Is OP-XY Workflow Fast Enough to Beat the Clock? Less Than 30 Minutes or Bust!

[@elementlab41]

honestly one of my favorite op-xy videos yet. love seeing you work you magic on it. hope you see more!

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Thanks so much for the kind words!! I truly appreciate you my friend, see you soon!

[@samprock]

Real pretty, laidback and spacey track! Sorry for talking about myself next but I promise to have a point. I love XY workflow and handy sequencing/arping, good sounds with automation recording. It really fit my Electronic music style. Device just lands you onto JMJ and other analogue classics. That’s why I was excited about it. I know your music/style pretty well and you are truly singer-songwriter talent on top of synth/guitaring. When you come to a point building a full song backtrack with ease on XY you’ll love it even more I think. I hope it will offer/inspire to inject more synth goodies (that’s why we keep getting all those synths replay) to your songs. Back to Electronic music. This is the best demo of all on OP-XY atm. It really shows how approachable and liberating device is for making an Electronic spirited song. Yes, I would wish to more sound design oriented engines, which TE looking for and I guess started with “different” to get it off a ground. Did not even include some of the best 1F synths while device work flow is total opposite, and frustration was a key word for me on that one lol) . Altogether it’s (at least mine) dream come true personal instrument. The point is, whatever I’m trying to tell here, you fully conveyed by just playing it! ❤

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Hey brother! I really appreciate you being here! I couldn´t agree more. The more time I spend with the XY, the more I think this is what I always wanted out of the OP-1. I still don´t have a final verdict and there is still lots to cover, but this thing is truly special. Hope to see you soon my friend! Cheers!

[@samprock]

​@@MidlifeSynthesist Totally, so much phunn! Actually I got replacement for my XY today (legs were not perfect, it did not sit flat on table driving me nuts, also one knob did not move smoothly. XY is my keeper 4sure, so replaces to perfect one while can). Anyways I got to a problem to backup to Mac and move my project to a new device. It was not clear to me, and no docs how to do this. Apparently, XY support same FieldKit TE app for OP-1f. You don't need to buy of hassle with freeware MTP support. It just works nicely. (someone else will make deep dive tech how-to maybe, not asking you, but if you mention to others slow ppl like me, that's it is easy to do, will be helpful). Cheers!

[@Shimmery.mp3]

Nice video buddy! Cool concept of going against the clock!! Great work! I might give it a go myself actually

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Thanks so much bro! I´d love to see you do this same challenge! Maybe we can get it to catch on lol! All the best!

[@bjamminsincebirth3494]

Heck yeah a midi capture would be amazing

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Absolutely! Thanks for watching my friend!!

[@NovakTheEnjoyer]

Niiiiiiice! The #1 best thing about TE devices will always be that you can just pick one up and go. Timers make me nervous, lol.

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

😂😂 100%!!!

[@alexanderlane]

What a blast! Would love to see more of these, maybe with other gear as well to compare the speed? Great tune, too

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Thanks bro!! That’s a great idea! Maybe “what can I make in the Octatrack with… 74 hours” challenge😂😜

[@yvesdemiurgos9834]

That’s so true what you say about the keyboard starting with F rather than C-it really shakes up my habits and instantly opens up new perspectives. The thing is, now I own the OP-XY. Victim of GAS syndrome and a comfortable salary, lol. Lots of great surprises, although the brain feature is disappointing so far, just like in your example today…

[@cbschrader]

Just bought a case for my OP-1 Field and one for my OP-XY. Thanks for the discount code.

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Thanks so much for using the link! Hope you enjoy them as much as I do🤘🏻 See you soon and happy music making!

[@BIG1TOWER]

Which one do you like better?

[@newdistrictmedia6034]

Can't wait to see you incorporate the OXI One into the workflow with the OP-XY. Fire!

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

@@newdistrictmedia6034 thanks so much for watching! I’m planning to throw it in the mix with Octatrack mk2, Oxi One, M8 and Deluge soon! Exciting times! See you soon!

[@newdistrictmedia6034]

@@MidlifeSynthesist Can't wait, keep crushing the OP-XY content!

