First day with Teenage Engineering's PO-33 K.O.

I'm super late to this Teenage Engineering Pocket Operator party but better late than, well, some other time. I've been watching people like Gar Hoover, Ricky Tinez, SON WU and Red Means Recording make amazing beats with these little calculators and was happy to get to try the PO-33 K.O. sampler myself.
It's the most instant beat-cooking machine I've ever used. It's way more straightforward than I expected (like you probably can see from the demo). Also, the sampling functionalities like slicing, pitching and filtering were right in your face and easily accessible. Plus, the punch-in FX are fun to jam with.
I think this introduction video by Red Means Recording captivates all essentials of the device and works as a magnificent starting point for anyone getting into the PO's: • TE PO-33 K.O! Introduc...

[@oprealmcom-pocketoperatorc4183]

Pocket Operators are life!

[@SaEvSampleEverything]

Such a great start, keep it up!

[@whaleshaveteeth]

Thank you! Will do!

[@Kumodot]

You broke the tag ? Now you are on a separate group of PO users. lol

[@whaleshaveteeth]

You mean the hanger tag? Haha, I actually got it second hand and didn't even realize it was missing.

[@_quades_]

@@whaleshaveteeth they make a protective silicon case for it, and you can't use the case without snapping off the hanger..

[@RaverOperatorGeeza]

@@_quades_ the TE silicone cases are not very good. I have 3 and regret buying them!!!

[@_quades_]

@@RaverOperatorGeeza if I'm going out somewhere ill throw the case on it but i feel you. makes the buttons meh

[@Tuariq1]

Uuh! You start with the great one. Imo the best pocket operator

[@whaleshaveteeth]

Johnny Jones seems super powerful indeed! Looking forward to exploring more.

[@kenl6324]

One of the cooler PO-33 jams I’ve seen.. nice job

[@whaleshaveteeth]

One of the nicer comments I've seen, so likewise!

[@MattGreerMusic]

Congrats. It's a super awesome little tool. I'm completely obsessed with mine.

[@whaleshaveteeth]

Matt Greer Music yep! You got some cool beats with it too.

[@brentladue]

the PO's are kind of what got me into synths heavily, they are just so fun and immediate to use. I want to get rid of a bunch of mine to upgrade to something a little more high end but i just. can't. bring myself to get rid of any after playing with them for a few minutes. Too much fun!

[@brentladue]

to be clear, it's absolutely as much about the punch in fx/performance stuff as it is about the ease of use sequencer and sounds themselves! Wish they were this easy on every device I had :D

[@whaleshaveteeth]

@@brentladue haha, I bet! OP-Z is probably closest to this of the devices I've used. The same immediate feel when sequencing and equally powerful fx too.

[@Two-Eyed_Boy]

Yo, does anyone else feel like when they at with the 33 they are playing with a piece of gear they will use for the rest of their life? That's assuming TE doesn't release a new version.

[@pablodunkerly2721]

Just got mine !!!!🖤

[@whaleshaveteeth]

Pablo Dunkerly sweeeet, enjoy!

[@PUNKYVAN]

It's never too late 😉Nice one!

[@whaleshaveteeth]

Cheers!

[@elshuffles]

nicely done

[@whaleshaveteeth]

Thanks!

[@SONWU]

Welcome to the GANG! 🧨

[@whaleshaveteeth]

SON WU cheers mate! 💣

[@whaleshaveteeth]

Ps. From Instagram you can also find some tracks and sketches that don't end up on KZbin: instagram.com/whales.have.teeth

[@hydroflows]

lol you’re late!? I just ordered one!

[@Wib0]

Deffo a gatewaydrug. Got my KO for about a year now, buying a sp404A or a used sp555 one of the next days. One of those two and the KO.. yes, plx.

[@whaleshaveteeth]

Sounds like a great combo!

[@Wib0]

@@whaleshaveteeth In fact, couple minutes ago I ordered a sp404a. Gonna arrive tomorrow, so I'm gonna have a great weekend!

[@RaverOperatorGeeza]

You should have a look at the Koala Sampler app. It's fantastic!

[@FreeBeat]

Hell yeah, you're gonna murder this thing

[@whaleshaveteeth]

Let’s see 🤜🤛

[@ahhh932]

I love the songs you made ! I just got a po 33 and I want to know if it is possible to play a sound once in the pattered without it repeating? Any help appreciated thanks!

[@whaleshaveteeth]

Cheers mate! Hmm, I don't think that's possible.

[@tfk8791]

How to do the hi hat rolls?

