Polyend Tracker Sessions #3: Away from the studio

[@TheMagickMan]

I have watched many videos of Polyend tracker cause I was thinking about buying it , but every video I watched the music that was being made was terrible. This is literally the first video I came across that actually sounds good and pushing me a little more to buying. Mahalo Miltos [Mahalo=Thank-you in Hawaiian] Definitely NOICE!!!!

[@miltos_schima]

Eyxaristo poly! (Thank you very much in Greek 😜). Glad you like the video! The Tracker is a very nice little instrument and fun to use. Make sure to check out my other Tracker videos too, thanks for the visit!

[@RayRischpater]

Nice job!! The last segment, with the tracker on the sea was, had my heart in my mouth. If it were me, I'd have dropped it! Well done. I hope you had a good holiday.

[@tuunbass]

Very nice, can't wait to make these kind of chill beats when I finally get my Tracker. Very chill doggo too!

[@JamesRamboPearce]

Such a cute doggy!

[@gmcenroe]

Really nice music from this setup, I want to add the Tracker to my studio.

[@Keilnoth]

Would be awesome to understand how you create, organize, and select those 32GB of samples. I struggle with creating nice samples for the tracker, especially in a more ambient style.

I Wish I had money to afford this beautiful instrument 😍🥰

[@jaysire]

Looks like it's around 250€ used now best case. That's pretty affordable compared to anything else (M8, Digitakt, op-1). Not to mention the really expensive groove boxes.

[@i.syntaxerror]

VERY nice! if i can have a question... how you powered the tracker and how do the same with Medusa?? Any clue? many thanks

[@miltos_schima]

Thanks! The Tracker can be powered by a simple USB power bank but the Medusa needs regular AC power.

[@i.syntaxerror]

@@miltos_schima thank you. As so it was to simple to me but you already confirmed a lot. Kind regards Your Subscriber 😉

[@amadeuspaulussen]

Beautiful sounds, nice little compositions, sweet dog, great sceneries - seems to be a fun device too! Loved it.

[@miltos_schima]

Glad you enjoyed it! Tracker is fun to create with, indeed.

[@matthewtunnicliffe201]

Wow - sounds amazing. Looks like a lovely part of Greece too. The Pelion Peninsula is an area I haven't been to yet. I go to Greece every year but sadly not this one due to the Covid thing and circumstances. Hopefully I'll be back in Greece next summer with my very own Polyend Tracker, which I currently have on order. Can't wait.

[@miltos_schima]

Many thanks! Yes, Pelion is a very nice and peaceful place to get it on your list for a visit. I hope you'll make it for a trip to Greece next year. 👍

[@nightspeeder]

Well done! Im still waiting for my Tracker to come .

[@miltos_schima]

Many thanks! I hope you 'll have it soon!

[@Pacman1ac]

Interesting and affordable gizmo. Lovely demos too! Well done

[@alexhakkah]

Loved the third track really beautiful music. And the traker reverb sounds amazing. I think you can make an album very fast with this machine, and i like the present production, you don't need more, its already very nice

[@miltos_schima]

Thanks a lot! Yes, the reverb is very nice indeed! And it's possible to make pretty much ready tracks with it, if you also do some post-processing/mastering.

[@alexhakkah]

@@miltos_schima miltos can we send midi to external synth and record the audio at the same time with the traker??

[@miltos_schima]

@@alexhakkah No, it's not possible to do this simultaneously. The sample recorder is separate from the sequencer.

[@kenfusion]

Miltos that was excellent 😊

[@miltos_schima]

Glad you enjoyed it! 😀👍

[@Aisjam]

Really nice to see it out in the environment :). How did you find taking it on holidays? Did you get a good battery life with the external battery? I am looking at one as a music easel when i am out and about and a studio tool.

[@miltos_schima]

Hi, it is very nice for music-making on the go. Just a regular power bank of 10000mAh is enough for several hours of operation. 👍

[@Aisjam]

@@miltos_schima Cheers for the information. guessing you have a long power cable to hide it in the shot?

[@miltos_schima]

@@Aisjam Yes, it is a nice braided usb cable included with the Tracker

[@jbird1130]

I'm a big fan of the tracker work flow because I forced myself to learn famitracker and it all clicked one day. I've been pretty obsessed with the Polyend Tracker because of the thought of having tracking hardware on the go that isn't a laptop. Would you say its been worth it? Super cool songs ☆

[@miltos_schima]

Thanks! Yes, I am enjoying working with it so far and I like that it can be many things. It can be a little machine for mobile creation like in this video or a "brain" for a small DAWless setup. As for mobile creation, I would say that for me it proved to be very good in that role. I had a cheap 5000mAh power bank with me that was more than enough for several hours of operation and with a 32gb SD card that I had with me I was able to have a ton of samples and one-shots to work with. If you also organize the samples in a convenient way it will also speed-up the workflow quite a lot. Something else that also proved to be very helpful, is the small Isomorphic Keyboard (the pads) of the Tracker not only because you don't need an extra keyboard if you want to record your notes but also because personally, it helped me a lot to come up with melodies and patterns since you can set it up to specific scales and layouts. Check my other videos too to see how I use it in the studio 👍

