tracker : skale or revisit ?

[sinkmusic]

Hello
everything is in the title.
I'm planning to use a tracker to create my tracks, but i don't know which one to prefer between Skale and Revisit.
Does anyone knows well one or both of them and have advice to give ?

[shamann]

Which do you like better? Try both out and see what you think. Revisit is still alpha, so keep in mind you are going to come across bugs and difficult bits.

[[ xerocreep ]]

I love the beauty of Skale, but wish it had a more modular approach like Buzz...

Skale definitely fits the old school tracker vibe though.

Just out of curiosity, have you tried Buzz?

[sinkmusic]

In fact, i was thinking of a friend a saw a few years ago working with FastTracker and making incredible things with a so damn cheap computer.
I wanted to get a little more into lofi/cheap music, and as i want to sequence 8bit-style gear, I wanted an old-school approach of sequencing (but i'm a little afraid of spending time to have a worse result than the one i oculd have with more modern and intuitive thinks like tracktion, fruityloops or Live4...) ;
In fact, i want to open a tracker inside of an audio/midi sequencer, to gather modern and old school things...
I Know Buzz a little, i had some modules in fruity loops, and quite liked it, but i did not get much more into it ; Maybe i should come back to it, it seems very modular and "open".

I think Skale is beautiful, if it is simple to use and can sequence external midi hardware, i'll give it a try anyway.

[[ xerocreep ]]

Oh, then you may want to look more into revisit. I don't think Skale syncs or opens in any other sequencer, but revist seems to be geared toward doing specifically that. I haven't ever played with it though, so couldn't really say much more...

I haven't really tracked much since modtracker...

[sinkmusic]

so i'd better try ReVisit ?
Thank you !

[dystonia_ek]

Oh, then you may want to look more into revisit. I don't think Skale syncs or opens in any other sequencer, but revist seems to be geared toward doing specifically that. I haven't ever played with it though, so couldn't really say much more...

I haven't really tracked much since modtracker...

The last Skale beta can be run as a VST (including sync if supported by the host). Not so stable yet, but hopefully it'll get there.

[audiojunkie]

Oh, then you may want to look more into revisit. I don't think Skale syncs or opens in any other sequencer, but revist seems to be geared toward doing specifically that. I haven't ever played with it though, so couldn't really say much more...

I haven't really tracked much since modtracker...

I think it does now. You may want to check on that.

[Yannick]

In fact, i want to open a tracker inside of an audio/midi sequencer, to gather modern and old school things...

Warning, shameless plug:
Have you tried MadTracker with ReWire?

[xylyx]

*sigh* The wait continues for a [stable] track that allows multitrack sequencing. I loved tracking and the only reason I stopped using them was due to the lack of multitracking...and 5 years on, the only one that still has this is Buzz and Aodix, one of which isn't that stable and the other of which I cannot get comfortable with the GUI. I bought Renoise and it seemed that that would develop the feature I longed for, but alas, development is so slow that I doubt this will happen in the next year or two (if ever).

Ah well...

[funkadil]

Buzz isn't unstable, it is the machines. Though it is almost impossible to get a good setup that is completely stable.

[allofdrab]

In fact, i want to open a tracker inside of an audio/midi sequencer, to gather modern and old school things...

Sometimes I like to do things the other way around.
Opening EnergyXT (and its sequencer feature) as a VST inside Renoise has worked quite well for me.

[north_paul]

I´ve been using Buzz for a year, don´t really like the "native" instruments that come with the massive pack. Buzz plays most of my favorite VST´s that I´ve found all over the web well with Polac. I tried the latest Psycle-tracker. Not as many good features as in Buzz, but really good support for external VST´s. The sound of elsewhere implanted instruments is -dare I say?- better.

I´m a tracker addict and appreciate all hints of good freeware trackers with VST support.

[djdorian]

I've been using Buzz for a year, don't really like the "native" instruments that come with the massive pack. Buzz plays most of my favorite VST's that I've found all over the web well with Polac. I tried the latest Psycle-tracker. Not as many good features as in Buzz, but really good support for external VST's. The sound of elsewhere implanted instruments is -dare I say?- better.

I'm a tracker addict and appreciate all hints of good freeware trackers with VST support.

No doubt that for "high budget, pro-sounding" stuff, VSTs generally have a higher average level of quality and variety when compared to the native Buzz plugins. But, in its defense, many of those native Buzz plugins have a character to them that is hard to find elsewhere.

That being said, since I now write music that is constantly making use of acoustic instruments, I have found using SFZ (via Polac VST wrapper in buzz) or specialized "sampler/rompler/sample-based synthesis" acoustic VSTi plugins to be an absolute necessity!

I use Renoise far more often than Buzz, nowadays. One strength Buzz has over Renoise is its simple but powerful routing and mixing options. Both progs complement one-another, and when you add external VSTis to the mix, you can come up with great results.

Generally speaking, Buzz is better at complex routing, mixing, mastering, and sound-mangling.

Renoise is better at quick, efficient, sophisticated, professional, (especially acoustic) composition, especially when using multiple instruments! This can be attributed to Renoise's more intuitive, efficient, and flexible multi-track interface. Renoise has the additional benefit of looking gorgeous, using the "tab" concept in the most elegant fashion, and kicking ass with its native CPU freezing ability.

What both of them could use are:

* Sheet music GUI (preferably in ADDITION to the tracker GUI.)

* Ability to use "markers" and "cue-sheet" views within the sheet-music GUI.

* High-Resolution, native audio mastering utilities, either loaded as seperate plugins within the host, or available from a tab within the hosts' main windows.

* Various other features, but I don't want to sound too picky.

[oblagon]

*sigh* The wait continues for a [stable] track that allows multitrack sequencing. I loved tracking and the only reason I stopped using them was due to the lack of multitracking...and 5 years on, the only one that still has this is Buzz and Aodix, one of which isn't that stable and the other of which I cannot get comfortable with the GUI. I bought Renoise and it seemed that that would develop the feature I longed for, but alas, development is so slow that I doubt this will happen in the next year or two (if ever).

Ah well...

Dream Station 2 has what you're looking for. It's still in closed to the public (a mistake on their part) beta though.