Teenage Engineering News

Jens depressed at the design / tech prize award ‘Stora...

Thu, 16 May 2013 19:03:14 +0200

Jens depressed at the design / tech prize award ‘Stora Designpriset’ (which we didn’t win), trying out the radio controlled digger. Congratulations to Hestra who won!

Reggie Watts on his live gear - backpack style

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:38:00 +0200

Reggie Watts talks about his gear used for his live performances:
”I wanted to bring a keyboard on the road with me, but my rule is I can’t have anything bigger than my backpack…”
Thus when portability is a factor, the OP-1 is a perfect companion!

Control Natural - Interview with Mike Fresh

Tue, 07 May 2013 21:16:00 +0200

Set in the berkshire hills of Massachusetts in a house on several acres of woods, Control Natural is a project designed to subtract all distractions from an artists life, to curate the best environment for them to create.

The project takes the form of a studio album (EP) and a 3 part documentary series produced by producer Mike Fresh and directed by Matthew Charof. Each of the 3 artists visited the property for a few days separately (one coming after the other) and spent time letting go of their everyday worries before stepping in the studio, located in the house everyone was staying at. Mike and and the artists then created a new song from scratch. Artists featured are Adrienne Mack-Davis (5/7), Dao Jones (5/14) and James Ryan (5/21). Tobias of Teenage Engineering had a few words over email with Mike.

TE: What was most challenging with the environment you were working in?

MF: The most challenging thing for me with the environment was to make sure everyone felt extremely comfortable and relaxed but at the same time push to make sure we write and record a beat and vocals as well as film interviews and a documentary, usually within 24-48 hours for each artist.

TE: Did the benefits outweigh the challenges?

MF: I believe the product that was produced under this controlled environment was some of the best work ever written by these artists. The challenges made us all better at what we do and our benefit outweighed these challenges by a long shot. I would take every advantage I can to use this model with other artists I am producing as well as open this project up to visual artists.

TE: How was the OP-1 used in the process?

MF: The OP-1 was heavily important to the writing process. All 3 artists and myself noticed we would unintentionally pick up the OP-1 and carry it with us outside to the front lawn or pool, bring it to the dinner table, and even bring it to jot down a few ideas while in bed. The OP-1 broke down the walls of the studio allowing the entire property to be the studio and we no longer had to sit in one room inside for hours looking at a computer screen. It also played a big role in the production of the songs which to me (being the producer) was super happy with. This instrument that is small enough to cary around is actually outputting high quality sounds that I was picking over my Juno, JP-8080, or any soft synth.

TE: What is your favorite thing with or feature of the OP-1?

MF: My favorite thing about the OP-1 is that it really has been designed so well both inside and out. Tweaking instruments on the fly, changing patches through the wide spectrum, and making them your own with all the effects and parameters. Also super happy that I can take it anywhere, use the super easy record functions and then plug it into my computer and develop it more, while still be able to use the same sounds. Also, can’t forget Chop Lifter :) !!

TE: Will you do this kind of project again?

MF: I would make another Control Natural if I had the opportunity. I would keep many things the same but also change some things. The cool thing about this concept is that it can take place anywhere with any set of artists. I hope next time we can use a beach house somewhere warm or travel across seas.

TE: Add one more: Are you always this super organized?

Ha ha ha, I’m a crazy person and loose my mind if things are not organized ha ha.

TE: Thanks Mike!

Be sure to check out the documentaries, listen to the tracks and grab the studio album available for download May 21st.

www.controlnatural.net

Job opening: Senior Backend Engineer

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 13:43:00 +0200

We’re looking for a passionate and experienced developer to join our tech team. You’ve worked many years with designing and building client/server applications and backend/database infrastructures or maybe you’ve been developing high-concurrency real-time multiplayer game systems.

Required experience
- *nix/SysOp experience
- Big interest in modern web technologies and backend systems
- System level Linux config & management
- Network performance tuning and debugging skills
- Continuous integration & Test-driven development
- C/C++, Bash, Python
- Familiarity with cloud computing, clustering, failover, etc.

Bonus experience
- Expertise in security theory, monitoring and practice, web apps & Linux
- OpenWRT & software packaging / Linux open source contributor
- Modern world HTML, CSS & Javascript
- TCP/IP Networking, asynchronous socket programming, Twisted
- Part of launching and running an online startup / system as a service

When applying, please include a brief description of your skills, passions, and work style plus one link to a personal hobby app you’ve built.

