MUSIC TRACKERS EXPLAINED - a Beginners Guide to Understanding Trackers // SUMMER OF SYNTHS

What is a Tracker? Todays guest ‪@MidlifeSynthesist‬ will give us the answers! Sponsored by DistroKid. Want to upload music to Spotify & iTunes? Use DistroKid: distrokid.com/vip/bobeats you support the channel & summer of synths.
TODAYS GUEST: Midlife Synthesist
KZbin: / themidlifesynthesist
GEAR IN VIDEO
Polyend Tracker thmn.to/thoprod/489846?offid=...
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#PolyendTracker #SummerofSynths #Bobeats

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

So happy to be here! Thanks for watching everyone and Thank you so much for having me Bo !! Wish everyone merry music making!✌🏻

[@SURCOlive]

Great stuff. Makes me even more anxious for my M8 to arrive.

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

@@SURCOlive thanks brother! Can’t wait to see your video🤟🏻🤟🏻 cheers!!

[@thomasschwall77]

Any comments on the Nerdseq in Eurorack? I’d love to hear about this tracker . Been wondering if worth buying or better to get a polyend tracker on the side of my eurorack

[@iceuul674]

@@SURCOlive sadly it is already sold out, i wanted to get one, but not possible in near future.

[@SURCOlive]

@@iceuul674 the anticipation is killing me. I ordered months ago and mine is supposed to ship in September. Can’t wait!!!!

[@JorbLovesGear]

SUMMER OF SYNTHS BEGINS, TIME TO LEARN YYEEAAHHH

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Can’t wait to see some Jorb action on SoS🤟🏻🤟🏻 lets gooo!

[@tubeMonger]

As a long time tracker user, I have to say, well explained! If you don't mind using a computer, Renoise is a tracker that can use VSTs and has quite many features. There are also a lot of other trackers as well.

[@vincemincevince]

i use renoise and can recommend it as well it’s so cheap for what you get

[@PaladinGunn]

When I started doing computer music in the dark ages, I used Fast Tracker 2, and about a couple of years, I had a bit of a writer's block, so I got Renoise, and working within the good ol' tracker framework helped me quite a bit overcome said writer's block, and I'm really happy that trackers are coming back in a more modern and portable form, as they're so good for some things that standard piano roll based daws aren't really optimized for. I like saying that I'm using the 3 Rs: Reason, Reaper and Renoise, when working on audio stuff :D

[@tekk9995]

If you have used FastTracker 2 you haven't been into the dark ages enough :) Startracker / Protracker on the Amiga ftw :D

[@ToyKeeper]

After using trackers throughout the 90s and early 2000s, I kinda had my fill and discovered it's not how I prefer to work. However, things have improved, and the M8 in particular does almost everything I wanted but couldn't have back then. If it's ever in stock when I have the time and energy, I may have to try tracking again.

[@BoBeats]

M8 seems great! If you can find one

[@mr_floydst]

Yesss, finally! :-)

[@michael-rommel]

Following The Midlife Synthesist for some time, I actually never looked at follower counts… I always enjoyed the videos, the honest, down-to-earth attitude, the calm presentations. Wonderful in every way… It would be great, if he gets more exposure and followers! Way to go! Thank you both!

[@xlzmusic]

“Summer of Synth” … followed by … “Winter of Poverty” (GAS after watching your video). Thanks to both of you for such a great video explaining Tracker!

[@LuisTorres-qz5kr]

GREAT job with this intro into the world of Trackers, much needed (at least for me)! Thanks to both of you for puling this VID together.

[@galaxyofsynths]

Great video, thank you The Midlife Synthesist and BoBeats. Very inspiring, and couldn't agree more that the Tracker is a great machine to get one's creative juices flowing

[@apislapis]

...And suddenly it all becomes clear about what a tracker is. Excellent explanation Midlife Synthesist. Makes lots of sense. Thanks for hosting Bo. One more for the GAS list.

[@krazywabbit]

The duck to rabbit transition got me! I was hesitant when I first heard trackers. This explanation helped and love the perspective angle on approaching music. Thank you for this series you are doing and excited to see what your other guest have to enrich our minds with. Cheers.

