I’ve curbed my gear acquisition syndrome for a good 2 years, but this sold me. Been itching for the Polyend Tracker for sometime now after playing with a friend’s and ReNoise, but this is 100% more what I’m looking for, and a Day 1 buy for me. Big fan from Miami, come back soon! Would love to book a Flashbulb show. 🙂
Justin, I did too, but then had to get the new boos space echo, an RK-008,and a moog grandmother! All the other gear is going in the closet whilst I master the grandmother! By then ill have more space for setting all my gear out nice and ordered
Man, the pattern editing and chance/random functions, along with the intelligent musicality of repeats and fills sold me. AND THEN you mentioned it played with a Tracker. I'm like...I'm REALLY jonesing, Benn. At the very least, it's a sketchbook you can output later via stems to muddle around with, but you're right that it definitely adds some push to really fleshing out ideas and not just make boring loops. Cheers, and thanks for the video!
Another wonderful device. I am a recent Polyend Tracker fan. Great video, btw. Thanks, this helps a lot in understanding what the device (devinstrument, as I like to call the Tracker) is all about.
That intro was so good! I would love to watch a feature length film starring you, in that style. Polyend is continually raising the bar, very impressive sequencer, and cheaper than the Hapax!
Looks like they went the Elektron route for sequencing and added some generative stuff. The problem with fully generative is that they all sound the same after a while. It's hard to describe, but when you're composing a rhythm on your own, even if you're trying to do randomness, you still have those happy accidents that might be something like an off key note, or a sequence that just sounds random but goes into a fantastic hook. I have yet to have that happen with my marbles or various vsts that produce generative sequences like the play does here. It just sounds sort of ok? What you did here in the video is what it usually ends up as in my DAW. If someone were blindfolded they could probably tell you X is generated. A good starting point? Maybe. Just an observation. I've found randomness is cool for slower delay/reverb filled trippy notes over long pads and such. And hihats. Everything else beyond that, I couldn't find a place for it. Still, I've been pushing equipment producers to include a probability function for every step in their sequencer. I think it helps more than hurt. Fully blown random? I've dabbled enough to know it's not my cup of tea.
"The problem with fully generative is that they all sound the same after a while." they are many unique ways to do generative and semi-generative. You're still the one controlling what's random and how much; and you're still getting happy accidents this way. personaly I use it for rythms (and sometimes use the random function of an arp); and this is where I've got the most interesting results compared to the process of carefully crafting a pattern (which I often find tedious). Still not convinced it's an interesting tools for melody/harmony though, but I'll have to dig more on that front.
Agreed. It's nice to have the option to do generative sequencing... but I don't often find it useful. It's nice for auxiliary parts, sprinkling randomized texture on top of a solid foundation, but a generative foundation usually sounds pretty bad. This will probably improve when AI makes its way into sequencers, but... for now, it's still pretty primitive.
Interesting observation. I haven’t used randomizing enough to recognize a “sameness“ in the different rhythms or patterns it produces, but the problem I have with it is that it just feels like I’m cheating. I like to create those “happy accidents“ completely on my own and not just save something that the machine comes up with. That being said, I do understand that the Play has this “deterministic“ randomizing which gives you a bit more control and as Benn says if it just jumpstarts your creativity and songwriting, then power to it. I am interested to see more opinions about this unit as time goes on. I do love my Tracker I will say.
Hugely exciting. How you focussed this down in the way you have is a great achievement. If I wasn't already overwhelmed with the learning required by the kit I already own, Maschine, Kontact et al, I would be right there with you on it. I can see it generating a whole new world of rhythm at the very least. I can see why you were so explosive with excitement about what you were about to present. It finally is that one box composing tool. In my 'Afterlife ' project, it will be my companion for long journeys. No wait! The go anywhere, compositional tool of my dreams needs a power pack or a socket (ok lots of trains and even buses have sockets) but if this modest machine was double thickness it could have a wonderful laptop type battery and charging system. Total independence. It's the next evolutionary step, surely. Many thanks
I use a little bit to much of my time looking for interesting things for my home studio and boy am I glad to find Mr Benn Jordan today introducing this phenomenal gear! Wow! I´ll subscribe to the channel!! Thanks! 😇
Excellent enthusiasm and review! The way you bounced all over is proof enough for me that you were having so much fun playing with Polyend you lost focus on review! Earned a sub and looking forward to hearing what you create!
