Hi! A recap of the versions of norns... (1) The $800 fully built stock norns by monome, plug and play, aluminum enclosure, white screen, more audio IO, no ethernet - not currently in stock as of the writing of this comment (2) The updated norns shield reworked to solve noise issues on the input - sold for $280 directly by monome - yellow screen - easy to assemble, no soldering, but you'll need to buy a raspberry pi model 3b+, sd card, USB cable and 2A+ power supply separately (3) The full DIY version - monome does not sell this, you have to source all of the parts yourself including the PCB and enclosure, and solder it together yourself or with the help of a builder - you choose the screen color - yellow or white. IMPORTANT: if the PCB you buy says "191106" on it (November 2019) like the one in the video, it's the open-source OLD version, before the input noise re-work - PCB should be at least 210330 (March 2021) when monome open sources it - not currently available as of the making of this video (4) The DIY "Fates" version - not sold or supported by monome - also fully DIY, no longer offered by the original designer, not part of the officially supported firmware (a "fork") so there's some risk to it not being supported in the future, source the parts and solder yourself or have a builder make one for you.
Looks like another great candidate for a near future DIY project. Your video certainly sparked my enthousiasm. Do you know if the PCB requires any SMD partd Or is it all through-hole soldering?
So what is available for purchase by monome right now has a known noise issue? Confused by the "not currently available as of the making of this video" as this video seems to have just been published, but March 2021 was some time ago, and for all I know you made this video well before you published it.
I just noticed there's also a Norns script that can load Organelle patches (up to OS2.1). It's called Norns Mother. The community surrounding this device is impressive.
I recommend to everyone ARC and Grid in diy version, rather simple to do with a little patience and knowledge of electronics. Norns shied with the current crisis of electronic components is more difficult to assemble, as raspberry pi 3 b + and dacs are practically impossible to find anywhere. I own a shield and two fates, I would like to build more for my performances but finding all the components is more and more difficult. Congratulations on the video.
This feels like entering a whole new world of music production. Thank you, as always, for the excellent presentation, Loopop. You are HANDS DOWN the best on RU-vid.
SOLD! Never have I ever reached for my credit card so quickly. I haven't been following the Monome community in years, but remember when Norns was first announced. The idea of standalone Monome apps was cool, but it seemed a bit too much of a splurge for me to justify. The price on the shield however is just right, as a already have a Launchpad mini, usb mini to CV converrer, and plenty of usb midi interfaces/devices all sitting here collecting dust. This thing is like a Korg NTS-1 times 10. Well worth $315.
For anyone put off buying a Norns Shield because of the hum or background noise... The board has been revised and the latest revision has removed all background hum. My Shield had this problem making the input, and intentions to use it as a sampler, completely unusable. The latest revision has removed all the hum problems.
when you say "revision," are you talking hardware, or...? (I need to check mine & see which version of the board my build has. while I don't recall any noise issues, I haven't gotten much use out of my norns shield as I'm easily stumped my technology that's what remotely mysterious. so I've yet to mess with any of its sampling capabilities. the community has been great the few times I've reached out. just gotta spend more time noodling & exploring, reading up on stuff, & asking more questions, I guess....
@@Jason75913 not sold by monome but plenty of people have made their own cases and share designs for free...i've seen all materials (wood, various 3d prints, metal) there's somebody in belgium selling aluminum cases in batches based on demand
i was thinking just yesterday on getting a Norns Shield. I have a spare RPi3b+ and some knowledge on programming (not in Lua) and with this video I'm already ordered one. Wish me luck.
Huge norns fan, also a programmer. One con to this that wasn't stated is that the documentation for the apps is not great. Scrolling through the lines forum to learn what's up is definitely not something that people who aren't developers would do or enjoy. Heck, I know what I'm doing and it is not fun. But, I love my norns and think it is great. Having a hardware Orca is what brought it to my attention. So cool!
I’ve awaited a looppop Norns review for ages now!! I’m finally satisfied!!! If anyone was wondering btw imo Norns over organelle. I have both and I Deff like my Norns shield better.
Loopop’s videos often lead me to two things. First to pause the video and look up all the links. Then to reconsider the credit card offers I’ve been getting. The monome site is literally the candy store for this kid. Good stuff.
Given the shield only cost 280 and I have a Pi 3 B+ sitting around I'm actually quite happy to buy this outright. "Some assembly required" always makes things more fun
Probably the coolest piece of music gear I acquired this year. Enormously satisfying and crammed with a ton of awesome apps that sound incredible. My huge modular collected dust for months.
