Renoise - The Second Coming For Trackers
Are you, like me, a bit too lazy to learn how to use new programs to arrange and compose your music in? I've wanted to move on from Fast Tracker for a couple of years but I've not had the time or energy to start all over again with a new tracker or linear sequencer. The fact that some MIDI-based programs require a bit of external gear that can be quite expensive makes the task of switching setups even less appealing. Of course there are other trackers to choose from. I have personally tested Mad Tracker, Buzz and the likes out, but didn't find them suitable. In fact, Mad Tracker did nothing but drive me mad due to some, in my opinion, retarded ways of getting things done. Most trackers with the tagline of being just like Fast Tracker don't live up to that in most aspects.
Then I was informed about Renoise (former NoiseTrekker) on a forum. I was pretty eager to test something new out, as Fast Tracker wouldn't run with my SB Audigy and due to some updates I've done for the Audigy I can no longer install my PCI128. What I found in Renoise was pretty much all I had wanted to find. The sequencing is almost identical to Fast Tracker, but with more effect options and features, and the instrument handling is also very similar to FT. At first glance it might not appear to be that much different from NoiseTrekker, but apart from the GUI everything else is new.
"We both (Taktik and Phazze) used Noisetrekker before. After the final version of Noisetrekker 2.0 was released and Arguru decided to stop the development and make the sources public, we both felt that this software was above other trackers but needed further improvements. That's how we started", Phazze of the Renoise development team explains. "I started working on it in December 2000. When I released the first update to version 2.0 (that was ntk2.1) I received a mail from Taktik. He had started working on improving Noisetrekker before me (about 4-5 months earlier) but never released it. We started working together and after 2 years and a few Noisetrekker releases (3.01, 3.21, 3.22) we decided to release it as Renoise, which doesn't feature any of old Noisetrekker's code."
In general you COULD say that it's an extension of NoiseTrekker, supporting XM and MOD-files for import as well as XI-instruments, which is a good thing since I for one have an extensive sample archive in XI-format. However, it doesn't support these file-formats when it comes to saving them to disk. It has its own file-format, namely RNM for songs and RNI for instruments.
Renoise comes with the "standard" real-time effects like EQ, reverb, delay, distortion, flanger, compressor etc. but also allows you to import VSTi v2.0 (softsynths) and VST v2.0 plugins (external effects). The ASIO support can, if you have the right hardware (i.e. a card with ASIO multi I/O feature), make it possible to route tracks to hardware channels. The internal effects can be controlled with envelopes for every track/channel. If you don't have any experience with VSTi or VST plugins, have no fear. Renoise alone is a very powerful tracker, and with Fast Tracker experience you can pretty much start using it at once.
So now you ask, what's the catch? Well, there's one free version and one registered one. The free version doesn't support ASIO drivers and saving to WAVE-files. Not all have ASIO supporting soundcards, but not being able to save to WAVE with the free version might scare a few people from using it. As there are no external players for the RNM-module format it's quite hard to get people to listen to it if you can't save to WAVE.
The registration fee is €50, which in my opinion is no overcharge for a software this competent, and that price includes free updates and technical support directly from the developers. This registration fee might make it harder for Renoise to have a big impact, when there are free trackers out there.
"I'd say that most trackers that are worth using are not free", Phazze comments. "It includes famous FastTracker 2 ($20). For Impulse Tracker 2.14 there was add-on extension called 'ITWAV.DRV' (wave writer) which was $30. I could name a few more new trackers, but I just felt like giving an example of (very often) wrong opinion of FT2 and IT as 'free' trackers. And last but not least, the original Soundtracker 1.0 from Amiga was a commercial product. Anyway, when we compare free trackers to Renoise it is easy to see that Renoise inherits one of the most popular GUIs (FT2) from older trackers (and doesn't purely clone it but adds many new features into it) and is probably the easiest to use. Taktik and me never felt 'at home' with any of these free trackers. I tried them all, and personally, I think they are simply too complicated to use."
I, as a tracker, must agree on the last part. Renoise is very easy to use. Pretty much, as I said before, just as easy as Fast Tracker. "Many people claim that when they encountered Renoise the first time, they could do stuff they had used to do before instantly! Also worth mentioning, Renoise comes with detailed help that gives complete reference and that is not a case with many free trackers."
This is of course no coincidence. The development team worked very hard to get an easy-to-use software and listened carefully (and is still listening) to the users' requests.
As most trackers these days get more and more competent, they suck more juice and CPU. So I asked the Renoise team if they thought modules as a music-form had a future in demos, or if it would be MP3 only in the future (as it pretty much already is today).
"MP3 surely offers the advantage of a single sound file but its disadvantage is its large filesize. On the other hand the latest trackers can eat much CPU-power and that is also not very good for demos (which require speed). Another thing, even modules today (that use 16-bit samples for example) are not very small, though most of them are smaller than average MP3. The solution as I see it would be simplified standalone player that demos could make use of, but also featuring highly compressed samples (i.e. MP3). A combination of both without some heavy DSP processing would satisfy both worlds - fast playback for demos that require speed, and small file sizes for Internet distribution of demos."
Wise words indeed, but Phazze also says that even though they'd like to see Renoise modules spinning in demos some day, Renoise is not mainly a format with demos in mind. "We cannot neglect the professional side of Renoise for which many users register and want to use Renoise to produce music not only for demos!"
So, to sum things up, I'd really recommend people who used to, or still use Fast Tracker 2 to try Renoise out. I'm not making all this up. I really love this program and I think it deserves the recognition. It's simple as the old trackers, still is very much improved when it comes to playback and effects. All a tracker could ever ask for.
For more information I suggest you head over to www.renoise.com and see for yourself, because after all I'm not the one to tell you what you'll find great and what not. But I, and many with me, think this is the second coming and exactly what the tracker community needs to have a future.