Polyend Tracker

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#21

How do you manage drum samples on the Tracker?

I’ve found two options so far.

  1. Each drum as separate sample/instrument
  2. All drums in one sample, sliced using ‘Beat slice’ mode.

I love the OP1 drum sounds so I started with option 2, copying a whole OP1 drumkit as one sample and beatslicing it. You get each hit on a separate pad which is awesome. I hit some issues too though: the auto-slicer doesn’t detect all the drum hits, it gets most of 'em but I have to manually add some slices. That’d be fine, but you can’t save the slices in the sample, so I have to re-do this in every project. And finally, send effects are per-instrument not per-track so I can’t put delay and reverb on hihats without also getting reverb on the kick… unless I control it in one of the FX lanes. (But I wanna use those for microtiming :nerd:)

The other way is separate samples. The chopping a sample in the editor is a nice workflow. But then, how do I play a beat on the pads? I can only play each instrument separately, so I have to decide my kick part just playing the kick, record that, then think about snare… it’s enough to make me fire up the OP-1 instead :slight_smile:

All these can be worked around, but I wonder what your workflows are and if you have a smoother approach to drums…

edit: also, I’ve been hearing some talk of a Tracker discord. Anyone got an invite? :pray: All sorted!

#22

I was gonna put the discord link up but it looks like you have it. I use the two methods you just described. I probably use #1 the most simply because, like you said, it gives me a little more control. It all depends on the song and what I’m trying to do. Over the last couple of days I’ve just been getting the drums exactly how I want them to sound in the op-1 and sampling the entire beat into Tracker and just play the entire sample over a pattern. Of course if I want different sections or changes I have to have separate samples and then that starts to use up project memory so, probably not the best approach. If I’m using a breakbeat and I still want different effects on each slice, I’ll just copy it a few times in the sample loader and extract different hits for each instrument. Once you crop something, it will save it that way in the project so the sample won’t be taking up as much memory as before. To answer your question, I do both those methods you mentioned and more. It takes a little problem solving on the Tracker doesn’t it?

#23

Here’s what I was using Tracker for yesterday- just putting everything through reverb:

#24

Hey if anybody wants to buy a Polyend Tracker and you are in the NYC area, I have one used I’m trying to sell if anyone is interested.

#25

Hi, has been anybody sucessfull with connecting op-z + polyend tracker?
I tried two usb hubs (battery connected to usb-c) and op-z and tracker connected to usb-a. No success, they ignore each other - no settings change that.

#26

Can’t speak to the Tracker specifically, but it sounds like your issue is you have a USB hub with the USB-C dongle plugged into a battery, and then the Z and Tracker plugged into A ports?
Plug the USB-C end of your hub into the Z, then connect the tracker to one of A ports.

#27

Hi, yeah - i had to buy another hub which can be charged from any usb port. Now it works, thx

#28

Hi
I revive this thread because I am very interested in the tracker.
I already own an op1 and would like to know if they can work together. If yes what would I need to connect and sync them?
Sorry but I am quite a newby.
Thanks
Regards

#29

Hello for all. I’ve question about PT pattern mode. How can I play all pattern tracks and make loop etc? I am new with that so I am so lost about buttons and working methodes.

#30

Hi :wave: , I’ve created a free tool for exporting Polyend Tracker projects to MIDI. I would really appreciate if you gave it a try and share your feedback – https://polyend-tracker-midi-export.onrender.com/

It’s still a beta so there might be bugs.

I never tested it on big projects with lots of samples though, as I mostly use the Tracker for sequencing external gear (if you run into issues with time outs try uploading you project without instruments folder, since instrument files typically take the most space and are not really needed for midi conversion).

What is supported:

  • exporting song arrangement as a MIDI file
  • exporting patterns as separate MIDI files
  • chord FXarp FX

What is not supported:

  • velocity (I have plans for adding it soon)
  • instrument names – currently every exported midi track will be named “Instrument N”, where N is the number of the instrument
  • microtiming
  • microtuning (not even sure if midi supports it - gotta check)
  • probably something else that I did not think of yet xD
3 Likes
#31

This is really cool, thanks for sharing! My Tracker has been gathering dust as I end up doing things directly in a DAW, perhaps this will make it more useful :slight_smile: