Meta Devices



Related topics
DSP-chain in general
Controlling meta/dsp/vst devices using Automation
Controlling meta/dsp/vst devices using pattern effect-commands


Currently Renoise offers you a range of four Meta devices that you can apply to your tracks and instruments. Meta devices are a special kind of devices that give you possibilities to route different components to other controllers within Renoise or to MIDI devices.

All parameters of meta devices are automatable through the automation rack.



The LFO devices gives you the option of routing LFO commands to DSP / VST effects (Or parameters of other Meta devices). Where the power of the instrument envelopes shortens, this meta device picks it up.

  • - Sine wave oscilation
  • - Sawtooth oscilation
  • - Pulse oscilation
  • - Random oscilator picker (keeps changing on random basis)
  • Dest.Effect - Destination effect, represents the pointer to the effect panel in the current rack.
  • Parameter - Selects the parameter-number to apply the effect upon.
  • Reset - Resets current LFO appliance. (Also displays the effect-column command to use in the Renoise status-bar)
  • Amplitude - The maximum range to apply to the effect in percentages of the affected effect-parameter’s current value.
  • Offset - Angle to start from in percentages.
  • Frequency - Amount of changes to be applied in Lines per Cycle.
  • Custom - Allows you to draw a custom wave, this also allows you to draw more of the same cycles if the integrity of one Line per cycle is not small enough.


The Reset button can be triggered with the pattern effect command x6yy, x stands for the position the LFO device is on the DSP-rack, YY is the related offset of the configured offset.

  • 00 is the exact offset,
  • 40 is the exact offset plus half the value of the current amplitude-value,
  • 80 is the exact offset,
  • C0 is the exact offset minus half the value of the current amplitude-value

If the offset is 100%, values of 40 and 00 won’t have any effect as the slider won’t go beyond maximum.
If the offset is 0%, values 80 and C0 won’t have any effect as the slider won’t go below minimum.

When using the custom mode, the value correspond to the exact offset position of the window-frame.
The amplitude, offset and LPC sliders are completely ignored in custom mode.

See the relationship between the pattern commandline and the position of the waveform:





The Midi CC device broadcasts CC commands to MIDI instruments or VST-instruments that support CC commands. Currently it shows the first four CC parameters you can send, but if you notice the little arrow in the lower-right corner, this will expand the panel and will display you another set of five CC parameter-sliders. Each panel supports up to a total of 14 manual configurable CC commands which are also automatable through the automation configuration rack.





The velocity device adds another dimension of control and responds to the velocity values of the pattern editor (volumn column or 03xx effect command). The value of the velocity determines how much the selected parameter of the destination device (Dest.) is being affected.

  • Instr. - Select the instrument that should have the specific control
  • Dest. - Destination effect on the DSP rack
  • Parameter (no title) - The selection list behind the Dest. list is the parameter list. It becomes occupied as soon as a destination effect is selected. The parameter will be affected by the velocity value given in the volume column or using the 03xx volume command in the effect column.
  • Dest. Min - Minimum value allowed to send to the parameter of the destination effect.
  • Dest. Max - Maximum value allowed to send to the parameter of the destination effect.
  • Scaling - Select your lineary or parabolic scaling algorithm to be applied on the velocity steps.
  • Range - Minimum and maximum range of velocity values that are monitored for application.





The VSTI automate device broadcasts parameter values to the VST instrument’s selected parameter. You can manually select which parameter you want to send the value to. The automate in the name indicates that these sliders are also automatable through the automation configuration rack. But like mentioned on top, every meta device currently has this option. A VSTI automate device supports up to 14 multiple user-selectable parameters to send to the automation curve.
If you need more than 14 parameters, you can however add another VSTI automation device and link it to the same VST instrument and select another 14 different parameters to add up to 28 (and so on).
Note
In some cases, the use of a MIDICC device may work out better and easier then using a VSTI-Automate device,
specially when it involves panning and volume effects that have to be tweaked.


Using VSTI Automate devices with VSTI-Aliasses

The VSTi Automate Device doesnt work with “channels”, it only automates the parameters that the plug publishes. If all these parameters are bound to the instrument that the plug internally handles as “channel 1″ instrument, there is no way to automate the other channels. You have to use a MIDI CC device then and automate the plug via MIDI if the plug supports it. Any kind of lack in MIDI cc support within the plugin-device cannot be compensated through possible corrections by the applications that can host the plugin.

If a plugin does support VSTI automation parameters, they are supplied to the VSTI automate device, see the following demonstration-image of the East-West Symphonic Orchestra example (The 1: indicates the parameter is reserved for instrument 1, the 2: paramaters are reserved for instrument 2 and so on if instruments are configured):






Related topics
DSP-chain in general
Controlling meta/dsp/vst devices using Automation
Controlling meta/dsp/vst devices using pattern effect-commands