Was about to post this as a reply in another thread but seemed like a derail so throwing in a fresh one.
Killer box of tricks. Ton of potential onboard! Already enjoyed using a bunch of patches that arent close to maxing out the cpu.
A few of things that jumped straight out at me after a couple of sessions -
The Good -
Tiny footprint.
Diverse uses.
Most of the synths and fx sound way better than Id imagined they would.
Fast loading time between patches.
A TON of patches.
Save as new = as many user presets as mem stick can hold.
Creative/interesting patches.
Regular and Infinite ‘new patches/stuff to try out’.
Helpful community.
The not so good -
Surprised how many sample playback patches don’t also allow you to sample from the inputs and save as new patch/sample set. Can be bit of a vibe killer to have to transfer samples via stick. Not sure why the option to sample is so uncommon?
Some reason I assumed there’d be a global ‘monitor inputs’ option. Bit of a bummer to not find this as I keep having to disconnect/reconnect my Op1. And some sampling patches you can’t even monitor what you’re going to sample (Sample Style Rec). My fault for not checking ahead tho.
Almost all sample patches only allow you to globally edit the sample params like speed/pitch etc. Surprised to not see more tweakability per sample/key (a la Op1 drum sampler).
Haven’t found any sequencer type in patches that allows basic sequencer overdubbing yet. Only the pow power beats style overdubbing.
All of these kind of ommisions make me wonder whether they aren’t there due to hardware limitations or whether they’re just too complex to program in PD/the organelle platform. Or maybe they just kind of clash with the ‘quirky’ overall vibe.
Seems like endless encoders would have made much more sense all things considered. A lot of left/right tweaking sometimes just to hit the current value and then get to the desired one.
Overall there’s a lot to love about it. No regrets at all on copping one. Looking forward to seeing things develop and trying my hand at PD.
If you are talking about the C&G basic patches they are built to show possibilities.
And i think many folks may be missing the allure for many folks like myself of a dedicated Pd box.
I have modded many of the C&G patches by now but many of them are designed to one thing extremely well and they succeed. What i think is also an issue is that many folks here are new to Pd so their patches reflect that.
Honestly if one did not have a plan to learn Pure Data or was already versed in Max/Pd Organelle can be very limited, if you are like me perhaps i love the thing because i can do everything from FM to Spectral in a little blue box ad it fucking rules…
So All those things you listed —i have already coded with varying levels of success. but the op1 which as i recall is 300$ moe expensive than an organelle and a closed system other than a bunch of [i think ] paid add-ons-- again i don’t know the devices very well but i think it has an OLED that you can see the waveform(s) correct? That makes all the micro editing stuff much easier.
Yeah I wasn’t comparing Op1 to organelle overall. Just a fan of the way the Op1 drum sampler allows per key/sample pitch and start/end adjustment. Haven’t seen that in many (maybe none?) organelle sampler patches yet. Just something I got used to as being kind of staple in samplers. Still got a bunch of patches to try out tho… It’s not a big deal tbh. Global pitch is fun/useful in its own way too.
Organelle’s rad and goes in all directions. Op1’s more like a traditional synth/sampler setup - pick from sampler/synth engine/drum sampler>pick your fx>pick your sequencer type/arpeggio. Use them all together. But with that set structure comes its own confinements. Both Op1 and Organelle ways are cool. Very different strengths/weaknesses. Like I’m hyped to throw Organelle down on my pedal board ASAP and mess with guitar + pedals. That’s not something I’d ever really do with Op1. Potentially saved me £1000+ in weird digital pedals I’ve been gassing on
Just feels like some patches aren’t fully maximised for depth/options and some bread and butter or bonus stuff gets left out even tho there’s CPU to spare. But it’s probably just my own head baggage from using other boxes. And maybe it’s often by design to keep things kind of challenging/limited or people coding just get bored and wanna move on to whatever interests them more at the time. Totally fair! It’s amazing how much people have shared their hard work with patches. Very cool. And like you say, it’s a prompt for more people to get learnin I plan to but a lot going on atm so it’s gonna take a few months minimum just getting the basics down…
If you need to monitor on a patch and can’t right now search for the topic where some simple steps are shown to add that functionality It’s an easy job!
as an aside, Id say the OP1 aims to be a workstation in a box, not something organelle really targets
there are technical differences between the op-1 and organelle, but many can be ‘creatively’ overcome. so your list, is not so much bound by hardware limitations as what has currently been explored.
of course, to create complex things, takes time… but newer hardware would not change that, the op1 has had a huge software development investment, which sets it apart, not the hardware.
hence, I think the community is the most important thing behind Organelle, the longer it develops and keeps interested and motivated, the more boundaries it will push.
I think this is the real challenge for musicians/music tech/developers today - there are continually new shiny toys to chase, which means efforts and communities are continually divided, leading to a lack of focus to push creatively any particular piece, work within the limitations it provides - and i think for a musical instrument (as opposed to tv/computer) this is a huge shame.
(this is the issue with a mk2 released ‘too early’, it will divide the community into mk1 and mk2 users, which divides efforts)
I get what you’re saying re patches and methods developing over time. Some patches feel much more natural to use than others and they’re nearly all patches that have been coded specifically for Organelle. If Organelle just had a few more buttons (to be able to dedicate to ‘sample rec’, ‘sequencer’, ‘page’ and ‘Oct +/-’ etc) it’d make a pretty big improvement for users/coders to have depth in a patch without fiddly workflow. If C&G made some kind of add-on strip of extra buttons I’d be down for sure! But like you say that would cause its own headaches (some users not owning the extra buttons…) and what’s done is done. There’s still plenty there to work with
From a quick play with most of the patches there’s a definite better feel when using patches purpose built for the organelle UI, like you say. Looking forward to seeing more of those appear and having a go at making some myself…
It’s an easy job!