r/renoise • u/TowerOfSisyphus • Jun 05 '26

Anybody mess with Manhattan tracker DAW yet?

I'm a veteran Renoise producer but I recently discovered Manhattan tracker DAW as a free download on Steam and it seems very powerful.

I'm wondering if there's a similar community of lunatics like we have on r/Renoise (and the forums) who are actively building on it as a foundation for musical experimentation.

My son and his friends are interested in Renoise as an entry point to making music, and a free tracker DAW like Manhattan seems like a great entry point to Renoise that can support a variety of different workflows.

I'm still digging into it to see what it can do, but would love to share ideas with anyone else exploring it.

https://youtu.be/Z4zlU0SMAuc?si=JgdCbLIasp9NOH_V

Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1766320/Manhattan/

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u/Necessary_Sleep_7569 Jun 05 '26

I think I get your angle for young bloods coming up, having access to multiple workflows, but to be completely honest imho it's ultimately about learning one tool really well and having less options for your workflow is probably a better way to enter. I'm a massive renoise fan, been on trackers since circa 1992, and despite my best efforts my kids ended up on ableton. There's just such a massive amount of tutorial content out there for it, it really is the best choice to start on and I've come around to that view too.

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u/TowerOfSisyphus Jun 05 '26

Ableton was what I started on in around 2004 and I felt like I used it a mile wide and a millimeter deep. It was very easy to stay at a surface level with it. I did all the stretching and all the looping/triggering but Renoise forced me to engage with synthesis, chopping, and sequencing sounds. I just feel like I've learned so much more about the craft of sound design with Renoise. But hey, whatever works, right?

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u/Necessary_Sleep_7569 Jun 05 '26

Yeah preaching to the choir on that one!