@ Transcender, No probs glad it was helpful. If you`ve got any questions with XT, post them in the thread I linked to in my earlier post and I will try to answer them if I can.
IMO the best thing is to have all kind of batch processing here.
Different options like Automatic split per pattern,
and or markers per beat and pattern in the sampleeditor…
but then we are talking more about audiotracks which is a whole new concept with streaming from harddrive etc, and this is of course nothing for v1.8.
The most important thing is to be able to Start Audio recording in pattern. Not stop it.
To keep it extremly simple for now I think a marker in the pattern editor will do.
To keep workflow at maximum I also think you should ba able to record without going to the sampleeditor each time. You should stay in the pattern editor as much as possible.
Lets say you are in the pattern editor and wanna start recording from Line 16.
Scroll to line 16,
then just press a hotkey (like alt+r or something)
Then a red marker will be set in the pattern editor:
Now press play and when song position comes to Line 16 it will start recording.
The recording will stop when you stop the song.
I think this method has a nice and simple workflow. And it should be easy to code and would not change the current interface?
You will also not be forced to go into sample editor all the time.
Now there are a few more ‘issues’.
What happen next after the recording?
The simplest way would be that the rec-marker will be disabled after one go (after you have pressed stop song the marker will turn gray)
If you gonna rec again you would have to go to line 16 again and set rec-marker again.
Another solution could be that the same rec-marker would reset (rearm) at the same position no matter on what line you are currently on.
If you gonna change rec-marker position you would have to press the hotkey a second time.
To disable an activated rec-marker without recording anything, then simply press stop button or press alt+r a third time (will remove rec-marker).
But the very best solution (at least most flexible) for this would mean some changes in the interface.
We could have a ‘Audio Record Arm Button’. Just like the Edit button for patterneditor.
You set the rec-marker with hotkey, and arm/disarm the rec-marker with this new ‘Audio Record Arm Button’.
Another idea is that this ‘Audio Record Arm Button’ could also be meltet together with the current edit on/off button.
Then you set marker, turn edit mode on, then play/record. To hear result withouth rerecord you must remember to turn off edit mode before playing, if not you would record again and overwrite previous rec.
Or another option is that the rec-marker will always be auto-disarmed by play position (when the recording starts). So you must rearm it before each rec.
Or you could also simply remove the rec-marker before playing.
(alt+r would be a toggle between set rec-marker and remove rec-marker.
I talked about this method with a friend that records quite a lot… And he would just hate it if edit mode and Audio-Arming mode was on the same button (Esc).
He says he is on edit mode all the time…But I’m not sure what will be best…
Ok… I know… lot of text about very little… but to sum up the very easiest way IMO:
Alt+R will insert and arm a ‘start-recording-from-here-red-line’.
Then you hit play and when playposition hits rec-line the recording will start.
The rec-marker will then also be disarmed (grayed out) by the song position.
When you press stop song the recording also stop.
End of story…
Oh and btw… To show that a rec-line is set and armed and if a new button is not an option, then the Instrument In instrument list could also turn Red.
Pysj, I like your style. 
me too.
BTW… When do we get a count-in functionality? Pretty please? 
Your computer has to be a bit old Bantai… 
I think mine is old and slow (AMD 1800 with 1.5Gig ram) but this sounds extreme 
I would try to see if there are PCI xpress souncards… they might be worth your while
(Like the Delta 1010 Rack comes with a PCI-x interface)
Another approach used by creamware samplers which I’d love to see in renoise:
“Listen & record” button.
Threshold parameter.
Pre-record parameter.
User clicks on “listen & record” button, and sampler begins monitoring input signal. If the input signal exceeds threshold in terms of level, recording begins, including a number of milliseconds of signal from before the threshold was triggered if a pre-record parameter is set (to avoid chopping off the attack of snares, for instance).
I really like this approach because no timing is required on the user’s part.
I disagree. You left out the $10,000,000 dollar one:
4) It’s much better workflow to have a monolithic sampler/sequencer/audioeditor, because all three tasks are intimately interrelated if you’re doing sample-based work.
The main reason I love renoise is that it’s a sampler, sequencer and audio editor all in one, requiring no flipping between applications or plugins, and no file save/open/convert format stuff. It also allows for tricks like rendering to sample slot or applying FX to sample, or directly manipulating sample offset. This has only got better with recording.
Honestly, I never would use the Record-Feature. Usually I’d use Reaper or Kristal to put my “Playback” and the vocals together. Sampling is usually done in Audacity which has a bad GUI but works stable as hell…
But those apps don’t allow you to apply the Fx chains you can set up in Renoise on your signal.
It is sometimes very nice to have on-the-fly effects applied to the input stream.
