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arc and norns

A great starting point is angl, which is part of the ash collection from monome. It’s featured in the video above and can be installed via maiden.

For additional script suggestions, check out the selections at the bottom of this page.

getting started

physical connection

norns has four USB-A ports. Any port can host an arc, so feel free to connect your arc’s USB cable to any available port on norns. As you connect, you’ll see a lightburst on your arc, which indicates it’s receiving power from norns.

software configuration

To ensure that norns has registered your arc, navigate to SYSTEM > DEVICES > ARC. Here, you’ll see something similar to:

ARC

1. monome arc
2. none
3. none
4. none

FAQ

how do I manage the virtual ports on my norns?

To manage the SYSTEM > DEVICES > ARC menu’s virtual ports:

  • use E2 to select a port
  • press K3 on the port to surface a list of the arcs which are currently physically connected to norns
    • if you want to clear the selected port, press K3 on none
    • if you want to assign the selected port, press K3 on the desired arc

You should also confirm that the community script does feature arc functionality – see the bottom of this page for suggested starting points!

why are there four ARC ports?

The norns software can host a lot more than what might be currently present at its four physical USB ports, including:

  • sixteen MIDI devices
  • four grids
  • four arcs
  • four HID devices

The four ports you see on the ARC page represent the four virtual ports to which norns allocates connected devices of this type.

why do I have more than one arc listed?

When you connect a new arc to norns, it will register the arc to the first-available ARC port. If you’ve already connected an arc to your norns (or your norns has had a past life with another arc), this means that the first slot is likely already occupied by a previous arc and norns must allocate to the next-available port.

why isn’t my arc communicating with any community scripts?

While norns can remember up to four previously-connected arcs, it’s not very common to use more than one arc at a time. This means that many community scripts typically communicate with the arc stored at port 1 within the SYSTEM > DEVICES > ARC menu.

A potentially troublesome ARC menu could look like:

ARC

1. monome arc
2. monome arc
3. none
4. none

Above, there are two arcs registered, but perhaps only one is physically connected. In this case, we need to clear arc from port 2 and register it to port 1.

The arc at port 1 is the one which most community scripts target.

compatibility

All editions of arc are compatible with norns.

community scripts selections

After you learn how to add scripts to your norns, here are a few starting points for exploring arc and norns.

Check out norns.community for many more.