Ploytec, a boutique German company, has just released their newly developed MIDI clock tap tempo pedal ONE.2. The idea is simple. When sequencer-based electronic musicians play in a live band, the drummer has to play along to a click track to keep in time, often sacrificing human feel. With the ONE.2, the process is reversed.
The ONE.2 tap tempo pedal enables you to sync electronic equipment to what the drummer is doing. You can even fine adjust the tempo while it’s running. ONE.2 notices that you’re slightly ahead or behind quarter notes and gets your music back on the beat. It does so by smoothly accelerating or slowing down for a moment in order to get in sync. Having this unique feature ONE.2 is more than just tap tempo.
Ploytec claims the ONE.2 is very easy to use:
» Select an arpeggio or drum loop on your sequencer, drum computer or workstation
» Listen to the beat of your fellow musicians
» Tap the pedal on ‘1’ (1st beat of the measure) – ONE.2 starts the measuring
» Tap on ‘2’ – now ONE.2 knows the tempo and immediately starts transmitting a MIDI Clock signal: Your equipment is on the beat now. You can “tap on” to stay in sync!
» If the switch on the back points downward, on the next ‘1’, ONE.2 sends an additional MIDI Start, just in case you want to trigger a sequence or drum loop
Who’s Ploytec? Markus Medau, a developer and keyboardist joined forces in 1999 with Werner Wirsum, an information scientist, to develop USB Audio drivers. Reputable manufacturers soon secured licenses (Apogee, SoundDevices, and Yamaha, later followed by Access, Elektron, Lexicon, Steinberg, Tascam, and others). Kicking off their hardware business by early 2004 with the founding of Ploytec GmbH, the entrepreneurs are now also into mastering plugins, synthesizers, and MIDI.
Ploytec’s ONE.2 costs €120 and is available now.
Ploytec
