By conner_bw
On 3rd January 2009
Version: 2.0 RC2
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conner_bw
3 of 4 people found
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I've been using this software since 2003 and don't see myself stopping any time soon.
Compared to mainstream sequencers, Renoise is rooted in a very different approach to making music. This approach is known as Tracking. Tracking entails a spreadsheet type of sequencing that has been around since 1987.
Back then, if you were using machines in a studio it probably meant you had a setup that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. In contrast, composers using trackers pioneered the use of personal computers as the "studio-in-a-box".
Also back then, instead of the Internet, most people were dialing into networks of BBSes which provided regional and international message and file exchange. As tracker files were self contained modules, or MODS, it was not uncommon to get these files from BBS systems. Also not uncommon: a busy signal.
Why am I blabbing about this? Well, a lot of people just don't get trackers. But I say what's not to get? Tracking culture pioneered digital distribution. Trackers, the people, were among the first to consider their computer as their music studio. All of this while the "serious" music industry laughed it off as implausible.
The rest is history. Computers became more powerful. Networks became more accessible. The "studio-in-a-box" became the norm. New sequencers changed the paradigm, but Renoise keeps the lineage going and going and going, like the Energizer bunny.
Review? Well, I'm obviously not at all objective. I love this application. Tons of features. Helpful user community. It's a full fledged plug-in host that is cheaper than most plug-ins. And it just keeps getting better and better.
If I were to point out something bad, it's that not everyone will enjoy sequencing in a tracker. As of 2.0, there's no coherent visual overview of the composition. It's all numbers. With that said, no one is saying you can't use Renoise in conjunction with another sequencer. In fact, many do. They jam down ideas and loops in Renoise, render them to file, and import those into Logic, Cubase, Live, Pro Tools, whatever.
I say try it out, it's a free demo, you have nothing to lose? |
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By hseiken
On 5th June 2005
Version: 1.5
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hseiken
6 of 6 people found
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I primarily produce Drum and Bass and have been using ReNoise for about 5 months and I personal have found it to be a great seqeuncer that gets my creative juices flowing.
The OBVIOUS: It's a tracker. You either love it or hate it. I happened to get my start in computer generated music with Impulse Tracker, so I'm a bit biased in this respect. That said, ReNoise is not going to change your mind about trackers, one way or another.
The PROS:
- Score-style Sequencer - I personally find this a pro instead of con, due to the fact that because you're writing out the music with all of the tracks visible next to each other, it's very easy to coordinate between different instruments intricate patterns and twists in the music. I've used piano rolls and the 'playlist' style sequencers and always found it frustrating to do this without much trial and error. However, in ReNoise, you can see exactly where your kick drum hits so you can (for example) line up your bass notes perfectly, no matter how obtuse the rhythm is you randomly punched in. As well, you can keep a monotonous song fresh easily by simply duplicating a pattern then changing little bits here and there on the clone. Then clone the edited clone and repeat.
- Render To Sample - A great way to add extra 'glitchy/chopped' depth to a track as well as save on CPU usage. If you got an intense instrument using tons of VSTs and effects, simply create a sampled instrument out of it and ditch the VSTs afterwards to reclaim your CPU.
- Built-In Sample Editor - Something I've always found would interrupt my work flow on a song was having to exit or switch between a sample editing program to fix samples or see if maybe doing something different to the sample would sit better in song. With the editor built in, you can run VST effects on samples, set loops points (ping pong loops are the best!), etc. and hear the changes instantly. And then, if you are unsatisfied, the undo button is a click away. Again, this is a great work-flow enhancing feature.
- Multiple Effect/Note Columns Per Track - something I've noticed with many trackers is that when you want to create a chord, you must take up a whole track with only a single note. ReNoise allows you 4 notes per row (collapsable/expandable as needed for easy organization) so that you may take advantage of the effects assigned to a track. As well, you can expand the effects column to allow 4 simultaneous per-note effects (for when the automation isn't precise enough for you!).
- Low Latency - I'm not into the whole hardware setup stuff, so I'm using ReNoise on a Direct Sound compatible only card and even when I'm sucking major CPU cycles off my processor, I can easily get by on 30ms of latency which is virtually unheard of on other programs where as little as 10% CPU usage would require at least 50ms latency on exact same computer.
- Stability - I've yet to crash this program, and believe me, I've done quite a bit in it. I'd even crashed a $300 sequencer several times and this essentially homegrown, underground product has a better use-to-crash ratio.
The CONS:
- VST Automation Meta Device - It is beyond me why you are required to create this device instead of it being generated with the VST itself. It's a minor gripe, but it just seems like an oversight of some sort...
- Lack of Side Chaining - This is a bit specific in terms of cons, but common things, like ducking a bass under a kick drum are left up to the efficency of your VST alone, rather than being able to command it specifically to drop out one for another.
- Lack of Modularity - something I love about programs like Buzz and Psycle is the modularity of the device chaining. This is virtually impossible in ReNoise. It IS posslbe to route multiple effects off one another, but you are limited in how you can do this and how many SENDS channels you're willing to give up.
- No VU Meters - I personally like track VU meters instead of track oscilliscopes. There is a spectrum analyzer, however, which makes up for it slightly.
- Internal Effects - There are some amazingly bad internal effects (but to be fair, some really good ones as well). The compressor I find to be completely useless. It's idea of being a limiter means to make the sound inaudible at all. As well, the filters are clean, but they're sound is not very agressive.
- No Internal Synths - most sequencers nowdays have at least one.