OP-1 is nominated for Swedish “Stora Designpriset”!...

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:58:00 +0200

OP-1 is nominated for Swedish “Stora Designpriset”! What an honor! You can help us win it by voting. Please go here: http://www.storadesignpriset.se/view.php?id=53 and click the green “RÖSTA” button. THANK YOU!

Swedish Electrifies Core - Five tracks of OP-1 music

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 13:56:09 +0200

Swedish Electrifies Core - Five tracks of OP-1 music by Greg Harrer

Interview with DM programmer, Christoffer Berg

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 10:13:00 +0100

With the recent Rolling Stone post about the new Depeche Mode ‘Delta Machine’ album, we took the chance to talk to fellow Swede and album programmer, Christoffer Berg.

Teenage Engineering: How did you get involved in the album process?

Christoffer Berg: I got involved at the end of January 2012. I was asked if I would be interested. In February I went to London to meet Ben Hillier and Daniel Miller to listen to some demos and just meet them. In March I went to the first recording session in Santa Barbara.

TE: How come they first approached you?

CB: I think the way it happened was that Ferg Peterkin, who was the engineer on the record, was in the studio where I have a production room, Svenska Grammofon Studion in Gothenburg. He was recording an album with a band called Foals, and him and Luke Smith, who was the programmer on the previous record, had brought their modulars along.

I asked if I could have a go at the equipment and do some experiments with it. They invited me to come in whenever I wanted to, so I recorded some stuff on a mobile setup that I brought to their room. After this I was kind of invited to send a resume and submit some demos.

There was quite a substantial list of experience required to even submit a demo. You had to have expertise in several modern day sequencers and also be able to synchronize these with old analog stuff. But at the time when I started making electronic music music, I had to use sync boxes and a four track portastudio. So when I looked through the list I thought to my self “I can do this”, and “if I get this job I’m gonna kill it”.

TE: What was the actual position offered?

CB: It was as the programmer. My technical responsibility would be to keep different systems synchronized, and also to program beats, make sounds, basslines or whatever.

TE: So, during a days work, what equipment would you use?

CB: Oh, my god… Wow, we had a huge Eurorack modular with somewhere around 700 - 800 modules. During the recording process Martin (Gore) also got a dotcom modular, which I really fell in love with. We had ARP 2600’s. Martin has a rack which has three 2600’s in one rack, with custom MIDI interface for them. That was insane! One favorite of mine came to be the ‘Gleeman Pentaphonic’, a kind of rare early digital analog hybrid synth, which looks really cool and has a very special sound. It’s almost impossible to list every thing and almost easier to list the stuff we didn’t have.

TE: Where you ever intimidated by the amount of machines?

CB: Yes, definitely. It was intimidating but that was also the fun part of it, because I just had to try everything, and decide what do I like, what do I not like, etc. It was a very exciting experimentation process and I was working closely with Martin. He knows all his gear very very well, because unlike a lot of synthesizer collectors he actually uses everything. It was great to have his experience and knowledge in this experimental discovery process. And the cool thing about that was I think I became more intimidated by the gear in Martin’s studio, then working with the band itself.

TE: How was it to work with the band?

CB: It was great. I was really happy when they started telling stories about the good old days. I was quite happy that I’m working with them now, rather than ten, twenty years ago. You know, everyone is in a really good place and they’re excited and focused on the music and not the party side of it. It was really great. We had a lot of fun together. It was just fun every day to go to the studio.

TE: The studio, there were more than one location right?

CB: Yes, we had a mobile setup that was shipped back and forth between Santa Barbara and New York City. We were in Santa Barbara Sound Design and in Jungle City Studios in New York, so for every other session we were in a different place.

TE: How long did the recording process take?

CB: For me it was roughly 140 days that I was away from Sweden, We had like three month long sessions and one six week session.

TE: Did you use the OP-1 in the studio?

CB: Yes, I did. With such a big production team it’s very different from my own studio where I make music. I can sort of go “hm, I think I want to use this particular synthesizer”, reach for it and just plug it in and play it. But when you’re a big team there might be something else going on on the main frame recording computer, and everything was organized and tucked away.

