OP-1portablesynthesizer

user guide ガイドv.2.2

thank you for choosing the OP-1 portable synthesizer. this device is precision made to last many years anddesigned to be practical, intuitive and to give you hours of creative pleasure.

to get the most out of your new OP-1, be sure to read thisoperator’s manual carefully. for even deeperunderstanding and the latest pro tips, please visit the OP-1community website operator-1.com.

user guide click on the section youwant to read more about

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hardware overviewpower on/offcharging the batteryin and out-puts

layout

musical keyboardplaying a soundoctave shift

main modesthe four main modesusing shift + any main modemain mode screen examples

synthesizer modeintroductionsynthesizer enginesenvelopeplaymodesynthesizer effectsynthesizer LFOchange soundsaving a soundsound file structure

drum modeintroductiondrum sampler enginelaying out a drum kitdynamic envelopeimporting your own soundsusing OP-1’s standard layoutD-box drum engine

sequencers

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the mixerintroductionsound pathmixerEQmaster effectmaster out

tempointroductionsetting the tempo/tap tempousing the metronomefree modebeat matchsync modePO sync1/16 sync

helpthe help buttontoolsbattery level

recording external sourcesusing the mic/input keymic/input key in synth modemic/input key in tape modesampling using the built in microphonecreating a drum kit from fm radio waves

song rendering and connectivityalbumcomOP-1 modectrl modedisk modeopt(option) mode

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introductionselecting a sequencer typeendless sequencerendless functionalitypattern sequencerpattern functionalitytombola sequencertombola functionalityfinger sequencerfinger functionalitysketch sequencersketch functionalityarpeggio sequencerarpeggio functionality

tape modeintroductionrecord to tapeoverdubbingrewind and fast forwardjump to the start/end of tapereverse playbackrecording leveltape editingadvanced liftchanging tape speedadvanced recording techniquestape trickserasing tapebacking up your tapebars/bar markers

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sequencing external equipmentcontrolling ableton liveableton live key assignmentscontrolling propellerhead reason

shift keyusing shiftchange a single moduleshift + main mode keysshift + arrow keysshift + encoders

LFO referenceLFO modes introductionelement LFO moderandom LFO modetremolo LFO modevalue LFO modeMIDI LFO modecrank LFO modebend LFO modeadditional symbols used in LFO modefree LFO

exercisesrecreating soundsstarting outhelicopter soundsinging birds sound

referencesynth engineseffects referencesequencer reference

what's in the box check that the following items areincluded when you open the box

OP-1 unit. transparent overlay.OP-1 comes with atransparent overlay forquick reference of thekeyboard layout. keep thisfor future reference.

rubber band.you may use the paperfoambox in which your OP-1came delivered as atemporary storage box. usethe rubber bands to sealthe box.

USB cable.OP-1 uses a standard USBto mini USB cable forcharging the OP-1 and fortransferring data betweenyour OP-1 and yourcomputer. if you want touse an external poweradapter instead of acomputer for charging thebattery, make sure you areusing a 5V USB standardcharger. a dedicatedcharger works moreefficiently and will chargethe battery faster.

slotfor strap

on powerswitch

off usb for charging thebattery, for transferring

files and for midi

3.5 mmaudio in /

mic

3.5 mmaudio out /

headphones

slotfor strap

1.1 power on / off

to power on your OP-1, slidethe white power switchlocated on the right side ofthe device towards you. thedisplay will light up and theOP-1 loads necessarysystem data.

to power off, slide thepower switch away fromyou. data is always storedon-the-fly, so you don’thave to worry about savingyour sound or recordings.

everything will still be therethe next time you power onyour OP-1 exactly the sameas when you left it.

note: the more samples orother data you store onyour OP-1, the longer thestart-up process will be. it’sa good habit both for start-up time and for safety toback-up and clear your OP-1occasionally.

