monolog x + OP-1 = OP-4
interview: for some time now, stranger noises than usual have been coming from the teenage engineering studio. we had a talk with the guy behind the massive 4 x OP-1 setup. read below for some deep level data.
– can you tell us about yourself and this project?
my real name is johan, but my other (not so real name) that I use for music is monolog x. i'm an artist, musician and composer, with a degree in composition from birmingham conservatoire. i work in a broad field, from contemporary classical to explorations in electronic music.
this project involves four OP-1s that are being controlled by custom software i wrote in pure data.* (*pure data is a visual programming language written in the 1990s by miller puckette.) it is a very powerful and capable performance instrument.
– how did you first come into contact with the OP-1?
my brother in-law had one early on and was always raving about it to me. it looked so cool and "design-y” that i actually thought it was more of a fashion statement than an instrument. well, i was wrong! the OP-1 has some serious sound design skills. i have always been obsessed with timbral changes and modulation of all the parameters in my music. for this, it is a highly versatile, intuitive, responsive and expressive musical instrument. i love how it is so open ended – like, it inspires you to fulfill your creative goals, rather than telling you what to do. for example, i see loads of people doing really cool hip-hop stuff with the sampler section. i have never even used that one yet! very deep indeed.
– tell us a bit more about this project.
in a nutshell, OP-4 is four tiny OP-1 synthesizers stacked on a rack to look like a proper modular system, when it's not really. i then control them using virtual modular software i wrote, a bit like a real modular. this has proved to be a very flexible way to compose and produce interesting sounds and textures.
i got the idea immediately after receiving my OP-1. i love the four parameter knobs and the color coding, but soon became obsessed with being able to modulate all the knobs simultaneously in a way that wasn't possible physically or with just the one lfo. so i discovered the midi lfo on the OP-1, which lets you control four parameters with external cc values, and that's when i thought about pure data. i began experimenting with simple patches to modulate the midi lfo, and it was like a match made in heaven.
i think it is very inspiring to take creative control over the entire process, right from building your own instrument. i'm always trying to honor the kind of 303 heritage, where you use a machine in an entirely different way than manufacturers originally intended. i'm sure you didn't think people would want to stack four of these synths in a rack and modulate all parameters like crazy with midi cc!
pure data is ace in that regard, it truly feels like a blank canvas. none of my patches are that complex; they consist of tiny musical functions and modules. the complexity arrives quickly when connecting these objects in numerous ways. honestly, there is a lot to be done with just a clock, clock dividers, probability logic, switches and some controlled random. these pieces also use a lot of free running lfo:s and cycling ad:s being synced by various clocks to create complex rhythmical textures. i'm getting some really cool sounds out of the OP-1 this way too.
electronic music can be very centered around gear, so it is important to me to always reflect on how i use equipment and to try to come up with unusual ideas. it becomes like a personality in music as well. it is nearly impossible to copy a sound if you have programmed the tools yourself. i really recommend people to check out pure data. it is free, open source and extremely powerful, and yet so old. It is, like, vintage, you know. nineties.
– any influences?
sonatas and interludes for prepared piano by john cage was in the back of my mind a lot of the time. they are a series of pieces being composed on an invented instrument. lovely timbres and colors. oversteps by autechre, largely composed with max/msp, really resonated with me emotionally as well. both cage and the latter evoke feelings of the ancient and even the birth of time. i'm influenced by a lot of different things constantly though. anything that has an open channel of communication with the greater source.
– so, what about the future of this project? what's next?
well, i have developed what is kind of like the musical version of my brain in software, so it seems a shame to use it for just a couple of tracks or an album. i intend to focus on working with my own software in 2015 and keep away from daw:s and linear timelines for a while, as i gather a substantial amount of music using this system over the next year. many of the tracks I have done are aimed at live performance, so i’ll also do some shows here and there with this setup. that's one of the reasons i want to get into raspberry pi's and microboards – i have this really awesome semi-modular dsp synth prototype that i would love to get running headless on the pi with an interface. like, the next level of building your own instrument.
– anything you would like to add?
just a big thanks to you guys for supporting this project and lending me some OP-1s and a workspace, the friendly and supportive pure data community, and my fantastic partner, who filmed the videos of me performing on the instrument.
links: http://www.monologx.com http://instagram.com/monolog_x http://facebook.com/monologx
download a copy of pure data at: www.puredata.info
latest releases: seven trumpets ( cassette ) -http://occultresearch.bandcamp.com/album/seven-trumpets
sing to find your way home - ( digipak cd ) http://wil-ru.bandcamp.com/album/sing-to-find-your-way-home