I know I’m a little late to the game in discovering this, but I couldn’t be more excited. Back in the late 80′s and early 90′s (and I suppose still to this day) there was a music phenomenon of sorts that allowed any computer user (that wasn’t an adept programmer) to create full musical compositions via a sample-based utility known as a tracker.
The early tracker application “VicTracker” for the Commodore Vic-20.
Trackers come in all shapes and sizes but they have evolved from utilities that meet the “bare minimum requirements of music making” to full blown powerhouses of sample and virtual instrument manipulation. The tracker that I started with back in 1996 was Impulse Tracker. Seen here in all it’s glory.
I liked Impulse Tracker at the time because it was all I knew, but having inherited a hardware synthesizer from my father I started to want more MIDI implementation in my software. Plus, at the time, there was a sort of chic-vacuum when using trackers. Probably from my inexperience in using Impulse Tracker I assumed that things like Groove Quantization and virtual instruments were not possible with a mere tracker. I also had discovered that I could load samples into my Sound Blaster 64 AWE and sequence them in Calkwalk with full-blown DSP effects! I started moving away from trackers thinking that I would be much better off using Calkwalk then eventually Logic for all my music making.
I have to admit that I’ve been able to do a lot with the much more expensive software packages like Logic. Multi-track recording is obviously suited for the bigger apps, but since I primary make electronic/dance music, multi-track recording is usually unnecessary. Enter Renoise…
Renoise has re-lit my appreciation for trackers like I never felt possible. It creates a bridge between what I wanted from a digital audio workstation (DAW) and what I need as an electronic musician. Sure it doesn’t have a full multi-track recording interface but it allows you to export all tracks into a DAW should you want to throw in some real instruments. Or you can just sample. There’s a sample editor, recorder, and generator built-in, including the ability to cue up any portion of that sample at any speed, direction, or repeat-rate.
It’s really liberating to have a tool that allows me to compose while within the limiting constraints of a train seat with only my laptop; nothing else. I’ve been searching for a really small MIDI instrument to control my other apps, but now I have the perfect input device, the computer keyboard. Sequencing is a dream when you’re just a keyboard shortcut away from any feature.
I was hesitant to use Renoise because of my prior experiences with Trackers, but Renoise is built for electronic music, has VST/VSTi support, is PC and Mac compatible and is actively developed. Yes, it’s not as Free as Impulse Tracker was back in the day, but 90 bucks is a steal for what this will do for your creativity.
I’ll be sure to post some samples of things I’m working on, but right now I’m just happy to be creating again.
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:01 am
Eventually you gotta settle down with the tools that get the job done. For me, that’s multi-track style music-making because that’s what I’ve done for over 10 years. First I started with samples and timing, then I progressed to long AIFF files, delicately pieced together from table scrap audio samples and beats. Then I progressed to straight MIDI, using multiple tracks (and multiple machines) that could be played in real time into yet another machine. Then a canyon of a break occurred. I quit doing music for long time. 50% of my creativity went down the toilet. After some effort and the purchase of the Korg Wavestation, my creativity was revived, but only the remaining 50% that wasn’t lost before. The Korg was used in a couple of tracks, all done multi-track style. Then I Gerber graduated to Sonar. Again, it’s multi-track style. I like seeing audio files line up and sequence together, similar to what I saw in front of me over 10 years ago, on a Macintosh Quadra 660AV.
I don’t have the energy or the time to try something new. I’d say stick with what works and what you spent a lot of money on…multi-track software!
And you know what? I think music-making has definitely lost its heart-warming touch for me when I found other methods to punch in notes without using the keyboard. The keyboard, to me, was my connection to the instruments and my sound. I liked, in the past, to create music that I could play live, if I practiced, practiced, practiced. A lot of the older material was in fact played live, spruced up, and sequenced. I can’t do that anymore. So my keyboard sits in my closet, peering out at me through the open door. Anyway, that was THE method…and I think it’s the GOOD method to makin’ some good tracks. Bust that full size Steinway of a keyboard out and get tappin’.
You go ahead, I’m going to close my closet door.
May 23rd, 2008 at 8:16 am
I understand what you’re saying about the keyboard input, but the only time I really have for music is on the train, so I have to be able to work within a 2x2x5′ area. MIDI keyboards, even the “tiny” one I use now is too huge to use along side a laptop. Plus, when dealing with samples I haven’t found a quicker and more powerful method of manipulating them than with renoise. It’s simply unbelievable. The kicker is I’ve spent the majority of my money on plug-ins rather than specifically multitrack software, and I can use almost all the plug-ins I’ve already bought within Renoise.
On the sequencing front, the pattern-based approach really works when arranging electronica-styled music. Focus on making compelling patterns (of any complexity) then worry your ass about how the patterns are to be sequenced. I really should show you some of this software, very fun. I’m sure anyone could make an “offtoashit” with it in no time.