Teenage Engineering's OP-1 and OP-1 Field are two of the most divisive instruments in modern music tech: for every musician that adores their unique design and playful aesthetic, there's another that's written them off as overpriced hipster accessories.
While we find ourselves in the former camp, we have some sympathy for the critics, who have lodged a variety of objections against the OP-1 and its younger brother over the years. Among this list of complaints, perhaps the most common has been the notorious absence of a dedicated undo function for the instrument's Tape Mode recording environment.
Without undo, recordings made in Tape Mode can't be undone without scrubbing the whole thing – not a big deal if you're recording to a clean slate, but once you start overdubbing, this can cause major headaches for players prone to a bum note or two. While some users have managed to develop workarounds, undo has become a frequently requested feature among the instrument's user base for that very reason.
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The lack of undo wasn't an accidental oversight on Teenage Engineering's part, but an intentional design choice made to mirror the experience of recording at home with a four-track tape machine: by placing deliberate limitations on its workflow, the designers thought, they might better stimulate the creativity of its users. Whether or not you agree with that thinking, the choice to exclude such a basic function from a device that retails for $2000 is certainly a bold move.
This week, Teenage Engineering hit an undo button of their own by undoing their decision not to add undo to the OP-1 Field. The instrument's 1.7.0 firmware update finally brings the feature to OP-1 Field's Tape Mode, giving users the ability to make (almost) as many mistakes as they please with seven stages of undo, and even throwing in redo for good measure. (To access undo and redo once you've updated, just hold the Tape button and hit the left and right arrows.)
"15 years ago, we didn't add undo to the OP–1 tape. we wanted to stay true to the feeling of recording at home with your 4-track," Teenage Engineering says on its website. "But to be honest, sometimes it’s nice to get a do-over. that’s why we are undoing what we did, we’re adding undo."
While OP-1 Field owners will be rejoicing at their newfound ability to make mistakes, owners of the original OP-1 aren't so lucky, and there's no indication that the 15-year-old instrument will be receiving any major feature updates any time soon.
The 1.7.0 update also brings a number of additional features to the OP-1 Field, including expanded MIDI control, improved external sync, and a MIDI monitor that helpfully displays incoming MIDI and sync in real time.
