Yeah I’ve found it be very stable personally.
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Got my tracker out and was reminded how very good it sounds. I can’t point to why but everything sounds so good on it. However, more notable - I have surrendered and am going to use song mode. Before now I had given up as mutes are not supported. It seemed very “not fun” to have to make slight variations of patterns for what would normally be done with a mute (ie. drop the kick, etc.). This will also stop me from using the Tracker as a big box of patterns that I mess with but never do anything with (finished productions). I’ve decided to use the following workflow:
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1 project per track. I might make a bunch of patterns but once I find an idea I like I save to a new project and erase the rest.
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once I get something I like, copy it to pattern 25 and start building up from there. For pattern variations I’m experimenting with using the patterns “above” and “below” the source pattern. ie. if I have a pattern in 28, the pad below it (40) or above it (16) for variations. I don’t know how well this will work but I’m giving it a try. I also intend to put the “main” pattern in the middle of the grid (maybe pattern 30) and then to the left but the build-up patterns and to the right the break-down patterns.
What are you methods for working with song mode?
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I treat each column of pads as a pattern and variations, e.g. pad 1 is a primary pattern and pads 13, 25, and 37 are variations of pattern 1. I typically don’t need 12 primary patterns, so I’ll work backwards from pad 12 (column-wise) for any one-off patterns I may need.
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I’m still quite fresh to Tracker, but what I really like about song mode is copying and pasting entire tracks between patterns. So to emulate a mute, you just insert a blank pattern and copy over the tracks you want to hear without ever leaving song mode. And, of course, since you have created a new pattern, you can introduce some slight variations without messing up the original…
It works, but generally I also find it annoying that minor variations require new patterns. An effect like “play only after the second pass” would help here.
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are you on 1.8? im regassing for one of these guys and i could see myself down to try again if the clicks arent as much of a thing these days
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Hey guys, would you rely on the Tracker as a master midi to change program to other devices such as the Octatrack and Ableton 11?
The PT is so great but It really lacks the external program change option! I thought Polyend could add this on next firmware update
I’m asking for that on the official forum time ago, but nothing. I’m afraid that it will not implemented… but there is a wish for that… if you’re registered please vote :9😊
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Maybe I am not following but Program Change can be sent but not received.
It may not be straight forward how it works but Section 11.8 of the manual covers it.
Configure CC#129 into one of the midi CC slots (A-F) and then use that within the FX of a Midi Step.
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I thought the same. The method you describe is how I send program changes to the Digitone.
Which Portable effect unit can you all recomment?
And btw how do you fix the midi send (cc) issue??
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Question about Rendering to Export in e.g. Ableton for song struktur or mastering:
Do you guys render hole Tracks or pattern by pattern?
PT is listed as 399€ again on thomann, not other retailers though?
still, that’s barely more than the 2nd hand price so a good time to pick one up
edit: oops, guess it was mentioned before in this thread
anyway, ordered one even though i was frustrated with it in the past (mono samples, bad gain staging, never liked the filters & fx), mainly to sequence ableton & other gear. i think it’s a great midi sequencer for that price.
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I put in a request for program change receive on the forum a year ago. My tracker has been sitting in it’s case waiting on that feature. I don’t understand how a drum machine doesn’t have that feature from day one.
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People who make tools and people who use tools are different in most cases. But sometimes I, too, think there must be some rule that manufacturers have to omit the one needed feature to make the tool complete. Maybe some rules of the guild one gets initiated to once thomann tier is achieved 
There are some digitakts left yet. They just lack easy transposition, else pretty much perfect. But speaks for the rule that it is discontinued after song mode was implemented 
I use it as a pattern maker. Theoretically, you could just create the most complex part of the song and export that alone. But that misses out on some generative fun available on the Tracker (Mini in my case).
What I tend to do is create all the parts that build up to a “main” part of a song with 8 tracks usually playing all together. You could say this is 25-50% of the core song. Once it’s feeling good, that’s when I go for the stems.
I then export these and export the stems and arange it in Ableton. The pattern system is pretty fast on Tracker, but it’s not as quick as cutting audio for your patterns and copy/pasting across the timeline.
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i don’t think they ever marketed it as a drum machine to be honest.
it was always presented as a standalone hardware tracker, and if i remember correctly all you could do with the trackers it’s based on was send midi to other gear, not the other way around.
i remember having the exact same frustrations trying to sync patterns between the tracker and elektron boxes over 3 years ago, which was one of the reasons i sold it. i think that’s more sensible than spending your time wanting a product to do things it doesn’t.
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I ended up buying a digitakt to replace the tracker in my rig. I am not going to sell tracker; every time I sell a piece of gear I end up regretting it.
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real talk
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I am on my second digitakt now and the third blofeld lol. I’ll end up repurchasing it.
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8542 posts. It must be popular