The Big Ol' Renoise Thread

[T3551ER]

Bouncing off a sidechain (haha) conversation from YLC, starting a thread about all things Renoise. Know there are some folks here who are using Renoise (chronical, milkyheart, Consul, JTPE, etc.) and a wide range of level of experience (from noob all the way to Guru MF'in Masters). The point of this thread is to have a centralized place to put Renoise tips, thoughts, questions, recommendations, themes, etc. Hopefully a place where more experienced Renoisers (that are also WATMM'rs) can share their wisdom. Maybe it'll inspire some folks to pick up the software and discover the wonders of tracking. 

Some caveats: Yes, we ALL KNOW that there is a dedicated Renoise forum (which was recently upgraded by the by and worth checking out). The Renoise website is also a treasure trove of tutorials and info. This is not a competition or replacement for anything out there (in fact, feel free to link stuff you think might be useful!). Just a place where WATMM peeps can get together with each other, sit around the digital campfire, and share stuff. Please be kind to each other. 

Official Renoise Site (where to find the software, tools, etc). 

• https://www.renoise.com/

Amiga mod archives (OG tracker files for good learning times). Thanks Squirrely! 

• http://aminet.net/tree?path=mods
• https://modarchive.org/

Tools (thanks to cear, JTPE for recommendation/outline of tools):

• Convert Instrument Number 3 different ways/shortcuts you can assign to convert current pattern/track/selection to current selected instrument ... basically thé savior for easy doubling etc... 
• Easy Tune Automatically transpose/finetune a sample to C.
• Randomize Notes Extremely handy tool to get some quick inspiration on where you want a tune to go. There's some scales you can pick from, you can create your own scale or shuffle between a bunch of selected notes in the pattern editor. Select your entire track pattern and select shuffle/chaos for ultimate crazy. You have shortcuts as well. 
• Fractional Notes Perfect for triplets and other eh fractional note stuff. 
• Place Selected Notes Evenly Very descriptive name. 
• dBatchProcess This thing seems currently offline.. It's basically an interface to Sox. Quick and easy batchprocessing on samples, such as normalizing, fades, etc.
• CDP Interface The incredibly expansive library of CDP sample fuckery right inside Renoise. Needs some setting up, but pretty straightforward. Get ready to lose hours crushing/stretching/flipping samples over and over... 
• ExportAllSamples Export all the samples within multiple instruments.. Very useful if you want to maintain all the samples you make within your tracks.. Which in Renoise can ramp up pretty quickly. 
• https://forum.renoise.com/t/new-tool-3-0-loop-control/41463 - Tool to automate sample loop point, length, etc. 

Edited May 13, 2019 by T3551ER

[GetSquirrely]

http://aminet.net/tree?path=mods

https://modarchive.org/

 

i always recommend people interested in trackers to download amiga mods to see how the oldschool guys pushed so much sound out of 4/8 channels and a few hundred kb worth of samples.

[modey]

8 years Renoise for me, but uh.. nearly 23(!) years of trackers total. I actually haven't been using it much recently, in favour of hardware, but I'm getting in the mood to write some prog again so maybe I'll get back to it when I have some free time.

2 hours ago, GetSquirrely said:

i always recommend people interested in trackers to download amiga mods to see how the oldschool guys pushed so much sound out of 4/8 channels and a few hundred kb worth of samples.

Yes, this 100%! I think everyone would benefit from analysing old Amiga MODs, it even applies to channel economy in Elektron gear; people complain about not having enough tracks, I just think they're not using them properly.

[bendish]

Fiddling around with audio on a timeline is getting less and less attractive over the years....i find renoise so intuitive and 'physical' in terms of the process....it's actually fun which is becoming more and more important to me. The only thing i miss is better automation...i.e. press record, twiddle knobs on my vst and bang the movements are all recorded, with various modes i.e. touch latch etc probably will never happen by hey. 

 

With regards to channels...you barely need them due to fx section on individual samples...each sample can be mixed uniquely....i barely go above 10 tracks

kick, snares, hats, poly, lead, bass, sub, fx, perc etc

Edited May 9, 2019 by bendish
addition

[zkom]

I've mainly used Renoise for quite some time now. Maybe about 10 years? Before that I used Buzz and FT2.

12 hours ago, GetSquirrely said:

i always recommend people interested in trackers to download amiga mods to see how the oldschool guys pushed so much sound out of 4/8 channels and a few hundred kb worth of samples.

Yeah, there are some good tricks from the past that are still useful but Renoise has really pushed the envelope (teehee) so far ahead some of them have become a bit outdated. For example the small memory footprint "chiptunes" of the past provide some ideas but Renoise instrument editor adds so much tools on top of the old FT2 instrument editor that it can be used as a subtractive synth with customizable multilayered waveforms with it's own separate sequencer, automation and fx chain..  

