Playing Notes with the Computer Keyboard
Playing/Recording Notes with the Computer Keyboard
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:
In the picture above, the lower octave is marked in blue, the upper one in soft green.
Octave Settings
By default Renoise will use octave 3 with the lower keys (ZXCVBNM) and octave 4 (QWERTYU) for the upper ones. To play also the lower and higher octaves you can change the Keyb. Octave setting in the Song Properties panel or use the keyboard shortcuts on the numpad. Please 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 numbad, you can also use the shortcuts "CONTROL + [" and "CONTROL + ]" (the two keys next to the "P")to change the octave. Alternatively you can also, just as with every keyboard setting in Renoise change it to something else you prefer: Preferences#Keys.
Computer Keyboard Limitations
To edit and program notes in the Pattern Editor, the computer keyboard will perfectly do its job. You can even use the computer keyboard for Recording Notes into Patterns in real time, like on a real piano, but most computer keyboards do not allow all key combination to be pressed at the same time. This is called full n-key rollover. Of course the computer keyboard is also not velocity sensitive, so using a simple MIDI master keyboard with Renoise is highly recommended. See Setting Up MIDI Devices on how to configure MIDI master keyboards.