Teenage Engineering is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Pocket Operator, a range of miniature music-making devices that launched in 2015 with the PO-12 Rhythm, PO-14 Sub and PO-16 Factory and has since grown to encompass nine models.
This week, the Swedish brand shared a post on its website that reflects on the history and influence of the Pocket Operators, offering some fascinating insights into their development from the Teenage Engineering team.
Recounting the development of the PO-33 K.O!, a sampler released in 2018 that later inspired the EP-133 K.O. II, Senior Engineer Jonatan Blomster revealed a hidden feature that he believes nobody has yet discovered: the ability to dial the sampler's tempo down below its minimum of 60 BPM, all the way to 15.
"While working on PO-33, I was also making some ambient/drone music on the side and got frustrated that I couldn’t go slower than 60 BPM," Blomster recalls.
"So I snuck in an easter egg that most people probably don’t know about, until now; if you hold BPM, press a pad to set the volume five times, and then keep holding BPM, you can turn Pot B to set BPM anywhere from 15 to 60. I don’t think anyone’s found it yet."
Teenage Engineering's Head of Development Oscar Ahlgren gives us an enlightening glimpse into the genesis of the initial Pocket Operator concept, which was born following a lengthy period working on the OD-11 wireless loudspeaker, released in 2014.
"There was an itch to do something less demanding - something quick, iterative and fun," Ahlgren says. "At the same time, we noticed the brand had a strong following, but both OP–1 and OD-11 were quite expensive and not everyone could afford them.
"All of that came together into the idea of the Pocket Operator: the most affordable synthesizer we could dream up. The ambition was to create something so accessible that even people who’d never touched an instrument could make music.
"There was also a bit of a pedagogical goal behind the first PO-10 series - they brought together three foundational elements of music: rhythm, bass, and melody - into a pocket-sized, low-cost form. Most of the design decisions were purely out of necessity. The look - bare circuit board, LCD screen, a few knobs - wasn’t about being clever. We just had to keep costs as low as possible."
Back in January, Teenage Engineering launched the #PO10DIY contest, inviting Pocket Operator users to submit DIY designs incorporating the instruments.
Announced in April, the winners include airdrum clips that trigger the PO's sounds when shaken in a particular direction, a set of deconstructed plastic keys that let you play the PO piano-style, and a 3D-printed clip-on spring reverb accessory.
Now if you'll excuse us, we're off to dig out our PO-33 and get lost in some lo-fi drones.
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