Nord User Forum

[rmcpiano]

I have a Nord Electro 4, and when I play the organ, I'm bothered by the difference in volume between the lower part where I make a bass line and the upper part where I play the chords that are too loud. Is there any way on the keyboard to split 2 organs with different volumes?
Thank a lot

Ricardo Mac Cord

[Schorsch]

Don’t know the Electro 4 but the easiest in my view is to balance it by adjusting the settings of the drawbars if possible?

Edit: maybe that was nonsense as it might not be possible on the Electro - don’t know since I don’t use one myself

[Gambold]

I've struggled with organ volume too. I have an Electro 6 now, and when you split the keyboard and run the B3 Bass on the left side, it's hugely loud - and can't be adjusted separately from the right split. If you don't use the B3 Bass and try using the regular B3 for the bass side, it's way too quiet. I've also found that some Nord B3 presets are very loud and I'm not sure why - I can't get that kind of volume when I make a B3 preset unless I crank the master.


Any advice on this would be appreciated.

[Mr_-G-]

Have you tried the equalizer?

[ggoebel]

've also found that some Nord B3 presets are very loud and I'm not sure why

Maybe the presets are saved with different volume adjustements. If you call a preset, all adjustments, also for volume *), are taken from the saved parameters. That means, that the effective volume may/will differ from the current position of the volume controller. If you turn, volume may sometimes change abrubtly to the current controller position.

You can check after calling the preset by pressing "shift" and turning the volume controller. The display will show the saved value. If too loud/quiet for you, just save it with new volume adjustment to the same preset number.

*) except master volume

[WannitBBBad]

In addition to use of the EQ and swell pedal, I'd suggest changing the rotor/horn mix in the settings to favor the rotor more.

[ggoebel]

[deleted as not relevant any more]

[ggoebel]

Edited my previous post.

Thanks, did same with my post.

[Gambold]

>Have you tried the equalizer? <

I almost never use the equalizer for anything. I think equalizing Nord's samples causes more problems than it solves. The only times I've used it is to correct glaring problems in some samples - like the murk of the Nefertiti, the boxiness of the Velvet, or the fact that the treble register on the Imperial was apparently sampled with a five-year old gingerly pressing the keyboard. Other than that I let the samples speak for themselves, warts and all. Isn't that their "character?"

As for the organ, since B3s don't have equalizers, neither should I be using one on Nord's B3 engine. In general I find their organs to be pretty good, although that they eliminated the 9th drawbar/percussion setting on the E6, for no other reason than to be perverse and annoying, really sucks. I mean it's not even a setting option. Large WTF, Clavia.

I think this volume issue is likely the rotary settings or something like that.

[analogika]

As for the organ, since B3s don't have equalizers, neither should I be using one on Nord's B3 engine.

I get what you're saying, but disagree. Mostly because the Nord is not the equivalent of a Hammond playing through a Leslie in a room, but a Hammond playing through a Leslie in a room recorded with microphones.

As such, the sound is tremendously impacted by the choice of microphones, their placement, their volume balance, and yes, the EQ used by the engineer.

I tweak the organ to try and match my own B3's sound, which I run through a 760, which has separate adjustments for input gain and horn and rotor output volume. It is tweaked to give a nice sizzle and crunch in conjunction with the Leslie preamp, with a respectable bark on percussion.

So even discounting the fact that the sound of the Hammond as heard through a PA or on a recording is heavily affected by choices made by the engineer, the instruments themselves can sound wildly different from one another.

The EQ and distortion are a means to tweak the sound according to musical preference or the preferred sound of the instrument. Not every B3 is a jazz organ.

In general I find their organs to be pretty good, although that they eliminated the 9th drawbar/percussion setting on the E6, for no other reason than to be perverse and annoying, really sucks. I mean it's not even a setting option. Large WTF, Clavia.

I understand this, having myself requested the feature back when I got my Electro 2 fifteen years ago ("We'll consider it for a future product release.").

However, in practise, given the availability of presets, I find it far less essential, while the actual functionality that I *really* wanted was never implemented — which is that engaging the percussion switch not only kills the top drawbar, but also triggers the percussion on all keys currently held down.

That's the far bigger omission, IMO.