Nord User Forum

Hello! I'm going to buy Nord Stage 2 SW 73. There's one thing I want to know before that. Is it possible with Stage 2 to change sounds with pedal. If isn't, is it possible to change sounds with midi pedal and what kind of midi pedal do you need for that?

Greetings from Tom

TomAlm wrote:Is it possible with Stage 2 to change sounds with pedal. If isn't, is it possible to change sounds with midi pedal and what kind of midi pedal do you need for that?

Hello TomAlm,
Welcome to the forums!

Tom,
It isn't possible to switch programs by any of the NS2's pedals.
However, it is possible by using the MIDI Solutions' Footswitch controller:

http://www.thomann.de/gb/midi_solutions ... roller.htm

Cheers, Hanon

Hello Hanon and thanks for your answer!

How many soundchanges (step by step) can you do by using the controller? 128 or less?

Tom again

TomAlm wrote:Hello Hanon and thanks for your answer!

How many soundchanges (step by step) can you do by using the controller? 128 or less?

Tom again

Hello Tom,
you have two basic choices with the single footswitch controller.
It'll do program increment OR decrement, in which, it'll either go up, or down the list of programs until it reaches the end and starts all over again. The 127 steps is defined by the instrument, not by the footswitch device.

The other choice is that it sends a single program change, but to a specific "programmable" program number.

Another option is the Dual Footswitch controller which will do increment AND decrement.

http://www.midisolutions.com/proddfs.htm

Cheers, Hanon

TomAlm wrote: is it possible to change sounds with midi pedal and what kind of midi pedal do you need for that?

Rolls MP128 for one-pedal-press access to any of ten sounds, and you can change which bank of ten you want with the bank-up and bank-down pedals (i.e. to get sounds 1 through 10, 11, through 20, etc.) -- this is probably the simplest

Rocktron MIDI Mate has a mode with the same functionality as Rolls, and another mode which instead gives you two-pedal-press access to any of 99 sounds

The Rolls is a little smaller (and lighter, I think) and has an extra MIDI "merge" connection so that you don't have to use a Merge box if you also want to connect some other device to the Nord's MIDI Input (i.e. a second keyboard). The Rocktron has a display screen where you can name patches, though that's a more useful feature on the Electro than on the Stage, since the Stage has its own patch name display where the E3 does not.

Another possibility would be the Behringer FCB-1010, which I don't have personal experience with. Bigger and heavier, but also gives you a pair of foot controllers (I'm not sure how their functionality would integrate into the NS2).

Thanks anotherscott,
looks like a couple of great options!

http://www.norduserforum.com/nord-stage ... t1569.html

Some other ideas from a previous thread.

Thanks anotherscott and vocalchords for good advices!

Greetings, Tom

Hi! I just got a Behringer FCB1010. Thank you anotherscott for pointing this out. It seems to work perfectly:

• The most important thing for me: You can configure the two pedals to function as control and swell pedals. However, this is set on a per-"preset" basis: The FCB1010 has 100 so-called "presets," 10 of which can be accessed via a single button at a given time (much like programs and pages on the NS). So you can set up a preset where one pedal acts as the NS control pedal, and the other one controls a specific effect, or the volume of a particular instrument, or even a non-morphable knob. Also, you can specify the interval of controller values to be sent. So you can use it to control the LFO within a specific range, for example! I have to admit this is way more flexibility than I had expected, both from the FCB and from the NS2.
• The presets can be programmed to send program changes and/or controller events on activation, and you can use this to do a simultaneous bank select and program change to switch to any of the 400 programs (and 5 live locations). If you just send a program change, the NS2 will stay in the current bank according to the manual, so I was surprised to find that it always switched back to bank A. It took me a while to figure out that this "current bank" is stored separately from the user-selected bank. If you send a bank select to the NS via MIDI, then all future MIDI program changes will switch back to that bank, even if you temporarily select a different bank via the NS's buttons.
• You can set up individual buttons to switch to slot A and B. Alternatively, you can set up a single button to toggle between them, but it will always switch to a specific slot the first time it is pressed (when the preset is activated, in FCB terms), and then toggle between the slots when it is pressed again, until a different preset is activated. Another good option is to combine this with a program change. The NS2 ignores multiple program changes to the same program, so this gives you a button that first activates a given program and then toggles between its slots, without silencing notes. (In theory, you could also directly switch to the inactive slot of a program this way, but this only works about 20% of the time. It seems to be a timing issue in the NS.)
• Similarly, you can have a single button that toggles between slow and fast Leslie modes, but you can also use two separate buttons for this (which I might prefer because with a normal sustain-type pedal to control rotor speed I sometimes found myself doing the exact opposite of what I wanted).
• For the record, here is one thing that doesn't work (but which I didn't know about until I read the FCB1010 manual today): The FCB1010 has a tap-tempo feature, which can be used to control a delay time. However, the NS2 delay value is stored in bpm instead of ms, so the faster you tap, the slower the delay will be.

I haven't tried this thing live yet, but it seems to suit my needs exactly. The only drawback is its size and weight. I have been thinking about mounting it on top of the triple pedal in some way, but I think I wouldn't be able to reach the FCB pedals properly then. If possible, I might rewire the "down" button of the FCB to optionally act as a sustain pedal, as there is no need to use it during live performance. We'll see. Any other suggestions would be very welcome.

In case anyone cares: The DOWN button of the FCB1010 works quite nicely as a sustain pedal if you cut it off on the printed circuit board. I have also added a small replacement button just above the original button (click to enlarge):
Here is the (very simple and unprofessional) wiring. The black thing in the upper left corner is the replacement DOWN button, which needs to be a "normal" type button which disconnects the circuit in its default position. The two thick wires go to a 1/4in jack for the sustain pedal connection. I didn't leave everything open like this, though, because the chassis is connected to ground:
The usual disclaimers apply. I will not take responsibility for any damage.