Nord User Forum

I've got my eye on a floor model Stage 2 EX88 and I'm thinking about ways I could condense my current rig down into just the stage 2.

Right now for example on one of our songs I have 4 splits on my top keyboard (Roland FA-06) and a piano ready on the bottom (Nord Electro 4) and alternate between the two when needed. Sometimes I sample sounds on the FA-06 and use the Nord Sample Editor to throw the sounds on the Electro. Using the sample editor I can split whatever I want, so I can have 4 synth splits on the Electro and 2 on the FA if needed.

The Electro can only have one sound/custom programme running at a time, and that's fine if I've created the sample myself - I can assign the split points. If I was to get a Stage 2, with it's various split points however, how does this work?

If I create a programme made up entierly of my own samples split in my own way, will that just count as 1 of the Stage's 2 Synth engines being in use? Or since it's my own sample, will it, like my Electro, take up the whole programme and keyboard? My thinking is that if I create my own programme and assign 4 of my own samples to it then split it myself, could I assign it to one of the Nord's split points and essentially have 4 different sounds split within Synth bank A? Then I could have a piano split in the middle and a synth bass (from Synth bank B) assigned to the bottom half? Is that how it works?

Yes that's correct.
A single sample file created with the Nord Sample Editor will use one synth slot, no matter how many different sounds it contains.

So you will have the second synth slot and all piano and organ slots available for other sounds

Spider wrote:Yes that's correct.
A single sample file created with the Nord Sample Editor will use one synth slot, no matter how many different sounds it contains.

So you will have the second synth slot and all piano and organ slots available for other sounds

That is absolutely what I wanted to hear, thanks, Spider! Does this mean if I had 5 samples split in one custom programme in slot A and 5 different samples split in a single programme in slot B I could essentially have 10 samples split across the whole keyboard? Obviously any effects and filters used, etc, would effect all 5 sounds assigned to the slot in question since as far as the Nord is aware it's one single sample, but that wouldn't be an issue if I set the sounds up cleverly.

Also, I just read this thread that also answers everything I asked, so apologies for not searching first!

You're right about the effects.
And you need to pay attention to your samples levels. I had once a sample being much louder than the others in one multi-sample custom synth.
Once played on a big PA, the differences made some ears bleed. Impossible to solve the problem without going back to the sample editor. Lowering the volume made all the other sounds sound too weak.

Something you might want to know as well is that going from slot A to slot B won't cut your sound, which is nice.
Going from one program to another does -> not nice at all (lots of topics about that already)