#1

I thought it might be nice to have a thread dedicated to listing and discussing other instruments, controllers or random pieces of gear that work nicely alongside norns, whether they are desktop synths to sequence from norns, midi keyboards or banks of knobs and/or faders for tactile control of dust scripts, or anything else people are finding fun and inspiring as norns buddies! I get the feeling that a lot of people are interested in finding small, portable, bus- or battery-powered pieces that could be taken on outdoorsy adventures, maybe to be sampled into mlr, or to be sequenced and recorded.

What nornian companions are you enjoying at the moment?

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Norns: help
Battery powered router
[cheat codes 2] (rev 210208: macros, transport, midigrid, midi config, w/syn, even more stuff)
#2

For me - got to be the Organelle - not ā€œnativelyā€ battery powered but I can run it from my anker battery.

Great for sampling into Norns OR to have as a FX processor. Between the two devices Iā€™m aiming to have enough to be able to do a whole performance (although right now those plans involve writing a number of bits of software for both :wink: )

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#3

Apologies for sidetracking this thread so quickly, but I donā€™t think itā€™ll take too long to answer: Which anker battery (what specs) are you using to power your Organelle? Iā€™m looking for a good/safe solution.

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#4

I have this battery

and this power thingy

The battery may well be over powered - I use it to keep all my devices charged when Iā€™m on the road for work (and useful ā€˜hackā€™ - lets me charge my watch on the bedside tables in hotel rooms that donā€™t have power sockets anywhere considerate :slight_smile: )

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#5

Not sidetracking at all ā€“ I would consider a battery pack as a friend of norns, especially for those whoā€™re out in the wilderness! By coincidence, I just bought the slightly larger Anker 26800+ PD pack to charge norns, my phone/iPad and Nintendo Switch, but I havenā€™t had a chance to try it out just yet.

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#6

Faderfox UC4 works great.

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#7

Yes, will echo this. Iā€™ve used my UC4 with Norns almost exclusively since I got it. Such a great pair.

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#8

I havenā€™t used the UC4, but I do have a Faderfox PC4 and I really like it. Really great for the Norns synths with lots of parameters :slight_smile:

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#9

Also, sending sequenced CC from Digitakt has provided some incredible results.

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#10

I would think the Midi Fighter Twister would be an ideal companion. Is anyone using one? Itā€™s pots + button MADNESS.

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#11

I have one, havenā€™t tried it with Norns yet, Il repot back as soon as I do. How does one go about mapping a midi controller to parameters ?

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#12

Right on. Thanks! (20characters)

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#13

They have an editor on the dj tech tools site. I used it to map stuff for my midifighter 3d ā€¦ it may even be the same editor?

In fact:

https://store.djtechtools.com/products/midi-fighter-twister?utm_campaign=twister_flashsale&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook-twitter-instagram-youtube&utm_content=&utm_term=#downloads_and_support

FUN FACT> Google Chrome has midi capabilities and I was getting ā€˜crosstalkā€™ or interference when using my midi fighter (with ableton) with chrome open. Just wanted to pass that along

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#14
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#15

MFTwister works great with Norns. I havenā€™t mapped cc messages to parameters, but Iā€™ve written Lua code to call functions in repsonse to cc midi events from the MFT. You can easily customize how it spits out cc messages using the editor from djtechtools.

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#16

I would love to see some video demonstration of this! :slight_smile:

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#17

a good reminder that we need to add incremental encoder mapping mode in the param sets, since quite a few controllers have incremental encoders

re: companions. iā€™ve used the zoom h2 as a mic preamp. op-1 as a combo sound source and midi controller. and the 16n as a mega-fader-bank.

iā€™m looking for an easy solution for a usb-midi-to-footswitch. my DIY solution is just a teensy/whatever inside the footswitch itself with a USB cableā€¦

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#18

Second this ! Used it to live sample a thumb piano in to mlr at a park. A completely portable, and wonderful musical experience

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#19

koma field kit, space case te-1 tape echo, and a pulp logic 54hp lunchbox with piezo preamps, solenoid drivers, and a trigger sequencer for pinging and listening to natural objects.

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#20

Third this! A field recorder is definitely essential kit for Norns. Op-1 is fantastic and the volca FM is great too. Iā€™ve also found that a good quality portable speaker invaluable when playing out in the wilderness and wanting to perform along side nature.

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