Using the Tracker for Midi Sequencing // Well that was Confusing.. 

This is actually a great video. Very honest in your frustrations and learning curve here. Love it. I’m sure I’d be dealing with the same issues and a day later be flying around, which would make me wanna reshoot the video to not look bumbling.... so I love this. Properly real.

Ricky you are always end forever the chillest inspiration.

One of those devices isn't negotiating power delivery properly and im betting on the tracker, similar problem with the rpi4 boards - glad that adapter trick worked for you but its limited and not the fastest charging theoretically possible. basically cheap c to c cables will work just fine. expensive cables have chips inside them that cause all the hassle originally a safety feature turned into a drm shit storm is as far as i intend to understand this, google is your friend though, cheers!

Note: the plug you're calling USB-B is actually USB-A. So the difference between USB A, B and C is: - A is the 'host' port: that is, the port that goes into the device that is 'in charge' of the relationship - usually a computer - B is the 'slave' port: the port that goes into the device that's being controlled / acting as an input device for the host. - C is a port that can act as either host or slave. That means that a USB-C device needs to negotiate which role it will take every time it is connected to something else. I'm guessing that's where something fails when you connect the Tracker to your MacBook - it's possible the Tracker doesn't include the hardware to establish itself as a 'slave' so you end up with a weird deadlock where nothing really happens. By using a USB-A to USB-C cable, you're 'forcing' the MacBook to establish itself as the host, which allows the connection to be made correctly (even though you're adapting it back to USB-C on the other side, I'd guess that the C to A adapter forces host mode on the MacBook because there's literally no other way you could be using USB-A, so it makes sense). Fun fact: (almost) every USB plug that isn't a USB-A or USB-C is a USB-B, including micro USB and the big square plugs commonly used on music gear, which makes a lot of sense when you think about it. If you want to read up on this, I found a handy resource at www.cablestogo.com/learning/connector-guides/usb :)

18:10 i thought i was losing my mind spending an entire afternoon trying to get my newly bought Akai Force to send midi clock/transport to my tracker. I didn’t know what to search for online, but when you mentioned different midi-standards, i immediately tried out the midi to trs (?) adapter that came with the polyend tracker instead of the Akai Force and presto! Thanks Ricky!

I've only recently gotten into electronic music production (previously playing live guitar mostly without effects), and I _binged_ your (and others) videos with all the gear and was just blown away by everything. It was a whole new universe I got to explore and your channel was really quite important on steering my opinions. I was kinda worried that I would get GAS tbh, and I had already bought some gear, and could picture myself getting so much more. But then I made a decision and ended up getting the drumbrute impact, the erica synths db-01, a zoom h6, and two effect pedals (earthquakers pyramids & electro harmonix canyon), and since then I've made some cool stuff on them and gotten into the groove of using them better. I've kinda realised that I really need this immediate approach of no computers or menus or anything. I've barely used programming patterns even, usually sequencing on the fly. It's interesting now watching videos on these really powerful (almost computers) tools that I really don't like that workflow. I understand why other people like it, and it's incredibly powerful, and you can do some impressive stuff on them, but it's just not for me. I even have an electribe and can't really get myself to use it, instead of my far cheaper instruments (well okay not _together_), being just much more fun for me. I still like watching these videos, because I can have a look at a different way of music making, which I feel I can still learn from. But ultimately, it was videos like the drumbrute+avelon or the db-01 ones that really inspired me. And I also wanted to thank you for putting all this effort into your videos, because fuck I need this shit right now. Keep it up, you're amazing!

One of the joys of the hardware route is that each instrument gives you a little bit of creativity through their own quirks.

What never fails to amaze me and what I find outstanding cool about you and your channel is that it really comes across that you love doing this stuff. Sure, more often than not I find myself asking what you just did there, mostly because it shows that you have an idea about the sound and what it might take to bring it to life. For me, this really helps me getting into thing again … and for this Tracker videos, they really helped me re making a decision. Thanks for sharing these session, thanks for being vulnerable - and thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience!

