thanks for the replies - I can’t find any tabs with ‘gainer’ written on them - is this an input level control or a post-recording option such as the sample volume (shown as db -/+). It’s amazing there isn’t a simple level slider and my soundcard is already at full volume so the only way is down and I need more volume to ensure the best audio capture.
Thanks MattD and Sokoban for the helpful guidance - I’ve discovered the gainer effect and sure enough it does increase volume effectively however I realise that the software has no specific input gain to optimize levels on recording for example a bass-guitar. I’m buying an external audient ID14 sound interface and hopefully that will give the necessary gain (via the usual controls on the device).
I think to do what you want you’ll need to use the gain knob on your audio interface… all of the solutions so far are about changing the signal gain_after_ it’s already been recorded.
What interface are you using to record into the computer?
Hi Pat - yes I agree with you - I’m using an internal soundcard at the moment but will be getting an Audient ID14 interface soon which ought to do the trick regarding gain control on external instrument input
Look into getting a preamp for your instrument. Put it between your instrument and the soundcard. Guitars and bass’ have very low signal and are designed that way. If you have an amp that has an “direct out” / line out etc you can use that. Check the manual, different manufacturers name it differently, make sure that it puts out a signal that is designed for mixing consoles/soundcard. DONT connect a speaker output from amp to your soundcard. You can get small preamps/DI boxes that aren’t expensive and comes in pedal form if you are not up to using your amp, or your amp doesn’t provide the option. When I record guitars I either use a cheap line6 device to feed the soundcard or I mic up a real cabinet (which doesn’t always make the neighbours too happy. lol) Yes you can boost the signal and put all sorts of gain and compressor etc, but you will also introduce a lot of unwanted noise to the sound. Also turn of your wifi, leave your phone in another room, angle your pickups away from things that interfere. You strings/pickups basicly works like a giant antenna. Recording a high quality signal at the correct level to beginwith, is the prefered method, you can always screw up your sound later in renoise, you just have a lot more to work with
Normally you would want to level in whatever you record so the raw peaks won’t go into the red (no clipping) but have some more or less comfortable headroom. This should be done with some sort of mixer that is somewhere in the space from after the microphone to the audio interface, monitoring the peaks as they would get digitally recorded. Further steps are subject to mixing the sounds. If your headroom needs to be very large, then gainers can ofc be used to bring the audio into comparable level of other tracks, but you will need to take care of the peaks then somewhere in the chain (for example with proper use of saturation plugs or limiters) before stuff hits the master out, else you will have scratchy sounds for the clipping peaks.
If I understood this right your problem is that the slap bass is much louder in the slaps than in the mellower picking. That is a normal trait of especially clean slap bass. And a well known challenge in mixing. You can try googling it, it is really one common problem, I remember at least 2 mixing faqs I just had on my screen where the slap bass was choosen as one of the more extreme examples when it came to bringing tracks to even level for the mix. Solutions mostly involve use of compressors and some equalisation, but needs to be very fine tuned to level out the bass so both slapped and picked notes can be heard well and with impact in the mix.