If I had an idea to record something I would first tell an assistant to bring out whatever instrument I wanted to play. That might take five minutes. Getting it powered up and in tune would take a while. Then to get a good sound could take another couple of minutes and, you know, something else might be going on, so I basically had the OP-1 at arms reach all the time.

It has ridiculous battery time, so it would always power up. And it has a speaker so you can instantly get an idea down, like a sketch pad, and start working without having to wait. It was really great to keep handy as a starting point for any sound really.

TE: Is there actual OP-1 sounds on the record somewhere?

CB: Yes, I know we did record it. I don’t really remember where it is, but yeah it was recorded, and I also used it for some live stuff we recorded after the album was actually finished.

TE: What would you say is your favorite feature of the OP-1 is?

CB: My favorite thing about it is probably the combination of the many hours of battery time, built in speaker and built in microphone. It’s a complete thing. It doesn’t need anything else to operate. It’s very autonomous.

I actually have these recurring nightmares. I am on a desert island with the most amazing recording gear. And everything is powered up and ready to go, but there are no jack to jack cables! Ha, ha! It’s actually a true story. And I have this feeling of frustration.

But I have the OP-1 permanently in my backpack. And it’s such a comforting feeling to know that whenever and wherever I get an urge to make music I can actually do it, and I don’t need anything else. I don’t need headphones, I don’t need power, I don’t need an external keyboard, I don’t need a microphone, I don’t need anything. I just need… the OP-1. And that’s what really makes it very special.

TE: Cool. For the moment, what are you working on currently, and what are your plans for the future?

CB: I’m doing solo stuff and writing songs for others. I’m working with a band called Jode from Gothenburg, as well as quite a few projects I can’t say much about yet. I’m also spending time with my family.

TE: Will you continue working with Depeche Mode?

CB: I would love to!

TE: Cool. Thanks a lot!

CB: My pleasure! https://soundcloud.com/christofferberg

OP-1 on Delta Machine, Depeche Mode. See the video here.

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:00:00 +0100

OP-1 on Delta Machine, Depeche Mode. See the video here.

Design Assistant needed! See our job posting. We are all looking...

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 01:11:00 +0100

Design Assistant needed! See our job posting. We are all looking forward to meet you!

BTS of a special little offer coming soon…

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 11:54:00 +0100

BTS of a special little offer coming soon…

Albin of TE takes a break from the traditional QC routine to...

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 13:27:00 +0100

Albin of TE takes a break from the traditional QC routine to show off his excellent grand piano skills. Nice work Albin!

Just a regular day at the Teenage office…

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:43:00 +0100

Just a regular day at the Teenage office…

Pauli The PSM showed up and entertained our crowd with a...

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 04:25:00 +0100

Pauli The PSM showed up and entertained our crowd with a spontaneous and eclectic appearance! Thanks Pauli!

Great night!! Posted from: CA, USAAmazing dj’s and crowd!...

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 11:07:00 +0100

Great night!!

Posted from: CA, USAAmazing dj’s and crowd! Rating: 5/5

Event is on! Posted from: CA, USA

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 06:51:00 +0100

Event is on! Posted from: CA, USA

Tonight: Stones Throw Records showcase. NAMM Show Weekend...

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 22:04:00 +0100

Tonight: Stones Throw Records showcase. NAMM Show Weekend Afterparty.
Presented by OBEY Radio + AIAIAI + Teenage Engineering.

Music by:
http://www.stonesthrow.com/arabianprince
http://www.stonesthrow.com/jonwayne
http://stonesthrow.com/karriemriggins

Details here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/405243096225451/

NAMM day 2, panorama edition

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 21:38:00 +0100

NAMM day 2, panorama edition

NAMM is on and if you’re around, make sure to stop by our booth...

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 04:32:00 +0100

NAMM is on and if you’re around, make sure to stop by our booth 6409 and say hi!

NAMM 2013

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 04:32:00 +0100

NAMM 2013

After CES the team went up to Silicon Valley to meet with some...

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 23:30:00 +0100

After CES the team went up to Silicon Valley to meet with some interesting players.

In preparation for NAMM we had to move in to a temporary office in LA. Maybe time to start looking in to making it more permanent?