Hi. The subject title pretty much says it all. I am wondering if there are keyboard shortcuts for note, chord and note length. I would like to use a keyboard shortcut combo to input C4, D3, etc. rather than using my USB QWERTY keyboard as a piano keyboard. I have a MIDI keyboard and under certain circumstances would want to use it, but it would be much quicker for me to be able to use a USB QWERTY keyboard to be able to input a C4 quarter note, a D3 half note or C Major chord whole note (automatically inserting the extra rows, should it be necessary), etc.
to be able to input a C4 quarter note, a D3 half note or C Major chord whole note
You can hold the SHIFT modifier while entering those notes (works for FX commands too), but you’ll have to insert note-offs afterwards to achieve the different note lengths.
If it was a simple chord where all notes were released at the same time, you could hit CTRL+CAPS to insert “track-wide note-off”, but I guess that doesn’t apply in this case.
You can hold the SHIFT modifier while entering those notes (works for FX commands too), but you’ll have to insert note-offs afterwards to achieve the different note lengths.
If it was a simple chord where all notes were released at the same time, you could hit CTRL+CAPS to insert “track-wide note-off”, but I guess that doesn’t apply in this case.
Interesting. I notice that if you keep holding down the SHIFT modifier, while entering notes, it is possible to create a simple (or complex) chord with automatically added extra notes in new columns, in the same row.
Unfortunately, I would have hoped that since we are only dealing with A, B, C, D, E, F, G, (plus flats and sharps, that there was a mode in which it was possible to add a note and an octave, by just adding a letter and a number, to get the correct note. The QWERTY keyboard note entering is a mess in my personal opinion, and it seems like the only way to figure out which keys correspond to which notes on a non-English keyboard, is by trial and error
it seems like the only way to figure out which keys correspond to which notes on a non-English keyboard, is by trial and error
Hm, I’m not sure how the keyboard layout could affect things. In fact, the “piano” layout in Renoise is fixed exactly to avoid such locale specific things (e.g. QWERTZ in Germany, etc.). The advantage should be obvious - if you’ve used Renoise for a while, the layout becomes second nature and you can naturally play melodies, etc.
But it sounds like you’re aiming for something slightly different - perhaps, the ability to enter notes via some kind of “macro input mode”, in which you can press special key sequences?
Hm, I’m not sure how the keyboard layout could affect things. In fact, the “piano” layout in Renoise is fixed exactly to avoid such locale specific things (e.g. QWERTZ in Germany, etc.). The advantage should be obvious - if you’ve used Renoise for a while, the layout becomes second nature and you can naturally play melodies, etc.
But it sounds like you’re aiming for something slightly different - perhaps, the ability to enter notes via some kind of “macro input mode”, in which you can press special key sequences?
Maybe I am missing something? Is there an overview of the QWERTY keyboard commands for entering notes? All I have found is a picture in the beginner docs, which doesn’t show the actual notes that you can expect. I don’t think I am looking so much for a macro as for an “A” to be an “A” and a “B” to be a “B”, etc. As it is now, a “G” is an “F#” 3rd. octave an “L” is a “C#” 4th. octave and “Æ” is “D#” 4th. octave. It doesn’t reference to anything, mnemonic, Lilypond, standard notation conventions… It should be possible to map any keyboard so that you only need the actual keyboard keys for the notes, and a modifier for sharp (#) or flat, and of course note lengths. There seems to be a modifier key for octaves already. The other keys that are freed up could be used for keyboard control shortcuts for Renoise…
I have been playing around a bit with both GoatTrackerand MilkyTrackerand have discovered that they both have a similar keyboard setup, so I am going to assume that this is some sort of convention for tracker software, having never used tracker software before. It is true that Renoise has a slightly modified keyboard setup that is more optimal than the previously named trackers, but I still think that my keyboard proposal would be quicker and more efficient. Particularly if the “octave down/up” keys could be set with a modifier key so that they could move a note up or down a half step, thus making the note sharp or flat.
I still think that my keyboard proposal would be quicker and more efficient. Particularly if the “octave down/up” keys could be set with a modifier key so that they could move a note up or down a half step, thus making the note sharp or flat.
Renoise is pretty flexible with everything except the PC piano. I think you’ll see that, with a bit of practice, it works quite nicely?
It also confuses the hell out of me when I use Ableton, where the chromatic keyboard layout is similar to Renoise but centered on the keyboard.