[@apostatatheprovost3041]

I love Tracker. And i love the Synth-Community and all these crazy Guys and Girls like Midlife Synthesist, Sam from Look Mom no Computer, Hainbach, Stazma, Ned Rush, JadeWii, Ricky Tinez, Doctor Mix, True Cuckoo, SpVidz, Sarah 2ill, Benn Jorden, Red means Recording, Divkid….. its so much to learning, so much creativity. Thank you very much for all the great content. ❤️✌️

[@adamffybalazs9537]

Trackers are extremely fast and precise. It’s frustrating to do the same stuff in any DAW I tried. Piano roll and automation curves I hate you 😀

[@Polyend]

Thank you guys, this is very educative!

[@jimm6933]

That was really well explained and a good clear demo. I've always wondered about the Tracker workflow. Great video

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

❤🙏🏼 thanks fam!

[@Rollur1234]

Thanks for the shows Bobeats! You had effect of my parchase of Digitakt and I love it. Music production is again my favorite since I started using Fast tracker and Fruity loops decades ago. The Digitakt is an amazing engine. I always thought computer was all you needed for beat making and never dared to purchase a drum machine. Your channel and others have completely shifted my interests. Look forward to the next episode. Later

[@strangnet]

Awesome start to this year’s SoS! For me, the tracker workflow has really opened up my mind about how to approach and think about music making. The Polyend Tracker is a great little box and I would love to get my hands on an M8.

[@BoBeats]

More to come!!

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Thank you so much for watching my friend! The M8 and Polyens Tracker compliment each other beautifully, highly recommend it ! Have a great day!

[@jean-pierrejoubert6140]

Really liked the analogy of Elektron; I messed with trackers decades ago, and appreciate them, but never thought about how Elektron sequencing is basically a fancy, horizontal tracker.

[@leftmono1016]

I always disliked trackers when the first came out, but love Elektron sequencers. To me they’re totally different except for having that ‘per step’ control.

[@KordTaylor]

Anther great video and nice collab!

[@CP4700]

Great video, great summer shirt 😎

[@LiamKillen]

Tracker lifestyle! 🙂

[@lore6803]

Love this collab.

[@jaredf6205]

I have the Dirtywave M8 on preorder. Im so excited.

[@subiesojourner777]

Me too, for the Sept batch :)

[@rickyharhcp]

That was a very cool intro to trackers man thanks!

[@InFamousProductions]

hmmm I'm dying to try out one . great vid again!

[@AndreAguiar]

Loved listening to mods (trackers) back in my Amiga years. Calvin Harris’ first album was done using an Amiga.

[@DrFeelgood780]

Really nice explanation by The Midlife Synthesist! Glad to see him getting some exposure, good job Bo! Cheeky guest request! Ricky Tinez for a MPC or sample house episode, Benn Jordan for a Polybrute or “glitch music” episode and Simon the Magpie for pedals and weird fx episode!!

[@BoBeats]

Love to have any of them on. I feel however all three are so established in their own right that it might be a little outside the scope of Summer of Synths. But guys, if you readin I am totally open for a 2023 appearance!

[@DrFeelgood780]

@@BoBeats maybe in a future episode outside the Summer of Synths? A man can only hope! Thanks anyways for this concept! It is really fun

[@rishpanjeet7479]

Tracker for life!

[@JoshAronoff]

Loved using Fast Tracker II.

[@NiklasLindholm]

The Commodore Amiga is not only an early example of trackers, it's where the tracker concept originated. The first tracker was "Ultimate Soundtracker" which was a tool for game developers. It was quickly hacked and reverse engineered into multiple (technically illegal) clones like e.g. NoiseTracker. The features of the early trackers were closely tied to the hardware capabilities of the Amiga. Like being able to play four samples simultaneously. (As opposed to e.g. the Commodore 64 and its SID chip which basically is an analog synthesizer.)

