ambient talkie: ep 7 - wonderful world of NORNS

[@edgeof60]

Great overview of the Norns. One thing worth mentioning is that lots of scripts are self-generating, which makes this a wondrous instrument to just have going in the background. The beauty of the Norns is that, thanks to the script making community, it has something for everyone, for any level of interaction.

[@tworoundrobins]

Thank you and I agree! :) I will be covering self-generating scripts in a future episode as well as others. Stay tuned!

[@oddObjekt]

Great video! Looking forward to videos on individual scripts. Also, its worth mentioning that there's also Fates which is a DIY version of Norns that also enables you to run ORAC (though not at the same time). Thanks again.

[@tworoundrobins]

Yes! Never really gave much thought about Fates, although have been eyeing Organelle for some time, as I think it could be a great companion to norns :) Thank you for your feedback!

[@ramirofaunokozmiko]

Wow !! This is mind blowing !!!

[@tworoundrobins]

Thanks for watching 👾

[@jaysilence3314]

Looking forward to the upcoming videos on this series. Secretly hoping for an in depth dive into Flora.

[@tworoundrobins]

Thank you very much! I believe I will touch upon flora a bit further but if you really want an in depth look into flora I’d recommend Peter Bark’s video on it :)

[@jaysilence3314]

@@tworoundrobins yeah, I've watched that one. Flora is a very complex sequencer. Following Peters instructions would be easier if there were short sound examples. With the video as is it is difficult to get a grasp of what the parameters are actually changing.

[@fuzzpope]

Phenomenal device. I literally have an entire wall of modular hardware, my Norns pried me away and kept me obsessed for over a year and a half, can't recommend it enough!

[@tworoundrobins]

Totally agree, it has such "replay value" that I just can not keep returning to it and trying out new or different scripts. It's like a puzzle with immense amount of musical output :)

[@coolo73]

I love Norns, here some unsolicited observations: 1. The Monome Grid definitely takes the Norns to an even higher level in my opinion with more interaction and eye candy. A lot of scripts just work better with a Grid attached. 2. Because of the chip shortage and supply issues, not only are Norns Shields not available, but used Norns prices are through the roof. I bought a factory Shield and a Pi brand new for less than $350 a year and half ago. Folks are now commonly selling used assembled ones for $500-600. That's ridiculous. 3. On the positive side, Infinite Digits is working on a Norns port to Linux. That should expand the community and be useful to those wanting to run multiple Norns scripts.

[@tworoundrobins]

Very nice insight and thank you! Yes, I'm aware of the price hike, same thing happened to Plinky, with prices no going through the roof. As for grid, definitely an important addition to norns use. I'll touch upon this in the future episodes as well :)

[@johnmulcahy6031]

any further development on the linux port? i can't find any info, can you share?

[@iosifkalpaktsoglou2045]

Can I plug a guitar straight in or will need to boost it with something? Thank you

[@tworoundrobins]

While it is possible you definitely need something to boost it with just to get a desired level

[@iosifkalpaktsoglou2045]

@@tworoundrobins that's what I thought thank you

[@muzykaprzestrzeni8425]

You said in one of the videos that it is a pity that norns does not have two sources of playback. I may have found that solution by buying a looper pedal. There is one on which you can record about 40 minutes of one effect and then use it as a playback track and play it on another program. I also want to buy norns I like this device and I came across your super stories. Greetings bartek

[@tworoundrobins]

loopers are a good workaround. an even more simpler solution is using the integrated tape system that norns offers where by playing a track you are looping. however, I was more commenting on the issue that norns for now does not offer running two or more scripts at the same time, like chaining one into the other, but maybe the hardware capabilities are an issue for such a scenario. thank you for checking out the video!

[@DivKid]

A great introduction to a fantastic device. The sheer range of things it can do and the ability to check in with what's out there and bring it onto the device for free is amazing. I have a Mutable Instruments CV Pal attached to mine for easy CV sequencing of other devices.

[@tworoundrobins]

It’s such a great device! Can you also sequence stuff on your daw with CV pal…I’m looking for a way to sequence midi on a daw via norns :)

[@HousePlant_Ambient]

This is absolutely fascinating. I have Teletype and Just Friends, but man, I was not aware at the time that Monome released this.

[@tworoundrobins]

welcome to the club :D

[@JureJerebic]

3,7k views in 3 days! Congrats :D

[@tworoundrobins]

Thank you! The algorithm gods have bestowed me with fruitful results :3

[@JureJerebic]

@@tworoundrobins Hard work pays off!

[@Hessencemusic]

These videos are pure 💎. Thank you so much!

[@tworoundrobins]

Im happy you enjoyed it and thank you so much!

[@neuzethmusic131]

Just discovered your channel! Would you recommend the Norns for making Ambient/Drone with Eurorack? I was thinking about sending signals/sounds from Euro into the Norns for effects/sound manipulation?

[@tworoundrobins]

Definitely! It’s made to communicate with eurorack, however be sure to research a bit about these connections and about monome’s crow. A lot of scripts are made to be integrated with other modules :)

[@kendallcurtis7863]

353 Subs...?! Wow... Well that won't be true for long if you keep constructing high quality demonstrations like this. I don't know if you've seen Loopop's videos back around the 353 sub mark, but they were less than stellar. You're copying all the right stuff that's for sure. Keep getting odd rare gear like this gem and you'll get there eventually.

[@tworoundrobins]

Woah, thank you a lot! I put a lot of time in these videos and hopefully I'll manage to do it even better in the future. Thank you for your feedback and checking this video out!

