#223

I had a Digitakt and when demo vids of the Tracker started dropping I sold my Digitakt and preordered it. Digitakt is extremely capable and really sick in the right hands, but I also felt pretty uninspired by it - workflow is everything with these kinds of devices, and it varies so much for everyone.

I’ve only had the Tracker for a short period of time but I’m already more productive with it than with Digitakt. A huge part of it is having the big screen and the tracker workflow where everything is laid out on a grid. I find working with samples a lot more fun and it makes chopping/slicing them up incredibly easy and gratifying.

I will also say that I think the learning curve is maybe on par with Digitakt, at least for me, but the UI/UX makes up for it. You may well have to spend some time exploring/watching demos to get a feel for it. I also think Polyend’s documentation is kinda laid out in a weird way and I wish sometimes there were just a pdf manual to reference, but the loopop (& other) demos covered the vast majority of the features I needed to get the ball rolling.

There’s no way you’ll know without trying it out, so I say go for it!

2 Likes
#224

I haven’t been able to find something on this, but how can I change the pitch of a sound without retrieving it? Would this work between pitch bends too?

#225

I’m not totally understanding, what does “retrieving it” mean?

#226

Retriggering. dumb iOS autocorrect messed me up.

#227

Ah. I’m not aware of any way to do that, but I’d be keen on it if anyone else knows!

#228

As far as I can remember, you can use the ‘pitch’ (couldn’t find the accurate effect description) effect on a given step without a note value on it. Kind of like trigless locks on an Elektron, if that world is familiar.

#229

If you really forced it, you could probably get away with composing an entire piece without ever stopping the transport once Play is first pressed. And I can sorta relate that it was a cool thing to do in classic trackers. But those classic trackers pulled it off because they had more advanced transport controls and UI. That eats up screen estate and requires more key bindings. It’s one of the things that Polyend decided made trackers hard to use.

In Polyend Tracker, you cannot edit a pattern and have the song play another pattern at the same time. The sole exception being copying and pasting track content on the Song screen.

I went with the flow and decide to adopt the workflow as is. Focusing on one pattern at a time and then weaving them into a larger song produces better pieces, I think. You’re invited to make more dramatic changes between patterns when you’re working just on a single one. And the Tracker’s got the “preview” button on selection so you can go even more granular than one pattern and just focus on perfecting a particular detail.

2 Likes
#230

Yeah, I am totally lost in microedit wonderland since I got that thing.

#231

Anybody had success or not with clocking the tracker from Ableton? I was trying to run it as a follower to abelton’s midi clock and got terrible inconsistent timing as a result.

Any body else willing to try and if they get it right describe their steps so I can finally get this working right?

#232

I’m not sure this is still the case but I remember there being talk around the midi currently being a bit sloppy although I don’t know if Polyend have fixed it since…

They have acknowledged the issue and are working on a big midi overhaul though!

#233

So, after a bit of tinkering, I’ve found myself continuing to bounce off of the Tracker. I’ve originally had a lot of love for it, but some aspects of the experience have been frustrating and I find myself regularly having to enter in to “trouble shoot” mode than I would like.

I’ve had issues of sounds continuing to loop continuously when changing patterns, UI/UX issues in which things like sample recording sounds really quiet, sample editing is loud as hell; the 3 minute buffer for all samples, the inability to record samples while it plays, no slew options…

I am curious if anybody has examples of their output using the Tracker; if it’s gelled well with other equipment or if, for some, the tool has taken a bit of a backseat.

