. It is held high a percent each cycle ( period) called the duty cycle and for the remainder of each cycle is ...

s that can be modulated and distorted. DSynth provides a dual oscillator synthesizer with multiple filter types. Voltage is a multi-oscillator synthesizer. The Sampler interface is a sampler, which can take input from the OP-1's built-in microphone, an external audio input, or the built-in FM radio.

Display screen

One of the key features of the OP-1 is its 320 x 160-pixel OLED display, which shows a graphical representation of the device's current mode. Although some of the displays use traditional symbols, such as the fairly straightforward

ADSR envelope In sound and music, an envelope describes how a sound changes over time. For example, a piano key, when struck and held, creates a near-immediate initial sound which gradually decreases in volume to zero. An envelope may relate to elements such ...

, others use more literal or unconventional graphics. For example, the "punch" effect (a

low-pass filter A low-pass filter is a filter that passes signals with a frequency lower than a selected cutoff frequency and attenuates signals with frequencies higher than the cutoff frequency. The exact frequency response of the filter depends on the filt ...

) is represented by a

line art Line art or line drawing is any image that consists of distinct straight lines or curved lines placed against a background (usually plain). Two-dimensional or three-dimensional objects are often represented through shade (darkness) or hue (co ...

illustration of a boxer.

Keyboard

The OP-1 has a fixed-velocity keyboard with 24 keys. Arrow keys are provided to transpose up or down octaves while in synthesizer or drum mode. Four octave shifts up and four shifts down are available giving the user a total range of ten octaves.

Reception

Reception for the OP-1 was largely positive, citing its powerful synthesizer engines and unconventional format and design. However, it has received some criticism for its small size and simplicity, which make it resemble a toy. It also lacks velocity sensitivity, making it minimally expressive. The OP-1 won one of Sweden's Design S Awards in 2012. The award committee described the OP-1 as "A technological product which through a clever colour scheme and fantastic graphics is intuitive, easily accessible and incredibly inviting. Music and machine in one". In 2014 it was awarded second prize in

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

's Margaret Guthman Musical Instrument Competition. The

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern art, modern and contemporary art museum and nonprofit organization located in San Francisco, California. SFMOMA was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th-century art ...

includes an OP-1, donated by Teenage Engineering, in its permanent collection. Musicians who have used the OP-1 include Amason,

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...

Jean-Michel Jarre Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the Electronic music, electronic, Ambient music, ambient and New-age music, new-age genres, and is known for organising out ...

, Tourist,

Chvrches Chvrches (stylised CHVRCHΞS and pronounced "Churches") are a Scottish synth-pop band from Glasgow, formed in September 2011. The band consists of Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook, Martin Doherty and, unofficially since 2018, Jonny Scott. Mostly deriv ...

Justin Vernon Justin DeYarmond Edison Vernon (born April 30, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best-known as the primary songwriter and Lead vocalist, frontman of indie folk band Bon Iver. He is also a member o ...

Bon Iver Bon Iver ( ) is an American indie folk band founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Vernon had originally formed Bon Iver as a solo project, but it eventually became a band consisting of Vernon (vocals, guit ...

Efrim Menuck Efrim Manuel Menuck (; born November 4, 1970) is a Canadian musician involved with a number of Montreal-based bands, most notably Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra. Menuck is also a frequent record producer ...

Godspeed You! Black Emperor Godspeed You! Black Emperor (sometimes abbreviated to GY!BE or Godspeed) is a Canadian post-rock collective that originated in Montreal, Quebec in 1994. The group releases recordings through Constellation Records (Canada), Constellation, an in ...

, and

Ivan Dorn Ivan Oleksandrovich Dorn (), born Ivan Aleksandrovich Eryomin (; born 17 October 1988), is a Ukrainian singer and actor. He is also active as a DJ, TV presenter and producer, and a former member of the band ''Para Normalnyh'' (''Пара Норм� ...

References

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Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is an American business magazine published monthly in print and online, focusing on technology, business, and design. It releases six print issues annually. History ''Fast Company'' was founded in November 1995 by Alan Webb ...