I'm about as tech challenged as functioning musicians can get. I was perplexed but mystified by the norns, so I got a shield. I'm still perplexed & mystified, & am not getting as much use of it as I know I can & will once I put more time in with it. but the immediate reception & support that I felt & received on the lines forum was pretty friggin' amazing(!). yaaaaay!!
I think that the videos you make are brilliant Mr Pop, it helps satisfy my curiosity on certain synths and on a few occasions I have bought a synth on the strength of your rundown without disappointment. Cheers good buddy!
Major OP-1 vibes from some of those graphics displays. Makes me wish TE had open-sourced the sound engines on the OP-1 and let the community run wild with it.
Thank you for the review on Norns. Norns is one of my favorite pieces of kit, and you are you are my favorite reviewer. Xmas came early this year for someone!!
I was super pleased to see the announcement that you'd made a Norns video. I got hold of one about 4 months ago and I absolutely love it. In fact my Zoia is complaining of abandonment since it turned up. I don't use Arc or Grid but have not felt any shortage of interesting scripts because of that. I also found that you develop an intuition of what knob or encoder will do what, and where you are in the menus pretty quickly. I find it very easy to navigate. While Loopop shows much of its bloopy, loopy gorgeousness it can handle rhythmic sequencing and beats just as well. For me, out of all its competitors, it wins hands down in the shield version. Half the price of a Zoia and much easier to use for the novice, and way less than half the price of the Organelle.
I considered a Zoia for a while, and some other similar devices, all desire for any of them has gone now I have a Shield. The versatility, and sheer amount of scripts and ideas available on it are amazing. The community is amazing, Monome themselves have been stellar in my experience too. And yes, once the initial confusion wears off, it becomes very intuitive what the knobs and encoders do, surprisingly so.
13:17 Background hum, sort of common problem with Norns shield. On Lines forum, you will be advised to buy a better power supply and cable, but I got tired of looking for silent options and just resigned myself. They also shared links to "quiet" adapters, but they were all with american plugs, while I need a european version. I tried to buy a thick cable, connected ferrite cores to it, but the quietest result is a short cable from a Xiaomi power bank and power supply from a Xiaomi phone (5v-3A).
@@loopop The noise can be more or less depending on the script (In the video, it is noticeable that the noise increases when you zoom in on the selected area, according to my experience I would say that the changing noise level depending on the screen menu is also quite typical), so everything is quite confusing when it comes to finding its source, but I'm not the only one who complained about background noise.
The latest version of Shield has had some refinements in its circuit board layout. My first Shield had hideous noise on the input that I tried everything I could to get rid of. It literally made the input unusable. I have the newer revision of Shield and all noise problems have gone.
@@hostprods8059 You mean it squeaks? :) Apparently the hum issue was only with some individual units, but the revision means these noisy units are no longer going to happen. Sadly mine was noisy as hell. Latest revision is even quieter than a mouse tho and resolved all the issues I had :)
I'd heard of this Norns before and really wanted to try it but thought there was either the $800 option (a little pricey for me as a casual) or the full DIY option (too difficult for me). Now that I know there's the Norns Shield option for much less I'll have to try it. Also this video demystifies all the things it can do and makes me want to get it even more now. (Looks like the Norns shield is now sold out right now though probably because of this video) :)
TouchOSC + Ableton Link on a rPi-powered device is absolutely delightful in ways I can't even begin to describe. And while an $800 'finished product' version from monome is absurdly overpriced, that is the norm with their equipment, and it's equally delightful to see them opening up to the DIY crowd so much. I would consider buying one secondhand for ~500-600, but a DIY unit for half that cost or less is just a tantalizing temptation...
yeah, the lower costs (and easy kit) have really helped expand the user community but monome has always encouraged diy versions of their gear embracing diy not new for them
You can also run Orac 2 (The Technobear) and switched between Orac 2, Norns, and standalone PD patches. You can patch Orac live on the device, including aweome Mutabele Instuments modules like plts and clds.
If you are somewhat handy with solder iron, you can build a whole Norns for about $150. The trickiest part is the SMD processor, but there is a trick for doing it with flux...
Huge fan of Monome - lots of videos on my page if anyone here is new and wants to hear it in action. The community is incredible - since buying mine this year there have been a dozen new scripts and all have been fascinating and musical. My favourite piece of music gear right now.
