Nora Manual
Nora Manual
Nora Manual
CONTENTS
1. Foreword 4
2. Introduction ...5
2.1. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ................6
2.2. NOTE FOR VERSION 1.4 USERS ...........6
2.3. installation notes..7
2.3.1. Windows 7
2.3.2. Mac OSX ..7
3. quick guide .8
4. General View ..9
5. Navigation ........11
6. Menus and buttons 13
6.1. File menu .........13
6.2. Edit menu .....13
6.3. Options menu ....14
6.3.1. preferences .15
6.4. Help menu ....16
8. Browser ....23
9. RANDOMIZER ...25
.....27
9.1. Chord / Bass
9.2. THE 303 ....29
9.2.1. GENERATOR ..30
9.2.2. MUTATOR ..31
9.3. MUTATE ...33
10. PATTERN EDITOR .....35
2
10.1. Channel selection menu and effects for every track 38
10.2. MIDI LINK ENVIRONMENT .38
Appendix ..48
(A) How to install NORA .48
(A.1) REAPER .....48
(A.2) FL STUDIO .....49
(A.3) ABLETON LIVE .....50
3
1. Foreword
Prepare yourself for a line of products that will completely change live & studio
editing tools as you know them. We hope you enjoy it!!
To make sure you are getting the best out of your experience with Nora, we beg
you to read this manual thoroughly. It will not take long and will be very useful.
Release: 2.5.5
4
2. Introduction
The point is, repetition within a melody is important. The repetition of a motif
creates a cohesive melody and it helps the listener to remember the melodic
line. That is, repeating the important line(s) in order to establish the musical
theme of a piece.
NORA features:
Through chapters 3 to 12 the user will get to know, in a simple yet meticulous
manner, the functionalities of NORA.
The last part of this manual comprises an appendix which guides the user
through operating NORA in the different DAWs that are available.
5
2.1. System requirements
WINDOWS:
MAC:
NORA 2 will load any project form previous versions. But because of the drastic
changes included in this version, there are some things that must be fixed
manually:
- Depending on latency and the buffer you were using, Nora 2 might sound
differently (Longer notes) because of changes made to the time engine. If
you want to recover the original sound then shorten the notes slightly.
- The default presets folder has changed paths to the application data of
every operating system.
6
2.3. INSTALLATION NOTES
Note: This manual is written using the windows version of NORA as reference. The Mac
version is similar except for the fact that the Alt key in Windows corresponds to the
Command key in Mac OSX.
2.3.1. Windows
Presets, Mods, Manual are installed in the common application data directory of
the system and subfolders.
Note: If you are a Logic Pro X user, please use MIDI FX format.
Even though we supply both VST and AU formats, we recommend that you only
use VST whenever possible, because apart from being much simpler to use, AU
plugins are not in perfect sync with the host application because of latency.
7
3. QUICK GUIDE
NORA is a MIDI effect, i.e it gathers MIDI data from the DAW and returns the
MIDI data transformed. Therefore, it is placed before a synthesizer, software or
hardware, unlike audio effects, which are placed after.
We are going to follow some simple steps to begin using Nora. For more
detailed information on some specific Hosts please consult the Appendix A:
How to install Nora :
- C) Assign in the Host, the same port or input channel to the instrument
8
4. General View
1 3 2 4
The general view of Nora displays five main parts: (See figure 1)
Browser (no.1): The browser allows you to load data that was previously saved.
It also allows you to save documents that are being edited.
Phrase Editor (no.2): Allows you to create melodies and accompaniment bases
from input chords coming from the DAW. It consists of two main areas: The
upmost part where notes and chords are added, and the bottom one is where
their velocity is set.
Menus and buttons (no.3): The menu and button bar (Toolbar) include basic
actions such as copying/pasting notes as well as loading and saving changes.
9
Pattern editor (no.4): It allows you to organize patterns to be played live in the
desired order. Triggering of such patterns might be executed by the mouse or
MIDI messages.
Playlist (no.5): Allows you to organize clips for their sequential reproduction.