1.2 charging the battery

the first thing you should dois to connect your OP-1 to acomputer (or optionalcharger) via the USB portlocated on the right side ofthe unit. 

make sure to keep your OP-1 connected until youhave fully charged theinternal battery. this will beindicated by the same LEDsused for the VU meter.

to check the battery level,press the help key. the LEDswill light up to indicate thelevel. five lit LEDs is equal toa fully charged battery. press to check

battery level

1.3 in and outputs

OP-1 has three portslocated on the right handside of the unit.

audio in/line in•• audio out forheadphones/line out• USB port for charging,transferring files and MIDI

note: to adjust the inputlevel press shift + mic key.to adjust the output level,turn the volume knob or setthe master L/R level outputlocated in mixer T4.

if you turn your OP-1 upside down, you will find symbols and braille text that indicates I/O location.

1. hardware overview

2. layout

1. speaker2. volume3. help4. tempo5. main modes

6. tape edits 7. tape transport8. rewind/forward, octaveshift +/-, step forward/back9. shift

10. display 11. T1-T412. color coded encoders13. mic/input14. album/com

15. sound 1-8 16. sequencer17. musical keyboard18. built-in microphone19. VU/battery indicator

the layout of the OP-1 isdivided into different groupsfor easy reading andintuitive workflow.

turn the volume knob to setthe master volume.

the four color encoders are related to the graphicalinterface on the display.a green graphical elementor text hints that the greenencoder will change itsvalue or position.

on the right side of your OP-1 you find the built inmicrophone and VU /battery LEDs.

3. musical keyboard

3.1 playing a sound

press any key on themusical keyboard and youshould instantly hear asound. 

if it is silent, turn up themaster volume located nextto the speaker, or press thesynthesizer or drum key.

pro-tip: press and hold thehelp key while playing themusical keyboard to let yourOP-1 display the currentnote.

help key

3.2 octave shift

use the arrow keys totranspose octave while insynthesizer or drum mode.

note: before you startcreating your firstmasterpiece, read thismanual carefully to avoiddeleting or over-recordingyour work.

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7. sequencers

7.1 sequencers introduction

OP-1 comes with four original sequencers that letyou arrange notes indifferent ways. bothsynthesizer and drum modehave their own dedicatedsequencer memory and canhave separate types active,even though only one canbe played at a time.

the big difference betweenthe tape and a sequencer isthat tape produces a pureaudio recording, while asequencer stores note data.one of the reasons for usinga sequencer is that youmay change or alter thesound but continue playingthe same stored notes.

7.2 selecting a sequencer type

to select sequencer typepress shift + the sequencerkey to enter the sequencerbrowser screen. turn theblue encoder to make yourselection, then press thesequencer key again to exit.

7.3 endless sequencer

endless is a very effectiveway to get sequencingdone quickly.

just hold shift + press anykey on the musicalkeyboard to store a note. it automatically moves onestep forward when yourelease the key. hold shiftuntil you are done.

then release shift and pressany key on the musicalkeyboard to play yoursequence.

the maximum number ofnotes that can be stored is 128.

7.4 endless sequencer functionality

insert notes.to insert a note, press shift+ any key on the musicalkeyboard. keep holdingdown shift until you aredone with all notes youwant to insert.

insert long notes.press shift + any key on themusical keyboard. continueto hold the keys whilepressing the forward arrowkey (>).

insert space.press shift + the forwardarrow key (>).

delete last note.press shift + the rewindarrow key (<).

c

play a sequence.to play a sequence justpress any key on themusical keyboard. the pitchof the played notes willchange depending on whatkey you press. this is calledkey transposition. 

to play the original pitch ofthe notes play the c key onthe musical keyboard.

play and hold a sequence.turn the orange encoderuntil hold lights up.

change playback directionof a sequence.you have three differentoptions for how you wantthe notes to be played back.forward, reverse or random.change direction by holdingshift and turn the orangeencoder.

set time signature.time signature is basically away to define how manynotes (beats) that will beplayed in one bar. this isrelated to the master tempothat you set in tempo andto the bars in tape mode. ifyou set 1/16, one bar in tapewill be 16 notes or beats.change time signature byturning the blue encoder.

