I’m curious about this as I’m totally in the box at the moment (guitar excepted) but thinking about a Minitaur for bass and maybe something else to mess around with on the couch and to double up if I want to use some MIDI keys.
Do you have a MIDI controller? Using hardware as pure sample fodder? Things synced up with Renoise and feeding their audio into the program? Renoise purely as a hardware sequencer?
I’d also like to hear if you’re pure PC keyboard and mouse only 
Mouse & keyboard, as for video games!!
And more seriously, I think I make my tracks using 80% keyboard and 20% mouse.
I have a mini hardware USB midi keyboard, but I don’t use it with Renoise.
I have a tr909, x0xb0x, some modular modules and a Roland MKS50. and some hardware eq’s, distortions and other effect units to feed the sounds from the machines thru. Then I sample it in Renoise and make instruments from them, this helps me to keep the feel of the analog boxes and the freedom to sequence how I want it.
I could use the internal sequencers from the x0xb0x and the tr909 and sync them to renoise, but what then? I would need to sample the same repeating sequence for minutes and after that I can’t edit anything anymore. If you want to work that way, I would advice Ableton and use it as a multitracker in combination with a multi input sound device.
I use the keyboard to tap my sounds in. Most of the time the tunes are not that sophisticated, so I don’t need to play chords or so. If I want to, I’ll just layer some sounds and hear how it sounds. I don’t mind not having a midi keyboard.
Set up (CC’s) and used midi instrument controls for these so far:
Still need to try to set up these:
The only thing that has ended up in any modules
so far though are notes from the controller:
Basically using hardware to jam with friends or to
take a break and pass some time, although the
controller is really good for adding sequences
to a module.
As for keyboard and mouse, mostly keyboard but
with notes columns being new to me; i’m now finding
it quite useful to use the mouse for selecting within
sections of those spaces (as opposed to shift+alt+arrow).
Same here , pc and keyboard only for Renoise.I have one midi controller an Alesis vi61 but use it mostly for learning to play songs but i have an Arturia Keystep coming which is smaller so maybe i will use that with Renoise
I really like the Akai MPK Mini mkII.
Velocity-sensitive keys (but not weighted, sadly), some pads, some knobs, programable options.
Good size for my limited workspace.
Launchpad x . First controller of many that i have that is so sensitive that can be played like you would play synth keyboard without need to attack hard like rest of pad controllers. So small form factor and can work as both drum pads and as four octave keyboard (or more octaves when in scale modes)
I have some synths as well. Korg Volca FM; Behringer Neutron, Volca Kick, MakeNoise 0-Coast. A few other things.
I have each (mostly) set to listen on different channels and a MIDI router thingy as well.
I set up songs to use these different channels then record back into Renoise the different synth outputs.
The Volcas can be controlled via CC commands, so I can automate parameters.
I’ve been slowly working on MIDI-to-CV hardware so I can do the same for the 0-Coast and Neutron.
Thanks for the replies!
Launchpad X sounds interesting as a controller since I’m used to the guitar-esque chromatic mode on Push 2 and not much of a keyboard player.
@James_Britt, when you say you’re feeding the audio back in are you recording stuff as samples or does the real-time render work well enough for this kind of thing? Googling about this mainly brings up problems but I suppose the people who don’t have problems aren’t generally posting about it online! I’m trying to get a sense of whether a Minitaur and its partner VST would integrate smoothly or if that’s going to be a headache and I’m better off just spending a boring day sampling the life out of it at various settings.
Also thinking about a Monologue as a ‘messing around on the couch’ mono and intrigued by the Wavestate as something which would throw up very different results to any software I can think of (even the Wavestation VST). The AFX mode on the Bass Station II looks like a pretty fun ‘happy accident’ machine too. I think any of those would be more a separate thing I’d sample in rather than MIDI’d up though.
I have just bought a Polyend Tracker so I am hoping this can be set up as the ultimate Renoise controller!
Mechanical keyboard
On a more serious note, I do have some hardware (Neutron, DM12d, MC-707, Wavedrum, Keystep 37 and some other midi controllers), but I have quite a hard time properly integrating it with Renoise (or any other DAW). It’s pretty clumsy to work with compared to using plugins or samples and I also had various sync issues. So I mostly use hardware as a standalone setup (centered around MC-707), and when I want some of it’s sounds in Renoise, I just sample single sound from it and continue the work in the box.
Currently I only use Komplete Kontrol A61 with Renoise, and even that mostly for getting ideas, which I then sequence with keyboard. Would be great though, if I could map more parameters in Renoise, mostly instrument/sampler, but also sequencer related, so I could use midi controllers more creatively from performance standpoint.
I record patterns as samples to be used in place of the live MIDI.
I’ve never tried real-time render.
As for happy accidents, I got the Volca Kick for kick sounds but I seem to use it more often for bass lines. : )