[@PedroAnastazi]

& then Atari decided to chuck a midi Port into the ST which gave it the nudge to be used by tonnes of producers, which the industry then went batshit nuts once cubase was released for it, but I digress. The Amiga was mind blowing for its day... & despite the STs nudge of evolution with ROM based OS & midi ( tossed in just coz Atari didn't like the Yamaha sound chip) among other nuances like running MSDOS & APPLE os, the Atari still died... The ST changed how music was perceived & produced w external gear.. But the Amiga was most oldskoolers intro into sw sampling.. O ye wacky world of 16bit computers... Lollllll

[@CrescentRollCarl]

I'm a life time tracker user. Mainly using Renoise, but lately the M8 too (the passing stems to Reaper). I recommend it to anyone. If you're willing to spend a few days getting used to a new workflow, you might be like me and never go back. Especially if you're into programing your music, and don't enter notes live, the tracker workflow is probably going to be an improvement.

[@MeerkatMuzic]

Great video picked up the Polyend Tracker a few weeks back so still learning the workflow but I find it actually clicks pretty quick compared to MPC and the puurfeect video shows up from Bo and Midlife. Cheers guys.

[@Amatteus]

MPC workflow sucks.. I sold mine.

[@michaelevan9184]

Very cool stuff!

[@patrickhowes5833]

The "KZbin Cinematic Synth Multiverse" is my favorite Multiverse!

[@FernandoDCDuarte]

Nice one! Definitely a nice tracker for dummies video to shed light on this obscure topic to many of us!

[@cresshead]

excellent explanation - nice one.

[@brainbox9219]

I just got a polyend tracker and mess with it and it’s starts to make sense, it gives me anxiety sometimes but it’s still fun lol 😅

[@BoBeats]

I think Midelife has almost pushed me over the edge of getting either a Polyend or Dirtywave 😆

[@brainbox9219]

@@BoBeats polyend I recommend, never had the mate but the tracker is as close as you can get to having a full blown daw experience similar to renoise but portable, it’s not as powerful as renoise but it’s close, heard the synth engines in the m8 are superior but I’m more interested in the drum programming and sampling on the tracker, hopefully we get a video about one or the other soon? 🎹

[@djmanmachine]

I've started with Impulse Tracker and ModPlug Tracker in the late 90s :D

[@BoombapArt]

Great video! After 20 years in Madtracker I think I have a clue how it works and I’ve put down a few steps in my days! Never tried Polyend tho (GAS) 😬..

[@BoBeats]

Polyend, hook a brother up!!

[@ottsch]

Brings me back to Amiga times when I used to compose music for disk zines

[@iceuul674]

Well explained, never understood how they work, never used one. But now i want to get one :)

[@aftertheclouds8380]

Ohhhhhh I get it now. I'm not going down that rabbit hole, but I get it.

[@BarryEuphorik]

Tracking on the Amiga is how I started. Kinda miss it in a way. I was limited in what I could do as there were no virtual instruments and I didn't have any hardware. So I made do with what I had. I had more fun to be honest.

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Feel the same when I think of all the music I made with just a guitar! Simplicity clears the way for creativity lots of times👍🏼 thanks for watching my friend! Cheers!

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Feel the same when I think of all the music I made with just a guitar! Simplicity clears the way for creativity lots of times👍🏼 thanks for watching my friend! Cheers!

[@ToyKeeper]

Yeah... I had good times making tracker music with 8-bit 11kHz recordings of random junk I found around the house. Those times are in the past though, and TBH it took way too much effort to get anywhere near a decent result. I'm happy things have improved since then. Making music is soooo much easier now. Trackers have improved too, but I'm not sure if I ever want to try it again.

[@GeorgeHzMusic]

Love when worlds colide! Amazing explanations, I just find trackers terribly uninspiring though

[@BoBeats]

I have had that feeling too, starting to warm up now tho!

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Thank you so much for watching my friend! I agree that Trackers aren’t for everyone, but the beauty of todays music gear world is that we are spoiled for choice, so there is something out there for every taste! I wish you happy music making and that the gear you have fulfills you always! Cheers!

[@carlosnieto8241]

Love my Elektrons but I love even more my Polyend Tracker.

[@How_much_where_and_When]

Top good !