Only benn watching your channel for a few days now (consuming many hours of older content) and this is the first time you look downright giddy in the video. Feels like you really enjoyed this device. :D
I am someone who is an extremely avid consumer of music (yours especially) but has ZERO knowledge about music production/theory. And yet, for perhaps the first time in my life, I find myself fantasizing about making my own music with the Polyend Play. This is just mesmerizing!
I felt the exact same way after watching this. I've already placed my preorder. This device is the first time I've felt like this world was approachable. I highly recommend checking out Loopops video where he goes into much more detail on operation.
Great intro to the device, thanks! My open ended question after watching... how easy is it to get off the grid? I love the "play live and then hand-quantize any bits that sucks" workflow which - for example - the Electron Model:Cycles makes relatively nice. I have a Polyend Tracker and it's definitely not optimised for that use case, so I wonder if the Play is the same Am also still not clear if it has any synth engines built in! Although that's very much not an open ended question :)
Wow.. Thank you... I got the polyend play a few months ago and was overwhelmed in a good way with it's feature.//. thank you for this tutorial , this gave me a better understanding on how to use it..
The little music video at the start reminded me very much of Otto von Schirach's 'Tipo Tropical' Ofcourse also not a stranger to Miami bass and breakcore
B. Can you do a deep dive on the midi implementation? I'm super familiar w midi. But for some reason the polyend products In General give me head aches. What am I missing?? Like slaving my tracker or medusa to play etc. Etc. There is some probably very obvious step I am over looking. Noone else has really done this. Thanks in advance. If possible. G.
Love the Play I can spend hours getting lost in it... waiting on possible firmware to record performance/punch-in effects and the stem export seems a bit wonky... Great demos as always...
Great vid my man, really enjoy your productions! Got to say Poly not selling me on this seq, their tracker though is another world and reminds me of my childhood.
Wow! Fascinating device! So my dream of generative drum machine has been realised. Way back in the mid-to-late 90s I was using a tracker called OctaMED on the Commodore Amiga A500 computer to sequence MIDI hardware. I was also attempting to write software that would generate "random" 16-step drum patterns and save them as little MIDI "clips" that I could load into OctaMED. Of course, I didn't want just totally random, but have some kind of "feel" to it. So say it could take in an existing pattern and process it. Probability was easy - just drop a percentage of the existing notes. Swing too by shifting a certaining percentage of notes around. Reversing, MIDI "echo", randomise panning, etc. But, 25 years later, the Polyend Player is in a totally different universe!!! AMAZING.
am i going nuts or is the snare playing slightly ahead of the kick everytime at 5:29 one reason I’m asking is because I did have some weird timing hiccups on the Tracker too but I just assumed that it was just part of how early trackers calculated time with ticks or whatever
What I love about the Polyend devices is that they will happily produce randomly generated sequences/patterns for you (which is what I did a lot at the beginning with the Tracker). But at the _same_ time it's really intuitive and extensive to manually arrange, tweak and sound-design whole tracks on it. I always wondered how a step sequencer by Polyend would look like (I've not been around when the SEQ was a thing), and I think they absolutely nailed it; integrating the best features from both the tracker- and step-sequencer world
Great video! How does scales works in relation to the base pitch of the samples? Is there some kind of audio analysis going on there or does the play assumes that all samples are in eg c ?
Great video and great device! One thing with grooveboxes I don't understand is that they never make outputs for each track like they do on drummachines. That should be standard.
Thanks for showing us the beatmaking process! btw - is there a MPC "note repeat" type of note play / entry available in here? (I don't mean 13:30 though that is also good.)
There is. Repeat type/grid knob for each pad. You can trigger on the fly or per step or through "chance". There's also different "flavors" of repeat which essentially are pre-made envelopes controlling the repeats over beat synced intervals.
@@MarkKunoff Yes, there are "repeat modes", which are great! but "Note Repeat" is a very specific feature on MPC which quantizes the input and sound of the pads to 1/16th or other timings. It can be used to perform perfectly on time, and to enter patterns. (It's the way "Trap" Hip Hop is often produced.) Does that exist in this unit, yet? And do you think it might, in future
Great video as usual, I would point out though that (only because you mentioned you've not seen it elsewhere) that the Elektron seqences, Digitakt for example, can ratchet across multiple steps, so you can program 10 ratchets across 3 steps if you like.