10
5. Navigation
3 2
As a general rule, all windows inside Nora allow zooming and scrolling, except
those in which the infrastructure and functionality make no sense for them to
support this behavior. (See figure 2). If a window is active (is focused) its
corners will appear marked (no.3)
Zoom, both vertical and horizontal, is always calculated from the point where
the mouse cursor is positioned in relation to the screen.
The different actions that can be used on the different elements of a window are
as follows:
11
- Linked Zoom (vertical-horizontal): Ctrl+Alt+Shift + Moving the mouse
wheel vertically
- Linked movement: Right click + drag (in both vertical and horizontal
bars) (no.1).
- Centre button click + drag
- Shift+Centre button click + drag
12
6. Menus and buttons
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 11
9 12
The upmost part of the general view in NORA displays the following options:
(See figure 3). Any option within menus and toolbar may appear enabled or
disabled, depending on which window has focus (See section 4). We have
designed this way so future versions may have many more windows.
13
Cut: Cut selected notes from editor. Ctrl+Alt+X. Same as (no.8)
Copy: Copy selected notes from editor. Ctrl+Alt+C. Same as (no.7)
Paste: Paste already cut/copied notes to cursor position. Ctrl+Alt+V. Same as
(no.9)
Delete: Delete selected notes. Delete. Same as (no.10)
Unselect all: Unselect all elements
Select all: Select all elements
Make unique: If you selected a phantom copy in the Playlist or Pattern Editor, it
will become independent.
Show pattern editor: Shows/Hides the pattern editor (see figure 14)
Show midi link environment: Shows/Hides the MIDI link environment Same as
(no.11). (See section 10.2).
Pattern mode: Toggle between operating mode with pattern and the playlist
Same as (no.12)
Enable developer mode: Enables / disables the mod developer mode for Nora:
14
Note: Squaredheads Music Software S.L is not responsible for the use of
images, fonts and cursors with copyright in the creation of Mods, as well as the
free distribution of such. It is also not responsible for the problems caused by
the malfunction of User-created mods, because the user is free to adjust every
parameter of every editor to their liking. All of this could lead to a malfunction
in Nora, or cause it to freeze. We also dont guarantee that mods are 100%
compatible between versions. Squaredheads Music Software S.L is not
responsible for none of the malfunctions described above.
6.3.1. PREFERENCES
All preferences are shared for all open Nora instances. Also, such preferences
are automatically saved after they have been changed. It consists of two tabs:
General and File:
15
- Mouse cursor compatibility mode: Some hosts may provoke the mouse
cursor to return to its default state (arrow icon) on any VST, making
difficult to work with Nora. If you enable this option, Nora will force the
cursor to be calculated on each mouse movement.
File: Opens the preferences window where you can change the paths for
different data types to be shows in the browser: Phrases, Quantizer.
- Open the browser to select a folder: Left click on the browse button
- Switch between absolute and relative paths: Right click on the browse
button
Contents: Manual
Inline help: Enables or disables additional help. If this option is enable, a new
floating window will popup, showing the description of different elements of
Nora while you hover over them.
Record MIDI out: If it is enabled Nora will self record its own MIDI Output when
the DAW starts playing. Notice that the recording time is limited by the host
arrangement end. When you disable this option you will have the chance to save
this MIDI file.
Note: This command should never be used. If you needed to use it because a note got
stuck (the note is sounded but never turned off), please contact us by sending an email
to [email protected]
16
7. Phrase Editor
7 2 8 3 1 6
The Phrase Editor consists of two main areas: The Phrase Grid and the Velocity
Grid. They are described below (See figure 4):
This is the main area of the editor. This is where phrases are built, length is set
and the whole editing process takes place.
17
Over the empty area (no.1):
- Add note: Left click. Optionally, if you don't release the mouse button, the
note can be moved around
- Add multiple notes in a continuous manner: Shift + Left Click (while
moving the mouse)
- Activate the selection lasso: Ctrl+Left click (while moving the mouse)
- Unselect all: Right click
- Free edition: Ctrl+Shift+Left click (+optional drag)] Adjust the height
(number) of the closest note freely. If there are one or more notes
selected, only the note number of such notes will be modified. If none is
selected, all notes are modified.
