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OP-1 comes with four original sequencers that let you arrange notes in different ways. both synthesizer and drum mode have their own dedicated sequencer memory and can have separate types active, even though only one can be played at a time.
the big difference between the tape and a sequencer is that tape produces a pure audio recording, while a sequencer stores note data. one of the reasons for using a sequencer is that you may change or alter the sound but continue playing the same stored notes.
to select sequencer type press shift + the sequencer key to enter the sequencer browser screen. turn the blue encoder to make your selection, then press the sequencer key again to exit.
endless is a very effective way to get sequencing done quickly.
just hold shift + press any key on the musical keyboard to store a note. it automatically moves one step forward when you release the key. hold shift until you are done.
then release shift and press any key on the musical keyboard to play your sequence.
the maximum number of notes that can be stored is 128.
insert notes. to insert a note, press shift + any key on the musical keyboard. keep holding down shift until you are done with all notes you want to insert.
insert long notes. press shift + any key on the musical keyboard. continue to hold the keys while pressing the forward arrow key (>).
insert space. press shift + the forward arrow key (>).
delete last note. press shift + the rewind arrow key (<).
c
play a sequence. to play a sequence just press any key on the musical keyboard. the pitch of the played notes will change depending on what key you press. this is called key transposition.
to play the original pitch of the notes play the c key on the musical keyboard.
play and hold a sequence. turn the orange encoder until hold lights up.
change playback direction of a sequence. you have three different options for how you want the notes to be played back. forward, reverse or random. change direction by holding shift and turn the orange encoder.
set time signature. time signature is basically a way to define how many notes (beats) that will be played in one bar. this is related to the master tempo that you set in tempo and to the bars in tape mode. if you set 1/16, one bar in tape will be 16 notes or beats. change time signature by turning the blue encoder.
swing. swing is a way to slightly alter the timing of notes played in a sequence. to add swing turn the green encoder. no swing is a 50% setting. note: remember to check if you have applied swing when you record multiple layers of sequenced material to tape if you want them to be in absolute sync.
apply a pattern to your sequence. the endless sequencer has a function which lets you add a pattern to your sequence. turn the white encoder to apply a pattern. a single dot means there’s no pattern applied. (turn the white encoder counter clockwise all the way until only a single dot is shown)
rotate a pattern. by holding shift + turning the white encoder, you can rotate the dots within the pattern.
crank mode. shift + blue encoder activates crank mode, which gives you manual, music-box style playback control.
note: in endless, you may use the arrow keys to change octave in playback mode.
pattern is a classic grid type sequencer found in many hardware and software instruments. this is a 16 step sequencer, particularly useful for sequencing drum patterns.
insert notes. to insert a note press shift + any key on the musical keyboard. keep holding down shift until you are done with all notes you want to insert.
erasing notes. hold down shift and turn the blue encoder.
moving the vertical cursor line. press arrow keys or turn the blue encoder to move the horizontal cursor line, by doing this you also select which note you want to focus on when erasing.
rotate notes. hold shift + turn the green encoder to rotate all notes. this might be good when you have entered the notes in live mode.
live mode. turn the orange encoder until hold lights up. the sequencer starts, and the white horizontal cursor moves across the sequence. press shift + any key on the musical keyboard to insert a note at the current cursor position.
live edit mode. press shift + any arrow key while the sequencer is running to break the cursor connection and let you edit the notes as you would in normal stopped mode.
set sequence length. turn the white encoder to adjust the playback length of the sequence.
move section. if you hold shift + turn the white encoder you may move the played back section around within the sequence. great for fill-ins!
play and hold a sequence. turn the orange encoder until hold lights up. note: to key transpose a pattern sequence, switch to synthesizer, drum, tape or mixer mode and press any key on the musical keyboard. to play the original pitch of the sequenced notes, play the c key on the musical keyboard.
change playback direction of a sequence. you have three different options for how you want the notes to be played back. forward, reverse or cycle. change direction by holding shift and turn the orange encoder.