Great energy, I enjoyed the video. I've a question. Can you step input from midi keyboard? By that I mean hold keys on midi keyboard, press pad to insert them.
I have the same question. The Polyend Tracker can do this (that’s why I have it), but not sure about the Play. I believe the Toraiz Squid can do this btw, but most mainstream sequencers can’t. Some people are just not able to live play to the grid, myself included, lol.
dude your videos just keep getting better. Been a but since I last peeped one, but this was great. Love the little Benn above the Play, much better than just Hans.
Thinking about selling my deluge to snag one of these. Deluge does more but this workflow looks so much better to my eyes. If it had a synth engine it would be a no brainer.
love your work. the last thing i'm wondering before ordering. can you apply all of this randomization of fill and chances in the midi mode to control ableton?
The intro to this is pretty funny. I wonder what you would think of the Deluge, which just got a sizeable new update (added wavetable synthesis, mpe, Euclidean sequencing, other stuff). I like that this has a reasonable display and looks easier to get up and going. Deluge seems to have less constraints though, also has a sampler mic and battery.
I wish they'd have called it Phil. Or Euclidean Phil, in honour of Phil Collin's retirement from drumming. I'm wondering how the generative sequencer aspects compare to the Squarp Hapax, or Oxi One, since the Sample Playback Engine isn't amazingly super powerful. Frustrating the sample playback is mono, since this is exactly why I ditched my Digitakt. Edit: but the sequencer here is fascinating.
So, they put all of my favourite electronic artists in a box you say? Takes me back to the reason 4 days. Not that I was any good at it, but I did doodle with some breakcore producing back then. This nifty little box and your tutorial gave me a nostalgic urge to revisit doing that. Might pick this one up, although i have a digitakt and a pyramid. Damn these sequencers demos :p
Dang.... I just stumbled onto these instruments and this video got me SO hyped. I'm a keyboardist primarily and have been looking for a fun way to get back back into electronic production and this or the tracker are definitely the way I wanna go. Great video. Just realized you plugged in a midi keyboard so I gotta finish watching haha. I commented about midi controlling before seeing it.
Million dollar question: does this replace the Zoia in your setup? Last beautiful travel adventure was Euroburo, and I wonder if you’ll be using both together? Or is Play just so much of a one-stop shop for your workflow?
OK, newbie here. Main question is: where do the sounds actually come from if not from the Play? Do you need to have a raft of synths attached via midi? Drum machines, etc?
Hey Benn, did you ever do anything with the jam around 23:30? It pops into my head at least once a month and I have to come back to this video and hear it again.
You have done it AGAIN! I bought a Polyend Tracker because of YOU, I didn't get on with it unfortunately so I sold it. BUT this is more up my alley. I was impressed with the build quality of the tracker so I am assuming the Polyend Play will be the same. So I now have to find £700 or so, and its ALL your fault, I hope Polyend are paying you a big commission because I bet this video sells shedloads of them.
The Tracker would be great if it had more than 8 tracks. Chords take up three or four, bass takes one, melody takes one, then there's nothing left for drums
Now you have me wanting the mini tracker, I mean, I didn't get on with the OG tracker, so why would I get on with the mini tracker. BUT I still want one GRRRR
Thanks for the video, as someone who is really used to cutting up audio and doing Idm, what I’m thinking would be fun is record some stems into bitwig and then get into doing more cuts by hand. Do you have any recommendations on the most efficient way to do that in any daw? Thank you!
I don't understand the midi integration with tracker. Are you able to trigger different samples on the tracker? Midi doesn't have enough bits to transfer that info along with the note and velocity?
Wow, I watched Loopop's video first and was disappointed by the things the Play CAN'T do. Then I watched your video and you start by showing just how much more than the Seq it can do (which I own and I love) and it's AMAZING! I will probably still stick to the Seq for a while since I only just started with electronic music, the Seq is in its reducedness very straightforward and I feel a bit overwhelmed by the Play. But in the long run, I might get a play (haha, if they add audio in and stereo samples, that is).
