#613

Iā€™m a long Octatrack user and i built my grid yesterday.
As far as im learning how to use it properly with my fates, they are really really different machines, which do very different things. AnD i still do have to learn how to use mlr or cheat codes properly

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#614

Wanted to confirm what @2197 said ā€“ I have a Hermod, and I have it hooked up to the norns all the time via Hermodā€™s USB Device Port.

#615

Oh that sounds fun. What are you doing with the combo?

#616

Yeah I think cheat codes is the one script I should really check out before selling.

Iā€™ve used reels a lot. And now Iā€™m using ooooo a lot. And neither required a grids but are still very playable.

The new cheat codes allows for 30 secs of sample time which better fits my style of sampling so Iā€™m going to give it a go before selling.

The new update seems pretty deep

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#617

all sorts of stuff!

  • percussion triggers from Cyrene (or even just clock syncing while Cyrene plays the samples)
  • melodic sequencing from norns to hermod (Awake, Traffic, Fugu, Kria, Earthsea)
  • sequencing from hermod to norns (recorded performances via hermodā€™s midi in, or sequences from marbles/O&C/etc going into hermodā€™s CV ins), with norns running synths like Passersby or Molly the Poly etc
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#618

Thanks for the confirmation, I will try it tomorrow :+1:

#619

Thanks! This is quite a good news

#620

see my post way up above for some of the suppliesā€¦
butā€¦the best way i sync all of my norns is with a mio for USB to MIDI I/O.
for my modular i use a Pittsburgh Modular MIDI 3.
i send sync from one source to everything i use with a MIDI splitter.

usually i use a Cirklon but depending on the noiz circuit i might use an e-rm MIDIclock or if using the Mac iā€™ll just split that clock to everything.

hope that helps!

#621

Iā€™m considering getting Norns+Grids if the stock doesnā€™t go immediately (a bit of juggling with money to be had before purchase), so Iā€™m wondering about midi configuration. I have RME Fireface UFX, Octatrack and Poly 2 in my modular, and I would want something that would allow me to clock both OT and Norns, and flexibly allow me to juggle midi between the devices. OT to Norns, OT to the modular, Norns to the modular, etc. No real need for midi from my pc to the machines and nice versa, but thatā€™d be a plus. Clocking is my main concern to be honest, I donā€™t use Ableton so Link is out of the question and Iā€™d rather get a midi interface that would deal with master clock from my pc to both din and usb midi, as multiple (as in both my interface and Norns via usb) is often a bit funky. So what would be the ideal midi solution, preferably with room to grow?

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#622

Hooked up an Akai MIDIMix to my Norns Shield today and got lost for an hour or so tinkering with oooooo. One small change in the Akai Editor and everything mapped beautifully! :grin:

#623

you could get a midihub or a mioxm, or look for a secondhand 80s/90s rack midi router like the akai me30p or roland a-880. i have an akai in my studio and it works great. flexible routing, but it doesnā€™t merge midi (you can only send one out to a given midi in, but of course you can send a single out to multiple ins). depending on what you get, you might also need a small usb-midi interface for the norns.

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#624

Hey all,

I recently got these sensors (https://sunhou.se) which map an acoustic drum into a midi controller and have been toying with the idea of integrating a norn into the setup. Iā€™m a primarily a jazz dummer and have no experience with electronic instruments so Iā€™m not quite sure how it would interact with the sensors software, but I can send the sensor signal to logic so Iā€™m assuming that it should work with a norn. I really donā€™t know what my options are for how the two could interact, but I like the idea of giving the electronic side some elements of improvisation for me to play off of or being able to shape macro phrases with effects. Any advice as to where to go would be welcome even if it seems simple or obvious, Iā€™m good with computers and have minor tech knowledge but synths and midi scare meā€¦ lol.

