General Discussion of the Nord Stage (EX), Nord Stage 2 (EX), Nord Stage 3, and Nord Stage 4 Synths, FAQ, Troubleshooting etc.

Starting with a Nord

Postby tcpl123 » 12 Dec 2017, 04:51

I have just taken the plunge and purchased a Stage 3 compact as a replacement for my Korg TR 61 which I have been using in my covers band for a few years now. I have to say right now that I am overwhelmed by the complexity of the Nord and I realise it is going to take a lot of work to get to the Nord ready to gig as far as getting similar patches and organising them. Does anyone have any advice on how to approach this?
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Starting with a Nord


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Re: Starting with a Nord

Postby Copia » 12 Dec 2017, 05:39

Here's what I would do:

From the first patch, hold "shift" and scroll the knob under the piano patches to hear the different grands, uprights, and electrics. This brings you to a list of the piano names that you can see and easily toggle between. These will give you a few ideas of beginning points for sounds/styles. Then hold "shift" and scroll the knob in the synth section to see a list of every synth program the NS3 has. This will give you more ideas for starting points. Next, I would play with the cutoff filter, which is next to resonance. Experiment what happens as you switch between synth sounds and hear the filter open and close, thereby dampening and sharpening each sound. You'll get a feel for the power of the synth quickly. These changes can easily be applied and saved to the mod wheel in a program and one can go from subtle to powerful in a verse/chorus.

This alone should do a lot to inspire creativity and connections to songs you already play. You'll hear hollow square wave sounds to sharp saw wave sounds. Another way you can go is hold "shift" and scroll the main program knob. Then press the button beneath where the Oled display says "organize" (I think). It's the right option. That will let you toggle the main program left/right buttons between all Grand programs, Organ programs, etc. Helpful if you want to quickly try all the organs.

The next step I would do, after playing around with the keys and synth combinations and a bit with the filter, is download the sound manager from NordKeyboards.com. This will allow you, with a bit more time, to download an Amber piano or many of the other various useful synth sounds, for example. And begin creating simulations of the sounds you love!

I think the above options are the best ways to quickly experience the keyboard in a more understandable way than simply playing through every program, which seem not to be organized in any discernible way to me without the list functions.

After that, you can get much more specific, like simply punching an effect and toggling to wah-wah, bumping the reverb up to hall, or pressing the delay button, which will give you instant gratification changes to the sound that you can tweak. If you're like me, press the arp button and add a gentle 1/32 ascending and descending arpeggio or try the different filter emulations with a press of the filter button for subtle and drastic changes. I hope you enjoy this instrument as much as I do!
Last edited by Copia on 12 Dec 2017, 05:52, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Starting with a Nord

Postby MrTobbe » 12 Dec 2017, 13:36

tcpl123 wrote:I have just taken the plunge and purchased a Stage 3 compact as a replacement for my Korg TR 61 [...]
I have to say right now that I am overwhelmed by the complexity of the Nord and I realise it is going to take a lot of work to get to the Nord ready to gig ...


If you follow Copia's excellent suggestions you will get used to the workflow of the Stage 3 in no time, and once you're there, you will most probably find that it is a lot faster, and a lot more inspiring to work with the Nord, than the Korg that you're used to. I have been dealing with menu diving in synths and workstations, since the early 90's - and it was such a relieve when I got my first Nord. I also have had a Korg TR76, a Micro-X, and an M3 88, and while they are powerful music tools, with a huge number of parameters you can tweak and control, they never felt as inspiring, and as close to a real instrument as the Nords I have owned (Electro 3, Stage 2 sw73, Stage 3 sw73).

In the Stage 3 almost all parameters that you are used to find deep down in menus in your Korg TR, is instead right in front of you on the panel - and I guess that's why you feel overwhelmed now, but in a few weeks or so, you will probably enjoy the immediacy of the Nord - so enjoy! :)
Then of course you will also run into limitations in the Stage 3 that don't can have in the TR61, but I guess you can't have it both ways... :)
So, my suggestion is: once you feel 100% comfortable with the Nord, why don't make it a two keyboard rig, with both the TR61 and the Stage 3? I believe they compliment each others strength and weaknesses very well - and if you're comfortable with MIDI - a two way MIDI communication between the two will take you even further. :) My main rig, for five years or so, was the Stage 2 sw73 with the M3-88 - a very powerful rig!

Copia wrote:Another way you can go is hold "shift" and scroll the main program knob. Then press the button beneath where the Oled display says "organize"(I think). It's the right option. That will let you toggle the main program left/right buttons between all Grand programs, Organ programs, etc. Helpful if you want to quickly try all the organs.
I believe it says "category", or short "cat". :thumbup:

One more tip - when rehearsing, or just noodling around at home, use the five Live Mode programs. These are clever, since they instantly store each parameter change, so it's great when you want to tweak a program to sound just right in the mix with your band, and all your changes are remembered when powering down also. Besides the fact that all changes are recorded instantly, they work just as normal programs, so you can store from a normal program to a Live program, or vice versa, at any time.

