Nord User Forum

Hi everyone, sorry for my poor english, I'm an Italian possessor of the amazing Nord Stage 3 compact.
I had a Nord Stage ex and during my gigs I controlled the organ swell and the piano/synth volume with a single pedal
Now scrolling the various ctrl pedal or swell pedal settings, I can't find this possibility.... I can control the entire instrument volume setting the swell function as "volume", but the organ "lose" its swell
I think this is a serious omission by Nord.....
What do you think about?
I hope that issue will be solved in the next update.

If you put your pedal in the Control Pedal input, you can set that input to 'Ctrl + Swell' in the system menu (page 53 of English Edition F of the manual).
That will allow the organ 'swell' to be controlled by that pedal.
Then set any volume levels you want to control on any piano or synth sounds using the Morph Assign CTRLPED button (page 25).

Hobster wrote:If you put your pedal in the Control Pedal input, you can set that input to 'Ctrl + Swell' in the system menu (page 53 of English Edition F of the manual).
That will allow the organ 'swell' to be controlled by that pedal.
Then set any volume levels you want to control on any piano or synth sounds using the Morph Assign CTRLPED button (page 25).

That should do it, but there are two things that make that approach less than ideal. One is that, instead of making a single global setting, you need to create that morph for every single program where you'd like that functionality (so perhaps hundreds of times). Second is that, if you ever want to use the pedal for some other morph function on a given program, you no longer have any volume pedal available (since you can't use your other pedal unless you're willing to lose Swell).

I think the best solution is to leave the Swell pedal for swell, the Ctrl pedal for morph, and then add something like a Boss FV-30L volume pedal on the main outputs. This gives you ever-present Swell and ever-present Volume, with no programming, and still leaves the Ctrl pedal free for all of its other possible functions, plus independent control of the two functions, which I think is preferable. But if you really want to do both things simultaneously from a single pedal, you should be able to do that with a Boss FV-500L which can connect to your Swell pedal jack for swell and also your Output jacks for total volume, at the same time. The only caveat there is that assumes the FV-500L behaves properly as a swell pedal using one of the Nord settings available (Roland EV7, Yamaha FC-7, Korg, Fatar/Studiologic).

But sure, an option on the Nord for the pedal to affect Swell on organ while functioning as Volume for everything else could be convenient.

anotherscott wrote:

Hobster wrote:If you put your pedal in the Control Pedal input, you can set that input to 'Ctrl + Swell' in the system menu (page 53 of English Edition F of the manual).
That will allow the organ 'swell' to be controlled by that pedal.
Then set any volume levels you want to control on any piano or synth sounds using the Morph Assign CTRLPED button (page 25).

That should do it, but there are two things that make that approach less than ideal. One is that, instead of making a single global setting, you need to create that morph for every single program where you'd like that functionality (so perhaps hundreds of times). Second is that, if you ever want to use the pedal for some other morph function on a given program, you no longer have any volume pedal available (since you can't use your other pedal unless you're willing to lose Swell).

I think the best solution is to leave the Swell pedal for swell, the Ctrl pedal for morph, and then add something like a Boss FV-30L volume pedal on the main outputs. This gives you ever-present Swell and ever-present Volume, with no programming, and still leaves the Ctrl pedal free for all of its other possible functions, plus independent control of the two functions, which I think is preferable. But if you really want to do both things simultaneously from a single pedal, you should be able to do that with a Boss FV-500L which can connect to your Swell pedal jack for swell and also your Output jacks for total volume, at the same time. The only caveat there is that assumes the FV-500L behaves properly as a swell pedal using one of the Nord settings available (Roland EV7, Yamaha FC-7, Korg, Fatar/Studiologic).

But sure, an option on the Nord for the pedal to affect Swell on organ while functioning as Volume for everything else could be convenient.

It's exactly what I think.
I appeal to the NORD to solve this problem as soon as possible.