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

@ thank you🔥🙌🏻🙌🏻

[@horaziohorazio]

I'm following your channel for quite a while and you're an inspiration. Thanks. But don't forget real life next to the youtube stuff. I was also in for an OP XY but then i decided to give the Deluge a chnance. And I'm so blown away. How would you compare the XY to the Deluge?

[@Farold_Haltermeyer]

Very different tactility experience...and tonally too! Defo a nice contrast so each will suit different usage cases and tastes

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Thanks so much for watching and following the channel! I really appreciate you dude! The Deluge is a BEAST! It´s an amazing piece of hardware and probably one of the most powerful standalone grooveboxes out there right now. That being said, its workflow and sound are completely different. I plan on doing a full on comparison of XY vs Deluge, M8, Octatrack, Oxi One, MPC etc soon, so maybe I´ll have a better answer in the coming weeks. All the best!

[@horaziohorazio]

@@MidlifeSynthesist that comparision would be very very useful... thanks in advance!

[@horaziohorazio]

@MidlifeSynthesist okay so I ordered one... told my family to cntact you if we're getting short of food 😂

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

@ 😂😂🫣

[@mjr5426]

Hi, definitely more content like this please! You are clearly having a blast and enjoying how intuitive you are finding this. Also nice track, produced fast! I’d love to know if you can export projects to a daw (ideally Logic) and how detailed you can get with this….ie if you can process individual “tracks” “post”. Enjoy!

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Thanks so much for the kind words my friend!! I haven´t exported anything yet but that is defintitely something I´ll be doing in the coming days. I´ll be sure to report on how easy (or not) that process is! Thanks so much for your support, cheers!

[@pmbear]

Reminds me of Simple Minds back in 84… at least Mick MacNeil’s synth playing. Very cool, Midlife, this is a great video, and to me at 9 minutes you nailed it!!!

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Thanks so much!! I was nervous cause I´ve never winged it this much before lol, thankfully it came out alright! Gonna have to try more! See you soon and take care!

[@reneeschke]

4:10 - wait a sec, are you telling me that using the arpeggiator does not record individual steps but rather the exact keys you press? thats awesome!

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Yeah! It´s pretty wild and makes for some very cool results! Thanks for watching! Cheers!

[@macsarcule]

I just checked out the size of this, it’s 11.4” long. I was stunned. In videos it looks like it’s maybe 14” or more. Is this device playable if you have hands like Christmas hams? How small are the keys?

[@Farold_Haltermeyer]

Love how this thing sounds, much prefer it's sonic thumbprints to similar Elektron gadgets. Very Vince Clarke track too...dig!

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Thanks so much my friend! I´m absolutely loving the sound palette as well! See you soon!

[@videosarchive8058]

Great vid! Thanks for the inspiration. Do you know if there is a shortcut to reset EQ. Whenever I tweak it, I get lost and it’s hard to find homebase. Maybe I need to use the history function, but it would be great if there was a reset have you come across anything like that?

[@chrisconnollyofficial]

Great video bud. Cant wait to get mine

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Thanks Chris! I hope you enjoy it as much as I have! Cheers!

[@crtzmo]

This was great! Well done 👌

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Thank you so much!!🙌🏻

[@CrankyOldNerd]

enjoyed it like most of your stuff. you make neat stuff.

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Thanks so much my friend! I truly appreciate the kind words! Cheers!

[@HIFI1965]

The Move has midi capture. It also has a pathway to finishing in Ableton. I've really enjoyed using it. The X/Y is out of my wheelhouse atm.

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

The Move seems great! The easy pathway to Ableton is also one of my favorite features of my beloved Push 3👍🏼 thanks for watching!

[@203null]

10:29 Didn't expect to get rick rolled lol

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

😂😂😂 hadn’t caught that and and now I can’t unsee it LMAO!

[@christianstenvall6023]

How's the shoulder? Love the track by the way!

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Slowly recovering! Thanks so much for asking! Appreciate you my friend! 🙌🏻

[@christianstenvall6023]

@@MidlifeSynthesist feel your pain dude. 6 weeks into post surgery right shoulder. Op1 calling to me but arm says no!!