And finally - Clavia (Nord) has a playlist with Stage 3 videos:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... fHq5ue86pv

A good selection of inspiring performances, but so far there's only one official tutorial video, but there will probably be more in the near future:

Watch on youtube.com


Good luck! :) :thumbup:

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Re: Starting with a Nord

Postby MrTobbe » 12 Dec 2017, 15:04

Ah, I forgot! Chris Martirano has put together this instruction video with the help of Kraft Music - almost an hour of information:

Watch on youtube.com

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Re: Starting with a Nord

Postby Copia » 12 Dec 2017, 16:47

Copia wrote:Another way you can go is hold "shift" and scroll the main program knob. Then press the button beneath where the Oled display says "organize"(I think). It's the right option. That will let you toggle the main program left/right buttons between all Grand programs, Organ programs, etc. Helpful if you want to quickly try all the organs.
I believe it says "category", or short "cat". :thumbup:

Correct, thank you, MrTobbe!
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Re: Starting with a Nord

Postby anotherscott » 12 Dec 2017, 17:11

tcpl123 wrote:I have just taken the plunge and purchased a Stage 3 compact as a replacement for my Korg TR 61 which I have been using in my covers band for a few years now. I have to say right now that I am overwhelmed by the complexity of the Nord and I realise it is going to take a lot of work to get to the Nord ready to gig as far as getting similar patches and organising them. Does anyone have any advice on how to approach this?

I would say that he Nord is much simpler than the TR for creating/modifying sounds (TR is all menu-diving), but TR does have advantages for patch recall (for example, the TR's 10's Hold feature gives you banks of ten sounds at a time you can recall with a single button press, NS3 gives you banks of just 5 sounds at a time).

Can you list some particular things you do on the TR that you are finding hard to do easily duplicate on the NS3? Specific examples might get you some more specific answers.
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Re: Starting with a Nord

Postby analogika » 12 Dec 2017, 20:58

Copia wrote:
Copia wrote:Another way you can go is hold "shift" and scroll the main program knob. Then press the button beneath where the Oled display says "organize"(I think). It's the right option. That will let you toggle the main program left/right buttons between all Grand programs, Organ programs, etc. Helpful if you want to quickly try all the organs.
I believe it says "category", or short "cat". :thumbup:

Correct, thank you, MrTobbe!

Unfortunately, the categorisation is complete arse. Many Hammonds are sorted under “acoustic”, and a bunch of other, really weird choices have been made.
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Re: Starting with a Nord

Postby tcpl123 » 13 Dec 2017, 05:23

[/quote]Can you list some particular things you do on the TR that you are finding hard to do easily duplicate on the NS3? Specific examples might get you some more specific answers.[/quote]

At this stage I think it is mainly getting used to the menu structure, how the patches are organised etc. My Korg has patches arranged in categories and programs and combinations so it's relatively easy to look in the right area for a patch to suit a particular song and then start to edit. At this point I am just trying to duplicate the patches I have on the Korg (with the hope that it will sound better!) so I can start gigging it.
Last edited by tcpl123 on 13 Dec 2017, 05:24, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Starting with a Nord

Postby anotherscott » 13 Dec 2017, 16:36

tcpl123 wrote:At this stage I think it is mainly getting used to the menu structure, how the patches are organised etc. My Korg has patches arranged in categories and programs and combinations so it's relatively easy to look in the right area for a patch to suit a particular song and then start to edit.

Yes, the patch structure is pretty different from Korg's Programs and Combis. The closest analogy would be to look at "Synth Presets" as the equivalent of Korg Programs (for all sounds other than pianos and organs, which have their own secions), and look at Nord's "Programs" as the equivalent of Korg's Combis (a Nord Program can be any split/layered combination of up to two Synth sounds, two piano sounds, two organ sounds, and two external sounds).

And just as it's possible for a Korg Combi to consist of nothing but a single Program, a Nord Program can also consist of nothing but a single piano/organ/synth sound, if that's all you need it to have.
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Re: Starting with a Nord

Postby MrTobbe » 13 Dec 2017, 17:55

analogika wrote:Unfortunately, the categorisation is complete arse. Many Hammonds are sorted under “acoustic”, and a bunch of other, really weird choices have been made.

Ah, I haven't noticed that, maybe because I don't use the factory programs much... :) Too bad they screwed that up then, but on the other hand it's pretty easy to change category for a sound, and even quicker with the Nord Sound Manager.
Last edited by MrTobbe on 13 Dec 2017, 17:55, edited 1 time in total.

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