Absolutely fair argument, 100%. And much respect to you and all Renoise users and varying uses thereof.
Sample based composition came late for me so I guess that’s why I’m more interested in the Renoise native stuff of late (my background is playing instruments, recording to tape / digital recorders, learning in studios etc). Also I grew up poor too so had to compromise a lot and just be creative with limitations haha, I guess that had an influence.
Also I’m always impressed with minimalist approaches although I allow that would include a project with a low track count and only few VSTs but lots of automation and creative mixing (etc etc). It’s really interesting to think about actually.
I remember being blown away when I first heard that To Record Only Water For 10 Days was a home recording done on an 8 track tape with just an SM58 for the acoustic elements or something.
Much respect to you as a singer and guitarist using Renoise.
I was a kid when I started making music, so I was poor, too. Limitations were normal, so I had to be creative to get something cool out of a 4 track tracker and 8bit sample quality. But why should I continue that way if there is so much more nowadays? The creativity is still there, but the limitations are gone.There’s no reason for voluntary limitations. I want it all.
First one I made. I think it’s alright; bit repetitive but nonetheless I find I can listen to it for hours and hours without it getting to boring and whatnot so I guess that’s good.
I just made a folder last night of 161 generative loops (8/22-12/22) that have (almost) all native plug-ins – altho some in the series use Glitch2 from Illformed.
anyhow, I’m excited to share them with anyone who is interested in checking them out.
would someone recommend a good way to host and post these?
… or is this a bad idea and should I post only one example?
I would like to get into a groove of trading xrns files with people on here. seems like a fun idea
How big is the file? I think if it’s under 2mb you can upload on the forum. Dunno if that would be too tedious to break it down… This thread or the Renoise Mutant Sound and Processing Department thread are good candidates, imo.
Thank you! Used some new mixing and mastering techniques for this one, and thought it came out sounding pretty good, although I think the balance is a little off for some of the elements. Will do another draft if it makes it to an album release
Excellent mix confirmed.
And I gotta say, your samples are great, too. Maybe it’s kinda weird, but I like especially the sound of your hihats. The only thing I don’t like is the “wind chime” at the beginning. You’re using it in every track you make, aren’t you?
Enlighten me! What kind of “new techniques” have you found?
Sometimes repetitiveness is exactly what’s needed. I like it. I just think that almost 10 minutes is a little too long for a loop. 5 minutes max would be the better choice imho.
I did mid/side on the master for mono below 200Hz (I usually just HP everything, but this tightened up some stray frequencies, I think) and used a new, simplified mastering chain after bouncing the mix. Less is more. I also mixed everything up fresh from zero once the song was done, which I don’t usually do, and it seemed to make a big difference in the clarity of the various elements, so I think that will be my standard practice going forward. Gave me some fresh ears on the project.
The closed hihats I moved using the track delay by about -7 or -11 ms for this track, which I think helped their transients to pop a little more in the mix. Will be trying this technique again in the future. I like how it gave the whole track a bit more of a “driving” feel.
I hear you on the “wind chime.” I did use a similar voice in the intro of my last track (fungal death shroud). It’s kind of a staple sound design element in a lot of darkpsy type shit, so it’s a good reminder not to over-rely on first instinct sound design
When you say no plugins I’m assuming you mean no vst plugins? Like renoises built in devices are ok? This is all done with samples, as a general rule I don’t use vst instruments or any effects that don’t come in the box, renoise is plenty powerful so yeah. I actually have completely different bass samples for each note a lot of the time, switching between moog, generic sine waves and a real bass that I recorded a bunch of mutes and slides.
The final master mix was normalized in audacity though as I don’t like to have the renoise mix super hot. Any feedback would be appreciated, sound engineering and mixing isn’t actually my strongest suit.
Modular, one hand drawn impulse sample based setup - Digital Rain. Trying to simulate the sound of rain using Delays, Reverb, LFO modulations, and Y effect in Phrases. DigitalGlitchRain2023.xrns (7.6 KB)