[@BrentODell]

How is your arm/shoulder? Also, cool beat :)

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Hey Brent! Thanks for watching my friend! My arm is slowly coming back. The worst part of the pain is over thankfully, but I´m still at aroung 30% functionality. If I can lean on a desk as I do in a video I can do some key playing though. Thanks for asking and wish you the best!

[@josephjfk4755]

I really liked this!

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Thanks so much for stopping by Joseph! I had a really good time making it as well, really glad you enjoyed it! See you soon!

[@moolder]

Really fun 👍

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Thanks so much! Had a blast with this one!

[@kostisv]

Hey midlife synthesist. I dunno if you use elektron gear but it would be nice to do the same 30 min challenge with the Syntakt.

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Hey my friend! I love Elektron! Currently I have the Octatrack mk2 and I´m learning the Rythm mk2, so I might try doing this with one of those! Would absolutely love a Syntakt though lol. Cheers!

[@Geekraver]

Can't you override the detected key?

[@marcoshreds]

Yes you can

[@amilnoodeling964]

Woooooow great vibe man I totally dig it!!! Sounds like something Jean-Michel Jarre would make 🤟🏼The arp is soooo good. What about bugs? Is it stable? Does it feel like a finished product?

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Thanks so much my friend! And I’m humbled by the reference😅 So far I haven’t found any bugs, feels pretty stable to me, but I haven’t dig into the sampling and multisampling/file management bit yet where apparently there are a few issues. So far so good, but I’ll be reporting my progress soon. Lots of love!!

[@amilnoodeling964]

@ that’s great news! Can’t wait to get my hands on one🤙🏻

[@drackaris_]

Hey, just a word of warning, when I got mine shipped to me, it was few firmware versions old and it actually was crashing about once a day and some of the step sequencing was not behaving properly. I updated the firmware and it seems totally smooth now, so I would just say when you get yours in make sure it's fully updated.

[@SkerryVibe]

The sound design possibilities on this is actually much more vast than people think, when you start to link tracks together you can create really complex sounds, then you can resample your sound and mess around with it even more and link with other tracks, I’d say the possibilities are quite huge actually. Here’s a basic example: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ioqpnGlpbct6aZYsi=7SYDS6RNBUA8Zecl

[@resetreboot]

"Gimme more bars!!"

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Tombstone engraving material! Lol, thanks for watching!

[@zuur303]

Are these two hands I see before me? More freedom of movement? 🎉

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

YES! Lol, my arm is slowly making come back! For now I still have to keep it on the desk cause I can´t lift it, but I´ll get there! Thanks for watching, Cheers!

[@zuur303]

​@@MidlifeSynthesistExcellent! Small steps but great to see. 🥳

[@MarkusGeheim]

Midlife Magazine - Against the clock

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

@@MarkusGeheim Story of my life😂 thanks for stopping by!🙌🏻

[@MichaalHell]

To everyone who thinks this sound hollow, the key to making the XY sound great is through its master compressor and saturator, when you use those I think it sounds great.. I have some demos on my KZbin if you care to listen…

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Hey Michael! Nice to have you drop by! Anyone reading this, do check out his channel, some amazing music with XY on there🤘🏻cheers!

[@josemichelhernandezhermoso4624]

Fantástico

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Muchisimas gracias compadre! Un abrazo!

[@mpmi7588]

Ill take a digitakt II over that

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

You get extra points for rhyming 😜✌🏻

[@Ayeyomilo]

I was blown away with Logic Pro the other day when I got. You can lay down a synth arp get a session drummer, pianist and bass player to accompany you and bang! 5$ a month and can make songs in 30 or less. But the question is is it any good? I’ll always love my po33 but have yet to be impressed by anything else from teenage engineering as it stands!

[@DamianDodd]

I’ll get one when used goes for $800

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

A man of focus, patience, and sheer f*kin will! Cheers!!