[@nickfbatombrew1436]

Great video and very informative I still use my Commodore Amiga running Octamed pro.. it seems a lot less complicated than some of the high-end DAWs…I run the channels into cakewalk if I need to add or modify anything easily I’m thinking about the polyend tracker but I like the flow that octamed has which is is very intuitive 👍☢️

[@putoparri]

The midlife synthesist is the new bo beats 🔥!

[@unclemick-synths]

Good video 👍. Not sure I'll be buying one but at least I know enough to choose not to buy one instead of just being ignorant.

[@FLH3official]

The trackers are great but I've an idea: With a keyboard, someting like a piano, you play notes and you record them in the machine instead to have to enter them one by one or rely on a premade patern/effect. I think you can save a lot of time. An idea, some fingers moves on the "keyboard" and voilà, a musical piece in few minutes. Like a kind of multitracks tape recorder. And you could even use this new standard known as " " "MIDI" " " and this new technic known as " " "Sampling" " " 😄

[@bahutu802]

Funny thing is that it doesn't have to be "either or", cause the Tracker supports sampling, MIDI and real time recording, quantized or unquantized. But if you choose to, you can dive into tiny details, like micro-movement of individual steps, filling entire columns with notes, instruments, FX, either randomized or with a predefined logic like every fourth step, or with values rising from 26 to 72 or whatever. Totally fine though if trackers are just not your cup of tea. Maybe I just do not get the irony or sarcasm in your post. Cheers.

[@FLH3official]

@@bahutu802 Actualy the trackers are not far from the early vertical pattern based MIDI sequencer softwares I used in the late 80s, I was happy with that and I perfectly imagine they are today at an other level in their possibilities. I know there's an huge tracker fan base too and entering notes by notes is not "more inconvenient" than writting tinny dots and tails on a rulled music sheet. Every different or alternative way to create art, compose music in this instance, is always good to have. Tape loops, music sheets, big modern DAWs, trackers, all of this is nice and good.

[@peacefulpigeon7254]

Thanks really great video and I had no idea how a tracker worked and was very curious! Are there any iOS apps with a similar workflow? I’d love to try it out…

[@thedeepblueskys]

I was playing with my new Virus Ti and I was just thinking how it would be sweat to connect to a tracker. Then this video comes up lol

[@BoBeats]

The a l g o r i t h m knows!

[@thedeepblueskys]

@@BoBeats 😂 was thinking that too

[@caxtnova]

"Whenever you can get your hands on one" Can't wait until the M8 is in stock in 2024 maybe 😢

[@caxtnova]

Thanks for the tip! I've seen headless versions of the M8, but honestly it's the form factor and interfacr that appeals to me the most. I need something I can travel with, and I wish it could be the M8.

[@ejjes]

Tim is doing pre-orders, so it's unlikely to be "in stock" any time soon. Rather, you'll just have to sign up when pre-orders open. It's tough to delay gratification, but the M8 is one of the coolest bits of gear in years so it's worth keeping an eye out. And as has been mentioned, there's a "free" headless version you can use while you wait

[@PedroAnastazi]

find a cheap Yamaha RS7000/RM1x/QYx00 device or run Amiga DOS on your android or iphone... hell u might be able to find winDOS emulator for your phone or tablet and do it that way... Dont waste money on hardware tracker unless you absolutely need it and u have a controller KB to work with it, coz youre not gna be programming filter sweeps and crazy chords by tap tap tapping away...

[@macrowben]

Thanks so much for this great video can I ask one question with regards to the Polyend Tracker. This product has had my interest for a while and I just wanted to know if you can "live record" notes in to it like you would on a sequencer?

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

Thanks so much my friend! And yes, you can absolutely live record👍🏼 cheers!

[@bahutu802]

You should be aware though that each individual track is monophonic. Which leads to adjacent tracks being populated when playing multiple notes at a time (e.g. chords) on a MIDI keyboard. Of course you can interpret that as a 'service', but I sometimes found it to be annoying, since with the limitation of 8 tracks in total, you can run out of tracks quite soon. Having said that, it works totally fine for drums or simple melodies and you can always arm or disarm single tracks to prevent notes from spilling to other tracks.

[@OliverMooney]

You can. I use a Keystep 37 for capturing MIDI data with mine but any MIDI controller would work.

[@macrowben]

@@OliverMooney That's exactly what I was thinking of doing. One more silly question does it come with a library of samples?

[@OliverMooney]

@@macrowben it does! Not a massively substantial one but there is a good selection provided. But best of all there’s project files for full tracks from other music producers to play with & learn from too!

[@Hexxedtone]

Question! I noticed you had both the m8 and polyend wired together. Can you explain what benefits and how that works exactly ? Thinking of adding the polyend. But don't want to get another tracker if no benefit.

[@moonbob_chris]

R E N O I S E

[@addLADN]

1:44 I loved your reaction, that was pretty much where my brain was at. Damn, I’m only just starting to work out midi configs and patch routing after watching almost every you tube video available on the subject. This would probably just make my brain explode.

[@wetwork6553]

Excellent Bo. I've gone from being totally intimidated by the tracker to wanting one. In the video, Midlife essentially creates a loop. From the standpoint of "song" would the next move be to to continue the track just by scrolling down?

[@jg_ultra]

The Dirtywave and Polyend units have different ways of handling tracks, patterns, and their arrangement, but in essence, yes, you continue on downward, whether within one longer pattern, through a chain of phrases, by laying out patterns in an arranger, etc. Many amazing full-fledged songs have been made on these units, as well as very dynamic live performances with on-the-fly arrangement.

[@hughman8597]

I can still clearly remember when I was 8 years old and had a C64. The slightly older child next door also had one, so we always exchanged disks. I don't know where, but he always brought crates of them with him. And one day I stumbled across "CREATOR". Of course I didn't know what that was and tried it out. And what should I say? I've never heard a more horrible version of Magnum's theme music than the one I did back then. And I was damn proud of it! Tom Selleck would probably be rolling in his grave! Oh wait, I think he's still alive :)

[@shepherdalligood2716]

Thanks for the video. A lot of my questions concerning the Polyend Tracker were answered. One lingering question I have is about exporting your finished song/stems back into your DAW for mixing and mastering. Ideally, it would be best to isolate and export each individual instrument separately. Is the Polyend capable of doing that? Might be a good idea for a future video.

[@karimazeli2653]

Very interesting tutorial!!. I use cubase since vst3.7 it comes with no sampler...all trackers, come with a sampler built in!!. Really amazing!!. I suppose those hardware trackers can be synced to any daw.

[@chrisdavies9143]

I don't think I'll ever be into Trackers. I just can't get my head around it and as I use Excel all day long in my day job, I'm not keen on using it in my own time 😅 But I'm a big fan of Midlife Synthesist and he gets some fantastic sounds out of trackers for sure.

[@user-sx2iw2hq3l]

Hello Bo! Please tell me why not any company has not released yet some hardware synthesizer for so long. Is it because of the lack of chips?

[@BoBeats]

I think this could be one reason yes, also the increased cost of manufacturing + transport could play a part

[@user-sx2iw2hq3l]

What do you think about how much we will be waiting for new products like Korg Drumlogue? Thanks

[@magnuseriksson8081]

Whaaaaaat....!!! This is the first time I think the tracker looks like an interesting option and sounds great. I loved the simple start, that would be enough for a good song to me if you add vocals, but what did he really do to make it sound like that, what do you need to know about music theory? Seriously, I love the sound, all those sounds comes with the Polyend? I always thought it sounds like a toy before, this is good stuff. @The Midlife Synthesist

[@blastman2154]

If I am used to standard trackers like fasttracker, famitracker and deflemask. Which flow does it best Polyend tracker or M8 tracker?

[@Robert08010]

"the olden days"... LOL. For that to be true, I'd have to actually BE old. COOOOOOOONNNNN!!!! LOL

[@AntonyNorthcutt]

ah ha .. now I get it!!

