I’ve been using renoise for some time now, and though I should say in some aspects it doesn’t bear a lot of secrets for me anymore, but one thing puzzles me: what’s the ‘width’ slider for? When I render a track with a ‘tambourine’ type sample with a stereo delay in it, I can see in the sample editor the definite difference between the audio on left and right channels. So as a test I would again render this as a C-4 note full velocity/volume, on a new track with no fx, one time with width at 0% and one time with a 100%. The outcoming renders are the same. What is the slider good at?
Sorry about that, the samples are NOT the same. I found that the 100% track width will phase-invert the left channel, effectively. What does this mean? And does it behave like that on everything, sines, saws, …?
As you seem to have discovered it using a method of trying to give a sense of width/space in sound by putting a phase difference between the left and right channels. With it set to 100% you should find left and right are out of phase, plus a mono mix of them would null to silence.
The track width creates a very simple fake stereo effect by introducing some phase shift into the left channel. At 100% width there will be a 180° phase shift and the left channel will be completely inverted, so you should really avoid setting it this high.
It’s mainly intended to be used on mono sounds in order to give them a bit more life. To be honest, though, the widening effect is really quite primitive, and the way it sounds (ie. good or bad) varies a lot based on the type of sound you use. You should definitely avoid using this on any basslines or low frequency stuff, for example, since it’s really messing with the phase. But on some mono snares and claps, or a mono synth line, etc., it can help to add a bit more spice to the sound in certain situations.
In my opinion, the track width is kind of an oldschool legacy from older versions of Renoise. It’s charming in a way, but can also be a bit useless at times. I never actually use it myself. If I want to spice up a mono sound and give it more stereo presence, I find it much easier (and more predictable) to do this with a delay instead.