The solution would be “quick copy”. From the manual: Press and hold a grid pad for about half a second. The pad will blink twice, and its parameter values will now be copied to the clipboard. While still holding the source pad, indicate the target pad where it will be copied.
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both tracker and play’s tracks are sample agnostic. tracks don’t house any parameters.
tracker’s samples (instruments) have a big advantage over the play which is they have dedicated parameter pages which are global, so if you adjust that sample’s (instrument) parameters it affects it across the whole project.
play doesn’t have that. it’s just pick & place. pick a sample, adjust parameters, press a trig. you effectively adjust it’s parameters by p-locking, it only affects that step / subsequent steps you press before picking a different sample.
it would be great if its sample pool was similar to trackers in that you have global parameters that affect that sample across the whole project.
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Recommend to look up my polyend play videos i describe a very basic way to set up your own palette for easy pick and play
I have really enjoyed the Play’s workflow for a little over a year using it as my main sequencer.
However, recently the LEDs on the bottom 4 rows started blinking in various colours apparently randomly. It appears to be getting worse with time and affects playability.
Polyend stated it would need to be sent in for repair, estimated $160 plus shipping as it is out of warranty (and they can’t say that it won’t be MORE than 160 until they receive it). I am not gonna do that. I have the option to do the trade-in for Play+ but I am concerned about this happening again if it’s the same hardware. After buying it at full price and getting to use it for only a little over a year, the cost is too much to continue down this road. So I think this is the end of the line with the Play.
Did this happen to anyone else?
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Hi! I’ve created a techno project for Polyend Play Plus. If anyone is interested, you can purchase it through the link.
This meticulously crafted set of 16 ready-to-use drum kits is designed to elevate your techno tracks to new heights. Whether you’re exploring the depths of techno, the precision of minimalism, or the experimental edge of IDM, this project has got you covered.
What’s Inside?
- 1 Project for Polyend Play+
- 16 Patterns with Unique Drum Kits: Each kit is carefully designed with a unique style, ensuring that no two kits sound the same.
- Versatile Styles: From the pounding rhythms of techno to the intricate patterns of minimalism and the experimental textures of IDM, this project provides a wide array of sonic possibilities.
Includes the sample pack Techno Drums - 129 Versatile One Shots:
- 13 Claps
- 2 Crashes
- 3 FX
- 14 Hi-Hats (HH)
- 12 Open Hi-Hats (HHO)
- 24 Kicks
- 39 Percussions
- 10 Snares
- 11 Synth Bass
Key Features
- Ready-to-Use Kits: Jump right into your creative process with fully assembled drum kits that are ready to be used instantly on the Polyend Play Plus.
- High-Quality Sounds: Every kit is crafted with attention to detail, providing you with professional-quality sounds that make your tracks stand out.
- Exclusive to Polyend Play Plus: These kits are specifically designed for seamless performance and integration with the Polyend Play Plus hardware.
- Inspiring Diversity: With styles ranging from techno and minimalism to IDM, this project is sure to inspire new ideas and creative directions in your music.
How to use?
- Polyend Play Plus: Exclusively designed for Polyend Play Plus, ensuring optimal performance and ease of use. No external software or DAW integration required.
- Live Performances: Elevate your live sets with these professionally crafted drum kits, adding depth and character to your performances using Polyend Play Plus.
- Music Production: Perfect for producers looking to diversify their sound and experiment with new styles, all within the Polyend Play Plus environment.
Bonus
- 16 Full Drum Loops: As a special bonus, we’ve included 16 full drum loops samples from the demo recording to kickstart your creative process and provide further inspiration.
Unlock the full potential of your Polyend Play Plus with this comprehensive techno project. Each ready-to-use kit is designed to inspire and enhance your creative workflow, making it the perfect addition to your music production toolkit exclusively for Polyend Play Plus.
Hi! I’ve created “128 Techno Melodies Fills Patterns” for Polyend Play Plus. If anyone is interested, you can purchase it through the link.
Elevate your techno productions with the “Polyend Play Plus - 128 Techno Melodies Fills Patterns” pack. Featuring 128 meticulously crafted techno melody patterns and basslines, this collection is designed for seamless integration with the Polyend Play Plus groovebox.
Key Features:
- Ready-to-Use Patterns: Instantly create music on the fly with pre-made notes perfect for musical manipulation. These techno patterns will add depth and dimension to your electronic music productions.
- Versatile MIDI Sequences: These patterns can also be utilized as MIDI sequences for external synthesizers, dramatically expanding your creative capabilities. Use them to infuse your live performances with dynamic, ready-made techno fills.
- High-Quality Design: Each pattern is expertly designed to deliver consistent, high-quality performances, ensuring that your techno basslines and melodies stand out.
Ideal For:
- Live Performances: Quickly generate dynamic techno tracks during live sets, leveraging the powerful capabilities of the Polyend Play Plus groovebox.
- Studio Production: Streamline your workflow with ready-to-use, high-fidelity patterns that are ideal for studio production. These techno patterns are perfect for adding a professional touch to your tracks.
- MIDI Integration: Enhance your setup by using these patterns with your favorite external synths, offering a versatile approach to music creation.
