The first instrument, named Perc, was and still is an absolute novelty in the music industry. A professional, expressive, velocity-controllable instrument, Perc was fast and precise, playing on any surface that resonated. As said by its creators, “The Perc is a wow maker. As the first robotic drumming machine ever, it brought us a lot of attention. The positive worldwide reception of this astonishing tool has opened a lot of doors for us. Only because we dared to meet our idea.” With a huge warm reaction to Perc, the Polyend team now had their sights on the future, forging a new path and thinking ahead.
Another two instruments emerged shortly after. “With the Perc out there, we needed a decent sequencer to control it. That’s where the Seq came from.” It provided an incredibly hands-on and immediate sequencing experience. Seq was accompanied by Polyend’s first contribution to the Eurorack world: the Poly module, a digital MIDI to analog CV converter. Both products offered unique ways of controlling hardware and software music setups. These straightforward instruments with their “what you see is what you get” interfaces breathed new life into other gear.
The next move was the Medusa hybrid synthesizer, which was the result of a close collaboration with Dreadbox. Medusa was powered by customers’ feedback and support, from modest bedroom producers to the scene’s most known figures. It represented the best of both digital and analog worlds merged into one unique instrument. Equipped with an expressive Grid controller and sequencer, it was hailed by some as a future classic. And it certainly rocked the scene. “The Medusa project was an enormous challenge, expanding on all levels of our activities and interests at the time. It was a huge achievement, big learning experience, and a great adventure.”
Along with the Medusa project, refined with a Black Edition, three more exclusive Eurorack modules were presented. The Anywhere provided a convenient portable powering solution for small modular setups. The Preset brought the idea of saving and recalling presets into the modular world. And then Poly 2 was the ultimate configurable extension of its predecessor’s concept. “We enjoy the endless possibilities that Eurorack is offering to its users, along with the freedom it gives. It’s a huge pleasure and honor for us to be able to contribute and incorporate our ideas to this reality.”
The diverse experience gained from all these projects resulted in a versatile new instrument: the Polyend Tracker. “It is something we always had in the back of our minds. We knew we’d make it one day. But to be able to get to this point, we had to work through and learn from all our previous achievements.” A self-contained, portable music production center, Tracker gives you everything you need to produce an album wherever you are. With a sampler, a synthesizer, and even an FM radio receiver, Tracker provides limitless inspiration. A powerful step sequencer and song arranger enable fast, intuitive creation. Its modest, sturdy, minimalistic form appeals to both beginners and advanced users alike and encourages you to create. Its growing popularity spawned a lively community called Tracker Scene. And there’s also a series of three limited Tracker Artist Edition releases created in partnership with Bogdan Raczyński, Legowelt, and Pete Cannon, respectively, followed by their vinyl albums made on the Tracker only. Polyend muses, “We are astonished by the impressive things made by the community using our products.”
“There are producers, active musicians, and people among us who just enjoy messing with sounds for the fun of it. We try to contribute a part of ourselves to the future music culture cake. And we find it even more and more enjoyable! We already know that it takes great focus to create instruments that are both innovative and fun to use. As a consequence, we’re currently taking steps to concentrate on what we need for the next products exactly. We aim to make them your next great adventure.” The Polyend team has the ability to turn dreams into reality. All the unique past projects have led them to what Tracker has become. It holds the promise that this is only a warm-up to what is yet to come. This is only the beginning for Polyend.
