In the Fx column, what is the 18xx effect?

Hi,

Right now I am just taking a look at the Wobble tutorial in Renoise 3.0.

I see, in the Fx column, a list of 18xx commands:

18D0

18E0

18C0

18B0

18F0

I understand that these are supposed to correspond to the automation done with Hydra. I’m just not sure why the number 18 is used. When I try fiddling with sliders in Hydra, on the bottom bar I see things like “Pattern Effect —> 414C.” So apparently this doesn’t correspond to Hydra?

Thanks!

Hi, the code is pretty easy.

Command format XYFF (ie your first “18D0”) -

X = device number (1 = first dsp device in track)

Y = parameter number (8 = the eigth parameter)

D0 = parameter value in hex 0…255 = 0.0…1.0 (D0 = 208 in decimal, i.e. 0.815686275)

The message shown in the status bar just gives the pattern command for current value touched with the mouse, you could enter it into the pattern (or right click the slider) to make a pattern automation of the state.

Thanks! That helps.

The only thing that isn’t clear is the “8.” It is supposed to correspond to the 8th parameter within the device, right? When I right-click on the Speed LFO’s “custom” button, which is the parameter in question, the bottom line says “Pattern effect —> 1704.”

If it said “Pattern effect —> 18xx,” that would make more sense.

Also, is there a handy way to know which element of your device corresponds to which parameter number? So in the case of Speed LFO, how do I know which slider is what?

One other thing I don’t understand in this demo is: there is a lot programmed into the Hydra, but I don’t see any of those slider automations turn up in the Fx column. I only see the 18xx commands. Seems a bit sparse for all that is going on, even if Hydra is responsible for multiple automations.

I see, in the Fx column, a list of 18xx commands

  • 1 refers to the 1st device in the chain, which is the LFO.
  • 8 refers to the 8th parameter in the LFO, which is Reset.
  • XX refers to the parameter value, which for Reset can be anything from 00 to FF, to change the current phase/position of the LFO cycle.
    In that particular demo song (which I made), I’m resetting the custom LFO to various fixed points on the envelope, which correspond to specifically programmed speeds that make the wobble sync to musical timings.

You already know about the status bar. This is useful to check when you’re editing the parameter values, to see exactly what they refer to.

You can also check the FX menu in the Pattern Editor Control Panel, to see a list of available commands:

6579 renoise-parameter-fx-menu.png

there is a lot programmed into the Hydra, but I don’t see any of those slider automations turn up in the Fx column

The Speed LFO controls the speed of the Shape LFO.

The Shape LFO drives the Input of the Hydra, which in turn controls the Gainer gain and the Filter cutoff frequency.

The Key Tracker is triggered whenever a note plays in the track, which in turn resets the position of the Shape LFO back to the beginning — This makes sure that each wobble is starting precisely when a note plays.

In general, it looks more complicated than it really is. You’ll get the hang of it soon enough :slight_smile:

Thanks dblue! That makes sense now.

I can see the cursor moving throughout the song from one speed to the next in the envelope you graphed. So for the custom speeds you graphed, how do you find the value to program? When I click the points, I get a percentage. I guess my question is just…how do you get it to reset to the specific points along the way?

Thanks! Sorry for the silly beginner questions :slight_smile:

how do you find the value to program? When I click the points, I get a percentage.

The custom LFO points are always displayed as a percentage, and on top of that the final output value is also influenced by the Offset and Amplitude parameters, so it can be a bit confusing at first. Just one of those weird things you’ll hopefully get used to in time.

Programming the LFO frequency itself can be a minor pain in the ass if you want to get precise timings. When using pattern commands, the hex values usually do not line up with the exact speeds you want. For example, if I want the exact frequency 2.000 LPC, then the pattern command 167F gives 2.008 LPC, while the command 1680 gives 1.992 LPC. It’s simply not possible to achieve precisely 2.000 LPC if you set the LFO frequency from a pattern command.

In practise, this may not be the end of the world, since you can still usually make the LFO do something useful or cool sounding either way. But for control freaks like myself, that tiny margin of error can keep me awake at night! :slight_smile:

So what are the alternatives to imprecise pattern commands?

