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

NS3 Synth questions

Postby Swampfox » 25 May 2022, 01:01

I’m relatively new to NS3 and a complete novice with synthesizers. Prior to buying the Nord I only played Piano. I’ve been reading a bit about creating sounds via the synth and everything I’ve read talks about ADSR wave shaping. The NS3 only has ADR/ASR control. Is that an obstacle with crafting tones with the synth? I have no aspirations to becoming a synth maven but would like to understand the basics. Are there any NS3 tutorials available other than MyKeys?
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NS3 Synth questions


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Re: NS3 Synth questions

Postby Snyper19 » 25 May 2022, 02:31

I’m new too but maybe you can look at this one

https://youtu.be/tEzCHdu-2Ak
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Re: NS3 Synth questions

Postby Swampfox » 25 May 2022, 02:35

Snyper19 wrote:I’m new too but maybe you can look at this one

https://youtu.be/tEzCHdu-2Ak

Yes, I have. I actually bought his NS3 Course. It's good but doesn't go into too much detail about ADR/ASR vs ADSR wave shaping.
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Re: NS3 Synth questions

Postby Winds » 25 May 2022, 02:50

Swampfox wrote:I’m relatively new to NS3 and a complete novice with synthesizers. Prior to buying the Nord I only played Piano. I’ve been reading a bit about creating sounds via the synth and everything I’ve read talks about ADSR wave shaping. The NS3 only has ADR/ASR control. Is that an obstacle with crafting tones with the synth? I have no aspirations to becoming a synth maven but would like to understand the basics. Are there any NS3 tutorials available other than MyKeys?


Generally ADSR is Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release. Think of it like a flow to manipulate sound beginning from A and then ending with R

In general:
A (attack) refers to the time for the note comes from silence to it's loudest peak
D (Decay) refers to the time for the note to shift from that loud peak to the sustain level (which then leads to)
S (Sustain) refers to the level that the sound maintains when you hold a note (which finally leads to)
R (Release) refers to the time for the note to shift from that sustain level back to silence AFTER releasing a note.

https://blog.landr.com/wp-content/uploa ... SDR-01.jpg -< a picture explaining ADSR

I'm sure there are TONS of videos out there about ADSR if you look it up.. it's a very general concept.. and I don't think you have to look at NS3 specific.

I think though it would much more better if you just played around with the Amp Env or the Mod Env section on the NS3 by turning on the synth and then just go from there. As an experiment, you could try set everything to 0 first then begin top to bottom, starting with A and so on to hear how the sound is being manipulated (personally I've had more luck playing around in the Amp Env section rather than the Mod Env section), good luck!

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Re: NS3 Synth questions

Postby Elias » 25 May 2022, 11:38

Personally I can't remember the ADR envelopes ever being a deal breaker. I often get a decay movement from the mod envelope, and a release stage with just the amp envelope (when mod env has already decayed). I use u-he Repro 5 (Prophet 5 emulation, has 2 ADSR envelopes) now a lot, and often just leave both envelope sustains at 0, because I'm so used to that behaviour. Of course an ADSR would have its uses, but the NS3 synth is about covering all more or less useful types of timbres.

If you are new to synthesizers and you own a Stage 3, there is nothing (except from your fear?) stopping you from learning the basics. Seriously, plug in your stage 3, initialise the 5 Live Program slots, initialise the synth engine and dive in. Make the weirdest possible sounds, go to bed, and wake up the next day realising that you learned something. ...Aaaaand repeat
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Re: NS3 Synth questions

Postby WannitBBBad » 25 May 2022, 13:20

Elias wrote:... Seriously, plug in your stage 3, initialise the 5 Live Program slots, initialise the synth engine and dive in. Make the weirdest possible sounds, go to bed, and wake up the next day realising that you learned something. ...Aaaaand repeat

Exactly - you can read about what the MOD ENV and AMP ADR/ASR do, but you'll learn by diving in. Try loading the first program "WannitBBBadSyncW.ns3f" from my post at nord-stage-3-programs-ns3p-ns3pb-files-f32/for-those-new-to-programming-t15748.html and turn a few knobs!
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Re: NS3 Synth questions

Postby anotherscott » 25 May 2022, 14:13

Swampfox wrote:I’m relatively new to NS3 and a complete novice with synthesizers. Prior to buying the Nord I only played Piano. I’ve been reading a bit about creating sounds via the synth and everything I’ve read talks about ADSR wave shaping. The NS3 only has ADR/ASR control. Is that an obstacle with crafting tones with the synth?
While ADSR is the most common envelope parameter arrangement, synths can have more or less than that. The Minimoog had ADS, with a switch that changed the D function to an R function, it's still one of the most famous synths of all time. But pretty much every synth is capable of things that other synths are not.

Getting back to the Nord, turning the Decay knob to its max position ("sustain") is the equivalent of setting the S parameter of an ADSR synth to maximum, and losing the D function. On an ADSR synth, when you set the S parameter to maximum (which is pretty common), the D section doesn't do anything anyway, so losing the D function in that situation doesn't matter. (As mentioned above, the D parameter is the time it takes to decay to the S level, but if the S level is at max, there is nothing for the D section to decay to, so losing it is irrelevant.)

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Re: NS3 Synth questions

Postby DJKeys » 25 May 2022, 15:39

Scott is right. It is really not a limitation at all, just a different implementation. I have been programming synths for 35 years and I can't think of a single sound that the ADR envelope prevented me from programming-

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Re: NS3 Synth questions

Postby neomad » 25 May 2022, 16:10

And sounds great... but I need more slots :-)
Current Keyboard Rig: Nord Stage 3 compact, Yamaha Montage 7wh, Yamaha YC61, Alesis Fusion 6HD. Yamaha babygrand Piano. Extra sounds Ipad with AUM and plenty of synth apps + onsong pro
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Re: NS3 Synth questions

Postby analogika » 26 May 2022, 00:09

DJKeys wrote:Scott is right. It is really not a limitation at all, just a different implementation. I have been programming synths for 35 years and I can't think of a single sound that the ADR envelope prevented me from programming-

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Anything that has a sharp attack and then remains sustained at a soft level („plucked“ pads for example) is impossible without at least ADS.
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