Intriguing slow reveal/announcement over at monome / lines
what is it?
an everything?
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Someone on reddit suggested its a hardware MLRV. If it is Iām fookin getting one 
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Hi Buska, can u explain me whatās MLRV? I tried to do a internet search but itās not really clear for meā¦
Itās something related to Monome?
Thanks
Mlrv is a grid based sample instrument that works With controllers like the livid block and the novation launch pad.
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Iām at work so canāt get to the good stuff but Google āMLRV samplingā or something and youāll get some videos.
I had a Monome for a very short while but from memory, if Iām thinking of the right thing, this was by far the most fun I had with it. Was a bit of a pain in the arse to set up but once going, you went some interesting places.
So a hardware version that allows sampling and playing in some combo using grids would be pretty cool. Also likely ridiculously expensive knowing their stuffā¦!
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Makes me wish I had my Grid still here.
So looking more into this thing, Im going to go out on a limb here and say the OT officially has a competitor.
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why does this only have like 5 posts and why am i just hearing out about this?
this looks like the answer to all my sampler problems :)))))))))
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Iām still trying to get my head around it honestly. Iāve seen some videos and it kind of reminds me a bit of a Critter & Guitari Organelle - a little sound computer flexible thing. Iām into it. I love the Monome aesthetic and have been into their stuff for years, but havenāt yet pulled the trigger.
Norns is worthwhile if you already own Grids and are prepared to code. Sold mine fairly quickly. 
BSold mine quickly also. It has a lot of potential but there are bugs and frustrations.
Scripts that ship with Norns are hit or miss. Many do work. Some are really cool. Few have any documentation to speak of. Virtually none adhere to any common convention for UI or interaction. Sometimes clockwise encoder turns scroll down; others, not. Button mapping is also script dependent. Sometimes button two triggers ābackā; sometimes āforwardā. Itās minor, but makes everything more cumbersome than it need be.
The community is good but they need a one-stop wiki for reference instead of relying on old posts nested in long forum threads. With the release of new firmware updates, those old āanswersā become less helpful. Sadly, they arenāt maintaining a complete tome of knowledge, issues, how tos, etc.
The latest version ships with a bug that prevents updating the firmware. Itās a known issue and simple to solve when you understand it, but when I asked the community didnāt think it needed to be patched in the installer.
One last note:
The buttons and encoders both feel loose and sloppy. Itās not at all what I expected from monome. I never had a grid, had wanted one, but any desire for one has now waned.
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That was a great, candid review of the Norns. Aesthetically, itās pleasing - very Dieter Rams minimal and clean. It always seemed like a lot of dough for something that didnāt seem to check many boxes for me. I enjoy coding, but havenāt had much time for hobby programming projects. Couple that with the eventual want/need for a grid to fully take advantage of Norns, and itās a lot to overcome, despite itās ācoolness.ā Hearing that thereās a lag in documentation and other ecosystem basics completes the gas relief for me. I do hope they overcome those initial obstacles though, because I think itās a cool project. If itās flourishing in a few years, I would consider it, free time permitting.
Then again, Iām having way too much fun with my Octatrack, and thereās enough there to keep me busy for at least a decade.
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When I gas for something I see if I can recreate it with the OT. With Norns, my interest piqued seeing people run it with MLRV. You certainly can get something similar with slices and live recording and maybe a couple prepped patterns, but the main disadvantage afaik is that you donāt have such immediate access with a grid based controller.
Though this issue would be almost moot if Elektron would enable MIDI triggerable slices 
Ah well. OT certainly makes up for it in sooooo many other ways.
Iām kinda weary of the whole coding thing myself.
I have no interest in coding but I like the idea of a minimal looper/sampler/tape machine that can get the job done quickly without menu diving. Tbh I feel like Iām going to invest in an Octatrack first because it seems to get the most out of it you need a grid and thatās now a 1500 dollar investment
In case anyoneās wondering what this really is, despite googling and youtubing and whatnot, latest issue of Sound on Sound has a great review on Norns. The reviewerās clearly got some experience with Grid before and digs into the scripting part as well, so it gives a very fair description of what you can expect from Norns.
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Your post has helped me a bunch. If I start wanting to buy more instruments, I just sit down and try to make those instruments with what I have. Always works, and I learn more about the instruments I have too!
Thanks!
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TLDR - Monome Norns / Grid (running Takt) sequencing Blackbox with stock samples: https://www.dropbox.com/s/1pr6mgsvb1zld5b/1010takt.MOV?dl=0
Oh man. Someone created an app called Takt for the Norns which replicates most of the Digitaktās functionality. I hooked it up to the Blackbox (running the Norns through a Keystep into the Blackbox since I donāt have a USB type A to MIDI cable).
Above is a quick vid I put together showing off some of the functionality with Blackbox stock samples. Takt has a Deluge style isomorphic keyboard (although I can only figure out how to hook it up to Midi channel 1). I installed the app 30 minutes before taking this so Iām sure there is other unique functionality Iām missing, but this Deluge / Elektron frankenstein sequencer with the Blackbox is super immediate and powerful.
Again, I didnāt buy the Monome specifically to sequence the Blackbox, Iām interested in writing my own software, but what a great byproduct!
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Very cool. Iām intrigued for sure.
Are there any decent synth scripts for Norns, or is it more about samples and control?
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Iāve only tried one synth app called Molly the Poly, but it sounds way better than I anticipated. https://www.instagram.com/p/BoXJavpAE3R/
Norns runs the Supercollider sound engine which is a really nice sounding audio programming language.
You can view a list of some of the popular apps with descriptions here: https://monome.org/docs/norns/app/
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Thanks.
Feeling the itch now ā¦
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