Note: Pasted notes are positioned right after the cursor (no.7). The
cursor (no.7) can be moved by Left clicking over the TimeLine (no.8)
Note: The pitch of a note (no.9) is the number of half tones that a note
will be transposed by. Use this along with scale selector in the track
configuration window (section 11).
Split notes:
- Shift + Right click: Divides a note on the spot where the mouse cursor is.
- Shift + Right click + Drag: Creates a cutting-line. When the mouse click is
released, all intersected notes will be cut.
18
Note: If one or more notes are selected, moving would only apply to such notes. If no
notes are selected, all the notes that have been inserted into the grid will be moved.
This is the area where velocity for the inserted notes is set (no.4).
Note: Both in the free and linear edition modes, if there is one or more notes
selected, only the velocity of such notes will be modified. If none is selected, all
notes are modified.
Triangle (no.6): Allows to manually adjust the end of the bar if the auto end
toggle IS NOT active.
19
7.4. Editor Menus
They contain, amongst other things, options to modify the amount of notes in
the chords, the amount of octaves and selecting the bar and snap. (See figure 5)
1 2 3 4 5
Phrase name (no.2): Name of the current phrase. Click on it in order to edit it.
You can drag and drop it into any other related Nora window (Playlist, Pattern
editor) or save the phrase (Browser).
Note: When loading a phrase created with version 1.4 or previous, the name of the
phrase will match to the filename. If you want to, you can edit the Phrase Name to your
liking after loading, it can be any name that isnt related to the saved file.
20
- a/b: Select snap
- d: Select a/b dotted snap
- t: Select a/b triplet snap
- New: Create new snap
Open ...: Open phrase and replace the active one with it. Same as dragging from
browser (figure 7, no.1). Changes can be undone.
Save as ...: Save phrase as a new file.
Randomizer ...: Open the Randomizer section (see section 9)
Import MIDI file rhythm ...: Allows importing the rhythmic base of a (*.mid ) file.
This means that numbers of notes and their velocities will be ignored, but times
and lengths will be kept.
Export as quantizer data ...: Export the sequence as quantizer data, which can
be loaded by dragging and dropping from the browser (section 7) into the
configuration section of every track (see figure 18. no.4)->Shuffle
Open arpeggiator settings ...: Opens/closes the configuration window for the
track. (See section 11)
21
1
22
8. Browser
2 1
Figure 7: Browser
23
It displays the folders and different types of data files and allows you to save
and load any of them (See figure 7)
- Phrase Editor: Left Click on the button (no.2) to update and select the list
of files on the Phrase Editor
- Quantizer: Left Click on the button (no.3) to update and select the list of
quantization patterns
- NORA project: Left Click on the button (no.4) to update and select the list
of NORA projects
Replace active data with data that was previously saved: Drag and drop saved
data (no.1) into the editors (Figures 4, 14, 19). Changes can be undone, except
when loading a NORA project.
24
9. RANDOMIZER
Consists of different sections that modify the content of sequences and whose
functionalities are classified as: Generator and Mutator. (See figure 8). All
engines calculate each note separately, which means that, for example, a knob
with a very high value is no guarantee that high values will be generated for all
notes. After all, RANDOM MEANS RANDOM.
Generator: This is the name for sections that generate random sequences from
a seed. The following are available: Chord & Base (no.3), 303 Generator (no.2).
Mutator: This is the name for sections that modify already existing data in the
Phrase Editor, randomly. The following are available: Mutate (no.1) , 303
Mutator (no.2).
1 2 3
5 6 7 8
Figure 8: Main window of the Randomizer, displaying available sections and the shared
options bar
25
All sections have a series of shared options:
Regen: Click on it (no.8) to execute the engine with the current parameter
configuration.
Note: Ctrl + Left click on a lock icon will make all the same locks change their status
Snapshot: Click on it (no.6) to take a snapshot of notes in the Phrase Editor and
use it as a reference point at the moment of modifying several parameters.
When the button is disabled is it not necessary to take a snapshot, whether it is
because it is not required or because you just took one.
26
9.1. Chord / Bass
1 2 3 4 13
10
11
12
5 6 7 8 14
27
- High musicality -> High variation of notes in the chords.
