Polyend Step

Polyend take it to the floor with a new pedal‑based drum machine.

Based in Poland, Polyend have undoubtedly carved their own path over the last few years with their intriguing line‑up of music production hardware. This now includes synths, grooveboxes, trackers and, more recently, Press, a rather impressive studio‑grade stereo analogue compressor in a guitar pedal format. Whether live or in the studio, Polyend’s target audience is undoubtedly those who like to make their music by putting their hands (or feet) on actual hardware, rather than via a software/mouse combination.

All of which is worth bearing in mind when you consider what their latest release has to offer. The Step is a four‑track drum machine/sequencer in a guitar pedal format. The pedal form‑factor obviously implies a design intention with live use in mind but, equally, Polyend are keen to promote the Step’s potential within a broader creative workflow, including the studio. Of course, the world is not short of hardware drum machines, including a few that come in a pedalboard‑friendly format for solo gigging applications. However, this is Polyend... so, what’s the twist that puts the Step out of step (in a good way) with the existing crowd?

Hardware Heaven

You might already have noted the Step’s fairly serious price. Well, let me confirm that, when handled in person, you soon realise that the price is matched by the seriously impressive quality of the hardware. Not only does it feel very robust, the controls all work smoothly, and it also looks fantastic.

The top panel features with an array of large rotary knobs (some of which also operate as push buttons), a very nice display that provides plenty of graphical feedback in use, two rows of smaller buttons (with colour‑coded lighting used to identify different functions or operating modes) that are used when sequencing patterns, and three high‑quality footswitches. As shown in the images, the back panel features an impressive array of audio, MIDI and USB connectivity, alongside a microSD card slot (used, for example, for firmware updates) and a 9V power jack designed for use with standard pedalboard power supplies....