swing.swing is a way to slightlyalter the timing of notesplayed in a sequence. toadd swing turn the greenencoder. no swing is a 50%setting.note: remember to check ifyou have applied swingwhen you record multiplelayers of sequencedmaterial to tape if you wantthem to be in absolute sync.

apply a pattern to yoursequence.the endless sequencer hasa function which lets youadd a pattern to yoursequence. turn the whiteencoder to apply a pattern.a single dot means there’sno pattern applied. (turn thewhite encoder counterclockwise all the way untilonly a single dot is shown)

rotate a pattern.by holding shift + turningthe white encoder, you canrotate the dots within thepattern.

crank mode.shift + blue encoderactivates crank mode,which gives you manual,music-box style playbackcontrol.

note: in endless, you mayuse the arrow keys tochange octave in playbackmode.

7.5 pattern sequencer

pattern is a classic grid typesequencer found in manyhardware and softwareinstruments. this is a 16 stepsequencer, particularlyuseful for sequencing drumpatterns.

7.6 pattern functionality

insert notes.to insert a note press shift + any key on themusical keyboard. keepholding down shift until youare done with all notes youwant to insert.

erasing notes.hold down shift and turnthe blue encoder.

moving the vertical cursor line.press arrow keys or turn theblue encoder to move thehorizontal cursor line, bydoing this you also selectwhich note you want tofocus on when erasing.

swing.swing is a way to slightlyalter the timing of notesplayed in a sequence. toadd swing turn the greenencoder. no swing is a 50%setting.

note: remember to check ifyou have applied swingwhen you record multiplelayers of sequencedmaterial to tape if you wantthem to be in absolute sync.

rotate notes.hold shift + turn the greenencoder to rotate all notes.this might be good whenyou have entered the notesin live mode.

live mode.turn the orange encoderuntil hold lights up. thesequencer starts, and thewhite horizontal cursormoves across thesequence. press shift + anykey on the musicalkeyboard to insert a note atthe current cursor position.

live edit mode.press shift + any arrow keywhile the sequencer isrunning to break the cursorconnection and let you editthe notes as you would innormal stopped mode.

set sequence length.turn the white encoder toadjust the playback lengthof the sequence.

move section.if you hold shift + turn thewhite encoder you maymove the played backsection around within thesequence. great for fill-ins!

play and hold a sequence.turn the orange encoderuntil hold lights up.note: to key transpose apattern sequence, switch tosynthesizer, drum, tape ormixer mode and press anykey on the musicalkeyboard. to play theoriginal pitch of thesequenced notes, play the ckey on the musicalkeyboard.

change playback directionof a sequence.you have three differentoptions for how you wantthe notes to be played back.forward, reverse or cycle.change direction by holdingshift and turn the orangeencoder.

7.7 tombola sequencer

use tombola when youwant to create a randomsequence. just throw acouple of notes into thetombola and then set thegravity, mass and spinningspeed. the harder/faster anote bounces the louderthe sound will play.

7.8 tombola functionality

drop notes into tombola.play any key on the musicalkeyboard to drop a noteinto the tombola.

adjust bounciness.turn the orange encoder toadjust the bounciness ofthe notes. the harder a notehits the wall of the thetombola the louder it willplay. this is measured inamount of mass.

adjust heaviness.this is measured in amountof gravity. turn the greenencoder to set the gravity.

releasing notes.turn the white encoder toopen the tombola andrelease the notes.

tombola speed.turn the blue encoder toadjust the speed and thedirection of rotation of thetombola.

crank mode.engage crank using shift +blue encoder. you may nowspin the tombola by hand,just using blue.

pro-tip: keep the tombolaopen and set a high rotationspeed. this creates arandom type of echo effect.

7.9 finger sequencer

the finger sequencer letsyou play two sequences incombination with oneanother.

finger works the same insynth and drum modes(animations differ).

each white key on themusical keyboardrepresents a pattern. eachpattern is visualized as thetop middle, checkered rows.each checked row may befilled with either synth notesor drum triggers. 

you will recognize notesand trigs as the small whitecrosses. the green dotrepresent the pattern’sswing setting.

