Teenage Engineering unveils quirky EP-1320 Medieval as world's first medieval 'instrumentalis electronicum'

That Teenage Engineering is a company that marches to the beat of a very different drummer is no secret – it is in fact what appeals to its many fans. What those fans probably didn’t expect is for that beat to be something they’d hear at a Renaissance fair. In a move that had this writer double-checking for signs of an off-season April fool’s day joke, the Swedish company just launched a medieval themed version of its very popular EP-133 K.O. II groovebox. They call it the EP-1320 Medieval: the “worldeth’s firste medieval electronik instrumenth”. Seriously.

For context, you can read about the original EP-133 right here. Essentially, the ‘sampler composer’ or groovebox has built-in audio samples (you can also record their own) and allows you to apply effects and to sequence them (melodically or as drum beats) to create entire songs. Since its launch, it’s become the company’s best-selling instrument, which is saying a lot, given the massive fan-base of its OP-1, OP-Z and Pocket Operatorlineup.

Barring one upgrade – doubling the sample memory to 128 MB – the EP-1320 uses the same hardware as the EP-133, only with a medieval aesthetic permeating every part of its interface. All the text labels are translated into either Old English, Latin, or some hilariously inaccurate or made-up approximation thereof. Likewise, the custom “super segment hybrid display” replaces the icons and graphics with era-appropriate ones.

The entire front panel is a veritable cornucopia of easter-eggs. ‘Fader, ‘shift’, ‘volume’ and ‘FX’ (effects) become ‘faedr’, ‘altero’, ‘magnitudo’ and ‘pocus’. On the LCD, the battery icon is now a candle, and the musical-keyboard icon is replaced with a bunch of actual old-school keys.

Of course, the theme extends to the EP-1320’s sonic capabilities. The hundreds of built-in samples include stringed, reed, brass and percussion instruments of yore, such as hurdy-gurdy, lutes and Gregorian chants. There are also foley sound effects like farm animals, swords clashing, coconut horse hooves (Monty Python fans, rejoice), and yes, witches and dragons. For punch-in sound FX, “torture chamber reverb”, “dungeon echo” and “bardic ensemble” stand in for the standard reverb, delay and chorus, among others.

Optional accessories include a quilted-cotton hard case, an embossed leather keychain, a T-shirt with the ‘beatmaker monk’ image, and a 10” vinyl record filled with medieval songs, samples and loops. One is inclined to think that the product conceptualisation involved no small quantity of mulled mead, although the fever-dream of a promotional video (embedded below) suggests something rather more psychoactive.

The EP-1320 Medieval is available now for $299 / €349 on Teenage Engineering’s website as well as from popular retailers in the US and Europe.

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