Polyend Step

I like it. Perhaps I’ll get it some day! However i’ll be having a speak and glitch on the way, so that can cover weird drums and what not in pedal format too.

Also probably rules out any chance of getting a dedicated drum machine in tracker/synth/play format?

I’m glad they are stepping out of the usual though. It’s good to create different things and not just one type of thing.

4 Likes

This is a natural for them as well. They no doubt reuse and reassemble whole collections of software components from their many other products. This is the sort of thing that can be done when a developer gets a certain size. The economies of scale make the next related product development that much better and easier.

2 Likes

Full beard, of course. If you need proof I can put on a flannel.

4 Likes

Your wizard report came back clean but we’re going to give you a nutella booster as a precautionary measure.

2 Likes

This video is amazing

5 Likes

And yes you can do a bass line with melodic samples too.

From this queued video :

3 Likes

This might do well for them. Having a footswitchable, programmable, stripped back drum machine with some tricks up its sleeve will appeal to a lot of musicians.

And I like the color scheme, it reminds me of my old Dr. Rhythm DR-110.

9 Likes

I love how intuitive this looks. Simplicity is fun!

1 Like

sorry, i’m still not getting it- so i watched all the videos on youtube and read the manual on their website… what i can’t understand is: are you able to chain “songs” together into a whole sequence of different beats that plays on its own? like one bar of this beat, then it segues into the next bar of another beat and so on and so forth? what they call songs seems to be 16 steps of 4 tracks playing at the same time?

i’d love to have 4 bars of one beat playing, using all 4 tracks. then it switches to 2 bars of another beat, and so on and so forth… possible?

This could be cool in conjunction with Ableton Move.
Step -> all the drums sounds
Move -> giga synth voices

Looks very cool in tandem tbh.

3 Likes

In general I like what Polyend are doing and looking to get some of their devices eventually, but the naming could be fine-tuned a little bit…

(Advantage of this drummachine over IPad is obviously clear - pedal board compatibility. I tried iPads with connectors & stuff, even have that funny IK iKlip stand. Software has millions of options, but connectivity and ergonomics are still not for everyone)

Great way to bring guitarists into the synth world. Very cool to have a 16 step sequencer right on the pedal. If it was only cheap enough to gift to my guitarist friend.
It would be cool to sync with midi effects pedals.

Layering FX on drums is more fun than tweaking sample envelopes anyways :wink:

2 Likes

as a guitarist this is way more appealing than any of the other “drum machine” guitar pedals out there, which are more like the rhythm accompaniment found on old organs and casio keyboards. I can see this being used as rhythm for busking or solo musicians, but I could see this being integrated into a full band alongside a live drummer.

4 Likes

What a great useless comment. Congratulations.

3 Likes

Not my thing. But I have seen a lot of solo artists lugging awkward sample pedals that are limited. This seems much more dynamic.

Yeah I’ve seen a lot of buskers who rock drum pedals and various sample player things… although I imagine it’s a slow market to break into, those guys rarely swap out gear and are very much in the if it ain’t broke don’t fix it camp.

1 Like
2 Likes

I posted about it on the fretboard and got zero replies so they might have a tough time :rofl:

1 Like

I think it’s great for guitarists, it has a bunch of very very cool features. With a looper included it would be absolutely amazing. But you can connect your favourite looper via midi too.

I would love to see a proper desktop drum machine for polyend. Something like a drumlogue blending analog and digital with plenty of sample space.

I can think of at least a hundred ways to use this thing to great effect.

I don’t technically need one, but I’m tempted to get one anyway.

Good on Polyend for making this.

Cheers!

8 Likes