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Hello! Is there a way to listen a sample which is in the actual sequence without turning pitch up and down or move another edition knob? I find difficult sometimes find a specific sound in a patter with all the same colours… Thank you
yea, there is. I can’t remember how to do it now tho, haven’t used me play in ages.
it’s something like hold down the main encoder n then tap the pad u wanna hear.
something like that 
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Yes, that works, thank you very much 
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oh nice, glad to be of help 
I think (currently) the play+ is in a tricky space. I love it for it’s interface n hands on elektron style p-lock vibe, but don’t use it much now as my elektrons (OT & A4) can go much deeper n have better mixing tools for finishing tracks. Just my personal experience. it’s an amazing portable sketchpad tho for sure.
looking on thomann rankings (not an extensive analysis) the trackers seem to sell much better than it, n I get the feeling it’s not being given priority in polyend HQ due to that (just a hunch).
imo it’s down to their original plan for the play that’s the possible issue (if there is one). play+ is half aimed to be easy to approach and use for newcomers, but it’s priced in a higher bracket than newcomers would mostly be spending their money I reckon. then it lacks a certain depth that most advanced folk I know are looking for. no sample lfo’s, editing etc etc. most advanced users I talk to aren’t interested.
so it’s possibly in a bit of a catch 22 situation holding it back from being wildly popular, even tho it’s pretty damn good. too expensive for most newbies, lacking depth advanced users desire so that its easy for newcomers to use, who mostly don’t spend that kinda cash.
hey I could be totally wrong here, it’s just a feeling I get. in me bones.
id love to see em go to town on it and fully load it with modulation, mixing tools, real-time uw resampling and sh11t 
I have a soft spot for it, it’s great fun to use, but I only use it as a portable sketch pad atm tbh.
just my 2c ymmv
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I love the Play and Play+, created tons of stuff on it and i’ll continue to do so, but I agree it’s in a strange place when it comes to folk choosing it over other options, Polyend have not introduced a whole lot of the user wishes from their forum, which is what it was intended for, still waiting for sample slicing since it was accepted as a wish back in Feb 2023 
Even though they introduced the synth engines, which sound great, the actual synth sequencing side still ain’t fun or user friendly, you look at something like the deluge and sequencing is quick and easy, you have the full isometric layout to input notes, chords, any polyphonic input into a single track, on the Play+ if you want to play any custom polyphonic stuff into it you have to select multiple tracks depending on how many notes you want to use at the same time, then you have to edit each tracks notes length for example separately, that is unless you use the device’s predefined chords.
I’m intending to use mine going forward with an MPC and create loops and drum parts for it, I’m not sure if you can use the MPC to sequence the Play+ synth’s, that would probably make it easier to sequence parts from it?
Hello everyone,
I’m hoping someone here might be able to help me out with an issue I’m facing with MIDI channels resetting when using the fill function.
I’m trying to sequence an external synthesizer using MIDI tracks, and for the most part, it’s working quite well. I’ve assigned each track its own MIDI channel. However, I’ve run into an issue: whenever I use the fill function, all selected tracks are automatically set to MIDI channel 1.
I remember there was a way to keep the channels from changing when using the fill function, but I can’t seem to figure out how to set it up again.
Does anyone know how to fix this? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
I don’t really use the midi tracks that often so not too sure, but is it not something you setup via the midi settings in the main menu?
My guess would be that whatever is defined for the midi channel when the fill is set is overriding what you set on each track. If you are using fill on a track make sure it matches what midi channel you want before using the fill.
Having considered a Play when coming back to Polyend, yeah it’s in a tricky spot.
I think the Tracker with the large screen and its programming style has more flexibility, now the synths are in play. Even though the tracker workflow is an acquired taste, it’s so easy to chop a sample, resample multiple tracks into one etc. The genius of the Tracker is it makes everything very simple and there’s not much difference between samples & synths (the screen helps massively here too, rather than using the pads as a display). This I think leads to fun and happy accidents and the fact that it’s a bit different means folks might like having it around as a different way to make music.
Play seems more traditional, but brings a bit of that fill magic over into a more friendly interface. On paper it should work. But while the synths make sense (kinda) in the tracker, I’m less sure about them with that small screen. It’s like the Tracker+ is an obvious and positive upgrade where the Play+ is still competing with the OG Play. If you just want to mess with samples in sequences, the OG does that in spades, and if the Play+ is a bit compromised you’re paying for features you might feel aren’t well implemented or might not want to use. Polyend have run feature parity with them but I have seen a fair few mixed reviews of the Play+. Loopop said the original “raised the bar” but was less glowing about the upgrade. Could this have been better left as a cheaper sub 400 groovebox to entice people over to the Polyend way?
One thing as well is competition. The Tracker has very little, and devices like M8 aren’t widely available. With Play there are so many other grooveboxes to consider that have a similar feature set, too many to mention. Lots of these options are arguably more playable than the Play which is a bit of an issue, since that can’t be changed via firmware. I know there are other issues so I haven’t tried one myself yet.
Maybe, just maybe, the Play would benefit from a companion app a bit like some of the Roland boxes or the Circuits/Seqtrack type machines? That could negate this issue of the smaller screen and also be a selling point vs the Tracker and other grooveboxes. Sometimes editing synth patches makes more sense on a screen. Polyend’s flat file system is by far my favourite example of friendly tech in terms of loading and updating projects and getting them quickly out into the DAW.
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hopefully they’ve got a good synth editing ui up their sleeves. would be great to see.
I adore the play+. it’s a real shame they didn’t add audio in & sampling when releasing it but even so, the only units I personally connect better with are my analog 4 & octatrack. fkn love it. I really hope they have plans for it long term.
perc is gonna be so damn good with the play encoders. can’t wait for that sh1t.
Cool, do you use a tracker with it or do you have/prefer the Elektrons alongside?
Ive only used play by itself so far, with a powerbank & headphones it’s my portable-ish setup. I’ve seen a guy on utube using it with an analog 4 mk1 & it sounded pretty damn good so I must try it sometime.
I don’t have a tracker. had tracker mini for a while but have a bit of a love/hate relationship with it.
how do you use play?
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I adore Play+ too. Yo can make a whole set with it. It’s a joy to make music in it.