I’m concerned after some long soul searching that something like the Octatrack might be my sampling soul mate and another tracker I’ve got coming hopefully next week might be my main sequencer…

1 Like
#234

so i’m a new owner as of this past Tuesday.

so far i am really liking it but i am primarily using it with a lot of short noiz samples so far.

i have an OT8 and this thing is so completely different.
i found myself getting to the creative side of things really quickly.

i have stated on multiple occasions that using an OT8 is like having to build a pool if you want to go for a swim.
noiz boxes like norns and Tracker among others allow me to just go for a swim in the pool that’s already there.
of course…with the Tracker i had to delete everything out of it and start with a blank slate.
but it didn’t take much time at all to flood it with all of my noiz.

now…the sync thing…ugh…i did not know about it having an issue.
when i synced it with the Cirklon it sounds “Screwed.”
(maybe that’s proper since i am in Houston)
HAH!
anyhow…it felt kinda silly running it as the master MIDI clock and the Cirklon and everyone else following…but it worked.

i have run into a sample hanging on once or twice but not consistently.
and i have yet to run into the other issues you have mentioned.

are you maybe expecting it to do things it was not designed for?

it sounds like you want a fully loaded LD3.
now THAT beast of a noiz weapon will probably do everything you would want and a whole horde of things you haven’t thought of.
haven’t touched my OT8 since it arrived.
:slight_smile:

2 Likes
#235

I would wait for the planned midi update to see how things work out regarding sync. The sample edit loudness seems to be a bug as well.
I would set a cut/fad/end note to the last step of the pattern that continues to play, it is a feature I guess.
I am also looking for the perfect sampler and tried them all. Hahaha. I prefer the MPC line over the Elektron way although it is really powerful but just too much.
Strength of the tracker is microediting and the overview you have at most times. Unique performance mode and good song mode.
If the digitakt had a song mode, I’d reconsider it.
I would run the tracker as midi clock and see how that works first. It seems confirmed that it is flawed as it is right now. But it might be fixed quicker than overbridge (which I never used).

1 Like
#236

In my experience MIDI OUT from the Tracker is fine. The reported problem is around 13ms of latency with MIDI IN. Whether this is even noticeable, let alone a deal-breaker to you, depends on how you intend to use the instrument.

For example, I only confirmed this issue myself when hearing other reports as I treat the Tracker as a “standalone audio workstation” and only used MIDI to control other devices from the Tracker, not the other way round.

Don’t worry though, I asked the Polyend team about this and the problem is acknowledged. A fix will be released as part of a 1.3 firmware upgrade which will bring MIDI IN latency compensation and new MIDI-related features.

Currently the team is busy working on 1.2 which fixes a lot of the smaller bugs you can find here and there, like the unmatched volume in the Sample Editor. In fact, if there’s a bug that breaks your workflow, write to hello@polyend.com describing how to reproduce the problem (a short zipped project or a video helps a lot) and ask to be added to the beta testers mailing list.

I have and I’m currently running 1.1.14 beta which fixes a ton of issues and adds some features on top of 1.1.0. You can see it in action here:

5 Likes
#237

Question for the experts :slight_smile: If I use the slice sample function can I resample the individual slices to separate samples then reimport into the sample editor?

#238

Your best bet for that would be to select the slice on The timeline and choose “resample selection” You could theoretically do this for each of your slices if desired.

Make sure ask other spins are muted.

1 Like
#239

As I’m curious about this Tracker as well. Is this it from the manual?

I take it we can continually “print” our mini sequences?

There’s a Render selection to sample function accessed from Pattern/sequencer screen. It’s a very useful and creative function that allows rendering of a selected step or step selection (on one or more tracks at the same time) into a single audio file. In Pattern section > turn Edit Mode on (Rec) > use Shift + arrow keys to select the desired area > now use the Render screen button to create a new sample clip.

https://polyend.com/tracker-manual/#audio-rendering

1 Like
#240

Yeah. Here is a video of the render working in real time. Sadly, it’s not like the Octatrack where you could record it with a neighbor track or something. You basically have to stop playback.

2 Likes
#241

I have another question. It looks like there is a performance mode where you use the pads to trigger among 4 preset modulations. Can these live adjustments be recorded as well?

edit: yup, thanks @naxuu I went to the FAQ and found this:

Is it possible to record or automate the Performance mode actions to the sequencer?

No this is not possible nor ever intended. Performance mode is made for “live on the fly” performance use.

#242

There’s no ability to record/render what you’re doing in performance mode built in (yet, anyway). It would be very welcome though.

1 Like