Following its introduction to widespread critical acclaim as an aptly-named music world first, innovative and unique musical instruments creator Polyend is proud to push the Tracker standalone workstation further forward with a welcomed functionality-boosting firmware update taking it up to v1.3.0 — also adding the timely introduction of onboard games into an otherwise musical mix, allowing users to take a breather from music-making and refill their creative juices.
As the world’s first hardware tracker, Polyend’s Tracker incorporates the quintessential characteristics of a classic software tracker as its vertical timeline, powerful sequencer, and mechanical keyboard combine with an innovative input interface design to make and perform music in a new and intuitive way. When first getting hands-on with Tracker, that interface readily reveals an array of tools that are always at its user’s fingertips, further boosted by the following forward-looking functionality of the latest v1.3.0 firmware update: new MIDI CC input, MIDI micro-tuning effects, tuning effects, and MIDI chord functionality; track arm recording; Line In (input) availability during Song playback; longer sample import; low-quality sample import (saving sample pool memory time); unused sample deletion; bass booster, bit-depth, distortion, five-band EQ, new limiter (with gain reduction meter), and stereo enhancer effects; limiter sidechaining functionality; Sample Editor time stretch effects (with beat and note modes); octave transpose; enhanced Pattern editor fill command (with Euclidean fills creation and Density setting with Random fills availability); and a rewriting from scratch rendering mechanism — all of which will surely be welcomed by both existing Tracker owners and those that are new to the trailblazing hardware device designed to help artists forge unique avenues of sonic construction by breaking patterns on a daily basis.
Polyend’s preset recaller and sequencer, now with Euclidean sequencing implementation, in a space-saving, connectivity-rich Eurorack form factor — is now open source, so expect even more flexible functionality to be happening as a result, while French next-generation musical instruments manufacturer Expressive E’s Carbon sound expansion — originally available as a free add-on for anyone who owns its MPE Collection combining banks of exclusive sounds into a versatile suite, ready to play with any MPE (MIDI Polyphonic Expression) supporting instrument — is now available for Medusa, the Dreadbox & Polyend Hybrid Synthesizer. Served by their own What’s Up Blog webpages https://polyend.com/whats-up/preset-open-source-firmware/ and https://polyend.com/whats-up/medusa-carbon-synth/), Preset and Medusa owners need not feel left out in the cold.
Tracker comes complete with a USB-A power adapter, 2m USB-C cable, 3.5mm to 2x 6.3mm adapter, Minijack to MIDI DIN adapter,16GB MicroSD card, and MicroSD to USB-A adapter, and is available to purchase through Polyend’s growing global network of authorised dealers at an MSRP of €499.00 EUR/$599.00 USD. Or order online directly from Polyend itself via the dedicated Tracker webpage, which also includes more in-depth information.
About Polyend (www.polyend.com)
Located in the Land of a Thousand Lakes in northeastern Poland, Polyend was founded in 2015 by current CEO Piotr Raczyński. As a team of dedicated professionals comprising coders, designers, musicians, and technicians, the company is collectively committed to bringing new technologies to creative musicians by building innovative and unique musical instruments. Polyend pushed boundaries from the outset with its first product, Perc, a set of mechanical beaters that can be controlled via MIDI, allowing anyone to play real drums, percussion instruments (or any other inanimate object) from a DAW, drum machine, or MIDI controller. An acclaimed product pairing followed suit soon after — namely, Seq, a highly-intuitive MIDI hardware step sequencer with 32 steps, eight-track polyphony, and 256 patterns, pleasingly housed within a high-quality aluminium and wooden casing, and Poly, a polyphonic MIDI-to-CV Eurorack module boasting a multitude of connectivity options to play nicely with all manner of sequencers, DAWs, keyboards, apps, and more. More recently, a close collaboration with Greek boutique analogue synthesizers and effects developer Dreadbox resulted in the Medussa Hybrid Synthesizer, a symbiosis of classic synthesis characteristics and a unique digital controller, while a subsequent trio of extraordinary Eurorack modules — Anywhere, Poly 2, and Preset — foretell of a future Polyend modular system. Fast-forwarding to today, Tracker effectively extracts the best bits of yesteryear’s tricky tracker software classics and reboots them with forward-looking functionality as the world’s first hardware tracker. Polyend’s proven track record of bringing so many distinctive design ideas to market in such a short space of time surely speaks for itself as the creative company continues to innovate with so much more to come.