[@scianpersad4968]

Nice!! Does the Polyend Tracker comes with built-in sounds? Thanks! I just found out about this machine

[@miltos_schima]

Thanks! It does have built-in content in its SD card to get you started 👍

[@ArtFluids]

Sweet doggie

[@leemski]

Cool tracks. Sounds are dope. 1:30 this scenery is cool, with this kind of pinky light (2:17 oh no that guy there ruins the view a bit lol) Yet, can you tell those two cables what are those plugged to?

[@miltos_schima]

Thanks! My brother wanted to be in the frame for some reason, he ruined the shot I know 😆😜. The left cable is for the power bank and the other is for the headphones. I synced the line/direct signal later 👍

[@leemski]

@@miltos_schima Thanks for some details, always great to know how people set up their gear :) haha your bro wanted to expose his coolness to the world LMAO, but the dogo went in his way xD

[@miltos_schima]

@@leemski 😆👌

[@DanielSvetlof]

Nice one bro

[@papolone]

That pad seems polyphonic! Is it do from the effects or you have rendered chords? Anyway never heard this samples quality on Tracker! Good stuffs dude!

[@miltos_schima]

Thanks! Yes, I have rendered the chords and then added reverb and modulated the pan with LFO to widen it up a little.

[@papolone]

@@miltos_schima very good job!

[@JonGrimson]

SO do you have some kind of workflow to create polyphonic chords and render them? Do you just make a few bars of each chord or something, then slice up the render? Just trying to understand that! You've got some strong Vangelis energy happening!! :)

[@miltos_schima]

@@JonGrimson Thanks! I usually come up with a chord progression and record it in the Tracker where each voice occupies a different track. Then I select them and render them to have them in only one track. Alternatively, I just record audio by playing each chord on a keyboard and make ready chord samples. I even use Cubase if I am in the studio to prepare samples for the Tracker 👍

[@JonGrimson]

@@miltos_schima Thats great to know. I was looking fro the way to do it from within tracker and that's it. One more question. Is there a way to consolidate tracks? Like record kick snare and hats on 3 tracks and then consolidate to one? Then if any notes would overlap they would be covered sonically, like kick would overwrite hats for instance? But mostly they would fill in the holes in the steps. Does this question make sense?

[@ChumpyDumps]

What kind of battery are you using?

[@miltos_schima]

I use a simple 5000mAh power bank 👍

[@ChumpyDumps]

@@miltos_schima And about how many hours can it power the Tracker with? Tracker is a cool device, definitely like that it is usb powered which makes it great for situations like your video without needing special cables (like trying to make a Digitakt portable for outside use, for example).

[@miltos_schima]

@@ChumpyDumps Its several hours of operation even with 5000 mAh, not sure how many. The energy consumption of the Tracker seems to be very low so I think you'll be fine even with a cheap power bank. It's definitely a good choice for music-making on the go. I was thinking of combining it with a Digitone but as you say I'm not sure how easy it is to make the Digitone portable. Is there any solution for this?

[@miltos_schima]

... with a fast google search, I see that there are some USB to 12V Converter cables available for powering Digitakt/Digitone with a power bank so it seems to be possible.

[@Digiphex]

Gak, don't get it wet.

[@miltos_schima]

😆👍

[@cvebeats]

Never understood the latest trend of pushing buttons on a sequencer. It is a sequencer so you just automate your tracks and finish that sequence. Folk got they hands all up in shots and shit pushing all kinds of buttons like they playing a clarinet? WTF?

[@virus2003]

You are so smugnorant. What an absurd and irrational statement. You're using your ignorance as the foundation of your argument? Idiotic.

[@cvebeats]

@@virus2003 Can you play the Piano or any actual instrument OR are you just a button pusher?

[@virus2003]

​@@cvebeats I see you're doubling down on your ignorance. Electronic instruments don't count as "actual" instruments? So you don't like hip hop, either? Watch Daedalus play live and tell me he's not coaxing musical nectar out of an instrument.

[@cvebeats]

@@virus2003 We love hip hop and we play the synths as well, we just don't be pushing buttons all up in video's acting like we doing something. When we sequence we stand back and let the shit ride. Turning knobs and shit for what?

[@virus2003]

@@cvebeats I'm confused as hell. You're not talking about this video? Miltos is simply pushing the arrow keys to demonstrate the composition for us. As to why someone would tweak while playing live... good golly. For literally infinite reasons. If you're just pressing play... what's "live" about that? But don't let me stop you barking at the wind.