use tombola when you want to create a random sequence. just throw a couple of notes into the tombola and then set the gravity, mass and spinning speed. the harder/faster a note bounces the louder the sound will play.
drop notes into tombola. play any key on the musical keyboard to drop a note into the tombola.
adjust bounciness. turn the orange encoder to adjust the bounciness of the notes. the harder a note hits the wall of the the tombola the louder it will play. this is measured in amount of mass.
adjust heaviness. this is measured in amount of gravity. turn the green encoder to set the gravity.
releasing notes. turn the white encoder to open the tombola and release the notes.
tombola speed. turn the blue encoder to adjust the speed and the direction of rotation of the tombola.
crank mode. engage crank using shift + blue encoder. you may now spin the tombola by hand, just using blue. pro-tip: keep the tombola open and set a high rotation speed. this creates a random type of echo effect.
the finger sequencer lets you play two sequences in combination with one another.
finger works the same in synth and drum modes (animations differ).
each white key on the musical keyboard represents a pattern. each pattern is visualized as the top middle, checkered rows. each checked row may be filled with either synth notes or drum triggers.
you will recognize notes and trigs as the small white crosses. the green dot represent the pattern’s swing setting.
when finger is activated for synth, two keyboard players appear.
when used with drum, there are two gorillas.
each sequence, activated by pushing a white key on the musical keyboard, is populated by crosses by default. press and hold a key on the musical keyboard to commence playback.
depending on which playback mode you are using (chosen using shift+orange encoder), pushing a second key on the musical keyboard will now either layer a second pattern (join), play when you release the previous one (replace), or play fill ins (fill in). using the orange encoder allows you to turn hold playback mode on for finger.
insert notes. to insert a note press shift + any key on the musical keyboard.
moving the cursor and erasing notes. blue encoder moves the box cursor inside the sequence. hold down shift and turn the blue encoder to erase while moving the cursor.
set sequence length. white encoder adjusts the length of a pattern.
swing. to add swing turn the green encoder. no swing is a 50% setting. note: remember to check if you have applied swing when you record multiple layers of sequenced material to tape if you want them to be in absolute sync.
sketch is a free form sequencer where you draw shapes by hand using the encoders.
draw shapes. use the blue and green encoders to draw. the shape will control the pitch of the active sound.
move cursor. use the white and orange encoders to move the cursor without drawing. you can also use the musical keyboard to move cursor to a vertical position.
use divider. hold shift and turn the green encoder to select a speed divider. speeds range from /4 to x16.
use grid. hold shift and turn the white encoder to enable a grid. this acts as a visual guide when drawing.
start/stop sequencer. to start the sequencer, hold shift and turn the orange encoder clockwise. turn anti clockwise to stop.
free play. in synth mode you can use the musical keyboard to manually play the sketch.
erase. to erase a sketch and start all over just pick up OP-1 and physically shake it. this will erase everything and let you start from scratch. you can also hold shift and turn the blue encoder anti clockwise to trace the sketch backwards, erasing as you go.
the arpeggio sequencer is an arpeggiator with multiple play and trig styles. press and hold chord notes and arpeggio will distribute these in time. additional notes can automatically be added based on type.
set time signature. use the blue encoder to set time signatures. T gives triplet notes. the 1/16 note time signature is selected by default.
trigger mode. use the green encoder to change trigger mode. based on 'type', notes are added to your chord in different ways:
trigger pattern. the white encoder lets you apply a trigger pattern, indicated by dots and dashes. a dot means a note will be trigged. a dash means the step will be paused or skipped, based on the pause / skip setting.
hold. to hold the current notes turn the orange encoder until hold lights up.
note length. use shift + blue encoder to set note length for all notes, in ticks from 1 – 64.
set type. use shift + green encoder to set type. the additional notes added to the chord is based on the type selected, counting from the base note:
pause / skip trigger. shift + white encoder controls how the - steps in the trigger pattern will be affected. → means that any dashed step will be skipped. ıı means that any dashed step will be silent / paused.
swing. add swing by holding shift and turning the orange encoder. no swing is a 50% setting.
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