The 21st century has seen two big trends: the rise of the grid as performance and sequence interface, and a resurgent interest in trackers as hardware instruments beyond their original software interface. But why choose? Polyend’s latest video shows their two tools in combination.
This is one of the ideas I recall first discussing with Polyend when they showed Tracker. So Tracker’s compact design is terrific – and some will want just that self-contained design on it (or another competing tracker, whether that’s a Game Boy or something newer). But putting one of those trackers together with a grid means a lot more visibility and hands-on control, and it’ll definitely fit some folks’ playing style better.
I’m curious to see not just this all-Polyend duo but other hardware combos, if someone has another rig. But this looks excellent for live shows, for sure. And it’s great to see real live performance – not just press-play – on such an upswing. To me it’s not so much hardware versus software or “DAWless” whatever that’s supposed to mean. It’s really about how much you can get your hands on the live show and improvise, experiment, and play.
Thoughts, folks?
Polyend have been posting some excellent other vids, too, lately – as Tracker got a refresh (more coming) and Play hit firmwarae 1.4. Just a few faves: