Layering a looping sample

Right now we have created a beat from one-hit samples. We are going to spice it up by layering a breakbeat. Load breakApache.xrni from the pre-installed Instruments library (eg. C:/Renoise/Instruments/). It is not the same as Neil’s one, but it will work out fine. Put a C-5 note in a new Breakbeat track. When you play the pattern the breakbeat sounds continously at a much too high pitch.

We need to modify this Instrument’s Sample Properties to sync it with the rest of the song. You can see that Loop has already been set to Forward, which is why the sample repeats over and over. We need the sample to loop over 2 bars, so the Sync value of 32 is already correct. You just need to enable it. Push the breakbeat slightly back in the mix by lowering the Amplify value to about -4 dB.

Finally, Neil adjusts the bassdrum track to match the breakbeat (eg. notes on lines 00, 10, 16, 22, 26 and copied to the 2nd half of the pattern).

Installing a VSTi plugin

Moving on from the beat to the bassline. Instead of using a sample we will use a software synthesizer, more specifically a VSTi (Virtual Studio Technology instrument). Neil has the commercial reFX Beast, but to prove you can get fine results with even the simplest of VSTis, we will play around with the free Chip32.

• Chip32 for Windows
• Chip32 for Mac OS X (contains both VSTi and AU - use the VSTi)
• Chip32 for Linux

Before you can use VSTis, Renoise needs to be aware of them. After you have placed the VSTi files in a subfolder, you need to set-up VST directories in the Preferences pane in the Edit menu.

Installing and using VSTs is explained more thoroughly in the Renoise Tutorials section: Using VST. If Renoise has trouble finding Chip32 on Linux, consult: Setting up Linux.

Groovy bassline with Chip32

Select a new Instrument slot to load Chip32 into. The Instrument Settings has a VSTi Properties section, where you can select Chip32 from the dropdown list.

For the bassline we will repeat the bar below in a new track called Bassline.

Note that this Bassline track has 2 note-columns, allowing you to trigger multiple notes at the same time in a single track. This is especially useful for portamento (or glide) instruments to emulate pressing keys while holding another. Chip32 however does not have portamento, but there is another benefit: you can easily modify the accent notes on the 2nd column.

What about the note-OFFs? If you compare a note in the pattern to holding down a key, causing a sound to play continuously, a note-off is releasing that key again. After a note-off an Instrument may immediately stop, fade-out or do something completely different. The SquareWave preset of Chip32 simply mutes. Enter the appropriate note-offs with CAPS-LOCK for a staccato bassline.

Fattening the bassline with a Chorus device

We need to compensate for Chip32’s lack of fatness. In the first half of the video we added an EQ device, now add a Chorus device from the DSP list in the TrackDSPs tab. You can experiment with the Chorus presets until you get a bassline that sounds a bit like Neil’s.

Automating a VSTi slider

Most VSTis have sliders, knobs or other controls. Open Chip32’s own interface by double clicking on the Instrument or in the VSTi Properties.

The rightmost slider is linked to a lowpass filter. If we increase the filter, the sound becomes muffled. Try moving the slider
while the song is playing. We can record slider movements and play them back later. This is called automation.

To automate a VSTi we need a special device: the *Automation Device. Add one to the Bassline tracks’s DSP Chain.

Since there is only one VSTi, the Linked Plugin value is automatically correct. The drop-down lists correspond to the controls (parameters) of the plugin. Set the first dropdown to FILTER. Moving the slider next to it will also move the slider in Chip32’s interface.

The *Automation Device in turn can also be controlled. Add an *LFO device and set-up the correct destination device (*Automation Device) and destination parameter (FILTER). Maximize the Amplitude and double the Frequency to 32 Lines Per Cycle. Chip32’s filter silder will now move without your help.

End of the video

The video has ended, if somewhat abruptly, and we ended up with a great starting point for a new song. In less than 10 minutes we have created a fat beat with a VSTi bassline buttered up with chorus and channeled through a lowpass filter connected to an LFO.

Credits to Neil ‘Celsius’ Gaeggeler of Shaper for creating the original video tutorial.

PS. Part 2 might be missing, but rumor has it Neil will do a new tutorial video.

Minimize VSTIs

Now don’t misinterpret this instruction as “DON’T use VSTIs”. There are decent ones that don’t use a lot of CPU power and are quite nice; Synth1 comes to mind. Preferably, though, you don’t want to corner yourself into having to replace a VSTI with a sample late in a song, so just assume you won’t use VSTIs from the beginning. When it comes down to it, most of the time, the only parameters you’ll use during a song is a filter. Render out some notes or even a riff or two instead of wasting CPU power on a VSTI that’s not sounding much different from pattern to pattern anyway. You’ll find out later that you have slightly ‘more’ control of the sound this way by way of the 09xx command. Avoid using CPU hogs ‘live’ at all costs (e.g. Crystal). Sample them ONLY!

Minimize Polyphony

After eliminating unneeded VSTs, don’t start running your processor into the ground with a plethora of instruments with long trailing times and and filter envelopes, because you’ll have just defeated the purpose of clearing out the VSTIs to begin with. Whenever possible, eliminate the filter envelopes as well. A simple sample with the filter in the track works just as good in many cases and allows you to use it across more sounds.

Reducing polyphony also goes for people that waste 15 tracks for drums - 2 or 3 tracks with a good majority of sampled and looped sounds will do the same job. Plus you can ‘glitch’ them up a bit when they’re sampled by using the pattern effect codes.

Minimize Effects

On my personal tunes, I always make sure that I’m able to run my favorite multi-band compressor and brick-wall limiter on the master track. If I can’t, I delete other effects. Try to find an effect or two you just can’t live without, even if it differs from song to song, and treat those as part of the song. Don’t get to crazy and start thinking that your chain of 50 effects is necessary to the song, though. When you start running out of CPU start thinking to yourself about other ways to do the delay (multiple notes on a track, oldskool tracking style? You bet!). Is the filter on this ‘backing’ track really noticeable behind all of the other sounds? If not, delete it.

Another way you can do this is make use of the sends tracks. Don’t use a different style reverb for every track: just make one reverb and set the send slider to it differently for each track. You can even switch on and off things like Flangers by way of sends meta devices by keeping the source and setting the sends accordingly. It takes more work to decide what to do in each song and each situation, but generally in my experience, you shouldn’t need more than 2 delays, a reverb, 3-4 filters and 1 or 2 gratuitous effects like Lo-Fi and Distortions per song when you get to the core of the music you’re working on. On a side note, working like this will sometimes help you view writing music differently, relying less on VST wizardry and more on tracking itself.

Minimize Sample Rates

You can get a speed boost here and there by putting less demand on the RAM. If you’re not an audiophile and don’t mind 16bit samples, then export your rendered samples and convert them into 16 bit. Less sample data in the RAM = more room for your wisely chosen effects to process data.

Examples?

Well, here’s one… Maybe it’s not everyone’s style of music, but, it runs on the aforementioned LifeBook just fine, maxing out at about 30% CPU usage. Yes, even the end patterns. NOTE: Example uses Karma FX Filter, BuzzRoom GranComp3 and MDA Dynamics (in their Effect Pack).

Less is More

All in all, conserving CPU is a hard topic to explain, but once you get in the swing of things, you’ll notice that you’ll use Renoise more like a “powerful tracker” with a few chosen effects and synths - rather than Renoise as a pure VST host, which is the quickest way to get that dreaded ‘Maxed-Out CPU’ message and skippy audio. “Render Selection to Wav” is definitely the most used feature of Renoise and the most versatile. If you ignore it, you’re headed to a low CPU ceiling headache.