Instrument Selector

Instrument Selector

The organisation of instruments and samples in a song is done through the Instrument Selector. Unlike other sequencers, an instrument in Renoise, such as a piano, is not necessarily bound to a single track; you can play the piano on any track you like. Additionally, in the case of sample based instruments, the sound can be used on multiple tracks simultaneously.

Instruments in Renoise

An instrument in Renoise may be one of the following, or all together:

• one or more audio samples set up in the Instrument Settings, possibly layered and modulated through the Instrument Editor
• a plugin instrument (VST or Audio Unit) as set up and loaded in the Instrument Settings
• a MIDI instrument (VST or Audio Unit) as set up in the Instrument Settings

Instrument Selector Overview

The Instrument Selector is comprised of two lists. The upper list shows the instruments currently loaded into this song, while the lower section lists the samples that make up the current instrument (in the case of a plugin or MIDI instrument, the sample list will be empty). The currently selected instrument is highlighted and will be played back and recorded when editing or recording notes into patterns. Instruments are numbered on the left and this number is used by the Pattern Editor to refer to each specific instrument during playback.

Note that the separating line between the sample and instrument list can be dragged with the mouse (between the scrollbars), allowing you to create more/less space for the list of samples.

To the left of the lists are some handy buttons for commonly used operations. From top to bottom:

• +/- : Add or remove an instrument to/from the list
• Cut: Copy then remove an instrument from the list
• Copy: Copy an instrument to the clipboard (to paste it later on)
• Paste: Paste a previously copied instrument (e.g. to duplicate it)
• +/- : Add or remove a sample from the currently selected instrument

Modifying, Copy/Pasting Instruments

Right clicking on the Instrument Selector presents you with some extra options. Note that there are actually two context menus; one for the instrument list and one for the sample list.

• Rename: Give an instrument/sample a new name.
• Render Plugin To Instrument: Available for plugin instruments only. This will create a sample-based instrument from the selected plugin instrument. After rendering, the new instrument replaces the plugin, which is also unloaded. Using this method you can share Renoise songs with people who may not have a specific plugin.
• Render Plugin To New Instrument: Again, only available for plugin instruments. This will create a new sample-based instrument from the selected plugin instrument. The new instrument is placed in an empty instrument slot, leaving the original plugin untouched.
• Delete Unused Instruments: Will unload and remove all instruments which are unused, i.e. not played on any pattern within the song.
• Delete Unused Samples: Will unload and remove all samples within instruments that are unused, i.e. not played on any pattern within the song.
• Save Instrument/Sample As...: Export an instrument/sample to a file for later use and importing. This can also be done in the Disk Browser.

Drag and Drop

The two lists can be reorganized by dragging and dropping instruments/samples in the Instrument Selector. When this is done, Renoise automatically adjusts the numerical reference of instruments within the Pattern Editor, ensuring that the song still plays the same. If you wish to swap or replace one instrument with another, you can do so by copy/pasting it, or by remapping it in the Advanced Edit panel.

Samples can be dragged and dropped from the Disk Browser to the instrument or sample list. Dragging multiple samples into the sample list at once will automatically create a multi-sample instrument. Sample or instrument files can also be dragged and dropped from Windows Explorer (PC) or Finder (OSX). Note that in this case the currently selected instrument slot will be used, possibly overwriting an existing instrument.

Shortcuts

Because Instruments play such an important role in Renoise, you should consider remembering and using the most important ones:

• ALT + UP/DOWN: Select previous/next instrument in the list
• NUMPAD KEYS 1-9: Select first to ninth instrument in the list.
• NUMPAD +/-: Select next or previous page in the selector (then again the numpad numbers to choose an instrument)