Teenage Engineering’s New Sampler Can Play the Hottest Gregorian Chants and Sickest Lute Solos

Sweden-based Teenage Engineering makes products for a very, precise circumstantial audience. Take, for example, the company’s $250 artifact car or its TP-7 portion recorder with a spinning instrumentality to way done recordings. None person spoken to maine arsenic overmuch arsenic its latest project, a medieval-themed sampler committee called the EP-1320. By the look and dependable of it, it whitethorn connection the champion accidental to bring on-the-fly, on-brand euphony to my Dungeons and Dragons sessions. 

I ne'er thought there’d beryllium a dependable merchandise that made maine perk up arsenic accelerated arsenic a Medieval-age dependable sampler and portable, simplified groove box. The $300 EP-1320 is truly a reskin of the $300 EP-133 K.O. II, but it’s perfectly designed to springiness the Renaissance faire cull successful maine a accidental astatine sampling scores. If I volition ne'er halt my lazy streak and larn to play the lute and reenact tribunal scenes of the 14th-century English king Edward II, possibly this is the adjacent champion thing. 

There are samples successful determination for immoderate of the champion instruments of yesteryear, namely the citole, shawn, flute, trumpets, and my idiosyncratic favorite—the hurdy-gurdy. The sampler much foley items successful determination arsenic good if you privation to see the dependable of swords clashing oregon arrows flitting crossed a battlefield. Teenage Engineering says it does incorporate dependable for a dragon arsenic good if you’re looking to see a fewer flights of phantasy connected apical of the 9 onboard demo songs.

The instrumentality is expected to person a redesigned suite of punch-in FX. Other stated dependable features see “torture enclosure reverb,” “dungeon echo,” and “bardic ensemble.” Not to enactment excessively good a constituent connected it, the company’s video advertizing its caller merchandise is possibly adjacent much chaotic than the instrumentality itself.

The sampler is costly if you see it a specified euphony toy, though it’s plentifulness inexpensive if you were operating it arsenic your main portable sampler system. The EP-133 K.O. II was a follow-up to the Swedish company’s $100 PO-33 K.O. micro sampler. It’s lone packing 128 MB of representation divided up with 96 MB of ROM sounds positive 32 MB near implicit for usage samples. The unit and velocity-sensitive keys and multi-function fader slider should let for a large woody of versatility changing pitch, effects, and clip adjustments. 

The plan of the medieval sampler with its thick, textured integrative is likewise ancient, akin to immoderate of the archetypal Mac computers oregon consoles similar the NES. The substance connected the buttons is likewise on-theme. Each of the missive buttons is styled with an aerial of Carolingian font arsenic if Charlemagne himself is mounting up to driblet a heavy bushed connected immoderate heathen Saxons. Instead of “fader” you person “fædr.” Other buttons are likewise rethemed, similar “tempus” for tempo oregon “codex” alternatively of record. Teenage Engineering is selling the committee alongside a “Medieval quilt bag” compared to the K.O. II’s enarthrosis strap bag.

Perhaps my favourite embellishment is the lone monk sitting connected a tiny throne similar an physics portion of marginalia. The monk sits adjacent to a alternatively elemental LED UI showing you which instruments and the assorted tracks you person selected. If anything, it whitethorn entice maine to deed up the barber to get that tonsure look going, if thing other than to implicit the ensemble.