They're lots of fun. (I have the rythmn and robot ones). Its weird you could do this on a cell phone now, but the separate device kinda works well.
of course the optional case is about half the cost of the device.. but I never bought one and haven't had a problem.. and runs on regular aaa batteries!
I have a couple pocket operators from about 6 years ago. You are right, they're just a circuit board with surface mounted buttons. But after years of use including letting me nieces play with them, they still work and are pretty well made (And about $40.. now actually 50-90). For me they're a good learning tool, (PO-12 rhythm being one of the cheapest hardware drum machines.) though functionality is eclipsed by the smartphone in many cases..
I will grant you the optional case was so pricy it wasn't an option I would consider (I think it was like $30).
Are the pocket operators really that cheap for the functionality they provide?
I was always of the opinion that Teenage Engineering was ridiculously overpriced, but so much of what they make is so cool that it makes me want to buy anyway. I'm not creative/musical/rich enough to justify buying an OP-1. If I ever was, though...
Checkout Pocket Operators from Teenage Engineering if you haven't seen them already. Its a lovely (to me) line of physical synths that are quite inexpensive < $30 USD and also as a non-music person really got me started down a path of wanting to learn more.
Same. I have two of their Pocket Operators[1] which I love, and an OB-4 radio[2], but I'm mostly an enthusiast of their work from afar. If you're casually interested in messing around with music, the POs are a lot of fun and relatively inexpensive!
By coincidence, Teenage Engineering is on the front page at the same time as this article. I’ve enjoyed playing and creating music on their pocket operator devices, specifically the PO-20 chip tune one. The sound palette is a bit limited, but the chord opens up a lot of opportunity for creativity, especially with a little bit of music theory to help.
Check out the Teenage Engineering Pocket Operators [0]! They're credit card sized electronic instruments. They've managed to fit a full fledged sampler in the PO-33 and a voice synthesizer in PO-35. The others aren't as processing intense but still have really powerful patterning and sounds. All running off of 2 AAA batteries, with months of battery life.
If your 10 year old likes music and sequencing, the Teenage Engineering set of Pocket Operators are very cool. A set of unique samples combined with a surprisingly powerful sequencer. One of them even has the ability to sample from aux in and then use that sample with the built in sequencer.
While the OP-1 is a unique musical instrument (sold a $700 10 years ago, now $1200 new, god only knows why...), these designers will make you pay a premium for most of their products, aside from the low quality pocket operators.
I would absolutely love to one day own an OP-1. Teenage Engineering does amazing work. All of their stuff has a certain tactility to it. They definitely put a lot of thought and love into their work.
For those that can't justify spending about $1k for one, their Pocket Operator series is pretty fantastic.
I also recently bought myself a Novation Circuit, which honestly has the feeling of Teenage Engineering's interface design (minus a lot of the whimsy). For about $300, it's a fantastic little groovebox that I'll be getting a LOT of mileage out of.
Great recommendation. For those folks balking at the $850 price, I agree it's very expensive. But a decent synthesizer is going to start around $500 anyways and it goes up very fast from there (synths can easily cost +$3000 with full size keys). The OP-1 is not ridiculously pricey when compared to competitors products.
I wanted to suggest another option that is much less expensive and worth checking out if you are interested in this type of music is Teenage Engineering Pocket Operators [1]. These are just a fun instrument/toy to play around with and they only cost $50! From the same company too...I wouldn't say the Pockets are a "best-design thing" but I do think they are an easy and inexpensive way to start messing around creating your own music on a hardware instrument before deciding on a bigger purchase like a $1000k synthesizer. The website is great and has sample sounds of each model:
As someone who has written a lot of music using Pocket Operators I disagree. They have been part of my songwriting tool chain for years and have pretty much worked their way into every recording I've made since I bought them. They are the perfect accompaniment when sitting down with a guitar to write music either acting as a metronome, a groove to jam over, or a complete drum/bass/synth backup with an arrangement (16 patterns and 128 measures is enough to write a good song). Also, Pocket Operators are cheap as hell, most under $100.
Teenage Engineering OP-1, a music synthesizer. Really well built, buttons and knobs feel fantastic, and the display is super fun. The OP-1 in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umatbZ0n4mE
Teenage Engineering make astonishing products you just want to own even though you have no use for them. There is something deeply aesthetically pleasing about their devices.
If the price hadn't been so steep for their OP-1 I would have bought one on impulse years ago.
It's expensive but not nearly as expensive as I would expect a Teenage Engineering product to be. For example, their most famous product, the OP-1 (a small digital synth with a small LCD screen) is $1300.
I think you're missing the point of what Teenage Engineering is trying to do. For as simple as the Korg Vulca series is, it's still an synthesizer first. You need to have some familiarity with electronic instruments to understand the controls of the Monotron that you mention:
Pitch
Rate
Int.
Cutoff Peak
Compare that to the controls on the Pocket Operator:
Sound
Pattern
BPM
FX
Play
Write
If you were handed one of these with no experience making music, which one would you be more likely to get started with? Heck, the Pocket Operator even has cute animations that go with your beats!
I have tremendous respect for Korg, but I think Teenage Engineering is prioritizing fun and accessibility in a way that I haven't seen in my 30 years of making music. This may be a fluff PR piece, but I think they deserve a ton of credit for making something as intimidating as electronic instruments so downright fun and adorable.
"Pocket operator" is just the size of the device they're making. There are lots of them from samplers (like you're seeing) to little synthesizers: https://teenage.engineering/products/po#features
Regardless, these are driving the concept of small, packagable audio devices, which eventually leads to modular synthesizers.
https://teenage.engineering/products/po
They're lots of fun. (I have the rythmn and robot ones). Its weird you could do this on a cell phone now, but the separate device kinda works well.
of course the optional case is about half the cost of the device.. but I never bought one and haven't had a problem.. and runs on regular aaa batteries!
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