Revision as of 18:31, 26 March 2014

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, green keys the upper octave and red the octave above that:

Note Off

In addition to the normal musical notes, Renoise also features a Note-Off command to signal that the previous note has stopped. This is automatically inserted when using a MIDI keyboard by releasing the key. Using the computer keyboard, it is inserted with the Caps Lock key. If an instrument has a sustain element at the end of its waveform, then this is triggered when encountering a Note-Off.

Octave Settings

By default, the lower keys (ZXCVBNM) are set to octave 3 and the upper ones (QWERTYU) use octave 4. To play lower and higher octaves than this, you can change the "Keyb. Octave" setting in the Transport Panel panel or use the / and * buttons located on the numpad (alternatively, use "Left Ctrl + [ or ]"). Note that the octave setting also applies to the MIDI master keyboard input.

Note Velocity

When disabled, all notes played via the computer keyboard will be played at the maximum velocity (80). When enabled, notes will be played at the velocity shown in the value box.

File:2.7 pattern editor control panel computer keyboard velocity.png

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 MIDI keyboard is highly recommended. See Setting Up MIDI Devices on how to configure a MIDI keyboard.

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 == Note Off ==
-In addition to the normal musical notes, Renoise also features a Note OFF command to signal that the previous note has stopped. This is automatically inserted when using a MIDI keyboard by releasing the key. Using the computer keyboard, it is inserted with the Caps Lock key. If an instrument has a sustain element at the end of its waveform, then this is triggered when encountering a Note OFF.
+In addition to the normal musical notes, Renoise also features a Note-Off command to signal that the previous note has stopped. This is automatically inserted when using a MIDI keyboard by releasing the key. Using the computer keyboard, it is inserted with the Caps Lock key. If an instrument has a sustain element at the end of its waveform, then this is triggered when encountering a Note-Off.
 == 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.
+By default, the lower keys (ZXCVBNM) are set to octave 3 and the upper ones (QWERTYU) use octave 4. To play lower and higher octaves than this, you can change the ''"Keyb. Octave"'' setting in the [[Transport Panel]] panel or use the / and * buttons located on the numpad (alternatively, use ''"Left Ctrl + ''[ or ]''"''). 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 [[Preferences#Keys|Keys panel]] in the ''"Edit -> Preferences"'' menu.
+== Note Velocity ==
-== Velocity value ==
+When disabled, all notes played via the computer keyboard will be played at the maximum velocity (80). When enabled, notes will be played at the velocity shown in the value box.
-By default, the velocity used to record notes in the pattern editor is set to maximum value. To change the default value, alter the velocity value in the box next to the computer keyboard icon in the Pattern Editor Control Panel right beneath the pattern editor.
 [[Image:2.7_pattern_editor_control_panel_computer_keyboard_velocity.png]]
@@ Line 28: / Line 26: @@
 == 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.
+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 MIDI keyboard is highly recommended. See [[Setting Up MIDI Devices]] on how to configure a MIDI keyboard.

Playing Notes with the Computer Keyboard: Difference between revisions