- Low musicality -> No variation of notes in the chords.
- Less than 50% -> notes shorter than the size of the snap
- Greater than 50% -> notes longer than the size of the snap
Icon 1 (no.9): Indicates that no notes will be written in the inferior line of the
central octave.
- Normal: No effect
- Attenuated: It will soften bass velocity
28
- Enabled: Notes will be generated according to rhythmic patterns with
repetitions and *Motifs*. Such patterns will have structures such as
ABAB, AAAB, etc...
Note: Because of the complexity of macros, these will only work with bars of length
1,2,4 or 8.
Drama (no.13): Indicates the probability that a chord sounds with slightly
different pitch.
Feel (no.14): Indicates the probability that a bass note sounds with an altered
pitch.
29
1 2 3 4 13 14 15 19
9
10
11
12 18
5 6 20 7 8 16 17 21
Figures 10, 11: Views of the 303 section in Mutator and Generator modes
9.2.1. Generator
Note: If we are using 5 octaves, there will be no notes generated in the inferior one, as
in most 303 emulations.
- Low Value -> Notes will appear close to the Mid Line
30
- High value -> Notes will ignore the Mid Line parameter and might
appear anywhere.
- Low value -> Few notes with legato (Similar to the opposite effect,
known as staccato)
- High value -> Many notes with legato
Transp [no. 19]: Probability that a note may be transposed into another octave.
Pitch (no.21): Probability that a note is being played with a different pitch
9.2.2. MUTATOR
Density (no.1): Probability that an existent note will disappear or that a new note
will appear
Note (no.2): Probability that a note will change heights but staying always in its
current octave (Change of pitch)
Octave (no.3): Probability that a note will change octaves (Won`t change pitch)
Reshuffle (no.4): Chance that a note will be swapped with another one, giving
you mutations that do not alter the general pitch content
Accent (no.5): Probability that every note will change its accentuation status
Slide (no.6): Probability that every note will change its slide status
31
Pitch (no.20): Probability that a note changes its pitch
Note: When taking a snap of any sequence, the motor working in mutator mode will
interpret the sequence as a bass-line of the real 303. The engine will interpret that
notes having a velocity > accent velocity will be accentuated.
Rotate back (no.7): Click on the button to rotate the generated pattern one step
back.
Rotate forward (no.8): Click on the button to rotate the generated pattern one
step forward.
32
9.3. MUTATE
1 2 3 4 7
5
6
33
- Amount: Indicates the maximum amount by which every note start may
vary
Unrestricted (no.5) : When enabled, it allows moving all notes en bloc that have
the same timestamp.
Fix overlaps (no.6): Solves note overlapping problems caused by the engine
operation. When this option is enabled, all new mutations will fuse overlapped
notes.
Ignore snap: This engine modifies notes according to selected parameters and
according to the value of the selected snap. The higher the value of the snap the
higher the note shifts will be. The lowest snap value possible is NONE, and it
will cause a humanization effect of notes. Such mode can be obtained by
pressing the alt key while the buttons Regen or Random are pressed (See
section 6.1).
34
10. PATTERN EDITOR
The pattern editor consists of 8 total tracks, each one with 64 pre-definable
patterns for the Phrase Arpeggiator, which might be executed in the desired
order. It is mainly destined to live usage. (See figures 13 and 14)
This mode will work when the Pattern Mode option is enabled (see section 5.3).
This section will work by executing changes in two possible ways:
- Patterns queued/in wait: Every time the following bar is reached in the
HOST, all patterns that are in queue/waiting will be played.
- Patterns with immediate change: The moment when a pattern change is
ordered, the new pattern will be played.
The amount of bars that have passed without any pattern change is indicated in
figure 15, (no.11)
1 2
3 4
Figure 13: Configuration window and In-Out channel for every track
35
1 2 3 4
5
7
8
6
12
11
9
10
36
Available actions are:
- Load in the phrase editor: Double left click or Drag and drop a pattern
into the Phrase Editor (figure 4). The rightmost color represents the
sequence that is currently being edited on the Phrase Editor. (no.12)
- Save: Drag and drop a pattern into the browser (figure 7)
- Delete: Double Right click, Edit menu -> Delete (section 5.2)
- Select: Left click. The selected pattern will display as described in (no.2)
- Move: Left click + drag.