7.10 finger functionality

when finger is activated forsynth, two keyboard playersappear. 

when used with drum, thereare two gorillas.

each sequence, activatedby pushing a white key onthe musical keyboard, ispopulated by crosses bydefault. press and hold akey on the musicalkeyboard to commenceplayback. 

depending on whichplayback mode you areusing (chosen usingshift+orange encoder),pushing a second key onthe musical keyboard willnow either layer a secondpattern (join), play when yourelease the previous one(replace), or play fill ins (fillin). using the orangeencoder allows you to turnhold playback mode on forfinger.

insert notes.to insert a note press shift +any key on the musicalkeyboard.

moving the cursor anderasing notes.blue encoder moves thebox cursor inside thesequence. hold down shiftand turn the blue encoderto erase while moving thecursor.

set sequence length.white encoder adjusts thelength of a pattern.

swing.to add swing turn the greenencoder. no swing is a 50%setting.note: remember to check ifyou have applied swingwhen you record multiplelayers of sequencedmaterial to tape if you wantthem to be in absolute sync.

7.11 sketch sequencer

sketch is a free formsequencer where you drawshapes by hand using theencoders.

7.12 sketch functionality

draw shapes.use the blue and greenencoders to draw. theshape will control the pitchof the active sound.

move cursor.use the white and orangeencoders to move thecursor without drawing. youcan also use the musicalkeyboard to move cursor toa vertical position.

use divider.hold shift and turn thegreen encoder to select aspeed divider. speeds rangefrom /4 to x16.

use grid.hold shift and turn thewhite encoder to enable agrid. this acts as a visualguide when drawing.

start/stop sequencer.to start the sequencer, holdshift and turn the orangeencoder clockwise. turn anticlockwise to stop.

free play.in synth mode you can usethe musical keyboard tomanually play the sketch. 

erase.to erase a sketch and startall over just pick up OP-1and physically shake it. thiswill erase everything and letyou start from scratch. youcan also hold shift and turnthe blue encoder anticlockwise to trace thesketch backwards, erasingas you go.

7.13 arpeggio sequencer

the arpeggio sequencer isan arpeggiator with multipleplay and trig styles. pressand hold chord notes andarpeggio will distributethese in time. additionalnotes can automatically beadded based on type.

7.14 arpeggio functionality

set time signature.use the blue encoder to settime signatures. T givestriplet notes. the 1/16 notetime signature is selectedby default.

trigger mode.use the green encoder tochange trigger mode. basedon 'type', notes are addedto your chord in differentways:

none: no additions to the selected notes.

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once: note added to the last note played.

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each: each note getsadditions in sequence.

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all: sequence is played inwhole then affected. 

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trig: emphasis is on thefirst note played, keepingit locked in a 4/4 pattern, good for drums. no notesare added.

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trigger pattern.the white encoder lets youapply a trigger pattern,indicated by dots anddashes. a dot means a notewill be trigged. a dashmeans the step will bepaused or skipped, basedon the pause / skip setting.

hold.to hold the current notesturn the orange encoderuntil hold lights up.

note length.use shift + blue encoder toset note length for all notes,in ticks from 1 – 64.

set type.use shift + green encoderto set type.the additional notes addedto the chord is based on thetype selected, countingfrom the base note:

type 0: octave up•type 1: octave up + down•type 2: +7, +9, -5,•type 3: 2, 4, 5, 7, 9,•

pause / skip trigger.shift + white encodercontrols how the - steps inthe trigger pattern will beaffected. 

→ means that any dashedstep will be skipped. ıı  means that any dashedstep will be silent / paused.

swing.add swing by holding shiftand turning the orangeencoder. no swing is a 50%setting.

8. tape mode

8.1 tape mode introduction

your OP-1 has a built in tapefeature with 6 minutes ofrecording time (in normaltape speed and 44.1 kHz/16bits). it has 4 individualtracks. to enter the tapemode press the tape keywith the orange tapesymbol on it.

this mode changes thefunction of T1-T4 whichnow become track 1-4.

the sound selection keyschange into tape tricks 1-8:

8.2 record to tape

1. select the sound whichyou want to record. 2. then press the tape keyto enter tape mode.

