I think (just from what you’re saying) hardware is probably a good angle, but I don’t know specifically that trackers are the penultimate advancement in non-linear creativity. You should possibly look into generative devices as opposed to different directions to daw. Tracker is daw’ing downwards, if that makes sense. Spreadsheet daw.
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What in your mind is better for this? Sampler vs synth? Many FX inside the box?
Since tracker are computer-based apps from the beginning, and considering the first trackers, I would say that trackers are the predecessors of what is a DAW today. Just with less options. IIRC the first tracker was also the first computer based app for music composition at a cost a private person could afford.
IMO it would not be “tangential” approach - more of a going back to the roots 
Batteries for this would be in the tiny PT, in the MPC Live and some others …
For sampling guitars I would also look into MOC live or Maschine+ but that is a little more expensive.
Or Digitakt of course…
MPC live 2 would work for you as an all in one box. I used Renoise for years and was tempted by the PT but coming from Renoise the track limit on the PT put me off. I’ve used Renoise for all sorts of stuff including some guitar based stuff following the structure you described. However since I got the MPC it’s been my go to.
Is sonics meaning method-of-composition or sound?
A tracker is a sampler and often using quite short one-shots. We can “loop” the samples to create longer lasting sounds, but a traditional tracker will not support long samples with beats or melodic loops like OT, DT, MPC etc.
For sound design on the road we need something more than the PT provides. Have you ever checked out the SP-404 MK II? Has batteries, works with samples, has some basic sequencing, is very intuitive, and comes with a bunch of interesting FX, which can be layered to create unique sounds.
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The 404 MKII having performance arrangement mode might also be useful. You could have a look at the 404 MKII thread, those folks love it (the device).
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and it’s affordable
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I really enjoy the Polyend Tracker as an Idea machine.
It has lots of fun features for generative, randomisation, etc and it has a fairly decent song mode
One thing if you are into guitars etc is it can’t sample and play which is annoying.
If that’s important then maybe an SP404 MKII might be more appropriate.
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@monquixote Lack of monitoring on the PT would be a total bummer! I dealt with this on the SP-404SX.
I now use the SP-404 MKII with guitar/bass/uke quite a bit and love it but I’m not sure it would be great for traditional song writing.
The closest piece of hardware for songwriting that I used was the MPC live. Worked very well I just never got along with the touchscreen and size. Me problem though!
Thanks all for your kind replies. Looking into the akai MPC live and the SP-404. Now, good or bad, I do care about instruments aesthetics and user interface, and man, both the MPC Live and MPC-404 seem a bit daunting in terms of user interface, with the 404 looking particularly ugly (not saying its not great, just an impression). I would surely love being able to actually test the devices but where I live, forget it.
From the feature set and minimalistic approach the OP-1 seemed like the right choice for me (and I was almost set on getting one) but my finances are worse than I thought, and its just a luxury I can’t afford.
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Do you mean the PT? Because I’ve used Renoise with samples (well passages and full parts) several minutes long. It’s not an idea tool for the job but it’s more than doable.
Hey I write songs and somewhat indie music (mostly shoegaze/dreampop) … back in the day I used impulse tracker and MSDOS in like 1993…
And yes it is possible to use this as all in one. I have been using polyend tracker a LOT lately because I am working on an up an coming series of tutorials on it. I personally think it would be a great set up! Once you figure out the UI, you can FLY through making stuff. I’ll be covering what I’ve found on my youtube channel, when I’m ready!
Another box you can consider which is considerably more expensive is synthstrom deluge. It is very different UI than a tracker, but would say owning both they are both awesome for song writing 
Only thing is on the tracker, if you want to do guitar/vocals you might want to also get a multitrack recorder that can synch tempo with tracker so you can layer full recordings etc.
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I haven’t used the PT - but based on my experience making songs with Renoise, the pain point will be adding live elements to what you’ve sequenced. I found a tracker great for drum parts and interesting ambiences, not bad for structuring songs, but painful for adding live instrumentation.
Yes it would.
I was in a band in the mid 90s, we used a tracker on a commador 64 to do all the drums and arrangment, recorded all the rest of guitars and vocals to a shit 4 track.
More than doable these days. Modern gear has so much more power and flexability.
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Synthstrom Deluge is also extremely cool and useful.
Has a lot of the same features plus extras. It has built-in synth engines unlike the tracker.
The MC 707 is a beast!! Roland Zen-core, hass ome basic looping functionality, can also be used as an audio interface. Probably too big for your use case though.
Dirtywave M8 is another cool tracker. I have one it is cool.
End of the day: hard to beat a MacBook and Ableton.
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Deluge seems like a great option, but they are only available through the manufacturer (at least here in the States). If they had a reasonable distributor here, I’d already own one.
One popped up locally for $650 once, but I was strapped for cash at the time. Still kicking myself for missing that one
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Yes and the older apps, which have been used on old consumer computers.
IMO Renoise 3.x compares more to a modern DAW rather than to a traditional tracker, but it’s centered around the workflow of trackers and can draw from the resources of computers of today.
Polyend Tracker - For indie music and songwriting?
I had a similar cuestión but for the Polyend Play. It’s very… playful, to throw ideas and try variations on them.
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the PT does have granular synth (albeit a single solitary lonely grain at a time) and wavetable synth (no fancy morph, but there are solid wave tables that can be set up and played with just fine out there)
Sounds like we share many values and wishes. Portability, outside of the computer, looking for inspiration.
I understand that the Digitakt doesn’t tickle your desires because it’s a lot less portable than a Polyend Tracker Mini (which btw isn’t available yet to my knowledge so very few people in here will have tried it yet). But with that said, I agree with @Udi9 that it’s worth exploring it for creativity. It’s much more immediate than a tracker in my (limited) experience with trackers. Like @shigginpit says, a tracker is kind of more like a vertical daw, even though it does have some generative features too. But there’s just something magical about being able to twist a knob and immediately hear how the music changes like you can on the Digitakt - or the Syntakt if you enjoy synthesis more than samples.
I think a tracker workflow is much more of an acquired taste than the Elektron workflow. My dream portable device would be the Polyend Tracker Mini but with a Digitakt workflow instead. 
All this said, I’m very intrigued by the PTM and look forward to watching real world reviews soon.
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