this was shot so beautifully and the speech was so much less tense than a lot of other interviews i appreciate the casual tone yet tight handling of the questions, i learned so much!!
What a great interview, or should I say, discussion. You 2 guys are on the same wavelength. Its fun to listen to you discuss stuff. You should set up regular videos with each other from wherever to wherever. Too often these kinds of videos are boring and repetitious. But this one is a winner because of the 2 guys. Again, my suggestion cuckoo is to have videos where you follow up on certain guys that you click with, maybe a few of them in a video conference. Could be different guys’every time.
This performance man just wow! I'm stoked at the apparent complexity of the device and the steep learning curve, but at the same time I really want to get one, this thing is revolutionary. Thank you for this video Cuckoo!
I was underwhelmed by videos of OP-Z at Superbooth until I saw this video. Cuckoo, you made magic with that instrument by itself, but I also appreciated the insight from Tobias about it and the future of the product. I think I'll keep my preorder for now.
Good to hear and see your performance at Maze again. From this angle it's much more recognizable than from the Bar behind where I was sitting with @motone. Tobias' show was also excellent. Greetings from Berlin!
This video changed entirely how I saw the OP-Z. I didn't know about modules and I didn't know about the external midi control capabilities. I wonder what OP-1 and OP-Z combo feels like to play and how it plays out with other gear, eg Digitakt or Minibrute. So awesome. From what I've seen it seems like a "Digitakt for the pocket" without compromising functionality - in fact, rather adding?
Does it have a sync in input for modular? Maybe in a module, but when? I am very exited for this, I hope I can slave the sequencer to external cv clock. Amazing job guys, Thanks a lot!
Hi Mr Cuckoo. Given that the TE OPZ and the Novation Circuit are similar sorts of instruments and seeing how you're familiar with both, I've got a few questions. Can you tell me how they compare? Is it worth selling one's Circuit and saving up for an OPZ? Seeing how it costs twice as much, is the OPZ twice as good as the Circuit? What are the main pros/cons of the OPZ? Should I be asking Santa for one this Christmas?
I think in many ways the OP-Z is “twice as good”. The sequencer is the real advantage. But the 8 macro knobs on the Circuit is really great. And the open sound engine on the circuit is also very good. For me the only downside with the Circuit is the somewhat limited sequencer memory. It’s gotten better and better over time though. But the OP-Z sequencer is king. Also the future modules for the OP-Z will be interesting. The Circuit has a great performance size. The OP-Z has an unbeatable portable size.
$599 price point wow! i think we all expected it to be lower but with all the functionality it has i think im fine with that. you can tell it is more powerful than the op-1 and with the huge customization options you have with it it should be worth it.
I'm so disappointed by how underwhelmed the crowd appears to be for Cuckoo's performance :( Cuckoo's energy is so intense and infectious, I can't imagine being so dull in the presence of it.
hey erik, thanks for your concern. rest assured the crowd loved it and the vibe was great! super small cozy intimate lounge venue, and first time ever in a live situation, so i think we were all very intrigued and fascinated to experience it. the event was all we could have hoped for and more! truly thankful to everybody who turned up, artists, audience and staff alike! 💚
Great job Cuckoo but I’m not crazy about the 8 but video game sounds (no offense meant) I assume you could use this to get bigger sounds or different music genres if you wanted? Any reverb or effects capabilities? Sorry if my question shows an obvious lack of knowledge about the Op-z.
Hey cuckoo. Great stuff. In the clip we hear you jamming on one musicalmidea. Does the OP-Zs functionality allow for you to createa live set of say one hour with different musical ideas that you can transition into? Also how easy is it to jam on the fly and improvise a song? Thanks so much for your lens into this world.
Hey, so I still don't quite understand what this unit does. So many features...Could it be also used as a live video mixer/ sequencer ? Or I'm just dreaming...Great videos !!! Thank you TE, thank you Cuckoo...
I'm curious about the "modules". I've heard it's a bay under the device with connection points. Is it like a chip that we purchase that changes the intended functionality of the yellow ports?
Thanks for that Cuckoo! Wicked cool - I cannot wait to hear what they come up with in terms of module offerings. And thanks for your top-quality content as always - this was a great interview.
