Hello everybody, I want to start with this thing about tracking, and I have a netbook pretty old (Intel Atom 1.6GHz and 2gb ram). So I was wondering if its better start with milkytracker or with renoise only using samples and a few of effects if the CPU allows me. Early or later I will move to Renoise thats why I’m asking this.
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Welcome friend to the forum.I don’t know if that atom cpu could handle Renoise do try it thought.Milkytracker could do fine but if you are going to be serious about making music invest in a better pic/laptop.
Always worthwhile trying out the demo
Renoise runs here on a really slow IBM Ideapad 10-2 with Intel Atom N280.
You should not have any problems.
However, it has many features that can seem confusing on a small screen, especially at first
I tried it also with an atom. It works, but using heavy VSTs might cause problems.
The software open and run smooth, and sure for vst maybe is not possible but I plan to use it for learn the programm at least using only samples like a traditional tracker, or maybe milky if you say is not hard to migrate later to renoise.
Bear in mind you can download archived releases from the backstage area as well as demo versions:
https://www.renoise.com/archived-releases
I was running 2.7 on a 2005 Macboook Pro G4 with a 1.7Ghz PowerPC processor and 2GB of RAM until a couple of years ago, so I think this release would work very well on a netbook.
Also, last time I checked you can download archived versions of some plug-ins which work better on lower spec or older machines (obviously you would need an old license), for example:
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It doesn’t have much difference. The smaller demo projects plays well in both of them…(3.1 and 2.7), but the problem is with the news projects from the 3.1. It cant play thoses. Anyway I think for practice its enough.
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I like this idea too.
trying to find out what can be done on just a netbook with renoise.
small and portable, affordable…push it to its limit with single cycle samples and native effects, no vsti.
these soundpacks should be ideal for your quest
milkytracker is great…basically its fastracker2…like renoise with no effects…you can import your .xm songs into renoise later…
Just go straight to the renoise if it can run smooth on your netbook.
As a netbook producer you may be interested in Adlibtracker2? (check the SDL version)
can render to .wav, dont need a DOS computer with OPL3 sound card…has ‘true BPM’…complicated to learn, keyboard only controls
Oh I didn’t know about Adlib, I’ll take it a look.
And yeah, the idea was make music in any quality (chiptune or more rich instruments) from the netbook if possible. I have a lot of milky’s modules (that are not mine haha) that sound very well, but maybe the techniques they used are old (i.e only one sample with some guitars strums or piano chords, or the reverb effect). I don’t know, im totally newbie. Thanks for answer.
Obviously, when you use such a weak cpu, you are limited in some regards. For example you cannot use as many effects, you cannot use certain VSTs, you cannot make songs with too many tracks, quality mixing and mastering will be very difficult to impossible, …
I think renoise scales very well, with weak machines you would use it like a classic tracker, while stronger machines will allow using more effects and plugins, and make more complex arrangements.
As its been said, I’d just give the renoise demo some months/weeks, and see if it is alright with your machine. Just use it, and you’ll see if it works for you. Also important is if the small screen works for you with renoise. You don’t loose any work using the demo, you can save/load, you just cannot render the music or use asio, etc.
I wouldn’t set too much into milkytracker unless you are for nostalgia feeling…it is thought to let the ft2 scene live on, not for making music with modern standards.
Remember, when you make a simple tune with renoise on the netbook, you can still take it to some more powerful machine and then go wild on the effects/mixing/mastering. Also you learn using a software that is capable of more advanced production techniques, while simple progs like milkytracker/adlibtracker are limited in their purposes.
I once tried using an old netbook, but I found the screen too small and the cpu too weak. Then buying a cheap used 14" laptop with stronger processor did the trick, more screen space, better keyboard, cpu strong enough for my demands on the road…
try downloading the MONOWAVE and ENSONIQS80 soundpacks.
They are single cycle instruments (very short looped waveforms - similar to chiptune style instruments) already loaded into renoise songs, tuned, looped and ready to use.
If you can load the MONOWAVE renoise song on a netbook, thats 256 nice chiptune style instruments already…on a netbook you can probably load any number of those into a song to write chiptune (256 maximum number of instruments, can put more than one of them inside an instrument)…many timbres to combine in lush chords
after that you will probably even be able to use filters, bitcrush a bit of delay and reverb here and there…those looped waveforms are so tiny in terms of memory and RAM usage. Should be fine on a netbook.
If you can load the monowave song with the 256 instruments please let me know.
I dont have a netbook but Im enthusiastic about the idea of using renoise on a netbook because you can write a quality piece of music with only simple instruments, custom envelopes, pattern effect commands, even filter automation, a little reverb etc. (go nuts with littel melodies inside pitch envelopes).
Id be interested to know how far a netbook will go running renoise.
Its a great idea, something like that netbook idea a computer thats cute and small, affordable, portable, replacable…yet still one of the best sampler sequencers possible running on it…and if you can get the hang of adlibtracker 2 in addition to renoise, you will surely enjoy adding the occasional crazy FM sounds into your compositions.
heres some renoise netbook action
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@OopsIFly Thanks, I’ll start doing simple stuff.
@Garrett_Wang I will try with those soundpacks and share the results later. I enjoy the portability of the netbook more than anything haha.
Even the ‘simple stuff’ of just coming up with an idea in music composition is fiendishly difficult…well that’s what I’ve discovered. Hopefully you’ll find it easier, good luck 
Also there is some percussive samples over in this compo thread from @U4iC → [H445] MC505 - KitMenus Samplepack w/ Competition
mc505silly.xrns (68.1 KB)
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Nice track there! Hope to hear your final submission! This definitely shows the creativity I was looking for. If you want to post it as a reply on the competition page as an example to others go for it.
@yusuke - Feel free to join the competition as well, it’s mainly just for fun, any daw/tracker of your choice. Even if its your first try. Sometimes after years of producing music people fall into the same routines, and creativity gets lost along the way. New artists don’t have these self-imposed roadblocks and that is where the best of idea’s are born. Best of luck in your music journey!
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@U4iC Thanks for the inv. if I do something interesting maybe haha.
@4tey It’s sounds nice, I like that type of chiptune more smooth and not so “robotic” like other ones xD. I Could play that with 60% of CPU. Interesting.
@Garrett_Wang I could open the monowave and play the instruments with chiptune samples, but there is a vst that I dont have that show me an error.
The another file (SQ80) opens but it doesn’t sound at all.