[oscillik]

I'm (trying) to get back into making music again after a long hiatus. I bought Redux a while back, so I'm gonna keep an eye open here

[T3551ER]

Wow! So nice to come back here and already see folks engaging the topic. Going to 2nd what modey and Squirrely have said about the amiga mods. It took me about 3 years to discover these and it's a great study in doing a lot with very little. Good fundamentals there. Have updated the first post with the links (if/when this thread grows, will continue to update with suchness). 

@Bendish - I had a similar experience. I've used pretty much every major DAW throughout the years and Renoise just seems to "fit" the way my brain works. Steep learning curve, but a heck of a lot of fun.  

Here's some tips that took me a long time to figure out:

• There is a button (more info here) that changes recorded automation from effects commands to graphical recording. There are certain things I prefer to do via effects commands so I can interpolate later (highlight and then Cntrl-I) but for a lot of "traditional" effects I suspect people would prefer graphical options. Particularly with the excellent Automasher tool 
• In the waveform view in the sampler, there is a little button just to the right of "%" sensitivity of the slicer. This controls whether or not, once sliced, the rest of the sample will continue to play after the slice you are playing has completed. Toggling this allows you to, say, play different parts of a break, skipping around within the beat, but still having drum sounds continue. Fun for mashing through a break while a track is playing
• Template Song: This is a personal preference thing. I have a template that I've saved that loads me up with a few of my favorite VST's (e.g., Reaktor, Serum, etc.), a LPB set, and a track that has a basic repeating kick drum (i.e., my personal metronome track). I found that I spent a lot of time basically loading the same shit up (or, at least a lot of the same shit) that was a total WOT.  
• Trim your slices. TRIM YOUR SLICES. When a break is sliced, typically each slice has a little bit of sound that isn't completely smooth on either the start or tail end. Highlight a small bit of the beginning and "Cntrl-I" to fade in, highlight the end bit and "Cntrl-O" to fade out. This prevents odd clicking and annoying artifacts when stringing samples together. Alternatively: under the sampler view, next to the word "Playback" is a little squiggly line icon. This will apply a small fade in to the sample. Highlight all your samples and enable this. 

 

[chronical]

on macOS alt+T is super helpful for selecting a sequence of bars (a slice? one round square on the pattern sequencer) in case you didn't know.  Pressing CMD+left shift+R after renders it to a new sample instrument. I usually copy it from there into a drum kit sample instrument. Super handy for drum sequences!

Edited May 9, 2019 by chronical

[Entorwellian]

Great program but the development team is too conservative with wanting to keep everything the way it is. It's still my number 1 DAW of choice and there are quality of life additions that could make it so much more better, but the orthodox userbase would throw a shitfit for blasphemy if they were ever implemented.

[cear]

here's some Tools I cannot live without:

Convert Instrument Number 3 different ways/shortcuts you can assign to convert current pattern/track/selection to current selected instrument ... basically thé savior for easy doubling etc... 

Easy Tune Automatically transpose/finetune a sample to C.

Randomize Notes Extremely handy tool to get some quick inspiration on where you want a tune to go. There's some scales you can pick from, you can create your own scale or shuffle between a bunch of selected notes in the pattern editor. Select your entire track pattern and select shuffle/chaos for ultimate crazy. You have shortcuts as well. 

Fractional Notes Perfect for triplets and other eh fractional note stuff. 

Place Selected Notes Evenly Very descriptive name. :)

dBatchProcess This thing seems currently offline.. It's basically an interface to Sox. Quick and easy batchprocessing on samples, such as normalizing, fades, etc.

CDP Interface The incredibly expansive library of CDP sample fuckery right inside Renoise. Needs some setting up, but pretty straightforward. Get ready to lose hours crushing/stretching/flipping samples over and over...

ExportAllSamples Export all the samples within multiple instruments.. Very useful if you want to maintain all the samples you make within your tracks.. Which in Renoise can ramp up pretty quickly. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Entorwellian said:

Great program but the development team is too conservative with wanting to keep everything the way it is. It's still my number 1 DAW of choice and there are quality of life additions that could make it so much more better, but the orthodox userbase would throw a shitfit for blasphemy if they were ever implemented.

Pianoroll? 

Dunno about the devs tracking dogmas,  but I think available development time is the reason you wont see that soon. Taktik has shared juggling multiple projects on more than one OS plus a family. Being the sole programmer at the moment he picks his battles wisely. I wouldn't mind stuff like that but would rather see more nerd stuff, moar pattern commands .

[Nil]

Only used it for a short period of time last year, liked it a lot, but stopped using it because of the permanent bug with Mojave and AUs...
It helped me definitely quit piano rolls and led me to TidalCycles. Can't help thinking trackers and music coding are quite similar.
Will certainly give it another go someday.