Keep in mind that there are only a couple of videos out so far. It's impossible to cover everything Play CAN do in just a few videos. There will be more and more informatoin in the coming weeks about all of the great features of Play.
I just ordered a Squarp Pyramid but it's still in backorder. Should I cancel my order if I can and get this instead? I like the idea of having a groovebox and sequencer in one device.
Haha, as soon as I saw this I knew Benn Jordan would love it. Super nerdy but cool, like everything polyend does. But so many buttons on such a freakishly small form factor was necessary?
Si SENOR. I MISS my polyend but My 60 year old 🧠 had typing class but no computers. Do you think the Polyend Play is more intuitive without reading Manuel?
Can the variations be used to extend the length of a pattern beyond 64 steps, for ex, if looping the full 64 steps, have the first 16 steps to play 4 times through all 4 variations? so basically have potentially 4x64 step long patterns? or ar variations manually triggered only?
I pre-ordered this based on your/Loopop's video and the insistence of my friend Alex who made some samples for it. Question though, you say it has MIDI over USB, how would you do that other than connecting to a computer? Say I wanted to connect it to the Tracker over USB, how would I power it? Thanks for everything you do
Hey Benn, wondering how the Polyend play is holding up after 6 months? with black friday sales and xmas coming up it's on my wishlist... but it is still worth it after the honeymoon phase?
Thanks for the shoutout and what a lovely set of performances!
Both your channels are a joy to watch, very inspiring
Please compare it to the all new featurepacked op1 field. Also consider beardfactor and $ per feature
@@dasczwo I've been saying this for years
You two are my favourite people to watch gear videos from. I can't even think how much time I've spent watching y'alls videos
@@dasczwo funny
Great walkthrough my dude
Amazing! Ordered. Thank you for showing this!
I’ve curbed my gear acquisition syndrome for a good 2 years, but this sold me. Been itching for the Polyend Tracker for sometime now after playing with a friend’s and ReNoise, but this is 100% more what I’m looking for, and a Day 1 buy for me.
Big fan from Miami, come back soon! Would love to book a Flashbulb show. 🙂
Justin, I did too, but then had to get the new boos space echo, an RK-008,and a moog grandmother! All the other gear is going in the closet whilst I master the grandmother! By then ill have more space for setting all my gear out nice and ordered
So good Benn! You consistently kill it with these walkthroughs.
Man, the pattern editing and chance/random functions, along with the intelligent musicality of repeats and fills sold me. AND THEN you mentioned it played with a Tracker. I'm like...I'm REALLY jonesing, Benn. At the very least, it's a sketchbook you can output later via stems to muddle around with, but you're right that it definitely adds some push to really fleshing out ideas and not just make boring loops. Cheers, and thanks for the video!
yeeeees, this is the thing for me. BTW does Deluge also have these randiomizers? Deluge vs Poliend play?
So cool to see polish titles in this video :-)
Super filmik, pozdro z niemiec^^
OMGoodness. The sequencer I have been waiting for. I cannot believe I had no idea this was available. Thanks for this video.
Undoubtedly the best intro to one of your videos
Thanks for the heart. Really love your work
Listening to other videos I was not convinced about Play, seeing and listening to your video I definitely changed my mind.
Real nice. I am very curious about this, but I hope they add in some kind of stem export, as that will be gold for external processing.
Hey hey!
Back to your synth dungeon you go...
You're just attracted by the colorful pads...😁
@@BendApparatus always
PLEASE HELP! :) what is the LOVELY PWM pluck instrument that plays at 21:25 ??
Enticing, in a word. Well done getting this edited and out the door. This message will self-destruct in five seconds.
Another wonderful device. I am a recent Polyend Tracker fan. Great video, btw. Thanks, this helps a lot in understanding what the device (devinstrument, as I like to call the Tracker) is all about.
That intro was so good! I would love to watch a feature length film starring you, in that style. Polyend is continually raising the bar, very impressive sequencer, and cheaper than the Hapax!
