NDLR Review & tips

Review of the NDLR 4-channel arpeggiator and some ideas for using it to the full.
NDLR: conductivelabs.com/
How to use it with the Montage: yamahasynth.com/ask-a-questio...

[@joelnicholson]

Really creative approach to the NDLR, especially compared to a lot of other videos out there which don't even seem to think of bringing drums or arps in there! Very inspiring. Mine should be arriving this week, and I can't wait to get cracking with it!

[@subradial]

Great video and overview of this fantastic device! Just had my first jam with NDLR sequencing individual channels of Vermona Perfourmer MKII and got lost for few hours, so flexible and deep, endless possibilities!

[@ChrissieCaulfield]

Thanks! yes it is HUGE fun, I enjoy trying it with different synths :)

[@Jiglo71]

Great review and I love the music you were making with it, especially ex.1 which sounded fantastic to my ears. Now I want a Montage as well as the NDLR

[@ChrissieCaulfield]

Thanks! I keep meaning to do another 'review' using a cheaper synth (the Waldorf Blofeld or maybe an Elektron) but haven't got around to it yet. The Montage (or MODX) is awesome though!

[@docjoesweeney]

Thanks for this review and ideas. I'm also awaiting for mine, which I plan to use with Voltage Modular. Experimentation here I come.

[@ChrissieCaulfield]

Sounds fun!

[@DarrylMcGee]

Nice overview of The NDLR! For changing chords with a MIDI device, there are other modes. As a musician you might prefer Mode 3 "The NDLR Set Key", which you can select under System menu 1 "KB Cntl". Similar to mode 1 but the note degrees map to Chord Degrees I-VII. For example: in the Key of “D”… the D-key played on the keyboard selects Chord Degree I, the F#-key selects Chord Degree iii. Its a lot easier for a musician to select the degree based on what they are playing on their instrument.

[@ChrissieCaulfield]

Thanks!

[@p.meyerhiggins3157]

Helpful! I've been wondering how the NDLR would work with drum machines (via Drone channel) and arpeggiators (via Pad channels), and you covered both of those in your varied approaches. Interesting and enjoyable, thank you.

[@ekummel]

I've been fascinated by ambient music ever since I heard Brian Eno's Music for Airports. From there, I embraces all music that has a "drone" or repetitive feature to it. GOA was a form of music that I enjoy. I'm a trained piano player...more than 11 years...kinda fell out of that when I became an adult and more adult toys took my attention, so naturally I was intrigued with keyboards and by extension, synths. I don't like to formalize what I play, I just like to "noodle" on the keyboard to see what I come up with. When I saw this device, I was stunned. This is exactly what I was looking for! So, for my birthday, I splurged a little and got this. Wow. Even with minimal equipment, this thing is amazing! My setup is a Korg NTS1 for Motif 1, a Yamaha FB01 for Motif 2, a Korg Volca Bass for Drone and any number of pads in albleton Live Lite! This thing made me have to go back to my basics of chord progression to learn which chord and the type of chord sounds best with following another chord. My 1, 4, 5, 1 chord progression came back immediately. 1, 4, 2, 5, 1 sounds really nice as well. And like you, I've only just scratched the surface with the less than 1 month I've had this thing. And the name if perfect ndlr because that's what you do with it...you "noodle" with it!

[@ChrissieCaulfield]

Great to hear your enjoying it! As you say, it's a great device for just finding things and experimenting without becoming un-musical - which I think is rare these days. I suspect it's possible to get a huge range of things from the device just by pairing it with different synths. I'd love to try it with the Korg Wavestate for instance :)

[@ConductiveLabs]

Thank you for taking the time and effort to make this wonderful overview of The NDLR! We call it The NDLR because "noodler" doesn't sound "cool" ;-)

[@ConductiveLabs]

Request, would love to see some violin with NDLR accompaniment!

[@ChrissieCaulfield]

@@ConductiveLabs this will definitely happen :-)

[@mr.apartment]

when you say there are other things to do dissonant chords etc, what would you suggest looking at?

[@ChrissieCaulfield]

TBH I didn't have anything specific in mind when I said that! There are some synthesizers around that specialise in more drone/noise ideas such as the Lyra8 though.

[@mr.apartment]

@@ChrissieCaulfield gotcha, i love the lyra, thanks for the reply :)

[@atomikrobot8016]

Can you add some percussion and some more synths for us all to hear.? Pleeease, wonderful video and you presented extremely well..!

[@ChrissieCaulfield]

I'll see what I can do :) I was intending to use the NDLR as live accompaniment for violin gigs but as there are no gigs ATM I've sort-of neglected it a bit.

[@sunnyheartley7184]

so you had the NDLR connected to the Yamaha keyboard thru midi usb?

[@ChrissieCaulfield]

I tried that and, annoyingly, it doesn't work :( It seems (and I need to test this more to be sure) that the Montage disregards the channel number sent in MIDI messages on the external USB connector so everything the NDLR sends to the Montage triggers ALL of the voice, not just the ones its supposed to. So for this video I had to route the NDLR via a computer to the Montage. Very irritating.

[@ChrissieCaulfield]

I posted about this on the Montage Forums, and the trick is to disable keyboard control for the PARTs, then it works fine if you plug the NDLR straight into the Montage! yamahasynth.com/ask-a-question/multi-channel-devices-attached-to-usb-input

[@sunnyheartley7184]

Thank you so much

[@erdoganturksever9119]

A very useful video... I think we can't choose major, minor (or dorian etc) in the same circle in real time. am i wrong thanks...

[@erdoganturksever9119]

and @conductive Labs

[@ChrissieCaulfield]

Not easily from the front panel (it's a lot of complex menu diving), but there is a MIDI CC (74) that can change this - according to the manual. I haven't tried it though.

[@erdoganturksever9119]

@@ChrissieCaulfield the bottom right two keys are not assigned. It says under construction. It would be great if these keys were assigned and the whole circle was minor at once. The world would change with just one click :)...

[@ChrissieCaulfield]

@@erdoganturksever9119 Yes! I'm sure amazing things could be attached to those keys. The firmware updates seem to be quite slow in coming though, so I'm not holding my breath for anything earth-shattering sadly.

[@erdoganturksever9119]

@@ChrissieCaulfield ☺️👋