[@tadams1227]

Wish you could make a list of stuff I need to build one or where to purchase one. I love it!!!!

[@jakekronin526]

It’s like the brain of an op1

[@NicolasMelis]

nice! i have to get one 😍

[@tworoundrobins]

you wont regret it :)

[@ondraJams]

I’m really considering jump into norns family - moreover after watching your videos 😊 Can you please tell us about version of raspberry you have your shileld connected to? I can have one available with the lowest possible configuration - 3b. So I wonder if I may hit some performance issues. Thanks in advance 🙏 Greetingd from Czechia 😊

[@tworoundrobins]

I have a 4b but as I understand it the 3b should be good or even a preferable option since the 4b has the wifi antenna clumsily close to the shield. So jump in and welcome to the community! :)

[@ondraJams]

@@tworoundrobins thank you 🙏 purchased exactly 4.75 minutes ago 😉 and just cannot wait enough

[@JohanVandekerckhove]

I went from the shied to the Fates version to the original Monome version (the black one)... This is a piece that I will never ever sell 🥰

[@tworoundrobins]

it's also my fav device. always amazes!

[@NealCaen]

what’s the difference between all three?

[@JohanVandekerckhove]

@neal86 The shield is a small version without battery and less outputs (also 3.5mm), Fastes is bigger and had 1/4 inch separate outputs. The original one has battery and better sound quality and separate outputs. They all run the same software

[@lunargarden]

One just popped up on ebay for a reasonable price, it was an instant buy, can't wait to try it! :)

[@tworoundrobins]

Congrats and welcome to the club :)

[@tadams1227]

Wish you could make a list of parts o. How to build one or where I could buy one ready built. I love this!!!

[@tworoundrobins]

sadly, because of chip shortages you cannot get a norns shield through monome at this time. they do have smaller batches of standard norns throughout the year and you can apply for a newsletter on their site. for prebuilt norns shield I'd recommend checking out on the secondary market like reverb or ebay. to build one yourself you'll gonna need a pcb of norns shield and the necessary parts and knowledge of soldering :) hope that helps

[@morpheoist]

hello, I was interested in buying it, what's holding me back a bit is picking up the books and starting to study from scratch to program. you show sequencers, loopers....etc... how do these work? someone developed them and makes them available for free, do you have to buy them or what? inside the norns shield can I load one at a time or can they all coexist together and use what I need? thank you very much and greetings from Italy 😀

[@tworoundrobins]

Hey, you don't need to program in order to be a norns user and use norns for its many scripts, although you can make your own scripts if you are willing to take time and learn programming. Norns scripts are made by their users, who a lot of them are developers (this is why I put the name of the developer at each script I showcased). The scripts are free and open source to use, meaning you get them for free and download them through norns library (or directly through github). Like I said they are also open sourced, meaning that if you want you can mangle the code a bit in order to make it more usable for your own need (but it's not needed). However, like I stated in the video - norns is not for everyone as I believe you need to be a bit tech savy, meaning if you're not a bit acquainted with some programming term you gonna need some time to grasp norns potential. But this can be easily fixed just by doing a bit of digging and a bit more research and asking on the lines forum if you get stuck. tl:dr you DON'T need to learn programming to enjoy norns, scripts are made by users and are free and easy to install on norns, do a bit more research on norns and how to connect it to your computer just to see its going to be too much of a hustle :) otherwise if you have any more question you can freely reach to me on instagram and I'll gladly help ya out

[@morpheoist]

@@tworoundrobins tyou have been very thorough, thank you very much

[@kosmikmusa]

Can this be bought? I tried to look for it but can´t find it for sale.

[@tworoundrobins]

As of writing this there are no shields available from monome, due to the chip shortages issue. This has also limited the production of standard norns as they usually come in limited batches. I suggest reaching out to monome directly in order to see when they are expecting new batches. For shield I would check monome groups or Reverb to see if they anything available.

[@MrKrisstain]

For gear junkies always mention which reverb youre using ;)

[@tworoundrobins]

Haha I think on this particular one is just Fabfilter Pro R :)

[@andy9mm]

Video request/idea: walk-through setting up OSC via maiden on shield to connect an ipad version of grid/crow -- I know there are a lot of TouchOSC templates out there (I think toga looks great), but the lack of video guides out there have made it difficult for me personally to break through every time I hit a roadblock.

[@tworoundrobins]

good idea! I might touch upon that on a quickie or future talkie episodes :) thank you for your suggestion!

[@andy9mm]

@@tworoundrobins As a person who is meeting a lot of goals in ambient music this year, please accept this pat on the back and encouraging words to keep it up!

[@tworoundrobins]

@@andy9mm thank you so much, my dude! :)

[@hellf.o]

Absolutely agree Norns is one of the best piece of gear out there! Has it granular function too? Thanks for sharing subscribed for more!

[@tworoundrobins]

Hey, of course! There are quite a few useful and unique granular scripts developed for the norns ecosystem. Thank you!

[@hellf.o]

@@tworoundrobins 👍👍

[@jonnyhead]

Hi Mandy

[@tworoundrobins]

Captions are a lie :3

[@jonnyhead]

@@tworoundrobins I was a little suspicious with that voice, but I'm from England where girls sound like the after 10 pints and a pack of cigarettes

[@tworoundrobins]

@@jonnyhead figures! Im usually only 5 pints in when I record these, thus why I stumble on me own words 🥲

[@MrKrisstain]

Wow, thanks!

[@margaritaulokina7985]

💛☀️

[@tworoundrobins]

[@onesuavestudio]

keep em' coming andy! thank you

[@tworoundrobins]

Thank you and will do!