Well, you can set precise parameter values by using the graphical automation instead, so that’s exactly what I did. I created a graphical automation for the LFO frequency, and then I programmed in a series of points to set the precise frequencies that I wanted to use: 1.333 LPC for triplet 8th notes, 2.000 LPC for 8th notes, 3.000 LPC for dotted 8th notes, and so on.

6580 renoise-lfo-automation.png

Once I had that set up, I simply selected/copied the envelope points from the automation editor, and then pasted them right into the LFO’s custom envelope editor. In the LFO itself they still end up displayed as 33.333% or whatever, but behind the scenes the point is set to the precise frequency timing I needed (as long as the LFO Offset is 50% and Amplitude is 100%, so it outputs the correct full range).

There’s a bit more to it than that, like positioning all the envelope points correctly along the horizontal axis, to make them line up exactly with “friendly” Reset command values like 1800, 1810, 1820, etc., but that’s mainly just me being an obsessive weirdo over the little details. :wink:

Long story short… It’s way easier to set exact LFO frequencies via graphical automation, so just do that instead and save yourself some headaches. The Wobble demo is really just to show off some “fancy” meta device ninja tricks, so it’s not the most practical thing in the world to learn from, haha. :stuck_out_tongue:

Thanks for the response!

The first question I have is: I understand the “16” part of the 167F command, but how does 7F = 2.008 LPC? I have a hexadecimal chart, but 7F corresponds to 127. I know it’s easier to do this kind of automation with the envelope and not with commands, but I just want to know this for its own sake.

I created a graphical automation for the LFO frequency, and then I programmed in a series of points to set the precise frequencies that I wanted to use: 1.333 LPC for triplet 8th notes, 2.000 LPC for 8th notes, 3.000 LPC for dotted 8th notes, and so on.

How do you assign 8th notes to 2.00 LPC, and dotted 8ths to 3.00 LPC, and etc? How is that specific relationship formed? I see there is the 18xx command, but on the LFO’s custom graph, I don’t see how the “xx” portion is visually accessed on that graph. All the data on the graph is numerical in integers of 4 (0, 4, 8, 12 . . . ). I see the cursor reset to different points, I just don’t know how that is done.

Thanks for your answers! I appreciate the help.

The xx part is a hexadecimal value that represents a percentage of the affected parameter’s range. 00 in hex is 0%, FF is 100%, 7F would be 50%.

To see where the values are coming from, try changing the LPC value with the right mouse button so you write the value straight into the pattern. Make sure the third button from the left here is unchecked:

3.1_patterneditor-controlpanel.png

If you move the LPC slider with the right mouse button you should see the 16xx value change in the pattern effect lane.

You can see that 2.000 LPC has the effect value of 7F. 7F is half of FF, and the halfway point in the slider’s range.

Normally there is 4 beats in a bar, and 4 lines in a beat. That’s 16 lines in the normal beat. A LFO cycle of 2 lines would be an 8th of a bar then. Likewise, 3 LPC would be an eighth and a half, aka a dotted eighth.

y8xx for an LFO is the reset parameter. The xx value specifies where in its cycle it should start. A value of 00 will start at the beginning, 80 will start halfway through, etc.

http://tutorials.renoise.com/wiki/Meta_Devices#.2ALFO

The custom LFO has 16 points selected. That’s handy, because since Renoise is hexadecimal based we can easily hit one of those points by using the bigger digit of the hex value. i.e. each point in the LFO lines up with the value 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, A0, B0, C0, D0, E0, or F0. Remember that those hex values are just pointing to a certain percentage of the the custom LFO value, just like the LPC value.

Try adding an 8 to some of the reset values. You should see the line fall between 2 of the points. Or you can add an extra value to the custom range. Take it to 17 and the line won’t fall exactly on one of the points anymore, because each line will be one 17th, not one 16th.

Hope that helps.

Hope that helps.

^ This guy fucks!

I was just about to reply, but you expertly covered every detail — Cheers! :slight_smile:

Thanks dblue :slight_smile:

blah blah blah

THIS GUY FUCKS!

:stuck_out_tongue: