Superior 2.0 + Renoise + Midi

My main interest in Renoise is to use it as a drum computer. I want to create some backing tracks to play guitar over (outside of Renoise). So the idea is, that I want to lay down a simple beat with my MIDI keyboard and record it into Renoise. Then I want to fix-embellish it in the pattern editor and when I am done render it into a WAV file and import it into Garageband/REAPER/Logic. (Superior 2.0 is a VST plugin that gives me the drum sounds.)

Although I have written a ProTracker clone in my youth on the ST, I am basically a newb anyway. :blink: I looked at the program and the tutorials and I still have a few questions.

What I find interesting is, that you can have multiple notes in one track. Would it be better to create the whole drum pattern in one track with multiple notes per line or should I use multiple tracks and VST aliases. Are there any pros or cons ?

There is a a basenote in the MIDI configuration (C-4 I think), there is a basenote in the VST configuration, there are multiple octaves on the MIDI keyboard and there is MIDI mapping in the VST plugin. Where is generally the best place to tweak this ?

I don’t know much about MIDI, i guess renoise sends the volume and the note to the VST plugin and that’s it ?

Would it be easier for me to skip Renoise 1.9.1 for my scenario and immediately start with Renoise 2.0 for this ?

Thanks for any answers in advance.

p.x

If you split out your elements in separate tracks, you have a better way to mix them down.
If you put all your percussion in one track, it won’t be easy to mix down distorting elements as using a compressor for instance would compress other percussion elements as well.
You would actually being mastering your sole track right away, while mastering is usually being done on the master channel.
If you want to make use of the alias function in Renoise, best is to perform this with 2.0. Not only because you can split the audio streams in 2.0 (which you cannot in 1.9x and lower) but you also have the plugin delay compensation which can compensate timing delays which is quite common for various VST plugins to have.
Lacking PDC (1.9x and lower) renders Renoise pretty unbearable when it comes to percussion plugins that introduces latency.

Thanks for the reply!

I agree, to have separate tracks for the various percussion instruments would be much better. One of my problems is though getting the data recorded into separate tracks, which is kind of a showstopper for me currently (see Is It Possible To Route Midi Channels To Tracks). Is this better in 2.0 ? How do other people do this ?

I noticed that in 1.9.1 I can’t really mix an aliased VSTi very well, it’s probably the problem with the output streams you mentioned. Both tracks are playing, but they both appear on the left. (I used a freely available VSTi for demonstration purposes)