OP-1 Field New Engine? Granular Synthesis!
Our wild guess of the next synth engine of Teenage Engineering’s OP-1 Field
Since the controversial release of the new OP-1 Field by Teenage Engineering lots of people got their hands on the new device. Same as with the previous OP-1, we are expecting Teenage Engineering to further enhance it and add more features with future firmware updates. Their latest update had a feature that everyone was waiting for (and lots got pissed that it wasn’t there on the release), Velocity Sensitivity on its keys. A feature that is pretty standard on every synth was at last implemented on the OP-1 Field. So today, just for the fun of it, we decided to throw in our own idea of a new synth engine that we would love to see on the OP-1 Field.
The OP-1 has 7 stereo synth engines and a Sampler engine. The ones that are available right now are FM, Cluster, Digital, DNA, DSynth, Dr. Wave, String, Phase, Pulse, Sampler, Voltage, and the brand new one called Dimension.
Dimension is a standard subtractive synthesis engine that was surprisingly not on the original one. Basic waveforms and a filter to create standard synth sounds were much needed and now we have them.
But what would be a great new addition to its arsenal of synth engines?
A Granular Engine!
So, we now are going to envision and suggest a new engine that we’re sure will be loved and used but OP-1 Field Users! Especially ambient electronic musicians that lots of them use the OP-1!
- But what is Granular Synthesis (in a nutshell)? Granular Synthesis is based on the same principle of sampling. But in this case, samples are chopped up into tiny pieces (around 1 to 100ms) that are called grains, and those grains are played back creating a cloud of sound.
The OP-1 Field is also a sampler and that would be very convenient for a granular synth engine. You can import samples or sample straight into the OP-1 by a line input, microphone, or even the radio and use those samples in the Granular Engine. Having the ability to capture sounds on the fly and then play them back using a granular synthesis engine would be amazing! It will unlock a whole new world of manipulating and playing samples that will allow you to create vast soundscapes and ambient drones.
As we all know, OP-1 has four knobs to control the parameters of an engine so we have to set how these knobs will operate for our Granular Synth. This will be quite limiting as granular synths have numerous functions that can be controlled but for the sake of our experiment, we will just include the most profound and necessary controls for our engine.
Start Point: By using this knob, you’ll be able to move across your selected sample to set the start point of its playback
Spread: The length of the sample that will be used for playback
Density: The number of grains
Grain Size: The size/ duration of those grains. Also by tapping the orange knob, you will be able to change between different play modes or even make the grains play in reverse.
Also having an Envelope to control dynamics but most importantly a powerful LFO built-in, you will be able to control the parameters of the Granular Engine to your liking. Mapping the LFO to the Start Point of the sample can lead to a very interesting and constantly-evolving sound!
As you already know, this post is just for fun and inspiration for Teenage Engineering. Since the new OP-1 Field is a device that’s here to stay and will keep getting updated with new features, synths, effects, etc. it doesn’t hurt anyone to express our wishlist of new features!
Disclaimer: We have no inside information from Teenage Engineering and this is not a leak of any kind. Just our own imagination. Or maybe not?
What’s your dream feature that you want to be added on the OP-1 Field? Let us know in the comments below!
