I was going to post that the Nanoloop FM was available again. However after ordering the device I went back and it is coming soon again. Anyway, keep the page bookmarked or sign up for an email for the next batch.
a dedicated nanoloop device with
- FM synthesis, filtered square waves
- 4 channels: 1-, 2-, 3-voice, noise
- 16-step sequencer
- memory: 64 banks with 8*4 patterns
- song mode
- data transfer / update via audio
- sync: analog and MIDI
- power: 2xAAA = 50h+
update here
- song
- saw wave with resonant filter
- distortion effect on L channel
- real filter for square wave
- 4-bit mode for FM
- corrected tune and tempo
- even longer battery life
- problem with occasional flicker fixed
New sound engine
CPU speed has been reduced by 2/3 while PWM output has been increased to 96 Khz. To make it work with the new frequencies, the synthesis code had to be re-written from ground up. The filtered squarewave has now a real filter (was a form of modulation before) and hence sounds different. Some curves have a slightly different shape so that envelopes, LFOs and other parameters may not be exactly the same in some cases.
- analog sync (master only)
- bug fixed that caused stutter noise
- bugs fixed that caused crashes
- new sound types: high pass and half sine FM
- improved pulse width effect
- stronger click (r)
- second voice added to L channel
- illuminated sequencer grid
- slowly increasing range for randomization
- swing
- pingpong / random playback modes
New / changed functions in 0.5 are marked
The LED display is divided in 3 areas:
The orange rows on top show data values: bars, icons, numbers
Red dots in the middle represent the structure to edit. It is navigated with a green cursor.
On the bottom there is the green menu for parameter / channel selection and transpose functions.
There are two different views:
- In patterm view, you edit the currently playing pattern.
- In file fiew, you save and load patterns and arrange a song.
In pattern view, there are 3 different modes:
Sequencer, parameter menu and global menu.
There are no "instruments", all parameters are per-step. In menu mode, all steps are edited at once and the values of the pattern are displayed in the data area.
Editing functions are the same as in sequencer but applied to the entire pattern.
(hold A/B and press X/Y to increase random range)
(sync / MIDI functions not yet implemented)
| semitone n: freq | amount | volume | cutoff / FM amount | stutter | |
| octave n: phaser | frequency | decay | pwm, | panning | |
| interval 1 | lfo mode | r: click fake reverb | meta 4th / none | ||
| interval 2 | lfo dest | attack | meta 2nd | ||
 |  |  |  |  |
| r | monophonic, intervals play as arpeggio |
| l | two voices, 2nd interval = detune |
| c | three voice chords |
| n | noise sample & hold frequency + phaser delay |
LFO modes (
 | envelope down |
 | LFO |
 | envelope up |
LFO destintion (
 | pitch |
 | FM |
In r channel, chords are played as arpeggio. Intervals can be up to one octave (12). When set to 13, sound is muted and arpeggio is stopped, thus functioning as a short gate.
In L channel, the second voice plays at the first interval in semitones plus the second interval in 1/16 semitones. For detune/phasing effects, set the first interval to 0 and the second to 1 or 2.
In the
| ▲ |  |  square high pass |  FM half sine |  |
| ▼ |  |  square low pass |  FM sine |  |
| ▲ | PCM high pass | noise high pass |
| ▼ | PCM | white noise |
The filter of the new saw wave has adjustable resonance. On L channel, resonance is coupled with distortion.
Meta step allows to play a step only every 2nd or every 4th time. It's a simple but powerful way to extend the pattern beyond the 16-step grid.
Nanoloop sends sync pulses to the sync port (the right one of the two upper small jack connectors). To sync it with another device, stop playback by hitting A+B twice in global menu so that instead of the tempo value, this icon is shown:
Sync Modes
By default, a clock pulse is sent every 2nd step (Pocket Operator and Volca compatible). To change this to every step, press A+B again before starting playback. The selected mode is shown on the right.
| A+B |  | pause |
| A+B | | stop |
| A+B | | sync mode 1/16 (Monotribe, Game Boy nanoloop...) |
| A+B | | (default) sync mode 1/8 (Pocket Operators, Volcas...) |
| X | (bpm) | start |
Slave mode is not yet implemented, it's therefore not possible to sync two nanoloop FM units. Slave modes and MIDI clock will follow in future updates.
Song Structure
Each bank has its own song structure with up to 99 pages that play in a row, banks can not be mixed within a song. For each page, an arbitrary combiantion of patterns can be assigned. To do so, you select the page, return to file mode and simply load the desired patterns.
In song mode, the patterns of the current song page are highlighted.
In file mode, the patterns actually playing are highlighted.
Since you can flip through song pages without loading them (
Song Playback
To play the song starting from the current page, press A+Y. Playback is indicated by the green cursor blinking and stops when an empty page is reached. Playback stops when A or B is pressed.
(file transfer functions not yet implemented)
