calculated risks

The Pocket Operator series began with the PO-12 Rhythm, so we thought we’d start there with this first release in a series of Pocket Operator packs. The Pocket Operators are known for being lo-fi digital wonders that bring simplicity and performance to anyone with a finger. 

The PO-12 is a drum machine with a parameter lockable sequencer, and an all around FX mangler. Like all of these pocket-sized sounds, the PO-12 is pure and RAW digital everything, from the synth engines, samples, and the real time FX, to the actual converters - it doesn’t get much more economical sounding than than Pocket Operators.

The PO-12 has 16 voices consisting of 14 drum sounds, 1 synth, and 1 bass sound. We’ve focused on the 14 drum sounds only for this release. We captured the output of the PO-12 as directly to to digital as possible, with no additional processing done.

We also created an Ableton Drum Rack with the 14 one-shot samples, and added some macro controls and effects reminiscent of the PO-12’s built-in effects. Make your own crunchy beats! 

We believe that the Pocket Operators are best used as performance devices, so we programmed 50 different patterns as drum loops. We also captured 7 different Pocket Operator effects as loop variations for each pattern.  400 loops later, we had a collection of some of our most eclectic drum loops to date. There’s a very satisfying push and pull between control and total chaos when you use these little machines, and so, “calculated risks” felt like the perfect name.

Protect your pockets and grab this pack that’s even cheaper than the actual hardware.