I’m an experienced musician, but I haven’t made electronic music for around 20 years. Recently I’ve been trying to get back into it, but struggling.
I started with FL Studio, but was only really able to get anything done when I entered a cover competition, but otherwise had zero inspiration. I’ve also got a Bitwig and Pigments license and though I think it’s an awesome DAW I haven’t written anything I’m pleased with. I think software just doesn’t inspire me.
I bought a Circuit Tracks and found the UI amazing and inspiring, but the limitation of two synth tracks and no pitching on samples too limiting, I’ve subsequently bought a Polyend Tracker and I love it and have been able to make a few tracks which are nothing special, but at least I’m creating stuff and feel creative.
I’d like to expand beyond the Tracker to be able to get into more sophisticated sound design and polyphonic sounds for pads etc. I tried connecting the Circuit Tracks which works ,but the lack of onboard sound design makes it annoying.
I’m now thinking about what would be a good next tool to add to the collection.
The two obvious things would be a Modal Cobalt 5s which would give me polyphony, sound design and some keys to play with, or a Digitone which would also give me some polyphony and also another take on sequencing with the Elektron paradigm.
I should add that I like to work on the sofa with a power bank so 88 key workstations are no use.
You already have a polyphonic pad machine. Seriously, have a look at the granular and wavetable stuff in Tracker. Keep three or four tracks free and you can play your samples polyphonically on Tracker. Worth a go before adding something else. Or if you want to keep Tracker free for beats etc, 1010 Lemondrop?
I haven’t had much luck with the granular engine thus far. It’s possible I just don’t really understand granular well enough to get good results.
The wavetable I have done some interesting things with, but I don’t really want to take up half of my tracks to get a pad and I’d like to get into some more sophisticated sound design (for learning as much as anything) and the Tracker doesn’t have a huge amount there compared to a dedicated synth.
Sometimes I want something like a Juno type pad and I’ve struggled to get that with what I have.
Between digitone and cobalt I would personally go for DT. If the sound design has to be done on the computer which it seems is largely the case with cobalt I just don’t feel connected to the instrument. Sure it’s good though. The sounds are really nice
I actually bought an Argon 8, but because it was big and heavy and annoying to power I didn’t use it and immediately sold it again.
For that reason I’m looking for something compact that I can do sound design with which is why the Cobalt 5s appeals. However if it’s going to just be a bunch of Macros and all the actual design happens on a PC I might as well stick to the Circuit Tracks where I already have that story, or do sound design with Pigments and then sample it into the Tracker.
A secondary consideration is that the Modal has keys as currently I only have a Novation Launch Key mini which only has 25 fairly horrible feeling keys.
So I have the cobalt 8m which is the same sound engine as the 5. I also love the Digitone.
You can’t go wrong with either for sound design. Colbalt is a pad machine but a lot of its “lushness” comes from interesting stereo effects that you can’t sample to the polyend tracker.
leads and basses sound a bit smeary though (probably why the pads sound so beautiful as well).
Digitone is great because of what you mentioned above. You can create entire tracks on it, it’s really a matter of haw you feel about FM, learning FM and also learning the Elektron workflow.
Digitone which would also give me some polyphony and also another take on sequencing
The Digitone also brings four tracks: four separate instruments that the Tracker can control with four separate midi channels. So in that respect it’s like hooking the tracker up to four synths, in a box that’s smaller than the Tracker in 2d. Using the Digitone this way, the Tracker could devote up to four tracks to midi instruments and still have four tracks for samples or its own synthesis. AFAIK this feature is generally known as ‘multitimbrality’, and you can do the same trick with 16(!) instruments on the Waldorf Blofeld.
Another way the Tracker could use the Digitone is to leave the playing of the instruments entirely to the Digitone’s sequencer and to only send it midi sync and program change messages. Here the Tracker has its full eight tracks and can just occasionally smuggle in a PC message on one of the tracks (mid-way through a pattern, so that the Digitone schedules it for the end of the pattern it’s currently on, and using Scale feature on the Digitone to ensure it doesn’t try to switch patterns too soon)
You could go with the former usage when you want to lean on the Tracker’s fill feature, and with the latter when you want to lean on the Digitone’s more powerful sequencer. With either usage you have a pretty nice song mode on the Tracker.
For just “sound design” I think it’s much easier to recommend other synths than the Digitone, but if you’re keeping an eye on working with the Polyend Tracker I think it’s hard to beat.
I should add that I like to work on the sofa
The Digitone works with a ripcord but you’d still need a lot of cables altogether: 2x power, midi, audio between Tracker and Digitone, audio between Tracker and speakers/headphones.
I haven’t had a PT in hand since September so I assure you this not a rhetorical question: Can you not just build a pad with however many tracks you like and then resample it so it only takes up one track?
As far as a logical next step in regards to a complimentary box I’d also say Digitone.
Can you not just build a pad with however many tracks you like and then resample it so it only takes up one track?
You can, except for the ‘just’, as there are some caveats:
The Tracker has limited sample memory, and can’t stream samples from the sdcard, so the easiest option of “resample a pattern’s/my entire song’s polyphony into a single sample and play that at the start” might require more memory than is available.
The Tracker has limited sampled instruments (48, the same as the number of pads), so the more tedious option of resampling each necessary chord might require more instruments than is available.
Yes indeed you can although I find that workflow a bit annoying because you have to have 4 tracks spare in the first place (or work in a spare pattern and copy) and then you are somewhat locked in to your choices.
Those two caveats are really a balancing act to be honest depending on how you need to tweak your samples : If you have a lot of one-shots that takes most of the instrument slots but leave you with a lot of sampling time available : make a chain of samples and beat slice it. Also for chords, you could only resample, ie “render selection”, the root chord and repitch it with the PT that can land to interesting results. I am pretty sure you already know that and seems to want something more immediate. You could also have a MC-101 as a sound module if you want to drive it by midi (using the Chords FX in order to only use one track by chords) or juste sync them (but if I remember Roland gear tends to be meh with midi syncing sometimes, never tested, read on the internet).
I have one and like it a lot, but some things to keep in mind:
The CS is not velocity sensitive. Probably designed into the engine given that the keyboard does output midi velocity ccs
Sound design is not as deep as some more expensive synths given the single lfo and limited control of additional oscillators per engine
EDIT: And no on-board patch storage! It is relatively easy to set up patches, but you can’t quickly switch patches up without an iDevice or computer with Soundmundo
I’ve been guilty of just flipping patches and not learning sound design properly so something which requires you to work with the sliders to make things happen appeals to me.
From what I’ve heard it also has better quality keys that most of the mini controllers which appeals as I have a launch key mini and it feels horrible.
Just a quick addition to this thread with something I’ve come across in my own research, in case it’s of interest to others. I had a bit of a poke around on reddit and some are specifically calling out a setup that takes the PT and adds the Microfreak for synths & soundscapes.
Some of the benefits of that setup seem to be:
The MF has no effects, but these can be added on the line-in of the PT
Automate the MF with the PT
Sample the MF directly into the PT
Both units use TRS B, so only the little cables needed to hook them up
Both USB powered off a power brick
A generally powerful and flexible combo but also in a relatively portable package
I imagine there would be crossover with other synths that could also work and would have their own unique advantages. But it struck me that this specific combo might be interesting given both devices are seen as having their own vibe/limitations/quirks, which could potentially be attractive for those pursuing the mini setup angle.
I actually went with a Reface CS which similar in terms of having a compatible workflow (Although the cabling is annoying)
It’s been a really great addition, but I think the MicroFreak could also work brilliantly in this context.
