Well, I’m not one to say getting an OT is a bad idea, but I have an AR and an OT and I much prefer to use the AR’s internal sequencer than sending it midi tracks from the OT. I wouldn’t buy an OT if I only had an AR just to get track scale and thereby not even using the AR’s sequencer… But that’s me, I don’t know what others would do. Really it’s just my opinion that I don’t think that Elektron didn’t put track scale on all the boxes because they want you to buy an OT for that, but whatever… It’s not as big of a deal as it seems when your on the forum…
I take it you don’t have an audio interface? Most folks with a computer and some high end hardware would consider an audio interface as essential and just get one one way or another. I understand not wanting to spend more money though, I barely have any…
What kind of computer do you have? Your computer might have an 1/8in audio input and a headphone output, in which case you could go AR audio outs–> A4 audio ins, A4 headphone out–>computer audio in, and then plug the headphones into the computer and monitor everything through a DAW.
This isn’t ideal as you’d just get a stereo feed of everything and computers built in converters usually aren’t the greatest, but it’s free or perhaps the cost of a cable at most…
I used to be more into complex timing and technically skilled type music when I was younger. As I grow older I’ve learned to appreciate the intention and meaning put into the music I listen to or make and judge it more by its feeling it gives me than how complex it is… Point is I haven’t explored making polyrhythms on the AR so much, I don’t avoid 4/4 as much as I used to, I like rather it.
Have you been messing with the track lengths at least? There’s not individual scale but there’s individual length, most of the polyrhythms stuff comes out of that and the track scale just adds more. Maybe by combining different track lengths with a master scale of 3/4 or 1/2 could sort of get you the feeling of longer tracks and make the other ones shorter with track length. Maybe try chaining patterns together and then messing with both their track lengths…
Hope this helps, and although I totally get where your coming from, self-expression is one of the last free things we get, expressing yourself through high end modern music gear however costs some buckos for somebody at some point, might not be the user if they were gifted the gear, anything is possible…