Looks like they went the Elektron route for sequencing and added some generative stuff. The problem with fully generative is that they all sound the same after a while. It's hard to describe, but when you're composing a rhythm on your own, even if you're trying to do randomness, you still have those happy accidents that might be something like an off key note, or a sequence that just sounds random but goes into a fantastic hook. I have yet to have that happen with my marbles or various vsts that produce generative sequences like the play does here. It just sounds sort of ok? What you did here in the video is what it usually ends up as in my DAW. If someone were blindfolded they could probably tell you X is generated. A good starting point? Maybe. Just an observation. I've found randomness is cool for slower delay/reverb filled trippy notes over long pads and such. And hihats. Everything else beyond that, I couldn't find a place for it. Still, I've been pushing equipment producers to include a probability function for every step in their sequencer. I think it helps more than hurt. Fully blown random? I've dabbled enough to know it's not my cup of tea.
Thanks for sharing!
"The problem with fully generative is that they all sound the same after a while." they are many unique ways to do generative and semi-generative. You're still the one controlling what's random and how much; and you're still getting happy accidents this way. personaly I use it for rythms (and sometimes use the random function of an arp); and this is where I've got the most interesting results compared to the process of carefully crafting a pattern (which I often find tedious). Still not convinced it's an interesting tools for melody/harmony though, but I'll have to dig more on that front.
📠
Agreed. It's nice to have the option to do generative sequencing... but I don't often find it useful. It's nice for auxiliary parts, sprinkling randomized texture on top of a solid foundation, but a generative foundation usually sounds pretty bad. This will probably improve when AI makes its way into sequencers, but... for now, it's still pretty primitive.
Interesting observation. I haven’t used randomizing enough to recognize a “sameness“ in the different rhythms or patterns it produces, but the problem I have with it is that it just feels like I’m cheating. I like to create those “happy accidents“ completely on my own and not just save something that the machine comes up with.
That being said, I do understand that the Play has this “deterministic“ randomizing which gives you a bit more control and as Benn says if it just jumpstarts your creativity and songwriting, then power to it. I am interested to see more opinions about this unit as time goes on. I do love my Tracker I will say.
what a great time to be alive! nice vid man!
Hugely exciting. How you focussed this down in the way you have is a great achievement.
If I wasn't already overwhelmed with the learning required by the kit I already own, Maschine, Kontact et al, I would be right there with you on it. I can see it generating a whole new world of rhythm at the very least. I can see why you were so explosive with excitement about what you were about to present. It finally is that one box composing tool.
In my 'Afterlife ' project, it will be my companion for long journeys. No wait! The go anywhere, compositional tool of my dreams needs a power pack or a socket (ok lots of trains and even buses have sockets) but if this modest machine was double thickness it could have a wonderful laptop type battery and charging system. Total independence. It's the next evolutionary step, surely.
Many thanks
I use a little bit to much of my time looking for interesting things for my home studio and boy am I glad to find Mr Benn Jordan today introducing this phenomenal gear!
Wow! I´ll subscribe to the channel!! Thanks!
😇
Woah those live visual effects are blowing my brain!
Excellent enthusiasm and review! The way you bounced all over is proof enough for me that you were having so much fun playing with Polyend you lost focus on review! Earned a sub and looking forward to hearing what you create!
You’re leveling up. Loved this deep dive! Now I really want one of these 😂
Only benn watching your channel for a few days now (consuming many hours of older content) and this is the first time you look downright giddy in the video. Feels like you really enjoyed this device. :D
Been looking at this and the OP-1 field as my next studio purchase, this has been a big informant on that decision
Thanks to both your vids, I got the polyend play. I am so so stoked to play with it when it arrives.
Great I am from Poland and I approve this message 🇵🇱👍
Variations are amazing. It allows you to get so much more out of 1 pattern than having to waste full patterns for changing individual elements.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this vs the Torso T-1
me too
SOLD! Almost had me ready to buy the Polyend Tracker, but Dirtywave M8 is still gonna be in my future... But I think this might come first.
I am someone who is an extremely avid consumer of music (yours especially) but has ZERO knowledge about music production/theory. And yet, for perhaps the first time in my life, I find myself fantasizing about making my own music with the Polyend Play. This is just mesmerizing!
I felt the exact same way after watching this. I've already placed my preorder. This device is the first time I've felt like this world was approachable. I highly recommend checking out Loopops video where he goes into much more detail on operation.
you jsut sold me on this. will be getting one asap to accompany my handpans live
Great intro to the device, thanks!
