Polyend Tracker is a different kind of portable music production device
Sampling, synthesis, sequencing, song arranging and performance features
Following numerous teases, Polyend has finally taken the wraps off Tracker. This, unsurprisingly, is a hardware tracker, though not, as Polyend says, “the first hardware tracker in the music world”.
What Tracker does appear to be, though, is a refreshingly different kind of standalone, portable music-making device. It offers a sampler and wavetable/granular synthesis (plus an FM radio to grab sounds from), a step sequencer and song arranger so that you can put together complete tracks, and a performance mode that enables you to take your Tracker productions to the stage.
Tracker doesn’t have to work in isolation, though; bi-directional MIDI means that you can use it with the other software and hardware in your studio, too, while a large screen, mechanical keyboard and big knob control are designed to make operation and navigation fast and easy.
The vertical sequencer timeline will be familiar to anyone who’s ever used a software tracker before, but Polyend suggests that even those who aren’t familiar with this way of working should be able to get their head around Tracker after a few minutes. You can import samples or record directly into the hardware via mic and line inputs, and once you have your sounds inside, there are a variety of slicing, editing and tweaking options.
Find out more on the Polyend website. Tracker can be pre-ordered now for the price of €499.
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I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.
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