There’s not much going on at the moment, but any new flagship release from Teenage Engineering will attract a lot of attention and speculation. This is the new OP-XY, a compact sequencer, synthesizer and sampler from the Swedish masters of high-end musical equipment. Take a form factor similar to the original 2012 OP-1 and updated 2022 Field OP-1the OP-XY aims to do things differently from the myriad of grooveboxes and synths already available.

This is partly due to the company’s single-minded approach – the one that has earned it such a cult following – but also because TE is in the right position to be able to experiment at scale, blending meticulous product design with interfaces original and good build quality. , left-wing musical influences and a desire to go beyond the conventional.

The OP-XY is said to draw inspiration from old-school dance culture, as well as “pragmatic German design and engineering.” Dieter Aries-anodized aluminum style matte black finish. Knobs and buttons are the essence of TE’s equipment – ​​no touchscreen here. The graphical simplicity of the device itself seems to be transferred to the interface, and you can expect original input methods and a myriad of sound adjustment options.

At the heart of the instrument is a step sequencer, one of the earliest forms of assembling electronic music and drum patterns. Connect the OP-XY to external gear, use the built-in synthesizer engines and sample capture, and the workflow allows musicians to stack their different sequences, manipulate things on the fly with effects and an intelligent chord progression algorithm, as well as gyroscopic effects. control of key parameters.