The FINAL VERDICT:
I'd have to say that if you look at this program as I do, which is that of the best sampler out there with a sequencer and sample editor built in, then you will have a ball with this thing. It's setup feels natural, even for a tracker and is just plain fun and intuitive to use (after the brief learning period). However, if you're looking for something a bit more organic and suitable for realtime synths, you might want to look elsewhere. |
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By Shuzhen
On 9th April 2005
Version: 1.5
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Shuzhen
4 of 5 people found
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Having used Renoise since it's inception, I feel that it still has a ways to go compared to the more established sequencers when it comes to being a versatile host, but looking past that, it is easily the most advanced tracker to date, and has covered alot of ground already, melding the past with the present in an environment that's loosely based on the FastTracker 2 interface.
Past being that it is centered around 'vertical patterns' where events are entered and navigated through using a QWERTY keyboard, and present being that it supports VST/VSTi, ASIO, etc, and lets the user automate most, if not all, parameters with accessible meta devices.
To give you an example, you could have a chain of LFO devices controlling eachother, with the last one controlling a VSTi Automation Device or MIDI CC Device, which in turn would control energyXT.
energyXT is the perfect companion for Renoise, having most of the features Renoise currently lacks (i.e. freeze tracks, piano roll, playing samples from current position with proper offset, etc).
The concept of vertical patterns might not read as past, or as anything else, for someone not familiar with trackers from beforehand, but these spreadsheet notators have been around since the mid-to-late 80's. Renoise is the continuation of that legacy.
It's most noticable strength, and the strength of trackers in general, is that it is a compact, focused environment, and you get so close to what is going on that if you were to get any closer, you'd no doubt go through it.
It's most noticable weakness as a tracker, or a compositional device is probably that it is not as easy as with conventional clip-based sequencers, to keep an overview of what you are doing.
The whole layout of shortcuts (configurable) and pattern commands, with most everything being within reach at the press of a key (combination), is a refreshing departure from the mouse-centric sphere of sequencers.
Adjusting to this shouldn't take very long.
The perfect app for me at this point would be Renoise coupled with the strong points offered by Samplitude for audio object control, channel mixing and recording.
From version 1.28x to 1.5, it has undergone alot of structural changes beneath the surface that have prepared it for the additions that are in the works.
At version 1.5, it lacks ASIO input, a horizontal clip-based arranger/sequencer, ReWire support, greater event resolution, and some other stuff that you might expect from a host covering every possible concern, but some, if not all of these things (depending on what the users find to be most urgent), will probably appear before long.
If the devs manage to suffuse that with the ideal of tracking being a very low-level, rapid and controllable way of making music, then I predict that it will leave marks on the backs of Cubase and Logic. |
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Last edited by Shuzhen on 14th May 2005
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By 4tune
On 8th April 2005
Version: 1.5
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4tune
5 of 5 people found
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The GUI is the main reason I use this software over a more conventional sequencer. Renoise`s sequencing is pattern based, but being a tracker it uses a `spreadsheet` style screen to enter notation and effects data. To enter notes you can use either your computer keyboard as a virtual piano, or a MIDI keyboard if it suits you better. The other difference is that it scrolls downwards as opposed from left to right.
So for a C major triad changing to a F major triad the notes go something like this :
Track 1 .... Track 2 .... Track 3
[ C-4 ] ..... [ E-4 ] ..... [ G-4 ]
[ ..... ] ..... [ ..... ] ..... [ ..... ]
[ ..... ] ..... [ ..... ] ..... [ ..... ]
[ C-4 ] ..... [ F-4 ] ..... [ A-4 ]
The 4 after each note letter indicates which octave on a piano keyboard they are in and `note-off` commands (not shown) are used to dictate note length. Pattern command columns are also used within each track for internal sampler effects and VST automations.
I find this an extremely efficient way of working which really comes into its own when programming drum rhythms.
The sound of renoise is as good as the samples or VSTs that you use. Renoise comes with a built in sampler (player) which plays 32 bit wavs , oggs and mp3`s with a third party dll. The usefulness of this over a VST sampler is the extra renoise effects you can use in the patterns. Obviously for different sampler functionalities that you may need either not yet in renoise or for different file formats you can use a VST option.
Also some standard DSP effects come bundled with renoise. Very useful to have although I find myself using VSTs more these days (so many excellent freebies about now).
The features are well implemented in renoise. Good VST/I automation in the way of envelopes and pattern commands.
In the latest version there are now right click menus, a new (much better) pattern arranger, drag and drop and a whole range of cleaned up interface and work-flow improvements. It should be mentioned that renoise is not developed to a `do everything` application yet. Some of the larger features still to be implemented include audio recording, track freezing and PDC. If any of these are vital to your music composition or work style then renoise may only be more viable as a single host in the future for you. Less major additions include a piano-roll and MIDI export. MIDI import has been implemented in the latest version 1.5.
The documentation is concise and clear. For anything not covered there is a new wiki http://tutorials.renoise.com/ and an active forum where other users are more than happy to answer questions and queries. Having used trackers for years the learning curve was not steep.
For presets there are tutorial songs bundled with renoise which show you the basic functionality of the program and should get you up and running fairly quickly.
The support for renoise is excellent. I mailed the main developer once over a song file that was not working correctly and was mailed back the same night.
For future releases you can also vote and request features. In the latest version I have seen features that I have personally requested along with lots of other features other users have asked for. Very happy with both sides of this support.
With Value for money this is where renoise gets huge bonus points. It is around 50 euros which is excellent value and cheaper than the VSTs I have purchased to use in it. I would have been happy paying more for this program but was very happy to be paying in this price region :)
Renoise is very stable now with the release of version 1.5. Any crashes or freezes I have had with this version seem to be VST related and more to do with me overloading my systems RAM/swap file with a particular rompler. As the support is excellent any problems you may run into are dealt with via the forum or e-mail support.
Over-all extremely happy with renoise as my host. Trackers may not be for everybody but this program has kept me very happily composing! |
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Last edited by 4tune on 8th April 2005
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