Small note. It's USB-A. The B type is what you have on the Deluge per example. The square-ish port.

Another fun, knowledge-filled video. Nice groove there too. Cheers.

Thank you for all these videos. Just getting into this thing and you have no idea how much these help

change your cable. not all type c cable transfers data and delivers power at the same time. get a EMCA type c to c cable

the example of reversing the sample was so dope! love your videos and jams. bro!

On my headphones dancing alone that killer beat, great Enrique!

Came for the Tracker tips, left to order a DB-01.

I start getting into these jams and then forget you are trying to teach me something.

this was great! love seeing the db-01 again. I've been doing deluge + db-01 and it's an incredible combo

Ricky- "I just use splice for all my samples" Wall of connoisseur synths- "..."

Gear makers could use 4 diodes instead of 1 on their TRS MIDI inputs, then it does not matter what "standard" the other device/cable is using. I did it on some euro modules and it works great.

I feel less lonely when I see you searching for a solution! It's part of the game! ;)

Cool to see how you gently shepherded that jam into something coherent. I cannot wait to get my hands on a Tracker. It seems so clear and logical to me. I guess that’s just how my brain is wired. Each to their own, however you do it, just do it.

This is what I'm currently up to, little hardware synths in my polyend tracker. Enjoyed watching your workflow, great vid, great vibes. Thanks.

Love your channel Ricky! Just received my Tracker on 9/18/20 😊 Your video was inspirational, thanks!

18:43 "I end up going into the micromove, deleting it, and accepting where they've landed" Listens for a moment "Oh I don't like that"

You always need to input note off in trackers manually, when programming notes. In recording it should work right away.

Thanks for your videos Ricky! My tracker still has no shipping details most likely in the August batch.. so just know everyone that’s waiting lives vicariously through each video posted on RU-vid ;)

Yea, sequencers are cool, but have you ever tried filling in a spreadsheet?

I've been running through your Polyend related videos. The Tracker seems so fun because it's exactly the opposite of how I think of making music in every way haha.

just got one today, and you're giving me ideas.. I also do house, and this is perfect for it. Man, now I want a db-01 too.

It’s really a great tool for making weird percussion and sound design. Definitely is not gonna put the MPC out of a job as a drum machine, for a few reasons. And isn’t amazing as a midi sequencer. But once you get your muscle memory together on its functions, you can make crazy creative mutant sounds you’d never make on a DAW or MPC, in relatively short order. Sync it up with an MPC for quickly punching in beats, it’s a ridiculous combo.

In the config menu there is an option you can use to turn off micro-move input when recording, and it'll just quantize it to the step grid without inputting FX data.

I’ve been super curious about the polyend. It’s such a pretty piece of hardware to me. The way it’s laid out seems ‘correct’ to me.

Keep posting please! I don’t watch news anymore (too depressing) just Ricky Tinez.

To my knowledge, the tracker may have USB hosting capability. So USB C to USB C is two host to host. Two does not know who to be the host. But when you use the USB A dongle it forces the other end to be the slave instead of a host.

Bell rings, I click, thumb up and watch 👍 Great to see you using the DB-01 again in a video.

aaaah i can't wait to get my hands on this thing

As always, great content Ricky!

Great video! Thanks for all your insightful and entertaining videos.

What an interesting little device. I will be looking into the Tracker

Love your vids man. They keep me so entertained.

I hope @Polyend is showing you some love Ricky because you probably just sold one to this guy

Great tech content! Thanks!

Polyend recently made an update for the tracker which allows for input monitoring, which means you won't need an extra mixer unit. You can therefore treat it the same as with the octatrack where it doubles as a "mixer". So cool for a portable setup to just have the polyend tracker and a bass-synth. :)

From the FAQ: What is the Tracker internal PPQN resolution? Its internal PPQN resolution is 192.

