I first got into electronic music via the demoscene. Demos (mind-blowing CGI animations, often accompanied by cutting-edge dance music) were (and are) created by people all over the world and were easy to find online. The maniacs that supplied the soundtracks typically used an old computer music format called MOD, which paired playback of short samples with simple sequencing capabilities. In a scene where people prided themselves on creating vanishingly tiny files, mods saved vital space compared to using full-length audio clips.

My first electronic group was founded out of a love for this new music we were hearing in demos. We definitely had to try making some of our own, so we grabbed Fast Tracker II, a program for Windows. It let us record audio, chop it up, apply some rudimentary effects, and create songs to our heart's content. It was also free, in the era where a computer-based MIDI sequencer, a decent hardware sampler and all the stuff needed to complete the setup cost thousands. The hitch? Instead of nice little blocks on a piano roll and curvy envelopes, all of the note and controller data was edited (and often entered) in HEX code. For most, this made mod tracking too arcane to mess with. For us, it made tracking just arcane enough to make us feel really, really 1337 when something tricky was pulled off.

In any case, imagine my surprise and delight when a friend told me about Renoise, a new tracker program with all of today's bells and whistles- VST and AU plugin and VI support, extensive effects, a clearer editing interface, etc. I downloaded the demo. They'd retained all the key commands I remembered from Fast Tracker II. Everything worked as expected, except there were beautiful new things, like POLYPHONY!

Anyway, I haven't paid for the full version yet (around $70 US), so I can't share the track I'm working on with you, but suffice to say, when the holiday season is over, I will be adding this app to my stable, no question about it. It has superb timing, good sound quality, and an interface that, for all of its modern niceties, still bristles the hair on the back of my neck like that 4th Red Bull during a Starcraft tourney did. Rock it.

P.S. I've been using my little Korg NanoKey for a little while now, and I absolutely, truly, deeply love it. I now am able to pack a MIDI keyboard with me every time I carry a laptop, with less space commitment than a paperback. Beautiful.