3. select a track to record toby pressing any of the trackkeys T1-T4.

4. set recording level withthe orange encoder. (this is also the main levelfor synthesizer and drumsounds).

5. press rec + play to startrecording.

6. play the musicalkeyboard.

7. press stop when done. 8. press rewind (left arrow)to rewind the tape.

9. press play to listen toyour recording.

8.3 overdubbing

the tape always overdubs ifthere’s recorded materialon the same track. to avoidoverdubbing, lift any pre-recorded takes out from thetape location.

8.4 rewind and fast forward

use the arrow keys torewind and fast-forward theplayback of the tape.

8.5 jump to the start/end of the tape

press stop + left arrow keyto jump to the verybeginning of the tape.

press stop + right arrow tojump to the end of the lasttake on the tape.

8.6 reverse playback

option 1:press shift + play.

option 2:press the reverse tapetricks key when the tape isrolling.

8.7 recording level

turn the orange encoder toset the recording level.

8.8 tape editing

first select the track youwant to edit. recordedmaterial shows up as greylines and is referred to astakes. when an active trackhas recorded material, thelines turn orange. to edit atake, use scrub, rewind, ff orpress stop to center itunder the tape head. a taketurns blue when it’s inposition and ready forediting or moving.

scrub – use blue encoder toscrub though the tape.

slide – use shift + blueencoder to slide a take. youmay slide a take until eitherof its start or end pointinterferes with another take.

lift – press the lift key(arrow up) to lift a take. thetake is now in the memory.to undo press the drop keyto place it at the center ofthe tape head. you mayrepeatedly press the dropkey to paste multiple takes.the tape moves each timeto the end of a droppedtake. lift is also used as away to delete a take.

drop – press the drop key.use this as way to place thelast take stored in memory.

split – this splits a take.  lift all – hold down shift +lift to lift all tracks intomemory.

join – press shift + split tojoin takes. this function joinsthe next closest take oneither side of the active one.you may repeatedly use jointo join multiple takes.

region lift – use the loop inand out points to define thepart you want to lift.

8.9 advanced lift

besides recording, the tapecan also be used as asketchpad for creatinglayered sounds.

using the tape this waylet’s you build up a soundlayer by layer on all fourtracks and lift it (use lift allto lift all tracks) and thendrop it in either thesynthesizer sampler ordrum sampler.

you may also save a soundto tape by pressing lift inany of the synthesizer ordrum sounds and thenselect tape mode and pressdrop. this creates a datarecording of all parametersand/or samples on theactive tape track.

to recall the sound, lift itfrom tape and drop it backinto any sound from 1-8. forthis function to work, thetake has to be exactly thesame and an isolated takeas it was when it wasdropped.

8.10 changing tape speed

you may change the speedof the tape whenever youwant, even duringrecording. to do this, turnthe white encoder.

if you hold down shift andturn the white encoder thetape speed is changed infixed steps. the soundquality changes in the sameway as a real tape whenchanging speed – the fasterthe tape speed, the higherthe quality of the recording.

8.11 advanced recording techniques

a quite special recordingtechnique is to put the tapein rec arm mode andcontrol the speed manually.to do this press shift + rec.you are now recording butthe reels are still. 

to move the tape back andforth, turn the blue encoder.depending on how quickyou turn the encoder thepitch of the recording willvary.

another great recordingtrick is to turn the out-to-infunction on, found underthe mic key. this let’s yourecord everything you hearto a selected track. this alsoworks as a bouncerecording function.

a nice option for additionalrecording control is usingthe OP-1 accessory crank.this will give you music-box-style control over yourtape recording.read more about crankhere.