[@iwanttocomplain]

Yeah it has bugs, the software _needs_ updates. Also. It has alot of key guessing things for you which don't always work and will change just when you change a single note. So you change 1 note and it decides to play a track a completely different way. TE were very clever to make it look like an OP-1 but it's actually the progression of the OP-Z. So there will be no OP-Z field because this is it. I've got 4 years of material on the OP-Z and about 100 tracks. The OP-Z is much faster to use.

[@superjet2771]

Tedious. Frustrating. Underwhelming.

[@sichtbeton]

First!

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

@@sichtbeton yooo🔥🔥🤘🏻

[@Steril707]

I make better music with the Seqtrak for 2000 Euro less.

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

I’m glad you’re enjoying the Seqtrak my friend! Just wish we’d stop qualifying music as “better” or “worse”. It’s not a competitive sport nor an objectively comparable thing. It’s fun, it’s art. Let’s just say, you make different music on the Seqtrak and we can all be happy. Cheers.

[@Steril707]

@@MidlifeSynthesist The point is not "better music", but that people endorse this scam that is the OP-XY (and field, before). I had an OP-1 when it came out, and paid 780 Euros for it. Had some fun because of its quirkyness, but then sold it, because it was not even worth that money. Paying 2400 bucks for a simple groovebox like this is a joke.

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

@ that’s you’re opinion my friend. I’m actually having a great time with it and though the price hurt like hell, I don’t feel ripped off in the slightest so far. I don’t think it’s fair to dismiss something so arbitrarily. I’m not an advocate for TE, but credit where credit is due, this thing is amazingly fun and fast and sounds really good to my ears. I’ll give a list of cons when I do the full review though. Cheers!

[@saysthetedd]

This is no slight to you, as I dig your composition style in general, but this thing sounds hollow, lacking and uninspired. Like the toy it is.. It's beautiful - I wanted to like it and sure it's great that it "inspires" people... but man it sounds weak

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

That’s fair, and I appreciate your perspective. The OP-1 had the same “issue”. Either you liked the synths or they didn’t really do it for you, so whatever else it offered didn’t really matter. When it comes down to it, no matter the features, if the box doesn’t sound right to you, then you should definitely look somewhere else. Thanks for watching!🙌🏻🙌🏻

[@ryanalldread]

Not sure if you’ve only listened to it through phone speakers or something but it sounds pretty awesome with headphones or an actual speaker.

[@F_letc.h]

I mean, Thom Yorke uses an OP-1 in his live set, so if this is a toy, it’s a toy that’s good enough for some the best musicians in the world.

[@saysthetedd]

@@ryanalldread Mate - I have listened to MANY gear demos through the same Bose speakers I heard this through that sound incredible. Every single thing I have heard from the XY sounds uninspired. Artists I like a lot, such as Oora and Ricky Tinez, who consistently demo gear I think sounds great... when they demoed this thing? Meek, frail and cheap. The OP-XY is a toy. You like it? Good for you bud!

[@saysthetedd]

@@F_letc.h Uh, this isn't an OP-1 - I know the point you *think* you're making; but it ain't landing. Keep in mind, Thom Yorke is a legend who can compose beautiful things with whatever he touches. But whatever example you're referring to he undoubtedly accompanied it with a plethora of other synths that, let's just say, masked the inadequacies of trying to move an audience with, again, what is ultimately a toy.

[@305plp5]

$2300 and Only 4 bars?!?!?

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

@@305plp5 4 bars, but you can alter the scale resolution to make it 64 bars or 1024 1/16th notes, so not really a big issue so far, cheers!

[@alecsbuga]

Yeah it has a very high note resolution

[@captainlovett4724]

There’s also the arranger, song mode and 9 patterns per track, per scene. People overlook this aspect way too easily. YOU ARE NOT LIMITED TO 4 BARS.

[@AKAIMPCJUNKIE-gr5fm]

Even if you do make a nice beat or a phrase with this gadget, it's still not worth the money, so I guess I'll just move onto another video after only watching two minutes. If this gadget was around, maybe $500 I'd probably buy one, but at 2200 no way Jose, see you later Muchacho.

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Fair enough! Remember you can just enjoy something you won’t buy though, like Top Gear! Lots of love!