A bit out of topic but could you have the swell pedal on a Stage 2 assigned to another morph in top of the control pedal? I cannot find that in the manual....Sometime, I don't use any organ sound and would like to have 3 morph, one is done with the control pedal, one with the MW but if I could use the swell pedal to do a third volume morph, that would be awesome...

It seems, amongst other things the NS3 has inherited the NS2’s quirky swell & control pedal assignments. In my view it isn't acceptable that an instrument in this price bracket should be so hamstrung. The lack of proper assignment options for the swell pedal is nonsense. In fact this, along with the NS2’s broken midi system, inferior effects section ( as compared to the audio quality of the NE3), limited user sample configuration (there's no velocity switching, no release sample option and a partition system that leaves you with little space) and poor pianistic response with up uneditable piano sample sets, were the reasons I dumped the NS2. I don't see the NS3 as any great improvement either.

Quai34 wrote:A bit out of topic but could you have the swell pedal on a Stage 2 assigned to another morph in top of the control pedal? I cannot find that in the manual....Sometime, I don't use any organ sound and would like to have 3 morph, one is done with the control pedal, one with the MW but if I could use the swell pedal to do a third volume morph, that would be awesome...

Nope, you can see from the buttons that you can assign morphs to wheel, aftertouch, and ctrl pedal. There is no fourth option for swell pedal.

hector space wrote:In my view it isn't acceptable that an instrument in this price bracket should be so hamstrung. The lack of proper assignment options for the swell pedal is nonsense.

In this price bracket, Korg Kronos is worse. Nord give you one assignable pedal and one swell/vol, Kronos has just the one assignable pedal, no second pedal at all.

hector space wrote:In fact this, along with the NS2’s broken midi system, inferior effects section ( as compared to the audio quality of the NE3), limited user sample configuration (there's no velocity switching, no release sample option and a partition system that leaves you with little space) and poor pianistic response with up uneditable piano sample sets, were the reasons I dumped the NS2.

So what did you get instead? I think the only board that address all your complaints would be a Kurzweil Forte (and maybe a Yamaha Montage though I believe it has some MIDI limitations of its own, plus no drawbar organ or VA synth engines like the Nord and Kurz have, so not as comparable in basic sound functionality). Forte is a great board, and in some ways it's much more capable than a Nord Stage, but there are still trade-offs, like not nearly as many simultaneous real-time controls, and a travel weight of at least 41 lbs.

@Aanotherscott: yes, thanks, that's why I asked, maybe a "shift" function that I didn't see....So, I was not that blind then, thanks Another'scott...

anotherscott wrote:

Quai34 wrote:A bit out of topic but could you have the swell pedal on a Stage 2 assigned to another morph in top of the control pedal? I cannot find that in the manual....Sometime, I don't use any organ sound and would like to have 3 morph, one is done with the control pedal, one with the MW but if I could use the swell pedal to do a third volume morph, that would be awesome...

Nope, you can see from the buttons that you can assign morphs to wheel, aftertouch, and ctrl pedal. There is no fourth option for swell pedal.

hector space wrote:In my view it isn't acceptable that an instrument in this price bracket should be so hamstrung. The lack of proper assignment options for the swell pedal is nonsense.

In this price bracket, Korg Kronos is worse. Nord give you one assignable pedal and one swell/vol, Kronos has just the one assignable pedal, no second pedal at all.

hector space wrote:In fact this, along with the NS2’s broken midi system, inferior effects section ( as compared to the audio quality of the NE3), limited user sample configuration (there's no velocity switching, no release sample option and a partition system that leaves you with little space) and poor pianistic response with up uneditable piano sample sets, were the reasons I dumped the NS2.

So what did you get instead? I think the only board that address all your complaints would be a Kurzweil Forte (and maybe a Yamaha Montage though I believe it has some MIDI limitations of its own, plus no drawbar organ or VA synth engines like the Nord and Kurz have, so not as comparable in basic sound functionality). Forte is a great board, and in some ways it's much more capable than a Nord Stage, but there are still trade-offs, like not nearly as many simultaneous real-time controls, and a travel weight of at least 41 lbs.