8.12 tape tricks

when in tape (or mixermode) the sound selectionkeys 1-8 turns into tapetricks keys.the tape tricks are shownunder numbers 1-8.

tape tricks are a collectionof functions made tointerfere with the tape orthe mixer in different ways.they are implemented toopen up for live tweaks andquick key mixing effects.

loop in – sets the loop inpoint of the tape.

loop out – this sets the loopout point.

loop toggle – toggles loopon and off.

shift + loop – loop currenttake.

break – stops the tape. if aloop is active it will continuein the background to keepthe break in time.

reverse – change directionof the tape.

chop – a tempo lockedrepeat type of effect.

memo 1 – memorize anyparameter in tape or mixerfor instant recall. to use this,hold down the key and turnany encoder while in tapeor mixer screen. release keywhen done. press the keyagain to instant recall thechanged parameter. this isgreat for switching betweendifferent eq settings or toturn up the effect levelwhen the tape is running.

memo 2 – memorize anyparameter in tape or mixerfor instant recall.

8.13 erasing tape

to completely erase thetape and all recordedmaterial, press shift + tapekey. 

you have to press all T1-T4keys to start the erasingprocess. once all keys arepressed there’s no wayback. your tape will bewiped forever.

note: connect your OP-1 toyour computer and transferthe tape if you want abackup or need to free upspace.

8.14 backing up your tape

to backup your tape,connect your OP-1 to yourcomputer and press shift +com. select disk mode. theOP-1 will show up on yourdesktop as a disk. 

locate the folder named“tape” and copy the filesnamed “track_1.aif”,“track_2.aif”, “track_3.aif”,“track_4.aif”. drag all trackfiles to your computer’sdesktop.

you have now made abackup of the tape as fourindividual audio tracks. 

note: no mix, EQ, mastereffects or drive will beapplied to individual trackswhen exported. to make afinal mix of your tape,record to album andbackup the album file. Thealbum file will be located inalbum, “sideA.aif” or“sideB.aif”

8.15 bars

when beat match isselected in master tempo,you’ll notice bar markersjust above the tape tracks.

to jump from bar to bar,press shift + rewind (<) orshift + ff (>) .

pro-tip: while the tape isplaying and loop is engagedyou can use shift + rewind(<) or shift + ff (>) to shift

one bar is 4 beats / 16 stepswhich means if you enter 16steps in the endless stepsequencer and set it to 1/16and record it, it will fitexactly in one bar on thetape.

looped sections, allowingyou to play different tapesections in sequence. this is very handy duringlive performance.

9. mixer

9.1 mixer introduction

mixer is the final stage ofthe sound path. its mainfunction is to set theindividual level and pan ofthe four tape tracks (T1), toadjust the master EQ (T2),add a master effect (T3)and to add drive to yourmix (T4). 

but as it is also the finaldestination for all sound, it should be worth notinghow the sound travelsinside your OP-1. this iscalled the sound path.

9.2 sound path

the sound path is the waythe sound moves from themoment you hit a key onthe musical keyboard orpress play on tape, until itreaches the speaker or lineout. to help you keep an eyeon this, there is a soundpath screen in mixer modethat you may check atanytime. 

to enter the sound pathscreen, press shift + mixerkey. 

note: a warning symbol willlight up when any criticallevel is set to zero.

9.3 mixer

the mixer transforms thefour tape tracks into onestereo signal. to enter themixer, press the mixer key.then press T1 to enter themixer main screen.

in the mixer main screen,you adjust the individuallevel and pan left/right oftape tracks 1-4. 

to adjust the level of a tapetrack turn any encoder toset the level from 0-99.

track 1 level – blue encodertrack 2 level – greenencodertrack 3 level – whiteencodertrack 4 level – orangeencoder

hold shift + turn theappropriate encoder for therelevant track, to adjust thepan left/right.

9.4 EQ

press T2 in mixer mode toadjust the EQ.

EQ means equalizer and isthe word for a filter thatlet’s you adjust the low,mid and high frequencies ofa sound. in the case of themixer, for the final mix.when the sound enters theEQ it comes as a mixeddown stereo signal. (thestereo signal was just mixeddown in the main mixerscreen).

low (bass) – turn the blueencoder to adjust the lowfrequencies.

mid – turn the greenencoder to adjust the midfrequencies.

high (treble) – turn thewhite encoder to adjust thehigher (brighter)frequencies.