That’s true. I think, it’s just a matter of preferences. As Renoise has this feature now, I’d probably use it some time but at this time, I do not need it for me.
Considering the fx-chains: I add the effects to the dry signal afterwards. As my ASIO-Drivers are bugged as whatever, I also do not have the balls to try that out.
Just understand that many people simply don’t want the hazzle, also it has kept me away from experimenting.
Hello,
Would you disable shortcut customization? It isn’t that hard to learn a new set of shortcuts? … 
From my point of view (in addition to what has been said), the important thing is not that the built in sample editor can now record audio.
The real improvement is that Renoise now supports ASIO inputs! I don’t know about you, but before Renoise 1.8 it was very difficult to trigger an external synth with Renoise and have it’s sound processed by vsts. Or, at least, not without loosing some control and flexibility.
There are probably many programs that let you record audio and apply FX. But synths are multitimbral. With your solution, this means that I would have 4 projects with different plugin chains (or have them written on paper) for my 4 part multimbral synth (if I want to keep the exact plugins I used for the takes). No, not for me! If I use a Delay and change the tempo, I would have to re-record everything!
Avoiding such work is not what I call “being lazy”.
It’s a huge step towards using a hardware synth like if it was a VSTi… and I like the idea!
Have a nice day!
Breakthru
Recording in external application is real workflow killer. Sometimes I would like to record some simple phrase, so I had to launch sample editor/recorder, set it up for recording, record, save, load it to renoise, route it to FX, just to find out that it’s not quite what I wanted, so I had to do the whole procedure again. Not to mention that my soundcard can run only one audio application if I use asio, so I must have two soundcards in my computer, double drivers etc.etc. Or switch renoise to DX before launching recorder…
Direct recording is a HUGE feature for me.
OK, given the amount of pro-arguments and/or explanations of workflow-issues, I must confess that I now get it fully. It is quite obvious that a recording feature with proper syncing or auto-trim capabilities would greatly enhance the workflow for many users. Now we can only hope that the developer(s) finds the time and motivation to implement some form of syncing feature, given that it would increase the value of the software substantially. (That would, for example, make Renoise a new kind of sampler actually.)
If this happens, I will personally write some major articles about it and send it to all my friends in the music magazine industry. I will, in effect, become a volontary Renoise missionary.
Just adding my “I agree” with the need for proper syncing + auto-trim capabilities. Just what I need and hope for, and I’ll wait for it and use whatever alternative method is needed in the mean time.
Glad you see our point, Transcender.
I really like Pysj’s suggestion on being able to set a marker in the pattern view to start recording.
One of the biggest reasons I moved away from using a tracker to record music was the hassle and sometimes problem of using a second application to record from a microphone. I’ve tried a few of the modern commercial recording apps, Ableton Live happens to be my favorite so far, but none match the control over the pattern that a tracker has. It’s something I really miss, being able to look at a pattern in this way and visualize what’s going on in context of the entire recording. Many modern apps allow you to edit the midi pattern of a single instrument at a time, often using “drawing” type tools like a pencil and eraser. It’s a different way of doing things and perhaps you can come up with different ideas this way but I like being able to see all my tracks at the same time while I’m editing.
Anyways, getting back to the audio recording feature. I’ve always felt the ideal situation would be for me to be able to highlight an area in the pattern editor on a specific track. This area could be highlighted in red by holding down a certain key while you click the starting and end points in the pattern. This would represent the area that was armed for recording.
Once I stopped the playback the song would automatically go back to my starting point and the highlighted area would turn grey. If I messed up I could right click to re-arm the area or just hit the spacebar to hear what I just recorded.
This is pretty similar to what Pysj decribed so far. After listening though, I’d want to highlight a different (usually) smaller section of the clip I just recorded and only keep that as the final sample, or choose to re-record on that area. In almost all cases I start recording a few beats before the “hot zone” and stop recording a few beats afterwards, then I end up going back and trimming off the beginning and end. It could be done with the same key held down as before and then clicking the start and end points.
If at this point I want to re-record, I right click on the grey area and it turns red again. If I want to keep what I’ve selected I double click on the grey area and it confirms and trims out that part of the sample.
Perhaps someone could suggest a better method but I’ve yet to find a program that has this type of functionality with the ease of the steps I suggested. It would speed up the way that I personally record in a big way.
It is time consuming definetely
Click record button
vs
click show desktop->start cooledit (or anything else)->skipe the tip of day->press record button->set samplerate->press ok
Mybe it’s not THAT much time, but when I have Idea in my head (like a melody or a precussion) I want to dash straight in the keyboard to hear it as immediate as possible, instead of clicking through various obstacles until I finally hear what I want.