Advanced Edit

Advanced Edit

The Advanced Edit allows you to perform batch operations on pattern and automation data, like transposing notes, remapping instrument numbers, interpolating effect command values and much more. If you haven't seen the Advanced Editor so far, you can make it visible by clicking on the File:Vvoois renoise advanced edit toggle.png -button on the top right of the pattern editor:

Overview

The Advanced Edit has multiple sections. Most of them can be hidden, because not all of them do apply at once. Instead, each of them deals with a special topic, which part of the song data you want to modify.

Processing Scopes

First you do need to set up where and what you would like to process. This is done with the Selection type and mask settings:

Section to Process

This section is always visible because it applies to all other sections below. This is where you set up which part of the song you would like to modify:

• Selection: Perform actions on whats currently selected in the Pattern Editor
• Column in Pattern: Perform actions on the note or effect column the Pattern Editors cursor currently is placed on, perform actions on the currently visible pattern only
• Column in song: Perform actions on the current note or effect column in the whole song, in all patterns
• Track in pattern: Perform actions on the whole track (all columns) in the currently selected pattern
• Track in song: Perform actions on whole track in all patterns
• Whole pattern: Perform actions on the whole pattern
• Whole song: Perform actions on the whole song, all columns, all tracks and all patterns.

Content Mask

Under the selection mask you will see the content mask. Here you do specify what should be processed or which type of data should be ignored:

• Notes: Apply processing (Cut, Copy, Paste, Flip) on note sub columns in note columns
• Instrument: Apply processing (Cut, Copy, Paste, Flip) on instrument sub columns in note columns
• Volume: Apply processing (Cut, Copy, Paste, Flip, Interpolate and Modify) on volume sub columns in note columns
• Panning: Apply processing (Cut, Copy, Paste, Flip, Interpolate and Modify) on panning sub columns in note columns
• Delay: Apply processing (Cut, Copy, Paste, Flip, Interpolate and Modify) on delay sub columns in note columns
• Effect Number: Apply processing (Cut, Copy, Paste, Flip) on effect numbers in the the effect columns
• Effect Value: Apply processing (Cut, Copy, Paste, Flip, Interpolate and Modify) on effect values in the effect columns
• Automation: Apply processing on graphical Automation attached with the pattern tracks.
  Copy/pasting automation in general only works when copying patterns or tracks. Pasting selections wil always exclude automation.

• Left clicking on the individual check-box enables / disables a mask.
• Right clicking enables a mask, but disables all other masks (solo).

Performing Actions

All panels below the content mask and selection allow you to do something with the content you've specified above:

Cut/Copy/Paste

• Cut: Copy content into the pattern editors clipboard, the delete the content. Not all selections do have clipboards. The "Cut" button will then change to "Delete".
• Copy: Copies the selected content into the clipboard. Not available for all selections
• Paste: Pastes previously copied content.

• Flip: Reverse the content in place in the timeline (starting content will get ending content)-. When applying this on selections which cover more than one pattern, patterns will be flipped one by one.
• Shrink: Half the checked contents time, make a content play twice as fast as before.
• Expand: Double the checked contents time, make a content play twice as fast as before. This is especially useful when doubling the Lines Per Beat value to add more resolution for your patterns. If you would only double the LPB without expanding the content, the song would simply play twice as fast as before.

Mix-Paste: When pasting with mix-paste is enabled, empty notes, instruments, effects and so on are not copied. This way you can merge the existing content with the one from the clipboard.

Modifying Notes

The next panel applies either to entire note columns (Note, Instrument, Volume, Pan and Delay sub columns):

• Safe Mode: Applies transpose settings only when the transposed note does not fall outside of the available octave range. With safe-mode disabled notes that fall below a C-0 or C-10 will be removed.
• Apply to: Either apply the following operation on all instruments in the current selection, or just a specific one.

• Transpose: Transpose notes semitone or octave wise up or done.
• Mirror: Swaps every note's height around the specified center note. This can be very interesting for creating variations of melodies.
• Preserve Lengths: When using the quantize function, Note-Offs will not be quantized, but retain their original distance to the Note-On.

• Quantize: Quantize notes by the given subline factor. The subline factor is the factor that used in the note delay column. 100 sublines (decimal 256) are one full line. If you want to quantize by 3 lines, you would use 300 sublines.
• Nudge: moves notes up/down by the specified amount of sublines (again 100 sublines are a full line).

Modifying Instruments

• Src instr.: Select the instrument number that should be modified.
• Dest. Instr.: Select the destination instrument number, to what the source insturment number should be transformed.

• Swap: Swap the source and destination instruments within the selection.
• Remap: use the destination instrument for all matching source instruments in the given range.
• Delete: Erase specific notes that instruments will be erased from the Section to Process.

Modifying Effects

Let you either interpolate, fill in missing values, create fades for a given effect, or applies mathematical operations on effect values (multiply, divide, sub, add, randomize and humanize).

Interpolating Values

Suppose you want to do a volume fade in a track between pattern line 00 and pattern line 64. Now you can, of course, type in manually all the values on each line in either the effect column or the volume column of the subtrack you want to fade. Instead of doing this by hand, you can set also only specify the first and last values on line 00 and the last line 64. Selecting the first and last line and hitting interpolate will now fill in all missing numbers and values.

• Lin - Create a linearly range from start to end
• Log - Create a logarithmic range from start to end
• Exp - Create an exponential range from start to end.

Please note that Renoise always needs valid starting and end values to perform interpolations. When interpolating effect column values, you must also ensure that the starting and ending effects use the same effect numbers.

To quickly interpolate selections in the Pattern Editor, you can also use the shortcut "CONTROL/COMMAND + I" to interpolate linearly, "CONTROL/COMMAND + L" to interpolate logarithmically.

Modifying Values

• Apply Perform the set up action (action type and factor)
  • Set: Set all values as set up in the content mask to the given new value
  • Add: Add the given value to the existing values in the specified range
  • Sub: Subtract the given value
  • Mul: Multiply with the given factor
  • Div: Divide by the given factor
  • 'Hum: Add a small random amount, 'humanizes' for the items in the mask in the specified selection.

Tip: humanizing can be very easily and effectively be used to randomize note timings for drums. Same applies for volume and panning values. Small variations to such values or times often create a more swinging, human feeling.

To humanize note delays in a given track in the whole song:

1. In Section to Process enable Track In Song
2. In the Content Mask enable Delays only
3. Setup '10' as factor in Modifying Values and select 'Hum' as processing type.
4. Move the cursor in the Pattern Editor to a drum track
5. Hit the 'Apply' button in Modifying Values

You can try hitting it again and again or other values than '10' to make the effect stronger. Try this also with only Volume or Panning in the Content Mask...

Advanced Edit and Pattern Editor Interaction

Content Mask settings in the Advanced Editor also apply to the Pattern Editors regular Cut / Copy / Paste and Flip commands. Same is true for the mix-paste option. This way you can quickly use the Pattern Editors shortcuts as usual in new fashions. If you for example don't want to Copy / Paste automation along with patterns in a session,you can simply do this this way.

Drag-and-Drop of selections in the Pattern Editor and all operations in the Pattern Matrix will not use any Advanced Edit options.