[@rockguitarshred]

I low-key might start writing music in a tracker like fashion

[@dankeplace]

Just say no to trackers, trackers make brain go no. Make Hulk mad, mad Hulk smash things. Grrrrr

[@MidlifeSynthesist]

😂

[@johantibbelin417]

I wasn't aware trackers where back. Used trackers on my Atari ST back in the early 90s It's a really nice workflow. Maybe I should do some tracking. But nowadays I can make my own samples...

[@cjlewis79]

M8 has been sold out for ages and I’d love to get one.

[@tony113000]

Curse you BaBeats and Midlife - I want a polyene tracker now !!!! but seriously thanks for a very informative video

[@droussel7359]

If you are a fan of the elektron sequencer than, really, you are a fan of trackers :) And if you want to dip your toes for pretty cheap, you can buy a Teensy 4.1 and install the M8 headless firmware on it.

[@insert_moniker]

I would like to petition for someone do a study on coffee intake and the amount of synthesizers owned. I hypothesize that the more coffee you consume the more synthesizers you own. However if you have too many synths (theoretically), the quality of your coffee decreases as you no longer have the funds for quality beans. Just an idea.

[@Madmohawkfilms]

Installed ChibiTracker on my Valve Steam Deck. The new Polyend Tracker Mini looks interesting but not at $700 at least for me. Used Renoise on Surface Pro 3 in past as well as SunVox on iPad. Even list view on Akai MPC is kinda similar to a Tracker. One of the “Big Boys” releasing a $300-$400 tracker would be great. The Liven Folks maybe too they seem to be able to preform miracles with low prices

[@CreamPolo]

Trackers are best way to make music :))

[@Foebane72]

The Commodore Amiga is the FATHER OF THE MUSIC TRACKER, and Demoscene enthusiasts are still making TRACKER MUSIC on the Amiga TODAY!

[@davidpinto1195]

wow Bo you spoke more about sponsors than gear in this one lol

[@BoBeats]

lol, thats true! must be a first ever, me not speaking alot about gear 😆

[@KaosEngineering]

I love polyend products and I like much better the form factor and UI but why the M8 sounds better to my ears ?

[@GeorgeL909]

Trackers may seem complicated at first, but they are also probably the absolute lowest price barrier to entry into full on music making. Some very powerful trackers are free, such as Sunvox, which can run on just about anything. If I had to become an international fugitive and leave everything behind and go on the run from assassins, I could probably still make music on a tracker somewhere in hiding without the barrier of a million activation keys, dongles, and licenses.

[@FilliamPL]

Anyone have thoughts/experience with FastTracker II?

[@ozlion152]

WTF... I genuinely thought BoBeats and MLS were two channel by same bloke. Not even kidding, I thought he was joking when he said MLS was a guest.

[@BoBeats]

Common, I am clearly not as handsome as MLS 😅

[@XtianApi]

I found that actually my deluge can do a lot of these management things. Not everything the same way, but pretty neat b nonetheless.

[@Amatteus]

So.. it's like a piano roll in Ableton but instead of going horizontal, it goes vertical.. And what´s the point?. Why should one complicate things more?.. I do not see any o those advantages to a traditional horizontal sequencer. I should try it...

[@ProTrackerGems]

The question is, if you really need a device that only provides a Tracker functionality, if you can buy a cheap office laptop or tablet and run Tracker software on it, even with VST plugins, and maybe add an external USB audio card if needed!?

[@crybo]

Had a tracker for my Amiga back in the 90s, never understood it. Still no clue.

[@pilleater]

Use Protracker, Fasttracker 2, Impulse Tracker, or Renoise. That will be all.

[@infinit12]

seems like a clunky workflow, but I'm sure some people love it!

