Playing Notes with the Computer Keyboard

Playing/Recording Notes with the Computer Keyboard

Note: The following explanation applies to QWERTY type keyboards (See layout). The Z-key may be positioned differently on other type of keyboards.

In Renoise you can use your computer keyboard to play/record and edit notes. This virtual keyboard is always enabled and has the following layout, with the blue keys representing the lower octave and the lighter green keys the upper octave:

File:Vvoois renoise keyboard.png

Octave Settings

By default, Renoise will use octave 3 with the lower keys (ZXCVBNM) and octave 4 (QWERTYU) for the upper ones. To play lower and higher octaves than this, you can change the "Keyb. Octave" setting in the Transport Panel panel or use the keyboard shortcuts located on the numpad. Note that the octave setting also applies to the MIDI master keyboard input.

If you are using Renoise on a notebook or on a keyboard which has no numpad, you can also use the shortcuts, "Left Control + [" and "Left Control + ]" (the two keys next to P) to change the octave. Alternatively, you can change the shortcuts to something else through the Keys panel in the "Edit->Preferences" menu.

Computer Keyboard Limitations

To simply edit and record notes in the Pattern Editor, the computer keyboard will do the job just fine. You can even use the computer keyboard for Recording and Editing Notes as the song is playing. Unfortunately, most computer keyboards do not allow all key combinations to be pressed at the same time, nor are they velocity sensitive. So when the accurate recording of "live" playing is essential, the use of a simple MIDI master keyboard is highly recommended. See Setting Up MIDI Devices on how to configure your MIDI master keyboard.