Recording New Samples

Renoise allows you to create new samples by recording them from various sources, including a line-in jack or microphone. To do so, open the Sample Editor and press the small button. Alternatively, you can open the record dialog by choosing, "File->Record New Sample..." from the main menu.

Bringing up the record dialog and controlling the main record options can be mapped to a MIDI Controller with the MIDI Mapping options. This way you can quickly make new recordings using just your MIDI controller or master keyboard. To map the opening and closing of the record panel, switch over to the Sample Editor before opening the MIDI Mappings.

Audio Device Setup

To record new samples in Renoise, you first have to configure the device you want to use for recording, which is done in the "Edit->Preferences->Audio" panel. This is only necessary when using Direct-Sound (Windows), Core Audio (OSX) or ALSA (Linux). ASIO is pre-configured to be used as a recording and playback source. When your soundcard has more than one input channel, you will be able to set this as the input device in the Audio Preferences, or you can select this in the recording dialog.

Overview

This VU meter displays incoming audio activity, allowing you to monitor the signal and make adjustments if necessary. The speaker button enables you to listen to the input through Renoise while recording.

Select which channel you would like to record: left, right or both (stereo).

Select the audio device that will be the source for the recording.

Select the track DSP effect chain (the list displays all tracks in the song) that will be applied to the recording, or just to the the preview of the recording.

• Sync start & stop:
  • None - No quantization is applied. Hitting start or stop will start/stop recording immediately.
  • Pattern - Applies quantization from the start to the end of the current pattern. When the song or pattern plays, recording will be started or stopped only at pattern boundaries or block loops. This is useful to record "live" e.g. playing a guitar riff along to your Renoise song. The resulting samples can then be placed into the patterns and will always match your song.
• Record Dry (monitor FX): When enabled, the input signals are recorded without the Track FX applied, but will be previewed with them. This way you can hear and record exactly what will be played later when adding the recorded sample to the selected track.
• Create a new instrument: When enabled, each recording is placed into an new instrument slot in the Instrument Selector, so you can simply hit start/stop again and again to create multiple takes without overwriting anything.
• Compensate input and output latencies: When enabled, the latency of your soundcard will automatically be compensated when creating synced recordings.
• Extra Latency (ms): Soundcards or other devices can introduce latencies that Renoise may not be aware of. When your recordings are slightly out of sync on playback, you can manually compensate the latency offset of future recordings here.

• Start or stop the recording (changes into "Stop" when recording has started).

• Closes the recorder window when no recording is taking place. While recording, this will "Cancel" the current recording.

Recording Without Quantization

Once everything is set up, hit "Start" to begin recording. A red border will appear around the dialog box to indicate that recording is active. To stop recording and load the sample into the instrument slot, simply hit the "Stop" button. Currently active recordings can be thrown away by pressing "Cancel".

Recording With Quantization

When using the quantization (sync start/stop) option, Renoise will make sure that recordings are started or stopped at pattern boundaries only. To use the sync you have to start playing the song first. A green bar will then show the current playback progress.