The "Multi-Track" Paradigm

Ideas & suggestions
1

Hi there. still a renoise/tracking newbie, so please take this with a grain of salt.

Recently cross-track routing have made a big entrance with the new meta-devices. And just now I’ve seen a meta-device suggestion aiming at controlling several instruments on several tracks from a single track.

Before, each track was generating its sound separately, with the exception of send tracks but they are only effect busses. But now, the frontiers between tracks are getting more and more blurry. It allows us (well you more than me) to do great things, but it’s getting more and more complicated.

It might be naive, but it looks like renoise is struggling with a paradigm that is getting outdated (tracks with assigned DSP chains). Things could be much more simple and easily readable if :

  • DSP chains are detached from the tracks and handled together as a graph
  • Control and audio signals are graphically different

Even instruments could be assigned to tracks - it would be possible to control several instruments from one track, or maybe several tracks controlling one instrument.

Well, I guess the devs have a lot of great ideas in mind for the future of renoise, and what I’m describing here my not be the plan. but I wanted to share anyway. Thanks for reading !

2

Thinking about this, not all the cables would have to be shown at the same time. i.e. like the connections shown in the current mixer, only what is selected has it`s connections shown.

This could expand to discontinuos selection etc.

Maybe would go some way to helping with the graphical mess side of things.

One idea I have had sepatately is that renoise could have a modular DSP tracks. This could function much like energy XT does as an fx. In this wrapper, you can load DSPs, have audio/MIDI routing from other tracks (in a send sort of capacity).

This would be a sub-modular solution, which could then feed into the master track, which could be the same sort of thing.

There would need to be some sort of heirarchy PDC rules, but I think it could work…?

Also if the pattern editor MIDI came in at one end, then you could add VSTi instruments/ MIDI fx into the modular DSP chain.

edit:

You could in principle have an empty instrument list and have your VSTi`s playing in the VST chain if you like.

Sidechaining could occur in the Modular master track where all audio/MIDI inputs are available for further routing.

3

A quick mock-up of a Track META SUB MODULAR DEVICE:

2142 modular 2.jpg

The Mixer would just show the Meta device and if there were following DSPs in the chain then it would change from MASTER shown in the bottom black box to Track 1 Ctd (or something)

Anyhow the basic idea is there.

edit: the bottom DSP Lane should be track 1 not 3

4

Nice mockup… it also resolves the issues of:How to send midi from my plugin to another plugin…

5

Yes, also amoungst other things in the track example:

  • Local side-chaining.
  • Savable set-ups through presets (modular synth like)
  • Automation to pattern editor
  • Comapatability with current instrument system with ability of linking instrument to track.
  • Multi instruments per track (With chances for split keyboard of separate VSTs, when using MIDI VST tools)
  • Multi-out plugs with different fx chains, supported on the same track. (drum VSTi`s are a good example, with different fx for each hit within a track)

If added to the master track/ sends you get:

  • Global side chaining (imagine there are all the tracks listed at the top when opened on the master track)
6

I would say +3 if there was a way to “Export Parameters” like when you mark some parameters in the modular editor and they are shown directly on the submodular device where the empty space is right now. So you can create network and export the important parameters out on the board.

Like this:

7

Yes you could do that, and have sub, modular macros (using the hydra device within for example.). I will try and do another mock-up to illustrate more clearly. This would be a way to tidy up pattern automation and the sliders/ assignments could be added automatically on right-click sliding the Sub modular screen.

8

Thanks, your mock-up is exactly how i would have understood it (guess it was edited in as didn`t show here before) and +1

Edit: These sliders (depth in the mock-up) then can be neatly modulated by the current cross track routing/ automation lanes etc.