EQ amount – turn theorange encoder to adjustthe overall EQ level. turncounter clockwise for aclean signal with no EQapplied.

9.5 master effect

master effects are the sameeffects found in synthesizerand drum mode, butmodified for stereo.

to change the effect used,press shift + T3. This entersthe master effect browser.use blue encoder to scrollthrough the list and pressany key (except the musical

to add a master effect,press the T3 key. you maytoggle an effect on and offby pressing the T3 key asecond time.

keyboard) to make yourselection.

9.6 master out

the master out screen isfound under T4.

here you adjust:the master balanceleft/right

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add drive•adjust the release of thedrive

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drive narrows the differencebetween high and lowaudio levels, and makes theoutput sound louder andmore compact. at very highlevels of drive, the audiostarts to sound distorted.

release sets how quick thedrive will narrow thedifference between highand low audio levels, and atmid to long release times,you’ll start to notice thedrive as a “pumping”sound.

you may also use drive toadd texture and to makeyour final mix more dirtyand raw.

pro-tip: hold shift whileturning the blue or greenencoder to adjust both leftand right at the same time.

10. tempo

10.1 tempo introduction

in tempo, you set themaster tempo for allsequencers, temposynced LFOs and tape. 

you can switch betweenfree, beat match (master)and sync modes, and you’llalso find the metronomehere.

10.2 setting the tempo / tap tempo

to set the tempo you havetwo choices:turn the blue encoder,

or tap the tempo – do thisby hitting the tempo keymultiple times until you getthe desired tempo.

pro-tip: hold shift + turnblue encoder to fine tunetempo. 

10.3 using the metronome

to use the metronome, turnthe orange encoder untilyou get a desired pitch. 

to start the metronome,press play.

to turn off the metronometurn the orange encoder allthe way to the bottom.

10.4 free mode

in free mode the tempo andtape speed are independentof each other.no sync is transmitted fromOP-1 and any incomingexternal sync is ignored.

turn the green encodercounterclockwise to selectfree mode.

10.5 beat match

in beat match OP-1 acts asthe master clock source,sending MIDI sync over usb,that can be used tosynchronize external gear.

beat match also meanstempo and tape speed arelinked together (note thegreen link symbol).

turn the green encoder toselect beat match.

when selected, the tempo islinked to the tape speed.turning the white encoderwill adjust tape speed anddim tempo, keeping bothtape speed and tempo insync. this way you can haverecorded material on thetape remain in sync withsequenced material.

when beat match is activeyou will notice bar markersabove the tape tracks whilein tape mode. these barmarkers are your guidelineswhen looping or recordingin sync. 

each marker represents thefirst beat of four. the spacebetween each bar markerrepresents a full bar.

pro-tip: use shift + thearrow keys to loop andrecord different variationsof full bars. while playinguse shift + the arrow keysto easily move the playbackloop between the variations.explained further in the barssection 8.15. this is greatwhen playing live.

10.6 sync mode

sync mode means OP-1 islistening to external MIDIclock, received over usb.this lets you slave tempolock the OP-1 to MIDI timecode (MTC) sent fromexternal sequencers orworkstations, indicated byEXT in the display.

if no external tempo isdetected then internaltempo is used.

turn the green encoder toselect sync mode. 

in this mode tempo is notlinked to tape speed (notethe orange link symbol).adjusting tempo using theblue encoder has no effect.

tape speed can be changedusing the white encoder.

pro-tip: tempo nudge canbe used while OP-1 issynchronized to externaltempo. use the arrow keys< and > to align the beat byadding or subtracting 1 MIDIclock per key press.

the bar markers mentionedin section 10.5 is present inthis mode also.