- Make copy: Ctrl (while moving the note)
- Make phantom copy Ctrl + Alt (while moving the pattern). Phantom
copies are represented as in (no. 8)
Note: A phantom copy is an alias of the original pattern, with the same
sequence, any posterior changes that are applied to the original one will reflect
on its phantom copies. You can create different phantom copies groups.
- Add to playlist: Drag and drop a pattern into the Playlist (figure 19). The
original pattern and the new one will both become phantom copies.
- Play a pattern: Left Click on the stop button (no.3). The pattern will turn
to wait mode until the current pattern finishes playing.
37
B) Scene actions: These are executed for ALL TRACKS SIMULTANEOUSLY:
Scene reproduction: Left click on the PLAY button (no.5) to queue the
reproduction of the entire scene. A scene is corresponded to all the slots row of
every track.
Global stop: Left click on the STOP button (no.9) to queue the stop of all tracks.
Note: When pressing Shift + any play or stop button the stop or play order will execute
immediately, without waiting for the pattern change time to run out.
Input cannel (no.1): Number of data input channel of the HOST for the current
track. (1-16, or all)
Output channel (no.2): Number of output channel of the HOST for the current
track. (1-16, or all)
Config (no.3): Opens/closes the configuration window for the track. (See section
11)
38
MIDI controller, with the objective of triggering each pattern independently.
(See figure 15)
4 5 6 8 9
10
Figures 16,17: Edition windows with assigned MIDI messages/ Menu with conflicting
MIDI messages
39
Controls are represented by the following color-scheme:
Click on any control to edit it. An edition menu will open (See figures 16, 17).
Such menu consists of 2 slots:
Note: Accepted MIDI messages are: NOTE_ON and Continuous Controller (CC),
configured as Switch
40
o Off: If the assigned MIDI message has been previously used,
controls will remain in conflict. If we edit a conflicting control we
will see within parenthesis to the left of the MIDI message the
number of conflicting controls (no.9). Left click on the button
(no.10) to solve all existing conflicts
41
11. TRACK CONFIGURATION WINDOW
1 2 5 3 4
10 11 6 12 7 8
Rnd Vel (no.1): Adds a bit of randomness to the velocity of the notes in the
sequence.
Quantizer start strength (no.2): Moves note starts to the closest *quantizer
pattern gridline*, adjusting the distance % according to the knob value.
42
Quantizer end strength (no.3): Moves note ends to the closest *quantizer
pattern gridline*, adjusting the distance % according to the knob value.
Quantizer pattern name (no.4): This area shows the name of the quantizer
pattern that is being used. You can change it by dragging another pattern from
the browser and dropping it here. Patterns can be dropped into the phrase
editor (figure 4) window to edit it, and then exported as a quantizer pattern. You
can also drag and drop quantization patterns between configuration windows of
different tracks.
Chain (no.5): Links the values of the parameters Quantizer start strength and
Quantizer end strength.
Play Speed (no.6): Indicates the playback speed of the track. It might take the
following values:
Ignore host velocities (no.8): Accept/Ignore incoming velocities from the host
- On: Output velocity is the product of host velocity by the editor velocity
(Calculated as %)
- Off: Output velocity is the actual editor velocity, host velocity is ignored
Engine mode (no.9): Select the kind of calculating engine of the arpeggiator:
- Free: Output notes of the arpeggiator vary as long as there are note
changes on the Host and the Phrase Editor. It is Noras classic mode,
included in all versions up to 1.4.
43
- Static: Changes to output notes in the arpeggiator are only triggered by
changes to the Phrase Editor notes.
When a note in the Phrase Editor (figure 4) has an altered pitch it will be forced
to the scale defined by the following parameters:
- Mini keyboard (no.10): Displays a preview of the current scale. You may
click on the individual notes to create a custom scale.
- Scale key (no.11): Select a key for the current scale. Notice this control
does not work with custom scales.
- Scale (no.12): When clicking on it, it displays a list with different types of
scales that can be selected.
