HellOplStudio
By WahSp on March 8, 2026 12:05 pm
Last week I acquired a new toy: OPL Studio (https://www.cheerful.nl/opl-studio). It is a kind of groovebox with dual YMF262 OPL3 FM-synthesizer chips. These were used, for example, in 90s soundblaster cards. It is a really fun device. It has a 90s-style interface (the retro-style really adds something to the experience) that you navigate via touchscreen with a stylus pen. OPL Studio is composed of a bunch of apps: for creating patches, making melodic or drum sequences, composing sequences into songs, altering midi settings, and so on. I played around a lot with it this week to get to know it.
I wanted to make a track with it for this week's weekly beats and almost decided to abandon that plan, because I was afraid it would take me too much time to get into the flow of making something meaningful with it. In the end, for the track, I decided to use the Dirtywave M8 as a sequencer (so not using OPL Studio's built-in apps for making arrangements) because it is just a much more comfortable workflow for me. My work in OPL Studio thus focused primarily on making patches. Basically, I made several patches on the fly, built some sequences with these using the M8 and then typically rendered them to the M8 to make sure I didn't loose anything (OPL Studio still has a few bugs). I of course also leveraged the M8's send effects.
In the resulting track, all the synth sounds were made in OPL Studio, although I added send effects in the M8. The drums are all samples, including a breakbeat I got of a sample pack by Fanu. I also made a (subtle) kickdrum with the M8 FM synth.
I didn't spend a whole lot of time on this track. I started with it on Saturday (after abandoning some earlier attempts that I started during the week) and then did most of the work in about 2-3 hours on Sunday. Basically, I had a few ingredients that I liked on Sunday morning and then made an arrangement and added ingredients along the way to make the track a bit richer. I am quite happy with the result, given the relatively short time spent with both the device and on this particular track. I am also happy that the OPL Studio has joined my FM synth collection. I really enjoy creating patches with it.
I am actually thinking that I would like to acquire more of these 'quirky' retro FM-synths.
Audio works licensed by author under:
CC Attribution Noncommercial No Derivative Works (BY-NC-ND)
OPL Studio is lots of fun. Definitely something to consider if you're into FM and retro sounds.