Sometimes when I sit down in front of my computer, with a collection of analog synths, guitars, endless virtual instruments, etc. I become paralyzed by choice.  There are too many options.  I remember being a kid dreaming of moments like this and the music I could make if I only had all this gear that's in front of me now. Back then, when I made music, the question "how" never came up.  I had a guitar and that was it; pick it up and make music.  Now, "how" is a much more important question.  I ashamedly admit, that there are often countless hours, wasted fiddling with all sorts of gear, trying this or that new thing out, but not making music.  

Limitations Equals Creative Freedom

In my experience, the best way to get past this is to set up some arbitrary constraints.  Tell yourself you can only use one or two instruments, have 8 tracks or only devote 10 minutes to writing a track.  I find it helps me cut out tons of distractions, eliminates myriad decisions, and  get down to business. Today's free Ableton Live Pack is the result of that kind of thinking. 

Enter the Teenage Engineering's OP-1

One of my favorite self-imposed limitations is restricting myself to just one synth.  In this case I chose Teenage Engineering's OP-1.  Anyone familiar with this site probably know how much I love the OP-1.  The OP-1 is so deep that I have to set limitations within it to get work done.  So I decided to sample its FM radio, and only use sounds and samples that were already on my OP-1. Below is a song I came up with, using just the OP-1.  Then I'll explain the Live Pack I made from the track.

The 228 Million Dollar Kit

I really liked the drum sounds, as well as some of the chords I created for this track.  So much so, that I thought I'd like to use them again sometime. So I grabbed some of the sounds and put them into an Ableton Live Drum Rack.  And now I'd like to offer them to you for your musical arsenal.  You'll get the drums you hear in the track above,  some samples from the OP-1's FM radio, some chords, and some reversed hits and tape stops.  Every sound has its own controls for volume, pan, transpose, and filtering; this means you can drastically change each sample so it sounds completely different than the original.  Enjoy!

A Collection of Songs Made with the OP-1

Here's a playlist of tracks I've made on the OP-1.  I think they show just how diverse an instrument it is.  I'm a big fan of using its built in mic to record guitar and vocals; the records come out having so much character. Give it a listen and I hope you enjoy it.

Ableton Live Instruments Made with the OP-1

Below are a couple of Instruments I've made from samples of the OP-1, it's a great way to get that unique sound into your Live Projects.