My open ended question after watching... how easy is it to get off the grid? I love the "play live and then hand-quantize any bits that sucks" workflow which - for example - the Electron Model:Cycles makes relatively nice. I have a Polyend Tracker and it's definitely not optimised for that use case, so I wonder if the Play is the same
Am also still not clear if it has any synth engines built in! Although that's very much not an open ended question :)
No synth engine sadly, just samples. The FM engine from the Medusa would be perfect tbh. It's v accessible and easy to make good sounds with.
Will it have a Stem Exporting function in the future?
Definitely the most musical demo of this thing, so far. ❤️ Well done!
Wow.. Thank you... I got the polyend play a few months ago and was overwhelmed in a good way with it's feature.//. thank you for this tutorial , this gave me a better understanding on how to use it..
great video! This thing looks awesome. And love that interlude diddy
The little music video at the start reminded me very much of Otto von Schirach's 'Tipo Tropical'
Ofcourse also not a stranger to Miami bass and breakcore
Love Otto
B.
Can you do a deep dive on the midi implementation?
I'm super familiar w midi. But for some reason the polyend products In General give me head aches. What am I missing?? Like slaving my tracker or medusa to play etc. Etc.
There is some probably very obvious step I am over looking. Noone else has really done this.
Thanks in advance. If possible.
G.
Love the Play I can spend hours getting lost in it... waiting on possible firmware to record performance/punch-in effects and the stem export seems a bit wonky... Great demos as always...
The intro to this episode is awesome.
Great vid my man, really enjoy your productions! Got to say Poly not selling me on this seq, their tracker though is another world and reminds me of my childhood.
Wow! Fascinating device! So my dream of generative drum machine has been realised. Way back in the mid-to-late 90s I was using a tracker called OctaMED on the Commodore Amiga A500 computer to sequence MIDI hardware. I was also attempting to write software that would generate "random" 16-step drum patterns and save them as little MIDI "clips" that I could load into OctaMED. Of course, I didn't want just totally random, but have some kind of "feel" to it. So say it could take in an existing pattern and process it. Probability was easy - just drop a percentage of the existing notes. Swing too by shifting a certaining percentage of notes around. Reversing, MIDI "echo", randomise panning, etc. But, 25 years later, the Polyend Player is in a totally different universe!!! AMAZING.
am i going nuts or is the snare playing slightly ahead of the kick everytime at 5:29
one reason I’m asking is because I did have some weird timing hiccups on the Tracker too but I just assumed that it was just part of how early trackers calculated time with ticks or whatever
Could maybe be solved by adjusting sample start
@@charliecarrot thank you good point! wonder if it was just the samples there
What I love about the Polyend devices is that they will happily produce randomly generated sequences/patterns for you (which is what I did a lot at the beginning with the Tracker). But at the _same_ time it's really intuitive and extensive to manually arrange, tweak and sound-design whole tracks on it.
I always wondered how a step sequencer by Polyend would look like (I've not been around when the SEQ was a thing), and I think they absolutely nailed it; integrating the best features from both the tracker- and step-sequencer world
wonderful video, what a beautifully cool machine. Looks like pure joy to play.
Yeeeeeah!
+1 for how it compares to the Torso T-1 for generative MIDI sequencing.
kinda like a monome for people who aren't full on wizards :D great video and insight, thanks
Great video! How does scales works in relation to the base pitch of the samples? Is there some kind of audio analysis going on there or does the play assumes that all samples are in eg c ?
Great video and great device! One thing with grooveboxes I don't understand is that they never make outputs for each track like they do on drummachines. That should be standard.
If I had a poly snth on a midi channel and play a 4 notes chord on the external keyboard it would reserve 4 tracks on polyend play?
Really like the play modes, this is kind of what I've wanted in a generative sequencer
Thanks for showing us the beatmaking process! btw - is there a MPC "note repeat" type of note play / entry available in here? (I don't mean 13:30 though that is also good.)
There is. Repeat type/grid knob for each pad. You can trigger on the fly or per step or through "chance". There's also different "flavors" of repeat which essentially are pre-made envelopes controlling the repeats over beat synced intervals.
