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Developer Geert Bevin has helped pioneer modern expressive electronic instruments, including the Eigengarp.

MIDI Polyphonic Expression (MPE) pioneer Geert Bevin has introduced Glinster, a unique MPE controller and instrument for iPhone, iPad and Vision Pro.

Bevin has a long history of contributing to some of the most influential expressive electronic instrument designs, including the Eigenlabs Eigenharp, the Roger Linn Linnstrument and Moog Music’s multitouch iOS applications. He also authored the original Multidimensional Polyphonic Expression specification draft – which led directly to what we now know as MPE.

His latest creation, Glinster, is an expressive MIDI instrument that uses hand tracking and touchscreen gestures to turn Apple devices into an adaptive MPE performance controller.

“On Apple Vision Pro, you play it in the air with your bare hands,” he explains. “On iPhone and iPad, you place your hand anywhere on the glass and the notes appear under your fingers.”

Rather than presenting musicians with a fixed keyboard or grid, Glinster measures the shape and reach of the player’s hand and adapts its musical interface accordingly.

On Apple Vision Pro, the instrument uses spatial hand tracking to let musicians play notes in the air without holding a physical controller. On iPhone and iPad, the touchscreen becomes an expressive playing surface, with notes positioned according to the player’s measured finger spacing and hand shape.

Glinster also functions as an MPE controller and AUv3 instrument, allowing its expressive gestures to control compatible synthesizers and other music software.

Features:

• Five sound presets: Aether, Ember, Fathom, Rime and Pillar
• Room, Shimmer, Glide, Response, Cutoff and Resonance
• Sixteen scales, from the seven modes to the blues, Whole tone and Double harmonic, and twelve roots, with a reference pitch from 432 to 446 Hz
• An octave setting that moves the whole instrument two octaves either way, so notes above and below what your hands span stay within reach
• MPE MIDI output that assigns a new channel to every note so that release tails don’t get cut off, with the number of member channels your choice, or single-channel output, and a Send MCM button to repeat the MPE configuration for a receiver that started late
• Volume and brightness sent as channel pressure, CC 7, CC 11, CC 74 or CC 1, and a pitch bend range of 2, 12, 24, 48 or 96 semitones
• A virtual MIDI source, direct output to the MIDI port of any app, Bluetooth LE MIDI in both directions, and Apple’s network MIDI session, so a session made in Audio MIDI Setup on a Mac can connect straight to the device
• Records takes as lossless 32-bit float WAV files, and plays them back in the app with the instrument still live, so you can play along with one

Glinster is available now for Apple Vision Pro, iPhone, and iPad, with a price of $9.99. The App Store purchase includes AUv3 functionality.

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Polyend Opens Tracker, Tracker+ And Tracker Mini To Custom Firmware

Polyend’s range of Tracker samplers are the latest hardware instruments to go open source, as the developer makes their code available on GitHub to coincide with what it’s calling the range’s “biggest update yet”.

Polyend releases the Tracker firmware source code for the original Tracker, Tracker+ and Tracker Mini on GitHub, and they also releasing Tracker Community Edition 1.0 with tons of new features and improvements.

The first released in 2020, the original Polyend Tracker was a hardware sampler with a sequencing setup based on the vertically scrolling, numerical format of software trackers like Ultimate Soundtracker, Sunvox or Renoise. The concept was developed further with the launch of the pocket-sized Tracker Mini in 2023 and Tracker+ in 2024, which added extra capabilities including stereo sampling and new synth engines.

With the rise of AI-led ‘vibe coding’, open source hardware is suddenly the hottest topic in music technology, with several  brands  making a rapid pivot towards open source firmware in recent weeks. In fairness though, Tracker feels like a particularly appropriate product line to go down this route, given the long history that tracker software shares with DIY programming and the Demoscene subculture.

“Here at Polyend, creativity is what we value most,” says Polyend CEO Piotr Raczyński. “We’ve seen it firsthand in the unofficial Tracker mods you’ve built, and we’re sharing the firmware source code to support that work.

“Maybe you want to build an entirely new instrument on the Tracker hardware? Or maybe there’s just one thing you wish your Tracker did differently? Either way, you can now try it on the unit you already own. I bet some of you already have ideas for the original Tracker that never crossed our minds.”

Handily, Polyend has also supplied a Tracker recovery system to aid any user that accidentally bricks their hardware.

Polyend has also revised the license to an MIT-based model that permits commercial reuse of individual code components and SDKs, while restricting commercial clones of the complete Tracker application and retaining separate restrictions on proprietary precompiled synthesizer libraries.

Why It Matters:

Opening the firmware gives the Tracker platform a potential future beyond the features and development priorities of its original manufacturer. Independent developers can create new synthesis engines, effects and workflow changes, while users gain greater control over how their instruments evolve.

This means that the Tracker can have a future that is independent of Polyend.

Polyend hasn’t given up on firmware updates of its own though. Alongside the release of the source code, the company has launched an update named Tracker Community Edition 1.0. This brings a variety of enhancements across the range including the ability to stream samples directly from an SD card.

There is also a new Sample Editor that allows users to create and load effect and generator plugins. The initial firmware includes six plugins that range from a multi-mode filter and stereo delay to an analogue-style kick generator. Tracker+ and Tracker Mini also gain new synth modes, Chip, which is the first to use the new open Synth SDK, and Dirt, a new wavefolding/distortion synth.

Other updates added with the firmware include wavetable envelope and wavetable LFO modulation sources, custom colour and font configurations, new chance conditions and dedicated Micro-Move and Volume steps for the sequencers, the latter meaning its possible to input timing and volume level changes without occupying one of the two available FX slots.

What’s new in Community Edition 1.0:

• Stream long samples from the SD card. Bring full-length stems, loops and field recordings into a project using a fraction of the sample memory they’d normally need. This works even on the original Tracker.
• Record timing and velocity while keeping both step FX slots free. Micro-move and Volume now have dedicated fields on every step. New Chance conditions let you bring in a snare fill every fourth pass.
• Load plugins in the Sample Editor. Six effects and generators are included, from an analog-style kick generator to a stereo delay. The plugin SDK lets you build, share and sell your own.
• Play two new synths on Tracker+ and Tracker Mini. CHIP and DIRT join the synth lineup. A new SDK lets you build your own synth engines.

All three models also get wavetable envelopes and LFOs, faster project loading and saving, and tighter MIDI clock timing. You can design custom Tracker themes and fonts in your browser.

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Take a look at the changelog for full details and visit the Polyend site for more information.

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Behringer has shared another sneak preview – this time for the POLYKEYS 61 mini MIDI controller. Details are still to come, but it looks like the POLYKEYS 61 will offer 61 mini keys with polyphonic aftertouch, plus a ribbon controller.

Polyphonic aftertouch allows each key to transmit its own pressure information, rather than applying one pressure value to the entire keyboard. That makes it possible to introduce independent modulation to individual notes in a chord, when controlling synthesizers that support polyphonic expression.

The ribbon controller adds another continuous performance dimension, while the large number of faders, knobs, and pads suggests that Behringer is positioning this as an inexpensive control keyboard.

The POLYKEYS 61 will also feature open source firmware, opening the platform to community development.

Specifications (Preliminary):

• Keyboard 61 controller with mini keys, polyphonic aftertouch
• Ribbon controller
• 16 Pads 16
• 9 Faders
• 9 Rotary controls
• Display
• Pitch and modulation wheels
• Firmware announced as open source

The Behringer POLYKEYS 61 has a target price of $199 USD. The release date is to be announced.

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