, work=Labs , last=Byrne , first=Ciara , date=3 September 2013 , title=More Than An Office, Teenage Engineering's Minimalist Garage Is A Tinkerer’s Paradise , accessdate=30 January 2015 {{cite web, url=http://createdigitalmusic.com/2010/01/teenage-engineerings-op-1-instrument-hands-on-videos-why-its-different/ , publisher=Create Digital Music , last=Kirn , first=Peter , date=17 January 2010 , title=Teenage Engineering’s OP-1 Instrument: Hands-on, Videos, Why it’s Different , accessdate=31 January 2015 {{cite web, url=http://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/namm-2010-teenage-engineerings-op-1-on-video-232612 , publisher=

MusicRadar Future plc is a British publishing company. It was started in 1985 by Chris Anderson. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History 1985–2012 The company was founded by Chris Anderson a ...

, last=Wickett , first=Chris , date=14 January 2010 , title=NAMM 2010: Teenage Engineering's OP-1 on video , accessdate=31 January 2015 {{cite web, url=http://www.vintagesynth.com/casio/vl1.php , publisher=Vintage Synth Explorer , title=Casio VL-Tone VL-1 , accessdate=31 January 2015 {{cite web , url=http://www.larcobaleno.com/stories/dream-machine.html , publisher=L'ArcoBaleno , last1=Kulash , first1=Damian , last2=Carnick , first2=Anna , date=26 August 2013 , title=Dream Machine , accessdate=30 January 2015 , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150323151530/http://www.larcobaleno.com/stories/dream-machine.html , archivedate=23 March 2015 {{cite web, url=http://www.earmilk.com/gear/188227/teenage-engineering/op-1 , publisher=Earmilk , first=Kevin , last=Gaughan , date=February 2014 , title=Teenage Engineering - OP-1 , accessdate=30 January 2015 {{cite web, url=https://www.theverge.com/2012/8/28/3270259/teenage-engineering-op-1-accessories-launch-profile , publisher=

The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American Technology journalism, technology news website headquarters, headquartered in Lower Manhattan, New York City and operated by Vox Media. The website publishes news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, cons ...

, last=Ingraham , first=Nathan , date=28 August 2012 , title=Teenage Engineering's new OP-1 gear: it's time to crank, bend, and break the rules , accessdate=30 January 2015 {{cite web, url=http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan12/articles/teenage-engineering-op1.htm , work=

Sound on Sound ''Sound on Sound'' is a monthly music technology magazine. The magazine includes product tests of electronic musical performance and recording devices, and interviews with industry professionals. Due to its technical focus, it is predominantly ...

, last=Nagle , first=Paul , date=January 2012 , title=Teenage Engineering OP1 , accessdate=31 January 2015 {{cite web, url=https://www.engadget.com/2011/01/14/teenage-engineering-op-1-synthesizer-now-available-for-pre-order/ , publisher=

Engadget Engadget ( ) is a technology news, reviews and analysis website offering daily coverage of gadgets, consumer electronics, video games, gaming hardware, apps, social media, streaming, AI, space, robotics, electric vehicles and other potentially ...

, first=Trent , last=Wolbe , date=14 January 2011 , title=Teenage Engineering OP-1 synthesizer now available for pre-order, we tour its shiny new features (video) , accessdate=30 January 2015 {{cite web , url=http://design-s.se/en/designs2012-en/winners-en/ , publisher=Design S , title=Winners , accessdate=30 January 2015 , archive-date=24 December 2015 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224082209/http://design-s.se/en/designs2012-en/winners-en/ , url-status=dead {{cite web , url=http://guthman.gatech.edu/2014-competition , publisher=Georgia Institute of Technology , title=2014 Competition , date=2015 , accessdate=30 January 2015 , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150114050611/http://guthman.gatech.edu/2014-competition , archivedate=14 January 2015

External links

Product page
from Teenage Engineering Polyphonic synthesizers Samplers (musical instrument) MIDI controllers Products introduced in 2011