I’ll be honest – I bloody love the way Renoise has taught me to use a sampler as a massive, infinitely flexible synth.
But I’m running into problems using it live.
Do you know of any hardware sampler/synth that is comparable in functionality - lots of choices of waveforms/samples, heaps of internal modulation options, many splits possible etc? (That is actually useable and doesn’t cost eleventy billion dollars?)
The dream would be basically uploading Redux patches into a zero-latency keyboard module, sigh.
There are a ton of different samplers out there, dunno which come closest to Renoise/Redux, recently got a korg esx myself for outboard sample mangling, but it is a completely different way of working than with mouse & keyboard. What problems are you running in live with Renoise?
It’s not so much Renoise itself as the general hassles of trying to get a reliable, low-latency laptop setup… it’s surprising how often something that was absolutely fine at home just refuses to work onstage. (Inexplicable CPU spikes. Power supply issues. Interface decides not to work. Etc.) If I could just use a keyboard that had the instruments + settings + phrases saved it would be a beautiful thing.
It’s not so much Renoise itself as the general hassles of trying to get a reliable, low-latency laptop setup… it’s surprising how often something that was absolutely fine at home just refuses to work onstage. (Inexplicable CPU spikes. Power supply issues. Interface decides not to work. Etc.)
I’ve tried most of these things too + humidity, vibrations, heat and the occasional spilled drink. It really would be great to have a reliable computer that somehow was protected against most of these things without having to pay for military grade equipment.
I’m pretty sure that if we pooled our resources together we could come up with some nice hardware+software recommendations.
I am no linux expert myself, but I think that’s the most promising system would be some variety of linux + low-latency audio card. After all, linux by far offers the greatest degree of customization - but arguably, also the worst driver support.
When I saw thishttp://moddevices.com/ I was briefly excited, I thought 'Hey! maybe I could run Redux on this (a Linux-based plug-in host in a pedal) but then I realised it doesn’t do VSTs, and maybe doesn’t have enough RAM for sample-based stuff. Anyway, something similar would be grand.
I’m sure it is possible to get a good reliable live laptop setup, it just costs a lot. To the point where I think, ‘well, I could buy a very good sampling keyboard and never worry about software updates or compatibility…’ But of course there are so many advantages to software. It’s just frustrating trying to bridge the gap between what works in the studio and making things work live.
E-Mu E4 Ultra series or the Ensoniq ASR-10 come to mind. The E4 has great filters (try any drum ‘n’ bass made in the late 90s, early 2000s) and tons of modulation. Here’s an example of a saw wave through the E4 Ultra.
You probably won’t have sample interpolation that can be as nice as Redux, but otherwise it can do everything Renoise can and some more. Sample start & loop modulation, for example.
The ASR-10 also has a ton of modulation, but there is a lack of resonant filters except for the Waveboy effects 24db filter, afaik. It can play transwaves, too. The thing definitely seems way ahead of its time.
Yeah I came to this thread to mention the ASR-10 also. Still have a fully working one I got in 2002 (rackmount version). If it had a tracker sequencer, it could go very far toward being a hardware version of Renoise. Closest thing I’ve used anyway, at least in “vintage” gear (little to no experience with more recent workstations, etc).
The MPC1000 sequencer is pretty close to a tracker-style sequencer…someone should build a non-hexadecimal tracker based on it.
One difference is that is does not display any empty lines ( positions with no events ). Its just a list of events.
Below is an image showing filter cutoff movement ( similar to tracker style effects column ) and velocity fade ( similar to tracker style velocity column ) every 8 ticks. There are 96 ‘ticks’ in a beat, so multiples of 3 ticks give you straight rhythms, while multiples of 4 ticks give you triplets.
It is a very nice system. A good way to do a tracker without using hexadecimal for anything.
Plus I think the building of an instrument is pretty similar to renoise multisampled instruments on mpc1000.
MPC1000 has the ‘16 levels’ pitchshift ( Maybe that feature is why MPC1000 was so expensive ).
Someone should rip the akai mpc1000 software code and get it running on custom firmware PSP or PS-vita. Looks pretty O.K for controlling with D-Pad and buttons…
It doesnt have the capabilities of the renoise phrase editor for complex tuplets though…Maybe renoise ( with its phrase editor ) is the most capable sequencer of all time ( keeping tuplets in mind ).