44
12. PLAYLIST
The Playlist, just like the Pattern Editor, consists of 8 tracks and it allows clips
(see figure 20) sequencing. It has a grid with a functionality similar to the one in
the Phrase Editor. (See figure 19).
Each track has a loop button (no.7), which, when enabled, restarts the time of
each track whenever it reaches the end of the last clip. (Acting as a Pattern
Chainer)
1 2 7 3 4
Each row of the Playlist represents a track. You can edit the name of the track
by left-clicking on (no.5)
45
Available actions are:
- Over the empty area: Activate the selection lasso, unselect all
- Over the inserted clip: Delete, Multiple delete, Select, Move, Make copy,
Ignore grid-snap, Cut, Copy, Paste, Resize
- Keyboard cursors
- Add clip: Ctrl + Shift + Left click. Optionally, if you don't release the
mouse button, the note can be moved around
- Add a phantom copy of the last edited or selected clip: Left click.
Phantom copies will appear marked with a circle (no.3)
- Add multiple phantom copies of the last edited or selected clip: Shift +
left click.
- Open a clip in the Phrase Editor: Double left click or Drag and drop a clip
into the Phrase Editor (figure 4)
- Save: Drag and drop a clip into the browser (figure 7)
- Add a clip to the Pattern Editor: Drag and drop a clip into the Pattern
Editor (figure 15). The original and the new pattern will become phantom
copies (no.3)
Split clips:
- Shift + Right click: Divides a clip on the spot where the mouse cursor is.
- Shift + Right click + Drag: Creates a cutting-line. When the mouse click is
released, all intersected clips will be cut.
Editor Controls:
Time Signature Options (no.1): Same options as the phrase editor (see section
6.4)
46
Snap Options (no.2): Same options as the Phrase Editor (see section 7.4)
1 5 2
3
4
Figure 20: Playlist clip
47
Appendix
(A.1) REAPER
Verify that the path to NORA is added in the VST plug-in paths window. If it is not
then click the Add button and add it manually.
Click the Clear cache/re-scan button. The application will scan the paths
related to the VST plugins and will find Nora.dll.
Configuring MIDI
Insert a new track (Track 1 by default): Double-click the hole placed on the left
of the main window, below the toolbar.
On Add FX to: Track 1 , select All Plug-ins -> VSTi from the list on the left.
Select VSTi: Nora (SquaredHeads) from the list. Nora will be loaded unto the FX:
Track 1 window.
On the very same window, click Add and then load, after NORA, a new
instrument.
In the created track, press Ctrl + Left click in the Arrangement zone, in order to
create a MIDI item
48
Double-click the created item and add notes or chords in the piano roll.
(A.2) FL STUDIO
Configuring the path
In the VST plugins extra search folder section, select the path to NORA.
Click the Refresh button and select the Fast Scan option. NORA should be on
the list in the VST plugin section. Select it and then close the window.
Configuring MIDI
Click Channels -> Add One on the menu and select NORA. The step sequencer
will load.
Select Settings -> MIDI -> Output port and enter a port that is not currently in
use. (i.e.: 40)
Load another instrument following the previous steps, then select Settings ->
MIDI -> Input port on the configuration window and enter the previously
selected port. (i.e: 40).
Note: NORA does not work with any of the internal FL-STUDIO instruments because
they do not allow MIDI input. There are versions of these instruments in the VST that
you can use.
In the step sequencer, add chords or notes in the NORA channel leaving the
second instrument slot empty.
49
(A.3) ABLETON LIVE
Configuring the path
Click Options -> Preferences on the menu. Select the File Folder tab.
Click VST Plug-in custom folder-> Browse and select the path to NORA.
Click the Rescan button. NORA will appear in the Categories -> Plug-ins
section on the main window inside LIVE.
Configuring MIDI
Note: 2 MIDI tracks are necessary in order to load 1 instance of NORA
From Categories ->Plug-ins drag NORA and drop it on the first MIDI track.
Click the I-O button on the right side of the main window inside LIVE: Outputs
and inputs for each channel will show.
In the MIDI track of the instrument, inside the MIDI from section, select NORA
from the Input Type and Input Channel lists.
50