Nanoloop songwriting

i too started on lsdj and got nanoloop carts afterwards. it's really easy to make long melodies in lsdj, and it's not really an option in nanoloop unless you exclusively use the song mode. because the rom's workflow, it's a lot easier to make things shorter (one or two measures, as opposed to the often used four or eight in lsdj). it's also a lot easier for me to make simple/loop-based stuff, it's kind of hard to make musically complex melodies and things like that.

i'm not sure about you, but i bought nanoloop 2.6 because of the sound capabilities. if you feel like it's limiting your songwriting, you should try lgpt. you can get even more sound textures, and the program's workflow was based heavily off of lsdj. hope this helps!

It's interesting.  It really lends it self well to dance, house, and loopy techno.  If you really want to try something crazy, do some odd loop length stuff layered with even length loops.   It's driving me nuts.

what you need to do is set some patterns to x8 length, then find the retrigger command, ht start so it becomes note delay, and then nudge your notes so they hit on the right beats instead of one note every half a bar. this is a hell of a lot better than sequencing single bar patterns in song mode, which i hate.

also, a tip for song mode: when you set patterns to say x8 legnth, in song mode to have that play all the way through, you need 8 slots filled with the same pattern number; if you drop different pattern numbers in the middle of that chains, then that section of the 8 bar loop will play the notes from the other pattern. does that make sense? this way the lack of patterns in a bank is not important, as you are effectively cutting between them in song mode. hope this is of some help!

I like nanoloop alot, being in the same boat as you guys, the differences can stymie at first. Simple stuff like button functions throw you off till you get the hang of it. I liken composing between nanoloop and lsdj to feng shui and art deco. With lsdj you get used to endless chains and phrase. With nanoloop you have sixteen squares.I don't even bother using the song editor. Each save slot I treat as it's own mini groove, with it's own vibe. In that short time it helps for all the voices to be unique and spaced out(or overlapped). It lead to a lot more creative envelope work, slurring, and the x8, x4, x2 helps. Not to mention the arpeggios, and delay. Try arpeggios with less notes as well. x8 + arps with an organ envelope will give you a mini phrase of sorts. In an interview with Oliver at TCTD, he was asked  by LB –" NL seems really well suited for live use. Did you design it with this in mind?"
OW –"Yes, absolutely. It was designed around the endlessly playing loop and not the finished track. The structure of the file menu is also optimized for mixing patterns live, but the core is the sequencer where you shift around notes and improvise, like in a game."
Keeping that point in mind also helps, thumbing through patterns seeing which ones work together harmonically and tempo wise. Drop stuff in and out. Which is pretty challenging, yet fun. Expect happy accidents. That is how I deal with it on 1.6. Oh and don't neglect panning. lsdj and nanoloop are great you just can't really attack one the way you would the other. In time the techniques of one will actually bleed into the other. Finally Lazerbeat's tutorials are well done and incredibly helpful.

The most wicked use of 2.x that I have seen.

thanks for all the good tips guys!