This time final 12 months, esoteric Swedish outfit Teenage Engineering set pulses racing with the announcement of its Pocket Operator vary – a trio of compact grooveboxes constructed into barely crude, calculator-like our bodies, full with built-in audio system and quirky LCD screens impressed by a bygone age of pocket arcade video games.
As with Teenage Engineering’s earlier instrument, the OP-1, the POs had an interesting quirkiness to them, with a definite design and sonic palette in contrast to the rest on the market proper now.
In contrast to their predecessor, nevertheless, the POs additionally got here at an inexpensive worth level to swimsuit their transportable, rough-and-ready strategy.
Now, 12 months on, TE has added three extra devices to the vary, as soon as once more designed in collaboration with clothes model Low-cost Monday (though we’re nonetheless not completely certain what their enter entails) every with a brand new vary of sounds and a barely differing characteristic set.
If something, these second-generation POs are much more esoteric than the unique trio.
Whereas the PO-12, -14 and -16, targeted on bass, beats and leads respectively – albeit every in a barely distinctive manner – these new devices are rather less simple of their sonic demarcations.
The PO-20 Arcade is branded an ‘arcade synthesizer’ and might be most simply described as a Chiptune groovebox, able to each crunchy bitcrushed beats and video game-like melodic sequences.
The PO-28 Robotic, in the meantime, follows a equally retro path, providing a performance-focused 8-bit lead synth and a pleasingly lo-fi 16-part drum package. The PO-24 Workplace – which TE describe as a ‘noise percussion drum machine’ – is the least simple of the three.
In apply these ‘noises’ are a combination of glitchy synth sounds and samples pulled from an assortment of outdated items of workplace {hardware}, similar to floppy disk drives and a matrix printer. The result’s a gritty, distinctive sounding groovebox that lends itself significantly nicely to extra experimental types of digital music.
LCD soundsystems
For essentially the most half, the shape and have units of those new POs stay largely the identical as that of the unique trio. There is a wire stand on the again of every unit, together with breakaway hanger on the highest.
As earlier than, every instrument runs on a pair of AAA batteries and incorporates a built-in speaker hidden behind the LCD display. Once more, these screens themselves are extra there so as to add a little bit of retro fashion than for any sensible purposes; they will inform you tempo and swing information, and performance as a calculator, however the animations do not provide a lot in the best way of helpful information.
Every PO options 3.5mm enter and output jacks, which operate as audio ins and outs however are additionally used for syncing the POs. A number of models could be sync’d, passing audio on one channel of the stereo in/out and sync messages on the opposite, which permits the entire vary of POs to operate as one giant instrument with a single audio output.
The identical inputs permit the POs to be sync’d with different gear that makes use of a pulse-based sync system, similar to Korg’s Volca vary.
As with their predecessors, every of those new POs presents a spread of 16 sounds (or 15 synth sounds and one 16-part drum package, within the case of the PO-28) accompanied by 16 performance-focused results.
Every additionally incorporates a 16-step sequencer, with 16 slots for saving patterns, and this new trio of POs permit as much as 128 sequencer patterns to be chained collectively. Every incorporates a step multiplier operate too, for making beat-repeater fashion retriggered sounds.
Most parameter tweaking is dealt with by a pair of barely fiddly rotaries to the highest proper. These are used for modifying particular person sounds (edits could be ‘locked’ and written into the sample), in addition to modifying step launch size and adjusting tempo and swing. Every of the three has a singular characteristic of its personal too.
The PO-20 has a Chord mode, which permits polyphonic sequences to be created, the PO-24 has Solo mode for every of its sounds, whereas PO-28 has a Glide operate, which may add expression and create vibrato together with the 2 rotaries.
It takes two
As with the unique run, there are a selection of criticisms that could possibly be levelled at these newest POs if we have been being ultra-critical. They’re undoubtedly fiddly and never significantly intuitive both. By their very nature, construct high quality is fairly primary, and the screens are very a lot fashion over substance.
As soon as once more although, given their worth and the way a lot performance TE cram into every tiny gadget, it is probably not price splitting hairs over these minor limitations.
Every is loads of enjoyable and, most significantly, the onboard sounds are all nice – even when these newest additions are extra area of interest considerations than the originals. True, when you’re not into 8-bit/arcade fashion sounds, you will probably not get very a lot out of the PO-20 or PO-28, however that is to not say that they are novelty devices.
There is a actually beautiful crunchy high quality to the sequences that tumble out of the PO-20, whereas the Glide operate on the PO-28 makes for some actually glorious ’80s soundtrack-style expressive leads.
The PO-24 is a private favorite from the vary – its onboard assortment of thumps, buzzes and clicks could also be an acquired style, nevertheless it makes for a very distinctive and provoking sound supply.
For all three, nevertheless, it is the consequences vary that actually brings the POs to life. The well-selected vary of filters, distortions and rhythmic results are completely calibrated to swimsuit the built-in sounds and vastly multiply the potential of every.
They might be just a little low-cost and cheerful, however you get greater than your cash’s price by way of vary and tweakability.