10.7 PO sync 10.8 1/16 sync

PO sync can be used tosync pocket operatorsdirectly from OP-1. in thismode the OP-1 outputsignal is split into dualmono, L being the clicktrack used for pocketoperator synchronization,and R being a mix of theusual audio signal.

turn the green encoder toselect PO sync. green linktext behaves as beat match(OP-1 is master). orange linktext behaves as sync mode(OP-1 is synchronized toexternal MIDI clock).

example: connect a 3.5 mmstereo cable from the OP-1output to the input of thepocket operator. set PO unitto SY4. press play on POunit and finally press playon OP-1. both units will startin sync and the audio fromOP-1 will be mixed with theaudio of the PO unit. 

for further info on how tooperate pocket operatorsplease  check the guides.

a variation of this mode is1/16 sync, sending a doubletempo click track that canbe used with eurorack etc. 

while in PO sync hold shiftand turn the green encoderto toggle 1/16 sync.

11. help

11.1 the help button

Your OP-1 has a built-in helpfunction. pressing the helpkey at anytime brings up aspeech bubble which tellsyou what mode you are inand what sound isselected. 

by holding down the helpkey and pressing any keyyou get the key name andfunction of that specific key.

pro-tip: hold down helpwhile playing the musicalkeyboard to get noteinformation.

11.2 tools

press shift + help key toenter tools. here you set thetime and date, and maybeyou’ll find a calculator herein the future...

blue encoder – month/yeargreen encoder – daywhite encoder – hourorange encoder – minute

11.3 battery level

when you hold down thehelp key you can check thebattery level indicated bythe VU/battery meterlocated on the right side ofyour OP-1.

the battery level is indicatedby the LED array on theright side of your OP-1.all LEDs lit (including thered) indicates a fullycharged battery good foraround 16 hours of heavyuse. The stand-by time isapproximately 2 years.

to recalibrate the batterymeter please do thefollowing: disconnect USB, turn yourunit on and leave it on untilit turns off by itself. do notmanually turn off the unit.this could take up to 18hours. the unit is off whenthe screen has turned black.

after this, charge it fullyusing a computer or anystandard USB charger. thiscan take about 2.5 - 6 hoursdepending on yoursituation. (the battery is1800mA). this shouldrecalibrate the batteryindicator.

12. recording external sources

12.1 using the mic/input key

the mic/input key (with themicrophone symbol on it) isused when you need torecord any external audio.

the sources available forrecording are:

line in•built-in microphone•built-in fm radio•output to input (the earsymbol)

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the mic/Input key worksquite similar in any mode onthe OP-1. let us go throughsome of the main modesbelow.

12.2 mic/input key in synthesizer and drum mode

use the mic/Input key whenyou have a sampler engineselected to start to sample.choose your desired sourceby turning the blue encoder.use external audio tocontrol the element LFO.

12.3 mic/input key in tape mode

pressing the mic/input keyin tape mode lets youtoggle external audioon/off. 

this lets you mix in someradio playing in thebackground, or usingwhat’s coming via line inand mix that with yourrecorded material. (a greatway to connect a secondOP-1 and control soundlevels of both units with onemaster volume knob).

12.4 sampling using the built in microphone

press synth1.press shift + 1-82.choose sampler3.press 1-84.press shift+mic5.choose microphone asinput

6.

7. adjust gain and thresholdsettings, orange+white8. hold any key and speakinto the microphone9. release key10. play the keyboard andenjoy the sound of yourvoice.

12.5 creating a drum kit from fm radio waves

press drum1.press shift+1-82.choose any samplebased kit

3.

press 1-84.press shift+mic5.choose fm radio for inputusing the blue encoderand find a signal usingthe green encoder.

6.

7. adjust gain and thresholdsettings using orange andwhite encoders8. hold a key to startsampling9. release key10. play the keyboard andadjust start/stop positionsusing encoders.

pro-tip: press the greenencoder to automaticallyfind available radio stations.

 

in mixer mode

same functionality as intape mode.

note: to switch source intape or mixer mode, pressshift + mic/input key. thislet’s you switch sourcesand adjust the level.

pro-tip: connect a 3.5 mmaudio cable (or headphones)to line in and use as anexternal antenna. (there isalso an OP-1 antenna, soldseparately).

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