[@RaverOperatorGeeza]

Nice :)

[@whaleshaveteeth]

Cheers 🙏🏻

[@RaverOperatorGeeza]

@@whaleshaveteeth welcome man, well deserved. You should have more hits on this! Impressive use for a TE KO-33 noob. I was not like you for first time picking it up that's for sure hahaha

[@whaleshaveteeth]

@@RaverOperatorGeeza haha, I had quite a bit of experience with op-z so that makes understanding the workflow a bit easier cause they share a lot of similarities.

[@jimlampshady]

Nice little intro video. I think the PO-33 is a fantastic little device that would be vastly improved by one, tiny little upgrade - a fine tuning option for trimming samples. I don't mind having to work in a very detailed way, but when you literally cant get the encoder to stop on the value you want, it feels like a waste of time.

[@miskatonicuniversityavclub202]

just got one of these, its my first piece of electronic gear like this i have played guitar for years and use interface and plugins to play so no stranger to daws though still new to the newest ones most of my experience was a while back then i stopped playing for nearly a decade and picked it all back up early 2020. where can i get samples for this thing without having the big boys like you have? all my real money has gone into guitar eq, so i wanted something to learn, play around on etc. but no idea where to get samples for it. obvi im gonna sample my guitar sounds n stuff but need drum samples etc i mostly wanna be able to add electronic bits to my guitar stuff i play vg covers, anime covers and djenty prog metal as my original/preffered genre. but i LOVE elements of orchestral and electronic mixed in. like hiroyuki sawano the guy who does the snk (aka attack on titan) ost.

[@whaleshaveteeth]

Hey mate! I use Splice for samples, but I know a lot of people find theirs at Reddit's r/drumkits subreddit.

[@miskatonicuniversityavclub202]

@@whaleshaveteeth oh thanks! i hadnt even considered reddit fsr. ill check out splice as well! thanks again! and for the content!

[@RaverOperatorGeeza]

It's a sampler, so you can get the sounds from anywhere, KZbin videos, movies, real-world field recording. I like to get some samples from music creation apps too. Lots of sources possible!

[@_quades_]

I got one of these yesterday and made this fire beat and was toying around with the FX and somehow it permanently chopped up the entire beat and ruined it

[@whaleshaveteeth]

Damn. It's a tricky device indeed.

[@_quades_]

@@whaleshaveteeth I found it to be super intuitive there's just gotta be some weird toggle for the FX that I couldn't figure out... it sounded like i put the whole thing through grossbeat

[@samray3461]

FX 16 is "none" .. just record over it and it should clean it up. no?

[@_quades_]

@@samray3461 you're a life saver my dude

[@_quades_]

@@samray3461 I guess covering the buttons with the stupid silicon case was a bad idea as a noob

[@samray3461]

Dope beat I need to follow this guy on Insta. Oh wait, I already do... 133 on it's way!

[@whaleshaveteeth]

Hahahah cheers!

[@bengalskiykot553]

not bad :D

[@droogsurgeon1440]

😳

[@badbenjy]

Gateway device indeed.

[@whaleshaveteeth]

Haha, I bet! I wonder what would be the natural step from this one.

[@badbenjy]

@@whaleshaveteeth i went op-z, sp404 then the Deluge

[@whaleshaveteeth]

@@badbenjy ahh, I meant the next PO. I already got OP-Z and Deluge too.

[@badbenjy]

Whales Have Teeth ah.. if you haven’t already, check out red means recording PO jam. I’m slowly collecting them all so I can use it like some kind of multivoice synth. The tonic is the next most powerful. But if you want to just have fun, the arcade, rhythm and sub make an amazing combo.

[@whaleshaveteeth]

Ben Williams oh cool! Haven’t seen it so I’ll make sure to check it out. Thanks for the tips 👌

[@gagarin375]

unfrtnately became too boring soon without mute per track:/ But yeap - so nice for spontaneously sketchin

[@torinoscaletunes]

The worst thing I have ever tried to make music on, which is saying a lot. Useless. Had one in my home setup for a year, never got much from it, so stopped trying to love it for its sheer quirkiness and chucked it in a drawer. Made three albums since, and haven't missed it.

[@Juanfernandoz]

So give me the k.o... Im from Colombia and not have money to buy one and I want one for my birthday, im not musician but it seems sooooo funny to start doing some basic music.

[@RaverOperatorGeeza]

@@Juanfernandoz hopefully you can find one second hand at a nice price! They are fun to use and can get some good sounds out of it. Just need to get creative :)