I wanna say 20:02, 'cause I love palindromic numbers like that so much, but... it's a second or two before that... enrique hears that sweet little bongo roll for what seems like the very first time. he loves it so much!! I love THAT!! ;-)

Ricky, have you ever owned or worked with a Tempest? I rarely see them in anyone’s setup these days. I suspect you might really dig one of those

most chill most cool

Very fun video. Thank you Ricky.

Haha I spent ages once troubleshooting a Korg Electribe with the wrong 'standard' mini jack midi cable! Happy to note recently that the Elektron Model Cycles lets you switch polarity. Very clever.

just snagged one of these from a bud who's upgrading to a tracker mini, now i need to order a dang non standard trs midi cable.

Very nice.

the deluge can do more then the tracker for midi sequencing, it pretty much has unlimited mid poly sequences (along side it's internal synth / sampling engine) , it can do odd time signatures and conditional triggers on notes (% chance to trigger, every second third fourth time, etc), all that with an amazing workflow, i bet you'd love it.

That groove came out nice at the end!

The Tracker seems interesting but also unnecessarily complicated. The note fill thing was really cool but a lot of the other functions seemed fiddly compared to an MPC or something. That Erica Synths Bassline sounds awesome! Thanks for the video, Ricky!

USB is such a mess of a “standard”

I'm definitely buying this. I have Renoise Redux which I like but I'm not a fan of the Hex values they use. They are not intuitive at all imo. Here the values are more readable imo. I can tell whats going on by just looking at the screen without even knowing anything about the tracker. I'm definitely buying this at some point.

The DB-01 sounds sick just can't really justify buying it when I can create a similar sound with my Peak. Lovely stuff though X Made that same face at 15:43 too haha

It’s all about the golden handshake.

Very informative video, thanks!

I wish I was more excited about the tracker. a tracker in a box has been a dream for a long time. but I feel they have taken the basics of something like renoise, stripped back all the power and put it in hardware without actually giving it enough of the benefits of being hardware. it needs individual outputs, or multiple proper midi outputs or cv/gate and it could be a true brain of a studio setup, maybe some macro control knobs. but instead it seems like requires way too much work just to end up having to export back to a DAW for mixing. however good luck to them and hopefully it leads to a bigger more powerful version one day in the future. a polyend tracker / elektron octatrack bastard child would be amazing.

now i get ricky

such a nice guy, it's sweat to ear you :-) play discover and share it ! shé

11:01 ...never forget to close that manual, the results, if it remains open, might be unsound

Thank You Ricky and Thumbs up! :)

Screamed internally when the cable thing happened.

what a cool little box, just wish it was a normal midi sequencer in the same form factor, screen, and not a tracker. I remember moving from trackers to ableton live, and never once wanted to relive them...

Dood you got a nice smile you should smile more. Thanks for the Polyend tips!

I wish they made it 16 tracks or more, like the FT2 and USB Audio with multitrack. Do you think it would be possible in future updates?

Used to own the blue korg electribe which was awesome over a big sound system but had exactly the same pop on the kik if you used a filter like that like you said just got to mask it if you can

That is a tune, banging!

That midi trs adapter thing is so annoying. I'm glad Polyend included one with it, and so far I haven't gotten it mixed up with the other ones, but I also have a Korg one, an Alesis one, and a midi interface for the Sega Genesis, and remembering which is which is an unnecessary nuisance. I suppose it's not a huge problem, but when you've got a good flow going, stopping to mess with wires is always a pain.

at the 1:11 mark you have completely earned the like/sub

FYI. The USB C platform allows the output of either 5V, 9V, 12V and 15V. technically if both output/input device support selection of voltage, u need the correct cable to allow communication between the both to set the correct voltage. Some cable are missing certain wires so it does not allow this advanced voltage selection. They might only keep the standard 5V connection so that is the reason why u cannot power the tracker which might require 12V or 15V. FYI u can fashion a USB C to 12V or USB C to 15V cable from DIY parts. U can get a small chip with a USB C port and the ability to select what voltage output u want. Then u can solder in a power barrel connector and viola, u can have USB C powering almost anything!

