The Makenoise RENÉ sequencer project

I was fortunate enough to see a posting on the internet in late 2010 seeking a programmer for a modular synthesizer project. This looked very interesting, so I contacted Tony Rolando, proprietor of the MakeNoise company, and dived into the RENÉ sequencer project. It was a steep learning curve at first, but I really enjoyed it. I've been building original audio electronics designs for many years, without any real discipline or direction. This project came along at a perfect time to get me on a better track.

We went through a lot of iterations, and Tony was very patient as I caught up to the current state of the art in modular synthesisizers, which I really hadn't looked at for decades. Things have changed since then, but the principles have remained the same. I enjoyed catching up by reading and listening and watching videos. MakeNoise released the RENÉ sequencer in 2011, through distributors located around the globe.

The high point for me was was seeing people out there making music with the RENÉ sequencer. A lot of people are doing some very creative things outside of the mainstream. We got an extra boost when Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross won a Grammy for the Social Network movie soundtrack. In a New York Times video interview, the RENÉ sequencer was sitting right behind him in the studio.

It was a great opportunity for me to freshen my skills, and I made some good friends along the way. I hope to do more work for MakeNoise in the near future. We have several projects in the works.