#407

As an even clearer heads-up: there aren’t really “plugins” that convert grid data to MIDI, inside Ableton: there are Max4Live apps that talk directly to the grid, and are designed specifically for it. You’re not going to get deep-integration like you do with a Push. It’s a very different paradigm. Have a look at the list of applications in the docs - some of these are specifically for M4L, rather than standalone Max.

Regarding distribution: the only place to buy monome equipment new is direct from monome in the US.

Duty is largely tax on purchase that you’d pay anyway - US customers would pay sales tax according to state laws, for instance. There’s an overhead in terms of import tax, but you’d be paying that anyway if you purchased it from a distributor in Europe. You’d just see a larger price that you give entirely to the distributor. monome gear is made and sold in relatively small runs, so there isn’t really the savings via distribution that there are for Yamaha or Korg, Arturia or Novation. If you think it sounds expensive: this is the reality of being a small manufacturer and supplier in a globalised marketplace. No-one is forcing you to buy things.

2 Likes
#408

@Ukasz I was looking for one too the other day and I saw this one in Berlin.

#409

Check the “trade” category in this forum.

#410

Thank you!!! That wooden one from Berlin looks amazing :smiley:

#411

it looks like it’s non-varibright, which I would not recommend in 2020 for a new user.

3 Likes
#417

I’m getting an MPC One and I was wondering if there was anyone who has ever tried to plug in their Grids to an MPC as a controller? Without Norns… Would that even work? The MPC recognizes controllers via its USB port?

#418

No, you need specialized software support to host grid and arc. They use a custom serial protocol which is implemented by e.g. libmonome (used by norns, and by serialosc which allows communicating with grids/arcs via OSC and is typically used as a host on PCs). Other implementations of the serial protocol include the one found in libavr32 which is used by Ansible, Teletype, the trilogy modules, and Aleph. Furthermore grid and arc have basically no “logic” of their own, they rely on apps running on the host to define their functionality – so even if you could establish communication at the device level you would need more code to tell the devices what lights to show and how to react to user input.

4 Likes
#419

Thanks for the info! Really appreciate the help…

#420

I am trying to figuring out

  • how much overlap exist between the two
  • can Teletype “replace” the ER-101
  • will the different type of workflows impact the musical process

My problem: I don’t know what I don’t know
as I am starting out and have no clue about any specific direction (yet) and just go by an arbitrary decision to get certain modules based on copying a setup of an artist I like (Caterina Barbieri) and take it from there.

I just got a norns and will get a grid once back in stock.
My focus is on the integration of Live/M4L, norns+grid, modular and live coding.

Any thoughts/suggestions would be great.

1 Like
Teletype workflow, basics, and questions
#421

question was over the ER-101

2 Likes
#422

Awesome!
Any link?
Thanks!

#423

There is a massive difference in the control surface of both modules. If you are comfortable with a keyboard then Teletype can comfortably replicate most of the ER-101 functionality, but getting to that point will require an intensive amount of coding. The Teletype interface cannot be made “friendly” with variable names, labels, etc, so you had better be intimately familiar with your scripts to effect changes while in use. I envision most of those live changes would happen on the Pattern view, which unfortunately cannot hold as much data as the ER-101 patterns.

1 Like
#424

I haven’t owned an ER-101, but thought about it at one point. The ER-101 with expander has CV recording as another input method, besides the laborious method of step by step entry. The Teletype doesn’t have that, but does have a more algorithmic/experimental environment for constructing ideas.

#425

Sure it does! Haven’t tested this but I think it should work to record 64 values. EDIT: it works great :joy: EDITEDIT: tweaked a line so the playback starts from the beginning

Script 1 (arm record while high, disarm and reset sequence on falling edge):

IF ! STATE 1: X 0; P.I P.L
IF ! STATE 1: BREAK
IF X: BREAK
P.I 0; P.L 0; X 1
P.MAP: 0

Script 2 (advance clock):

IF && X STATE 1: $ 4
IF ! OR X STATE 1: $ 3

Script 3 (playback):

CV 1 P.NEXT

Script 4 (record):

J IN; P.PUSH J; CV 1 J

Init script:

$.POL 1 3; X 0
6 Likes
#426

I am not worried at all about coding in general, but I think I need to learn more how that impacts my interaction with my modular setup and if I want to address that with a keyboard during my interaction. I am not sure how that would fit together with live coding in SuperCollider as an additional layer. But anyway its great to know that it can replicate a lot of the ER-101 functionality. I guess it comes down to how one wants to picture their workflow: button pusher vs keyboard clacker :slight_smile:

#427

I assume the challenge is to know what you exactly want out of a given event or series of events in order to construct ideas with the Teletype and then mold that into the Teletype via code. On the other hand, the ER-101 may let you mess more around by pushing and turning and hopefully something comes through. Need to think what that would look like in both cases.

#428

IMO, the most unique/best thing about the ER-101 is that it is extremely precise.
It is (without the 102) pretty linear. It runs through sequence and can loop them. You have a lot of flexibility around pitch (or cv), timing, and duration and you can dial in very specific relationships. You’re actually not that likely to get something you like by just turning and pushing (compared to something like Rene). It’s easy to fall off your grid and get a really sloppy mess (this is also its strength). If you have a specific idea in your mind, you can realize it very precisely and make super precise adjustments.

Caterina Barberi gets a lot of mileage out of it by making phased loops and adding to them piece-by-piece in ingenuous ways. (at least that’s what I think she’s doing). With the 102 things get a lot more interactive but you still need to do some prep-work before you get to the interaction part.

If you have facility with coding (or thinking in that way), teletype might be easier to “sketch” with, try out ideas, see if they result in something musical, adjust, etc. (But, that’s not me, and I don’t have a teletype so take my words with major grains of salt).

1 Like
#429

Very helpful description!
Thank you.

#430

Maybe a little more food for thought. The ER-101 is a sequencer. It says so right on the panel. I’ve never had one, but I feel good about saying it’s probably an excellent sequencer.

I’m not sure I’d quite exactly call Teletype a sequencer. monome calls it an “algorithmic ecosystem.” It can definitely fill the function of a sequencer if you script it to do that. And I think that’s probably a very popular way to use it. But you could also create scenes in which it’s musical function has nothing to do with sequencing.

If you’re looking to replace one with the other, I don’t think you’re comparing apples to apples. So my best guess is that the different workflows probably would have an impact on musical results. Certainly very different things happen for me when I’m working with Teletype than when I’m working with, say, Eloquencer.

4 Likes
#431

I haven’t thought about that. So in essence I need to think about Teletype more as an empty box similiar to norns conceptually, which waits to be fed with something (code) and then it becomes something.

Can I use norns + grid along with ansible (I guess) and make that a sequencer for my modular setup?