1, justifying poor design by saying it's no worse than X's (Korg's) poor design. is no justification!
2, too right! I dumped the Ns2 and bought a Kurzweil Forte, it's head and shoulders better than the Stage 2 in almost every respect. Excluding redness and knob per function.
3, yes Kurzweil's midi system on the Forte is complex and in places less than ideal but ultimately provides the user flexibility to do pretty much anything you'd need from a stage master controller. Which is a ton more than the NS2 or NS3.

I wouldn't say the Forte is the perfect alternative to the NS2 or NS3 because everyone has different requirements and Nord have been very focused on a specific subset of the total need. This approach makes the NS series quick and fun, but it doesn't provide the serious heavyweight solutions needed for those wanting to get the best out of their rigs whilst keeping the gear count down. Basically with 16gb sample space, 3.3gb user samples, the Forte comes preloaded with the full complement of legendary Kurzweil sample sets and totally backward compatible with everything since the K2000 this makes Forte is a sonic monster. And every preset, sample set, effects unit and even the keybed velocity on individual notes.. Is all editable and configurable. You can get it just how you want it to be.

Since I bought the Forte in 2015 Kurzweil have continually updated and improved the system, their customer service is brilliant. They've implemented stuff we've asked and delivered well beyond our expectations.
If you're a serious keyboard player looking for a stage master controller with the sounds and facilities to match.. Look at the Forte..

hector space wrote:too right! I dumped the Ns2 and bought a Kurzweil Forte, it's head and shoulders better than the Stage 2 in almost every respect. Excluding redness and knob per function.
...
I wouldn't say the Forte is the perfect alternative to the NS2 or NS3 because everyone has different requirements and Nord have been very focused on a specific subset of the total need. This approach makes the NS series quick and fun, but it doesn't provide the serious heavyweight solutions needed for those wanting to get the best out of their rigs whilst keeping the gear count down.

Great that you found a board that suits your needs, and the Forte is a great board, which can do lots of stuff the Nord cannot. But as you say, people have different needs. To me, probably the biggest limitation of the Forte relative to the Nord is in the front panel knob/slider controls. It's not just that the Forte doesn't have the direct simplicity of the knob-per-function approach as you mention, but also that there are only 9 such controls (plus the fixed EQ/comp). So for example, let's say you have a split with organ on one side, and a layered piano+synth on the other. On the Forte, once you set up your 9 sliders for drawbars, you've used up all your front panel controls! So now what do you do if you want to adjust the relative volumes of your piano/synth/organ sounds, or the reverb, or the organ overdrive, or the synth filter cutoff or attack/release, or any of the effects parameters...? The way I see it, you knocked the Nord because of the limitations on what you could do with a second pedal, but in terms of total real time control, the Nord gives you a whole lot more of it than the Kurz does, despite the Kurz having a more flexible second pedal.

The other thing I wanted to mention is that not everyone feels the need to keep their gear count down to a single gigging board. Many people want to gig with two boards even regardless of how much one board can do. You can get advantages like two actions for piano and organ suitability, immediate backup if a board fails, easy ability to mix and match many sounds on the fly without having to set up combinations in advance or worry about inadvertently playing across a split point, and the ability to work with a wider array of sounds and features since no single board ever does everything best. Instead of replacing the NS2 with the Forte, another option could have been to supplement the NS2 with some other lower priced board, like a Kurzweil Artis or a Yamaha MOXF or a Roland DS/FA, whatever... You'd get a lot (but not all) of the Forte advantages while not losing what the Nord does best. But that assumes that you actually care about the things the Nord does better than the Forte... some people do, you might not. If budget weren't an issue, pairing a NS3 with something like a Forte or Kronos would be pretty ideal!