Ya…not doing that either 
Any tips for This device?
Its a great piece of hardware but everything i do on it sounds really flat and boring.
I see all these great jungle and DnB demos and Im not even close to making something like that… sooo any tips on general workflow?
2 Likes
A lot of the way I create interest and movement on the Tracker is by applying fx per-step. But even with fill tool (which is amazing and you should get fluent with it if you’re not already), that can be an intensive and sometimes destructive process that can kill my flow.
This is why learning performance mode is so crucial on this device even if you never plan to perform. It’s the “quick try it out experiment” mode that lets me craft the sound I want (or stumble upon something unexpected) before committing to applying all the FX and such.
Song mode, too. It’s not just a way to chain patterns together. You can copy/paste/delete cells in the song grid which makes it more a full fledged arrangement mode which is very direct and, again, keeps me in the flow when I would otherwise be interrupted by having to do math, etc.
5 Likes
Yeah the performance mode is awesome and i use the fill command a lot… can you record the performance onto that track or what do you mean when you say “before comitting to a special FX”
I felt that way for a moment too and wanted to push the machine a little bit more in a sound design, exploratory direction beyond quicky producing rhythmic, on-the-grid patterns, which the machine already excels at.
The machine’s one-grain granular engine scanning a sample at different speeds depending on the playback pitch allows for some surprising synchronous and desynchronous looping effects when playing two or more notes.
Using fills with random fx values, or I really like to fill random roll values in particular, on a percussive loop can sometimes produce really chaotic sounds that I then resample.
Being able to change the tempo per step is super super weird too.
These things haven’t led to music for me but were very fun for creativity and sound design.
1 Like
No, I don’t think there’s a way to record performance settings to a track. That still has to be done manually.
What I mean is, my workflow is usually like, “this section needs something. I wonder if I should (for example) reverse sample playback?"
One way to do this would be to go to the step I think might sound good reversed, commit to adding the FX (maybe replacing another one), play it back, undo, play it back, decide I want it on the step before, add it, play it back, think maybe the neighboring sample in another track might need to be reversed too, add the FX, play it back…
It’s a very button-intensive way of previewing a change that I’m not even sure I want. And that’s only when I have a specific change in mind. If I only know it needs something but can’t say what, this is a real time suck and flow-killer to preview everything by making actual edits to the pattern.
Vs. hit performance mode and toggle the << mode on and off for the tracks I want when I want and hear the results in realtime. And if inspiration hits and I think “oh, maybe I should send to the delay, too” I can try that out, in combination or on its own, lickety-split.
Once I find, via experimentation in perform, something works, then I can jump to pattern and make the actual necessary edits.
1 Like
are you using the right sounds?
Lol, probably not. I took some samples which I enjoy on my other samplers.
1 Like
I like your idea on paper, but it seems like you wouldn’t be able to effectively translate ideas from performance mode, given that pattern mode only allows for two rows of modulation. But I agree that utilizing effects per step is a good way to create movement.
@michaalhell I also think that it helps to fine tune a sample’s adsr, filter cutoff and panning parameters before adding notes to a pattern, that way you can shape how each sample interacts with one another before committing to anything. I often use granular playback, then in pattern mode I’ll use the position effect and one of the filter effects, and change those parameters in small increments per step (for more subtle shifts in modulation and perceived movement).
I have found that this is a good approach, somewhat of a ground-up approach. Sometimes, it is necessary to revisit the ground floor to make adjustments to samples after the patterns come together.
1 Like
Certainly. It actually makes the most sense to have a basic pattern going and then fine tune samples accordingly.
Are you specifically trying to make jungle? If so, my advice is to find a jungle tune you like and then copy the structure of it. It will give you a “blueprint” of how to build a track.
If you look at something like this:
you can begin by isolating the tracks you would use in the Tracker, breaks, bass, pad, vox etc. Once you have that then start with the break. Experiment with the slices. I prefer to speed up my breaks rather than timestretch them because it gives them more tonality.
Hope some of that helps!
2 Likes
This machine is great, my dream come true, that price is great and this year I may buy it to accompany my elektrons. 
3 Likes
I buy and sell gear all the time. I dont make music, just love gear and playing around with it. But, the tracker I have kept because it’s just great. Every time i think it takes too long to make a beat compared to my MPC Live…I turn it on and dial in some notes and samples and FX and voila…cool track. I love it.
2 Likes
14 Likes
I heard Star Trip when you upped it. Sick track! 
3 Likes
Agreed! Both tracks are awesome.
Brilliant. It’s not the tracker, it’s you.
1 Like
it’s not the Tracker or me… it’s the very talented sakkemakke
Maybe someone has already answered this question, but is there a way to save instruments (samples with their parameters) so that I can open them in new projects?