[@johnwright5126]

@1:44 LOL

[@PedroAnastazi]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but a tracker is NOTHING like an excel spreadsheet... Further, the auto fill of the Polyend, is a feature of the device, NOT a tracker feature in general. If people wants auto fill options in SW check out Breaktweaker or Stutter Edit. In hardware, check out the Roland Scatter mode. For Yamahas, check out the loop remix functions in the RS and Ax000 series. The Polyend is also somewhat limited when it comes to external HW control compared to a full blown SW tracker OR a Yamaha RM1x or RS7000 (or other QY based sequencer ) or more recently, the RolandMC707 in its edit clip mode. Easy done by simply going in and editing your clip (roland) or your phrase (yamaha) which are virtually the same things when it comes to editing notes in a fine tuned 'edit' mode... The difference however is that Yamahas have a ridiculous midi filter and control config... Like.. were talking ridiculous depth here beyond what the poly does and in line with current DAWS... plus an additional 8 channels more than the Polyend or the MC707 offering 16 stereo channels, as opposed to the 8 mono of the poly or 8 stereo of the MC707. Mind you the MC707 also has a MFX insert chain function which can give you more than a stereo track, but I digress... I'll save that tidbit for my students Many midi elements & controls are omitted on the polyend and i think youve missed the target here when tryin to explain wtf a tracker is and focused on polyends take, as opposed to simply explaining what it is & how its used live and in step modes... There are 2 ways to program a tracker and the you only showed one... step record. REALTIME recording is a HUGE thing with trackers due to one of the better and most versatile features of a tracker being that it literally lists ALL your control movements & their respective values in realtime, hence the term 'track' ... Theres also ALOT more a tracker is actually used for when it comes to playbing back a sound as demonstrated here, and aside from step length and grid config, youve ALSO got THE most important element which you left out... being RESOLUTION... To be specific, Im referring to PULSES PER QUARTER NOTE... The more PPQN the better, but this is dependant on the tracker/sequencer. The higher the res, the smoother your knob tweaks can be due to the fact you have many more opportunities (ie steps...) to insert controller data PPQN IS PARAMOUNT to understanding WTF PPQN is within a tracker's track, what it can do, WHY you NEED MORE pulses than steps per quarter and HOW they all play nice together with your measure count and time division, be it 4/4, 7/8, 3/4 etc etc... If you DONT understand PPQN, then you'll never understand how to finitely program or edit a tracker. Using tracks & inbuilt sounds as loops or one shots or basic keys is one thing, but controlling external hardware WITH control data is another thing. With the clever use of program change to change sounds or sysex/nrpn to change fx, and taking note of PPQN mentioned above, one can pretty much do everything a DAW can do, & do it just as efficiently... Reason this PPQN and a high res matter, is the issue of latency, Midi chase events, and the fact each individual device in any given studio uses different TYPES of midi communications, some of which dont work well with high res PPQNs like you find on a Yamaha unit... which pukes the receiving device, which then requires you to go into the Job menu and 'thin' out your midi data. A detailed fully loaded tracker SHOULD be capable of controlling EVERY aspect of an external device, unless its specifically designed to ONLY function with internal or limited functions... if thats the case, then it SHOULD be advised before people go out and spend money on something like the Polyend... A tracker should be capable of controlling external gear within any given PPQN resolution count & allow one access to easy and smooth controls without puking any other device or triggering a midi chase cascade. As an example, the Yamaha RS7000/RM1x has an PPQN resolution of 480 clock ticks per quarter note, meaning one can send up to 480 midi messages (ANY midi message) across 16 channels... I believe the MC707 (and other MCs ) has 96 From what Ive gathered, the poly is basically a cut down 8 track tracker predominately focusing on imported sound files, as opposed to being a full blown sequencer and synth controller for external hardware like the devices mentioned above. Thats not to say it cant do all that, but its recording functionality is its limitation here. ALSO As this polyend is sample import dependent, noones mentioned anything about choke groups either, and if any oldskoolers out there know, trackers were used back in the day for oldskool hardcore, happyhard, rave, jungle, trip hop, etc, and ONE of the key elements of those genres were the fact these trackers (as limited as they were) used to cut off or 'choke' from one sample to another whenever they were triggered, which is where and how most of the best jungle and breakbeat tunes ensued... LOLLL Point is, if this Poly wants to behave as a sampler or an Amiga flavoured tracker with inbuilt sample playback, then its going to need those same features.. To get the most out of ANY tracker, one would ALSO need a controller ie filters, modulation, pitch etc.. I dont see anyone step recording a wack acid TB-esqie filter sweep... thats just a silly way to work... You'd need realtime overdub (or replace) recording so as to record these controls live while keys or ur sample play back. Im yet to see anyone demo the Poly with other devices, or with oldskool junglist loops and the like.... In the end, the Poly is just ONE tracker among the myriad of devices.. It does many things well, BUT it also omits many more, which is why I still use my ancient Yamaha RS7000 and RM1x giving me 32 stereo tracks, and my MC707 offering 8 tracks with a monster sound engine. Theres aso a bonus with its latest firmware whereby if one programs and configured correctly, can give me between two to 8x MFX effect inserts, depending on which channel/track i use in relation to its physical position on the MC... now THAT is a neat trick for a tracker... Trackers are FAR more advanced than whats discussed in this video Im afraid. Great effort but theres alot missing here. Hope this info helps...