Still not entirely convinced with what I've seen so far, wanted to hear some big fat sounds from it but that isn't your style cuckoo which is fine. Great performance! Surprised they went the way of relying on other company's hardware for a major part of the experience, ie Apple. Not sure if this is a good thing or not yet.
Thanks Cuckoo for being able to talk to you yesterday for a minute, you looked pretty tired! Thanks again (also for the selfie ;-) (i was the guy who dont wanted to steel your time ;-)
Now you have really earned a new Patreon! (Would really love to here your feedback to my new album Social Entropy - facebook.com/HolodeckMusic/) as you want ;-)
sure thing dude, had an app called f.lux making computer screen adapt to time of day. figured i could apply this to time afk also. custom ordered ray ban aviators, with my prescription (near sighted + some other corrections). got them at the local optrician store here in town. had a similar pair, but pink (ordered regulars but got pink?!) many years ago and loved them so wanted to try something like those but different. gives me good social media blue light display protection, greatly improves contrast and makes everything look warm and cozy.
i like the things they put out but also think its so pricey. PO's are nice but not the 30-40 dollar cases.... OP Z looks nice but 599 is just crazy. I think if they dont get the prices right that phones and tablets will blow things like this away but most can be done with a midi controller and pocket hardware :) I would buy the Z for 299
Yeah I hear you. But miniaturisation doesn't automatically equal lower price in components and build costs. The challenges of making a product this compact are daunting. Take the Apple Pencil for instance. It's really really expensive, and it only does one thing. But the art of miniaturisation was taken to new heights with that one. The same with the OP-Z. I think Apple is a good reference here to talk about the concept of paying more for a certain quality factor. Be it design, functionality or that hard to define "sum is greater than parts" factor. I think the OP-Z works extraordinarily well in an astonishing form factor, and I'm open for paying for that. I'm also an Apple user, and no stranger to this kind of thinking. Although the functionality could be achieved with an equally expensive phone, the user experience wouldn't be anywhere near as good. It would require a bigger MIDI controller, and a combination of quality apps running in sync, with a very custom app setup, and a lot more to keep track of, also a lot more that could go wrong. We all want it cheaper.. of course. It would be weird otherwise. But the OP-1 is still a best seller after 8 years in production. It's because it's special. The OP-Z is special too.
Yes, both the OP-1 and OP-Z are indeed special and I fully understand that half the price goes into research and development but it also comes down to, do you want to sell 1000 at a high profit or sell 10.000 at a smaller profit and have more people enjoy the hardware. I also think it comes down to which market they are going after. Do they go after the starters, advanced or pro's user base. I am a starter myself so maybe thats why i cant justify the high prices (yet) and thats why i started with the pocket operators but i do think that asking 33% up to 50% of the PO's retail price for a case is a bad thing. I understand why you bought the apple pen because it helps the productivity but dont get me started about the 30 dollar cables etc because adding chips into the cables so that its hard to get a 3rd party cable is purely done for the money grab and this is one of the reason why i love android... and yes, android sucks for music making. But thanks for the reply and letting me know how you see it because you are more serious into music and have had the chance to play with the OP-Z so you know what you talking about :)
Yeah, I know they say it, but I've not physically seen it... They said it quite a while ago, actually... I'm just cautious to expect anything that has not been shown, as the specs are subject to change, as astated by TE... The only vid that I've seen showing the OP-1 connected to OP-Z is using two cables. I'm hoping for one cable... This one instagram.com/p/Bht502QlWF7/?taken-by=dungeon_acid
cuckoomusic appreciate the reply. Sampling and instrument availability are pretty big outstanding questions at this point. A sampling module announced at release as a roadmap item would likely be enough for me to pull the trigger, but as someone who would love portable composing without being hard-tied to a DAW, feeling like I’d still need an op-1 and an op-z stings. Thanks for all your great content and your contribution to the beta!
The way it works is you’ve got 16 steps, but you can select the length of each track. Like 12 steps long, 15 steps long. Then you have playback speed per track. In many of my songs I have a longer chord progression playing back at an 8th of the speed, but still with high resolution and many notes per trig.
If the Pocket Operators can handle odd time signatures (they can) then anything that allows you change step length can handle odd time signatures. The real question is can your audience handle odd time signatures. 😂
Hi Cuckoo, nice performance! Can this thing make fat sounds aswell as the more nintendo style sounds you use? I mean your style is fat dont get me wrong :)
