About

OA Labs is a small studio for new musical ideas.

Most tools start with a feature list. I start with an idea: a specific sound or feeling that doesn’t exist yet. Then I build the instrument that expresses it. The idea leads. If something doesn’t serve it, it doesn’t go in.

OA-Phosphor-1 is the first release. It came from wanting an organic, detuned, worn-in sound, the kind you’d normally fake by stacking effects on a clean synth. I wanted something that already sounded old, like you pulled it out of a damp basement. So the age is baked in, not bolted on. That’s the whole idea: controllable instability, an instrument with a mind of its own and a way to rein it back in.

I’m a creative director and product designer, and I’ve spent my career designing products people use. I also make music as Outafter (outafter.co). OA Labs is where that all meets sound, because what makes a good product is what makes a good instrument: a clear idea, followed properly, and real care in how it feels to use.

Phosphor-1 is a synthesizer, but OA Labs isn’t only about synths. An instrument, an effect, a tool. Whatever shape the idea needs, so long as you can play it.

More in the works.

Contact

For anything, support, feedback, a bug, or just to say hello, email hello@oa-labs.com.

OA Labs is a label of Form and Function Studio.