Renoise needs a tremelo pattern effect command (where x= speed in ticks and y = depth). renoise is so awesome in every other way but theres still important little things that need adding such as a tremelo command and fixing the behaviour of the vibrato command. does anyone have a tremelo workaround other than separate instruments with different volume envelopes?
An LFO + Gainer works pretty well for my needs.
Example:
renoise-tremolo-lfo-gainer.xrns
I use a Key-Tracking Device here to reset the LFO with each note, but that part is optional and you can get a different sound without it if you prefer.
awesome! that works nice. can change the tremelo speed at any point in the pattern by changing the frequency of the lfo using points in automation panel. thanks! that is a quality workaround. do you think a tremelo pattern effect command is something that would be considered for future renoise versions?
To be perfectly honest, I had never even thought about the lack of a tremolo command until you started this thread, but I have to admit that I was a tiny bit surprised to see that an effect didn’t already exist. I looked through the documentation to see if maybe it had a different name than ‘tremolo’, but the only similar thing I could find is the volume slicer 04xy, which obviously behaves rather differently.
For me personally, it’s not really a command that I have used much in other previous trackers, and whenever I need to do something like this in Renoise I just instinctively try it with DSP devices before anything else. Whenever I think “I need to modulate the volume of this sound”, my mind goes directly to “LFO + Gainer”, hehe. Just the way I’m hard-wired, I guess 
I also miss the IT/ST style tremolo I am familiar with. It is a simple function, but it also introduces a great deal of expression. dfx_skidder and some lfo triggers can provide a similar effect, but tick based amplitude changes via pattern commend like the old IXY tremolo is a feature I would really like to see in the future; one I would pay extra for.
The difference between volume-slicer and tremolo is that the ticks on/off are implemented across rows. ex: I44 on a sustaining sound will slice the sound at 2/3 the tempo (at 6 ticks per line). I17 will do the same, but the the sustain will be much shorter.
RN’s volume slicer is limited in that it does not allow one to span the slicing across multiple beats if the tick sustain value is larger than the ticks per line.