Introducing Polyend Step: A Drum Machine in a Guitar Pedal
We’re excited to share Step, the first fully programmable drum machine in guitar pedal format. Designed for hands-free playback, Step lets you focus on playing while handling all your rhythmic needs—whether you’re performing live, jamming, or practicing.
With 350+ preset rhythms, 200 drum kits, and a powerful sequencer, Step can be used for both instantly starting a rhythm, or detailed beat-making. Use stomp-switches for punch-in effects, seamless pattern changes, and real-time control. The Step’s sequencer operates similarly to Play with per-step parameter control for a ton of things like velocity, reverb, and delay sends, step probability, and more, as well as dedicated MIDI control with a TRS-A or B input and TRS B out. Step can create, save, and instantly recall up to 1,000 songs and control song playback via the stompswitches.
You can’t load your own MIDI files, but Play patterns are compatible with “Beats”, so you can make beats on the first four tracks of Play and load them in the beat folder on Step.
From the manual it looks like Step can change songs and patterns using MIDI PC and CC - can we expect similar functionality for Play/Play+ to keep them in sync when used together?
It’s a pity that Polyend do not give us Tap Tempo…some of us play with other musicians and the ability to tap along to say the Bass player that has just started a decent groove is an oversight.
Gosh, Polyend, can’t we have a minute of peace? In November I was happy with Synth & Play+ & Bitwig. So happy that I wasn’t much interested when Bitwig released their Stepwise device (although it is pretty cool and tempting, but it’s a matter of focus). And now this, a very cool product in a very cool format, exploiting the 33% of the Play+ that I’m most interested in and then giving some more.
This morning I woke up in peace, and tonight I’ll go to sleep wondering whether I should sell my Play+ and get a Step to complement Synth and Bitwig. Great, thank you.
I don’t know, but to me, 1 sound per track seems too little. I would have expected at least one sound per step per track here. Like the Polyend Play, just reduced to 4 tracks…
However, perhaps someone with practical experience can explain why the limitation to 4 tracks/samples in a kit makes sense. I don’t think that a kick, snare, clap, open hihat, closed hihat, and some percussions is too much to ask for?
Edit: After a quick scan through the manual it seems, you can’t change kits when a pattern changes? That would have been a workaround to bypass the limitations…
It somehow feels too limited to me. On the other hand, I really like the form factor and the concept.
My first reaction was the same, but then…1 sample per track, yes. But different effects can be applied to every step. With creativity, one can go from a snare to a clap or vice versa with the same sample plus Note, Filter Cutofff, Filter Ressonance, Bit Depth, Overdrive… Same from closed hat to open hat of crash or vice versa with these effects and Reverb, Delay, Sample Start, Sample End…
Sure, not the same, but every instrument has limitations and many artists produced iconic songs by bending these limitations and finding workarounds. And even more artists produced world hits just using their instruments as intended.
To me this limitation (which is compensated by the theoretical simplicity of setting up all kinds of patterns easily) makes the Step very interesting for my ambitions with drums and rhythms: I need them in my songs but I’m not very good and fluent at create them from scratch, and I have other priorities when it comes to learning and practicing to improve. I’d rather put those hours in being a better keyboardist (I’m still really bad). If I don’t like the Step limitations, I can always keep the Play Plus+.
Just like the Synth “saved” me another problem: it has plenty of limitations but that’s good because I want interesting synth sounds but I don’t think I’m the kind of person that will do sound design building synth, a Grid patch… and I got tired of searching and trying hundreds of presets of dozens of synths (same with drums sounds and samples).
If there are serious limitations in the Step or the Synth, I can always resort to my DAW and plugins. That’s my story, aware that probably I’m not the target audience for this thing.
The Wishlist demonstrates that it will always be too little.