@@MarkKunoff Yes, there are "repeat modes", which are great! but "Note Repeat" is a very specific feature on MPC which quantizes the input and sound of the pads to 1/16th or other timings. It can be used to perform perfectly on time, and to enter patterns. (It's the way "Trap" Hip Hop is often produced.) Does that exist in this unit, yet? And do you think it might, in future
does it let you flick through samples for a sound while a sequence is playing so you can audition sounds for the sequence? Thanks
Great video as usual, I would point out though that (only because you mentioned you've not seen it elsewhere) that the Elektron seqences, Digitakt for example, can ratchet across multiple steps, so you can program 10 ratchets across 3 steps if you like.
Great energy, I enjoyed the video.
I've a question. Can you step input from midi keyboard? By that I mean hold keys on midi keyboard, press pad to insert them.
I have the same question. The Polyend Tracker can do this (that’s why I have it), but not sure about the Play. I believe the Toraiz Squid can do this btw, but most mainstream sequencers can’t. Some people are just not able to live play to the grid, myself included, lol.
Amazing review of an amazing device! Do you know if the device allows saving projects?
Beautiful presentation. As ever. Beautiful piece of kit!
dude your videos just keep getting better. Been a but since I last peeped one, but this was great. Love the little Benn above the Play, much better than just Hans.
Thinking about selling my deluge to snag one of these. Deluge does more but this workflow looks so much better to my eyes. If it had a synth engine it would be a no brainer.
love your work. the last thing i'm wondering before ordering. can you apply all of this randomization of fill and chances in the midi mode to control ableton?
The intro to this is pretty funny.
I wonder what you would think of the Deluge, which just got a sizeable new update (added wavetable synthesis, mpe, Euclidean sequencing, other stuff). I like that this has a reasonable display and looks easier to get up and going. Deluge seems to have less constraints though, also has a sampler mic and battery.
Has he never used a deluge??? that's absolutely insane to me
@@barrierloss Maybe I’ll offer to lend mine. But he’s pretty busy.
@@aquaticborealis4877 yeah synthstrom never loan review units..
Your deductive description made me LOL. THANK YOU
Can’t wait to never glance at a manual! Excellent video! Tons of fun!
Love this Video, im so happy ordering this instrument, it arrives tomorrow, cant wait.
I definitely feel a tangerine dream moment coming on....thankyou for a spot on demo.
Daaaaang this looks so fun
I wish they'd have called it Phil. Or Euclidean Phil, in honour of Phil Collin's retirement from drumming. I'm wondering how the generative sequencer aspects compare to the Squarp Hapax, or Oxi One, since the Sample Playback Engine isn't amazingly super powerful. Frustrating the sample playback is mono, since this is exactly why I ditched my Digitakt. Edit: but the sequencer here is fascinating.
Ok.
I'm also wondering about comparisons with Squarp Hapax and Oxi One.
phil collins? isn't he still in jail for disturbing the peace with "in the air tonight"
What? Are you in a k hole or something?
Add the deluge to that comparison!
I'm sold on this piece of kit.
So, they put all of my favourite electronic artists in a box you say?
Takes me back to the reason 4 days. Not that I was any good at it, but I did doodle with some breakcore producing back then. This nifty little box and your tutorial gave me a nostalgic urge to revisit doing that. Might pick this one up, although i have a digitakt and a pyramid. Damn these sequencers demos :p
Thanks man. Love your work and it’s much appreciated :)
Dang.... I just stumbled onto these instruments and this video got me SO hyped. I'm a keyboardist primarily and have been looking for a fun way to get back back into electronic production and this or the tracker are definitely the way I wanna go. Great video.
Just realized you plugged in a midi keyboard so I gotta finish watching haha. I commented about midi controlling before seeing it.
My God... what a wonderful tool this is.
Over/under on when @SeamlessR recreates this in patcher?
Million dollar question: does this replace the Zoia in your setup? Last beautiful travel adventure was Euroburo, and I wonder if you’ll be using both together? Or is Play just so much of a one-stop shop for your workflow?
OK, newbie here. Main question is: where do the sounds actually come from if not from the Play? Do you need to have a raft of synths attached via midi? Drum machines, etc?
There's a couple of thousand sounds preloaded into the SD card.
And you can load more of your own...
@@BendApparatus Great, thanks!
Polyend are really changing the game, so intuitive, fun, and inspirational to use.
Hey Benn, did you ever do anything with the jam around 23:30? It pops into my head at least once a month and I have to come back to this video and hear it again.
