Nord User Forum

[Franz Schiller]

Hi there, I can't believe I've never seen this forum before! Its good to be here...I've had a Nord C1 for several years. I also have a C2 that I keep at my rehearsal space, but I use the C1 every day to practice and write.

Anyways, I use my C1 to control a Roland JV880 and an Alesis Nanobass. In order to utilize velocity sensitivity, I have the MIDI channels set to E1, E2, and E3 for the upper manual, lower manual, and bass section respectively. This works great controlling my modules.

It's gets tricky, however, when I use a sequencer to help with writing. I have it set up like this

C1 > MPC1000 > Nanobass > JV880 > C1

So the MPC recognizes incoming signals and will play them back. HOWEVER, the C1 will NOT play back the incoming MIDI. If I set the MIDI channels to regular 1,2, & 3, only then will it play back the incoming signal. The tradeoff is I lose all velocity sensitivity on my modules.

So EVERYTIME I recorded on the MPC I would have to set the channels to E1, E2, & E3 and EVERYTIME I play back, I would have to REset the channels to standard 1,2, & 3 which is a massive pain the arse.

(I have confirmed that it is definitely not the MPC because I get the same results on a Yamaha QY700 and using a computer with Digital Performer.)

So...anyone out there encounter this too? Am I screwing something up here? Is there a workaround?

Thanks in advance, and again I'm happy to have joined the forum.

[mjbrands]

Hello Franz and welcome to the forum.

So EVERYTIME I recorded on the MPC I would have to set the channels to E1, E2, & E3 and EVERYTIME I play back, I would have to REset the channels to standard 1,2, & 3 which is a massive pain the arse.

I don't have a C1 nor do I have any experience with one, but I had a look at the manual and I think you are right. I also don't see a way around this (but hopefully there is a trick or something like that).

On page 16, it states that for channels 1-16 MIDI IN is enabled, while for E1-E16 MIDI IN is not enabled. Channels 1-16 give fixed velocity (which is not what you want, but probably the way a real organ reacts) while channels E1-E16 do send velocity data.

I think MIDI IN is deactivated when the Nord is generating notes with velocity data because the sound engine of the C1 (which is designed to emulate a real organ) does not understand velocity - a real organ is not velocity sensitive (afaik). So it seems they gave the C1 (which itself is not able to do anything useful with velocity data) a keyboard that can register velocity, but in the normal mode of operation (where MIDI IN is active) it does not send this information (it sends a fixed value) via MIDI.

[Franz Schiller]

Thanks!

Well, i just wanted to at least confirm that and make sure I wasn't overlooking something.

I thought about this, and realized I *may* be able to automate the process of changing from the "External" channels to the regular one; my Behringer BCN44 can supposedly "learn" processes, even sysex ones, so once I get a little time, I'll try figuring out how to automate.

That way, I can hit a single button before I record, and then after I record, and that will swap the channels. We'll see if that works.

Thanks all!

[mjbrands]

Since you're using DP, I assume you have a Mac. You could download and use this free utility: MIDI Monitor

If you run it with your C1's MIDI outputs connected via a MIDI interface to your Mac, it'll show you what the C1 is sending. If you change channels and the C1 is actually sending some SysEx data (or MIDI CC numbers) you could use that; you could record that with your Behringer (maybe you can also upload data like that to it).

However, I suspect there's no way to change the channels using SysEx messages - for that to work a) Nord needs to have implemented that functionality and b) you need to know what SysEx messages to send. But who knows, maybe it does send SysEx data if you try it. MIDI Monitor is a fairly low-complexity way of spying on MIDI data - it can make troubleshooting MIDI issues quite a bit easier, since you can see what you're dealing with (channels used, etc.).