Regarding the open source nature of Norns, it might be worth noting the underlying operating system. If it runs lua scripts, I assume it's Linux (like the Organelle), but I could be wrong.
Ooh I like this.. I’ve been looking for a generative type sequencer to supplement my Deluge which I find lacking in this department. I was thinking the Ndlr but Norns looks more interesting 🧐
I have a hard time believing that the fully DIY Norns Shield is only 30% cheaper to build than the presoldered version, though. That display would have to be REALLY expensive, because I've looked at the PCB layout and there are maybe $20 of parts on there, and that's assuming you spare no expense on the encoders, jacks and buttons. PCB is about $15. Laser cut acrylic case is about the same depending on where you have it cut (a lot less if you have a local maker space or other access to a cutter).
I love my 4th option "Fates" a DIY project which preceded the monome DIY version. IMPORTANT now no longer available -- if you see "new" ones on Reverb buyer beware (at least investigate) because the person (okyeron) who did the PBC etc no longer has any for sale. Just get the monome shield.
Can confirm that getting into programming the scripts is not that hard. I implemented the Midi Start/Stop feature for Awake recently, and it was the first time ever I programmed something in Lua. One lazy Sunday afternoon.
Potential buyers, beware of buying a pre built Norns Shield from private sellers. I did and it was not a good move : after just a few hours of use, it started behaving strangely and eventually, I literally saw smoke coming out of the enclosure. It turned out it was the DAC that melted out.. (those DAC's are of now impossible to source by the way) The Shield had been built in Belgium and was housed in a metal casing (cool but potentially troublesome) and the seller said it had always worked before, but obviously I have my doubts. Anyway, after this debacle, I bought a Shield straight from Monome (and swallowed the £360 tough pill), and the good news is it's been working just fine, it's not got any hum and I absolutely love it. Mention to Dan Derks at Monome who was an absolute gentleman!! PS : What is the OSC controller used with the phone in this video?
@@papaya160 well it certainly has been a running discussion on lines, and aside from ordering from dubious Chinese sites, I believe that it’s been pretty much Impossible to find those chips. But feel free to enlighten me with a trusted link!
Unfortunately it seems like due to parts shortages Monome recently discontinued Norns Shield 😢. You can still build your own from scratch, but they no longer sell the kits or fully assembled versions
Great work as usual , thanks a lot ! I hope that one day you can give us the whole Nerdseq ecosystem :) as being one of th most powerful and important sequencers in eurorack :D
Great vid on one of my favorite companies! If you find yourself not using the Arc4, send a message. I would take it in a heart beat. Thanks for all you do
Hi! This is by far the most explanatory video about norns IMHO, thank you so much! A question for the users: do the loops recorded on scrpts like Otis, oooooo, larc or compass are saved automatically? I mean, are they still there between power cycles?
So great to see you make a vid for norns! Cool that you had Cheat Codes on there but ya didn’t mention the grid orientation. 😝 Anyhow…I guess you could say I’m a power user being that use three full norns, grid, arc setups…but…I am absolutely not a programmer. Just a percussionist noizician using such a bizarre noiz weapon. 😝
Hi dear! Great video - thank you so much. I really would love to have a step by step recipe to change ( I am an ABSOLUT BEGINNER) - what you have been doing - the AWAKE script (top bottom level) - this is super cool !!! Would that be possible? - even how to do a back up/or is it possible to save it as an extra script ?? Thank you for the support, R.
Crow is a pretty elegant solution. Monome previously had a Norns precursor called aleph that had CV I/O, and it was more expensive than a shield+crow and had functionality issues. The euro integration, especially with modules like just friends (which can be sequenced as a 6-voice poly synth with a lot of monome stuff) and ER-301, is pretty extensive and well documented
There’s also CVPal, which is an older Mutable designed usb-to-cv interface. It’s class-compliant,usb powered and works well with Mac, ipad, and Norns. 4 CV outs that can be used in various ways, The originals are a bit rare, but you can find clones for around $40-60 with DIY kits even cheaper. A fraction of the price of Crow.
Great tip. The only thing is you lose i2c functionality (which crow has) which unlocks a lot of powerful stuff if you get more into that space. Definitely depends on your goals
Wonderful video as usual, thanks a lot for your invaluable contribution. What is the name of the app to control Norns? Btw: who can honestly dislike these videos?
Thanks! It's called Touch OSC, and a free template is available on the lines forum I think for control of general parameters. The dislikes? Who knows... people against free apps and open source?