Dammit, Benn. I’ve been back here 3 times swearing I wasn’t going to buy this but I think you got me this time.
Bardzo zabawne rozpoczęcie filmu. I like yours reviews.
You have done it AGAIN! I bought a Polyend Tracker because of YOU, I didn't get on with it unfortunately so I sold it. BUT this is more up my alley. I was impressed with the build quality of the tracker so I am assuming the Polyend Play will be the same. So I now have to find £700 or so, and its ALL your fault, I hope Polyend are paying you a big commission because I bet this video sells shedloads of them.
The Tracker would be great if it had more than 8 tracks. Chords take up three or four, bass takes one, melody takes one, then there's nothing left for drums
@@gobowwoewow3752 isn't it the same with play though? only 8 tracks so chords take at least 3 of them... imagine that might be rather limiting
@@touarec Probably. I use a Korg sequencer with only 4 tracks but they have 6 note polyphony
Now you have me wanting the mini tracker, I mean, I didn't get on with the OG tracker, so why would I get on with the mini tracker. BUT I still want one GRRRR
@@touarec 8 audio AND 8 midi😎
Love the intro. Great review as well :)
Thanks for the video, as someone who is really used to cutting up audio and doing Idm, what I’m thinking would be fun is record some stems into bitwig and then get into doing more cuts by hand. Do you have any recommendations on the most efficient way to do that in any daw? Thank you!
Ableton Sampler?
@@rayflux it was about how to get stems, but the recent update allows for exporting them individually now :)
@@Alckemy yes man, read about it in firm 1.1 is possible to ex stems and that is really great! cant wait to get my hands on it tomorrow... !
I don't understand the midi integration with tracker. Are you able to trigger different samples on the tracker? Midi doesn't have enough bits to transfer that info along with the note and velocity?
Just ordered one of these. Does it have any kind of sample warping or time stretching?
Preorderd!!!
nice video Benn you gave me a good old g.a.s feeling in the stomach
Wow, I watched Loopop's video first and was disappointed by the things the Play CAN'T do. Then I watched your video and you start by showing just how much more than the Seq it can do (which I own and I love) and it's AMAZING! I will probably still stick to the Seq for a while since I only just started with electronic music, the Seq is in its reducedness very straightforward and I feel a bit overwhelmed by the Play. But in the long run, I might get a play (haha, if they add audio in and stereo samples, that is).
yeah all i could think during loopops vid was how i looked forward to seeing benn jamming on this thing. No offense to loopop
Keep in mind that there are only a couple of videos out so far. It's impossible to cover everything Play CAN do in just a few videos. There will be more and more informatoin in the coming weeks about all of the great features of Play.
I just ordered a Squarp Pyramid but it's still in backorder. Should I cancel my order if I can and get this instead? I like the idea of having a groovebox and sequencer in one device.
No.
U´ve really nailed this TH-cam thing.
Haha, as soon as I saw this I knew Benn Jordan would love it. Super nerdy but cool, like everything polyend does. But so many buttons on such a freakishly small form factor was necessary?
Can you modulate all of those encoder options?
Arriving tomorrow, maaan!
Ok you got me hooked at the very moment you mentioned idm/breakcore/glitch/afx/vsnares...
Looks like another cool device from Polyend :)
Si SENOR. I MISS my polyend but My 60 year old 🧠 had typing class but no computers. Do you think the Polyend Play is more intuitive without reading Manuel?
Can the variations be used to extend the length of a pattern beyond 64 steps, for ex, if looping the full 64 steps, have the first 16 steps to play 4 times through all 4 variations? so basically have potentially 4x64 step long patterns? or ar variations manually triggered only?
I pre-ordered this based on your/Loopop's video and the insistence of my friend Alex who made some samples for it. Question though, you say it has MIDI over USB, how would you do that other than connecting to a computer? Say I wanted to connect it to the Tracker over USB, how would I power it? Thanks for everything you do
Hey Benn, wondering how the Polyend play is holding up after 6 months? with black friday sales and xmas coming up it's on my wishlist... but it is still worth it after the honeymoon phase?
inmediately reminds me of the elektron digitakt or octatrack sequencing you can achieve a lot of these similar things using the lfos and retriggering
Is it possible to make probability per step? To have a foundation of your groove with some explicit chosen probability?:)