I finally know what is missing from this device compared to the old trackers. Vu-Meters Ah in the end I see they put them on a separate screen

Dude. That groove.

En 24:24 nos podemos dar cuenta de que ricky al igual que yo sentimos el flow del beat, boom!

You can set your volume of notes sent over midi.(Should work on Polyend tracker aswell) Not sure if there's a setting for aftertouch cutoff function during live record. But polyend should surely add that. And probably will, if they continue to update the device.

Love u Ricky!

Ricky, thanks for all the great info on Trackers! They've been a tremendous help with navigating mine. QUESTION: is there somewhere in the Tracker a menu/list that shows all the currently loaded sounds? Or, are the sounds only found in the specific "groups" connected to the artist/project they were loaded by?

hey! do you need a midi interface to connect Tracker with DAW? Or is just a midid-USB cable enough? thanks in advance

Iv been using the novation rhythm as a sequencer ...iv figured out i can sequence the Yamaha DJx with it a different sound on each track iv only figured out how to choose different sounds on two tracks and that was by mistake so im assuming i can use all the tracks but not sure how to set up the parameters

Hey Ricky! First off, just want to say how much I love your channel. I am new to the electronic world and your style and content has been greatly appreciated. I wanted to ask though, what do you use to record/edit and produce your actual videos?

Any suggestions for adapters that work for the tracker besides the old Novation ones? I love mine but I can't find any adapters that work for connecting to 5 pin MIDI

I grew up listening to MOD files using the Protracker and OctaMED on my Amigas. I would love to have that.

Hi Ricky, great video as usual! what are those stands you have there in the background below the synth? they have a perfect angle :)

How tight is the Tracker? Has anyone measured the amount of jitter in samples / milliseconds? Or how about the latency when triggered from an external master clock? I'm quite curious about this if anyone knows.

Looks like pure fun, however 8 tracks this is really limitting, I mean you lay a groove and baseline and that's it

Thanks for the vid.

Think I'll stick with my MPC units, the Tracker looks gorgeous, has deep, inspirational options, but it just doesn't come across as an intuitive, fluid, musician designed instrument... You've obviously developed a good methodical approach to programming it, you're clicking buttons faster than i've seen in other videos, demonstrating the unit, so fair play, ~ but for me, it looks too visually involving. With my 60ii and 2000xl, i obviously use the buttons, but i practically fly them blind, unless i'm editing or recording a sound... ~ kinda like sequencing, with just tape transport controls... perhaps i'm just too old ; ) ~love to ALL, feel no hate~

Man, wish it had CV outs like the beatstep pro. Like 47 of them actually.

I WAS RECORDING NEUTRON EARLIER AND IT WAS QUITE SIMILAR TO THE PART YOU DAID HAD THE MICRO CLIP PART TOO. I KIND OF JUST LEFT IT IN THERE AS A MICRO TONE ARTIFACT. ALSO DONT AL AYS CARE TO QUANTIZE TOO MUCH. SOMETIMES ODD POLYRHYTHMS CAN BE MOTE INTERESTING TO ME. NEAT VID. ALWAYS ENJOY. GREAT INFO AND ENTHUSIASM...!

Do I need another midi adaptor and not the one supplied with tracker..?

1:10 this is not your fault, but the way the device does not use the control channel for Power Delivery protocol to request for power when USB TypeC is used. This is bypassed with a USBA adapter as it would default to 5V or the QuickCharge protocol. It is still a mess. Have the same with an Ebook reader and some other devices.

The joys of usb guests vs hosts... My guess is that c to c is getting the whole thing confused about if it is connected to a host or not.

Nice little box

Man I beg you do a video on the polyend seq, I need your assistance and insight on how you’d use it 🙏🙏🙏

i love how fed up he is internally of having to figure out how a new piece of hardware wants to play music.

Could be the cable, but also could be the port. Try plugging the c-to-c in the same port you used with the adapter, it might supply a different amount of power.

Does it also support midi CC or just notes?

Hey Ricky, Polyend tracker or Novation Circuit Rhythm, who wins? 😊