First class review as usual!! A++ I got two questions: 1- can the ableton push 2 be used with norns instead of the launchpad? 2- Are the I/O's and converters different between the norns premium version and the shield or are they just cosmetically different? Thanks
Thanks! 1. It should be with midigrid, but I've not tried it; 2. that's a question for Monome - please email them and comment back here? I know the Shield's IO has been improved relative to the DIY version, but not sure about the specs compared to stock norns.
I hate using a computer to make music, to be clear -- but this to me just looks like making music on a crappy computer with limited (though creative) HCI.
I have a Norns shield pcb and a Rasp Pi 3 which I hoped to put together however none of the essential components seem available anymore, notably the DAC chip and oled. I tried Monome to see if they are able to sell a kit or the parts but alas they also do not have them for sale. Surely there must be an alternative way to get Norns up and running on a Rasp Pi using components e.g DAC and Arduino controller that are freely available but I’m afraid this beyond my technical ability. As it seems almost impossible to obtain a Norns unit it would be wonderful if someone found a way to run the whole thing on an iPad/iOS or laptop etc. There appears to be so many people who’d love to use the Norns scripts but are unable to get the hardware to do so. I’m not sure where others have managed to obtain a Norns but so far I’ve not been very successful which seems disappointing for such a community oriented music making thing which it would be wonderful to participate in
@@loopop Thanks :D Its a wild device, would probably pair nicely with the Gecho Loopsynth, which was likely the first video I saw of yours when getting into hardware ( I went with a Softpop instead tho). Always been ITB up till then.
for the life of i cant get my OG norms to sync to midi clock - transport yes but clock no. Any ideas anyone? Using MidiMonitor script to check it. Cheers Russell
Though this is such a fantastic tool, I’m more of a switch modular on and turn knobs n slide sliders kind of a guy. I’m very attracted to the outcomes of these systems, yet feel intimidated and slightly drained by the potential clicking and menus etc. I’m no programmer. Am I wrong to feel this way about these? Is there a Modular Monome experience that doesn’t involve having to be a coder/programmer?
Question. With MLR being on the Norns how do you operate the sample inputs? I am use to the 40h so its been a long time for me. Seems like the old ways of running apps has changed.
Nice. The audio from 17.30 min is from the mc-101 ? The sound of mc is totaly different, i think there is a reprossesing in norns before the final result. Right ?
This is off topic- But in your opinion, Which Drum/Beat Machine do you think fits Best for a Beginner..? (Both Controller & Stand-alone devices) Also, if this helps.. I’m a singer/songwriter btw
Greetings! This seems like as good as any place to ask this question. The last major piece of the puzzle of my live setup is sample playback and manipulation. I need a player that can sample in vinyl and other sources, mangles the hell out of stuff, performable, loopable and can get into some glitchy idm type territory while being played live. My three considerations are the Norns + Grids, Mod Duo X, and the 1010 Black Box. would anyone care to weigh in or perhaps point me into a direction where I can look a little deeper? They all have pros and cons obvs, but I want to hear back from people who have had hands on experience with one, two, or all three of these devices in this capacity. thx and god bless
Have you considered a Bastl Dude mixer for FM synthesis (also could pair with Volca Modular for glitchy IDM) or Pocket Operators like the Office or Tonic which has retrigs for hi-hats if you're going for 32 step techno vibey feel. You could even get an Elektron Octatrack or TRS8 for track FX and control, ambient sound layers, etc. If you wanna stay small like the Dude mixer, there is the RetroKits MIDI calculator controller thing that just came out. Also the Korg NTS-1 is amazing for its user effects and oscillators/LFO with HP and LP filters, USB/MIDI connections... it's my favorite gear next to the Korg Kaoss Pad 3 with its looper/effects...
@@ghost_in_the_robot i have considered the octatrack but its far too expensive for the low sound quality. the kaos pad is quite interesting but then i need something to feed it samples. i have the mpc1000 but it doesnt sync properly with my A4 so its out of the question. i dont need any more voices either, i have all the synths i need. LXR-02, eurorack, zoia, and A4 plus a cirklon next year to control all the sequencing. but right now its all about getting something that i can midi sync to the A4 and has some performative options. thats why i am thinking norns + grids. playability and i can program my patch to meet my needs exactly if i have to.
Hi loopop any chance of a zynthian. Vs norns video?both raspberry pi ?thanks once again for an informative and entertaining review!!your videos are essential to electronic musicians