[@a_wheelbarrow]

🤓

[@PedroAnastazi]

@@a_wheelbarrow I can't see that symbol I'm afraid

[@DawlessHouseMusic]

Sure. Increase my rage over not being able to buy a M8 because of chip shortages.

[@tekk9995]

Amigaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[@synthseeker]

Or Renoise! :)

[@DangerAmbrose]

I like to play music, I don't really enjoy listening to music that I program. Is it even possible to "play" a tracker? I just don't get it.

[@bahutu802]

You can live record with it as well. But yeah, in general it feels more like programming than playing an instrument. I find it very inspiring nonetheless and you certainly can achieve a flow state when working with it. But of course it's not as immediate as a step sequencer or so.

[@JennyEverywhere]

Learned a lot, thanks! But dangit, the phrase is to _home_ in on something! "Hone" is what you do to a _knife._ "Home" is what you do with a _missile!_ The whole concept of the "homing missile" was the big jump between artillery and guided weapons. Artillery, you had to have aimed precisely before firing, because once it was in the air, God was its pilot. But with missiles that could be targeted on some spot, or a vehicle, or a radar blip on a screen, it would adjust course until it hit, even if the target tried to maneuver. The missile was like an explosive homing pigeon. It knew where home was, and changed course as needed to get to its home coop. Or the missile's target. Honing is just piling up the thin wire edge of a knife that's gotten mushed down, making the knife seem dull. It doesn't need sharpening, just pushing the mashed bits of edge until they're straight again, and the blade cuts better. This has zero to do with guiding your work to a desired target state. It only slightly seems to fit, given the whole pushing the edge straight again. Except the song wasn't perfect, then got damaged, it was... Nothing, and needed to be created, like the missile needing to find its target, or the pigeon needing its home. Musicians even say they're "bringing it home". Not "bringing it hone." Pedantic, sure. But isn't great music every bit as pedantic, taking it down to the "table" level to get those notes just right? The rest of the video is excellent. Got a Polyend Tracker ordered and on the way. (And a Polyend Play. In for a penny...)

[@redmondartwork]

OH MY GOD. THIS IS HOW TRACKERS WORK??? god damn it. All these years of avoidance.lol

[@OliverMooney]

I know it's difficult to explain what trackers are to music producers that have never encountered one. But using Excel or spreadsheets as an introductory metaphor is *so* confusing! They're nothing like spreadsheets other than being a grid of values. Spreadsheets offer quick and easy creation of links between cells & formulas, but trackers behave nothing like this. If you've any experience of using a spreadsheet in earnest the analogy is very misleading. I thought at first (very excitedly!) that I could get notes to be an octave lower than other notes in the grid, no matter what that other note was, and that you could do all sorts of generative stuff using formulas. But no. Trackers are great, and I really like my Polyend, but they're definitely not like spreadsheets!

[@fleontrotsky]

"The Amiga". You mean Octamed?

[@mntbighker]

Kinda surprised at no mention of the Nerdseq.

[@BoBeats]

Not something we had access to

[@mntbighker]

@@BoBeats Yeah, I was just surprised it wasn't mentioned briefly. It has a very dedicated community and developer.

[@xorelectronics]

@@BoBeats but it’s so ‘accessible’ 😀 I know someone who can help 😎

[@jeffjeffjeffjeff2588]

Ya big up nerdseq