2 Likes
#625

Judging from the video on the homepage it looks as if you have to run the mapping software on a ā€œrealā€ computer but you could easily route the midi out into your norns from that. I donā€™t think thereā€™s any escaping having the mapper run on a different computer thoughā€¦ At least not without rewriting the software :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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#626

Gotcha, just because Iā€™m paranoid at buying the wrong thing what would you recommend to connect the Norns and the computer? Or should I run a line out from the interface to the Norns? Sorry for the basic question spam, money is tight and I want to make sure I get the right thing and am very new to midi; the help is very appreciated :slight_smile:

#627

Yeah your two main options would be sending the norns audio or midi. Which of those you want depends on the details of what you want the norns to do for you. Audio would be good if you want a looper kinda thing like compass or cranes or wrms or samsara or mlr or cheat codes.

Midi would be cool if you wanted to ā€œresynthesizeā€ anything (at a basic level: trigger a kick sample via Drum Room when it gets a kick via midi, but up toā€¦ any number of other things) My bet is youā€™d end up wanting to write something custom for the MIDI route because nothing springs to mind as an existing script that is focused on converting drum MIDI data (or even just ā€œpercussive eventsā€ kinda stuff) to anything interesting other than Drum Room. So: more work, but thereā€™s a lotta really wild stuff you may dream up to do with the "raw"er midi approach

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#628

as said, the sunhouse software converts audio to midi, so you would have to go via your audio interface and computer first, and then route midi out through your midi interface (which is most likely the same as your audio interface) to norns. however, norns does not have a midi port, so you would need a USB-midi interface for norns as well. there are cheap alternatives that work great, like esi midimate or mio iconnectivity.

1 Like
#629

hey ya!

soā€¦i am big into merging percussion to electronics and i have to say those trigs look neat!
but holy frack!
they are expensive! :crazy_face:
($550 for one trig and the software)

anyhowā€¦
it looks like all you will need is a MIO USB to MIDI connection for your norns and then you can send it all sorts of info out a MIDI host from your computer.

other than the zoning softwareā€¦i wonder how well they work vs a Roland acoustic trig.
there is also a company called 2BOX which allows you to use any sort of trig including cymbal trigs.

my issue with a lot of these devices is whether or not they bottleneck things.
as inā€¦when you get to or attempt to play things at tempo = NILE then there are notes that clog up, get missed or ā€œcatchupā€ and play late.
(the Alesis D4 was notorious for that)
i would be a bit concerned with adding a computer into the chainā€¦and those Sunhouse trigs rely on that.
:slight_smile:

2 Likes
#630

honestly this system looks like an uneasy friend to norns.

given that:

  • you have to run the host software to analyze the sensor input and produce midi events,
  • most sound production and processing on norns is running in an instance of supercollider,
  • host computer can also run supercollider (more capably),
  • host <-> host MIDI requires even more computers, expense, adds latency,

iā€™m not sure i see the point of adding norns to your setup at all. it seems like a lot of complexity to take on for little gain especially if you are just getting into some of this stuff, given that there are a wealth of things to explore already within the systems you have.

if you are already using norns and have some fiarly specific idea of what you want to accomplish between with the two systems, thatā€™s another story. even then iā€™d say: reach out to me or another developer with a particular proposal, since all of the norns audio stack (scscynth and softcut) can run quite easily on your host computer under macOS or linux. (and it sounds like you are on macOS.)

5 Likes
#631

Thanks for that breakdown. I did go ahead and get a shield since my roommate had a spare raspberry and seems fun regardless, but yeah Iā€™m not sure it will serve the purpose I had in mind, though Iā€™m going to try running the audio into one of the looping apps to see if anything interesting comes from that.

What I was hoping the Norns might help me do is create a way to use these sensors to have generative music being created that I can mold and shape behind my regular acoustic drums, ideally Iā€™d like to actually deal with a computer as little as possible while performing and more just playing with what Iā€™m hearing. Kind of a ā€œstill in quarantine and losing my mindā€ project but could be interesting, just not quite sure how to get there. Though these sensors do make me feel like itā€™s possible.

2 Likes
#632

I have a diy red led 128 grid and was getting some USB Noise. I found this little guy on amazon and it really helped! Just wanting to share in case anyone else was experiencing this. Im going to grab a few of these to have around. Next will try with the mother or all USB Noise devicesā€¦ the OPZ! lol

Nobsound USB to USB Isolator Module Audio Noise Eliminator Industrial Isolator Protection