[zkom]

57 minutes ago, plugexpert said:

Pianoroll? 

Dunno about the devs tracking dogmas,  but I think available development time is the reason you wont see that soon. Taktik has shared juggling multiple projects on more than one OS plus a family. Being the sole programmer at the moment he picks his battles wisely. I wouldn't mind stuff like that but would rather see more nerd stuff, moar pattern commands .

 

Loop point modulation, plz.

[cear]

1 hour ago, zkom said:

 

Loop point modulation, plz.

technically u can do it through using following tool:
https://forum.renoise.com/t/modloop-tool/48597

[milkyheart]

it's almost criminal to get Renoise for just 50 euros for what a powerhouse it is. i couldn't write the stuff i make without it. flexible workflow if there ever was one.

here's a real artist working that DAW: 

and poor old me banging rocks together:

 

 

Edited May 10, 2019 by marsdesign

[bendish]

I'd like a tool - lets call it 'Autosink' that I can place on a track and it records (on play) all automation that I commit to a vst...with latch, touch mode etc

Does it exist?

Randomize is an awesome tool

 

 

[T3551ER]

Thnx to cear for that awesome list of tools - have added to the first post. Would second the CDP interface. . . you could lose a lifetime in there. 

4 hours ago, bendish said:

I'd like a tool - lets call it 'Autosink' that I can place on a track and it records (on play) all automation that I commit to a vst...with latch, touch mode etc

Does it exist?

Randomize is an awesome tool

 

I. . . think this may be possible using an "instrument automation" insert on a track, and then changing the recording of input to graphical (as outlined in my post above). IIRC, the reason to do this would be to allow you to make tweaks on multiple parameters at the same (otherwise, you are somewhat limited to one effect lane at time). 

If you already had mapped CC to your instrument, you may not even need to do the instrument automation insert. This method does NOT have latch mode, etc., but might get you halfway there.

Edited May 10, 2019 by T3551ER

[T3551ER]

5 hours ago, cear said:

technically u can do it through using following tool:
https://forum.renoise.com/t/modloop-tool/48597

Also: https://forum.renoise.com/t/new-tool-3-0-loop-control/41463

[Entorwellian]

On 5/9/2019 at 11:22 PM, plugexpert said:

Pianoroll? 

Dunno about the devs tracking dogmas,  but I think available development time is the reason you wont see that soon. Taktik has shared juggling multiple projects on more than one OS plus a family. Being the sole programmer at the moment he picks his battles wisely. I wouldn't mind stuff like that but would rather see more nerd stuff, moar pattern commands .

Redux and that "alike-samples" finder thing were duds.

Not just pianoroll and loop point modulation, but there are some ways that I'd like to chain fx send signals back into previous fx tracks in a recursive manner and it's impossible to do so in Renoise. There are obvious reasons why it's disabled, but I'd rather be allowed to do it and risk my audio project exploding than to not be allowed to do it at all. It's why I use Max to 'fill in the gap' in that respect.

[modey]

I'd love to see Max4Renoise actually. I've always thought it'd be a better fit than Ableton (though I understand why that particular partnership happened).

[Entorwellian]

 

31 minutes ago, modey said:

I'd love to see Max4Renoise actually. I've always thought it'd be a better fit than Ableton (though I understand why that particular partnership happened).

Omg yes that would be incredible. I'm using jit.matrix right now in max for the tracker interface part but having the entirety of renoise inside it would be insanely powerful.

[dingformung]

The wrong placement of the apostrophe is bugging me far more than it should.

[Guest]

7 hours ago, Entorwellian said:

Redux and that "alike-samples" finder thing were duds.

`Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man.`

Perhaps not what you`re looking for. I know some people with alternate views, including myself. 

On 5/10/2019 at 9:21 AM, zkom said:

Loop point modulation, plz.

Hell yes! Been playing around with aftas loop tool lately,  mucho potential. The instruments editor modulation section would be a great candidate for it. I wouldn`t mind a crude implementation where you can use pattern commands to specify marker positions, set loop mode (normal, backwards,  pingpong).

[T3551ER]

8 hours ago, darreichungsform said:

The wrong placement of the apostrophe is bugging me far more than it should.

Fixed. As an English guy, I totally understand.  

 

5 hours ago, plugexpert said:

`Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man.`

Perhaps not what you`re looking for. I know some people with alternate views, including myself. 

Hell yes! Been playing around with aftas loop tool lately,  mucho potential. The instruments editor modulation section would be a great candidate for it. I wouldn`t mind a crude implementation where you can use pattern commands to specify marker positions, set loop mode (normal, backwards,  pingpong).

2nd'd (all of this, but particularly the ability to use pattern commands to mess w/ these parameters).  

[viscosity]

I'm selling my Renoise license if anyone's interested: