Nord User Forum

Mipendorf wrote:I'm thinking I'd like to group my programs by instrument (organ patches together, EPs together, APs together, etc)M

First, I think you need to decide if you prefer to navigate in the default Page mode (single button access to 4 sounds) or the Numeric Pad mode (two-button access to 16 sounds). That will probably have an impact on how you want to organize your sounds.

But either way, I don't think you'd typically want, for example, all your APs together.

...In Page mode, I think it would be better to have the four buttons recall four sounds you're likely to switch between in a song (say, a piano, an organ, an EP, strings) rather than four different pianos as ou would if you had grouped all your APs together. BUT... you might then want all your pianos to end up under position 1, all your organs under position 2, all your EPs under position 3, and all your synth sounds under position 4, or something like that. So you'd still have one way to remember where to find sound... and even if you're in the wrong bank, button 1 will probably get you SOME piano, even if it's not the one you preferred.

...In Numeric mode, with quick access to 16 sounds, you probably don't want 8 pianos and 8 organs or anything like that... you probably want more variety. Which again argues against putting all your APs together.

But in the end, patch selection remains a Nord weakness. In this respect, the best Electro was the 2 which had 8 select buttons instead of 4. At some point, you'll probably want to use a smartphone app for patch recall.

clinkmd wrote:One thing I miss about my old NE2 is the simplicity compared to my NE5.

If you're serious about that, I'll swap with ya

But honestly, my gripe with the Electro 2 is the lack of support for the Piano Libraries, so I try and organize organ patches in one bank, piano in another, etc. But With only a letter and two numbers to identify a patch, organization is everything, based completely around the order of songs in a setlist. Organ is sometimes easy enough to identify visually from drawbar/effects settings.

clinkmd wrote:One thing I miss about my old NE2 is the simplicity compared to my NE5.

I use a basic set of sounds (Hammond, Rhodes, Wurli, Clavi, and acoustic piano when I don't use a Yamaha P105) and have "songs" set up for tunes that use splits or multiple sounds. I keep the basic sounds in one or two "songs" (ABCD) in the set list function so that I can quickly find them. I line up the specific songs in order for the tunes that require something different.

I'm not crazy about how this works. When I wasn't given an updated set list recently, I was frantically scrolling through to find the right patches a couple of times. I certainly would appreciate any suggestions to make this more workable.

Hi clinkmd
You have a NE5 - Use the Setlist.

This area still is a weakness, IMHO. I have an Electro 6 now, upgraded from a 4. I never experienced the setlist mode which came and went with the E5. Since it lasted only one model, I can only assume it was a failure with the customer base.

The 6 has a slightly better navigation system than the 4, but only slightly. It's still confusing and only helped by the fact that I now have a screen readout of what I've programmed in there. The option of page vs numeric mode is nice but it doesn't really help matters, since you are still locked into the MAGIC NORD NUMBER 16.

What would be better? For starters, a system that didn't force letters into the equation, especially in a non-editable A-Z order. I wasn't thrilled to see the English alphabet now a required part of my program labeling, and I imagine I'd be even less thrilled if I wasn't a speaker of English.

Next would be losing the forced 16 banks (or whatever they are called), which is what each letter gets. 16 is a big number, there's no way to say "all my acoustic pianos will be in Group A," or something like that. I don't have 16 acoustics on my Electro, even with optional configurations. If I put 8 in there, I have to page-whap my through all those blanks to get the B group.

It gets worse. It's not as simple as A1 - A16. That might be ok. No, it's A11-A14, A21-A24, A31-A34 and A41-A44. For 26 letters. Madness. The number 5 doesn't exist in Nord's world. Neither does 6, 7, 8, 9, or 0. I know the rationale for this is that there are only four buttons and this way you can dial in any of the 16 presets with two button presses. IF you are using the numeric feature and IF you have memorized all those combinations and IF you are heavily into Base 4 math. It's a pretty hincky system for something that is counter-intuitive to how we think. Like, in Base 10. Here's my 7th piano - oops, no, I mean here's my 23rd...

Better would be a Sound Manager configurable system that allowed the user to make their own decisions on how to label and number banks and groups. The old KISS method. Maybe we'll see that in future releases.

Gambold wrote:I never experienced the setlist mode which came and went with the E5. Since it lasted only one model, I can only assume it was a failure with the customer base.

Not with this customer base. I was disappointed to hear they dropped it.

CountFosco wrote:

Gambold wrote:I never experienced the setlist mode which came and went with the E5. Since it lasted only one model, I can only assume it was a failure with the customer base.

Not with this customer base. I was disappointed to hear they dropped it.

I'm super happy with the Setlist function on my E5.
Enormously flexible solution!

CountFosco wrote:The only thing that really bugs me about setlist on the E5d is I can't see the drawbar settings in the OLED disply unless I move a drawbar.

You can see the drawbar settings in the OLED display by hitting "Preset 1" or "Preset 2" button for organ. That shows the drawbars in the display for a while.

For the original question - I use the setlist function as well. Having 4 programs per song. Assigned to A, B, C, D. Even if i do not use 4 slots for every song today, I leave the free space in the programs, just in case . And moreover - even if I have similar programs in different songs I store them multiple times. The gives me the opportunity to change the program B for song 1 not influencing song 3 using a similar patch for example.

Example:
Program 51 - A - Song 1 in setlist
Program 52 - B - Song 1 in setlist
Program 53 - C - Song 1 in setlist
Program 54 - D - Song 1 in setlist
Program 55 - A - Song 2 in setlist
etc.

The switching between A, B, C, D during a song is done with self made midi foot switch.

For gigs I store the songs in a different playlist place in the appropriate order.

CountFosco wrote:

Gambold wrote:I never experienced the setlist mode which came and went with the E5. Since it lasted only one model, I can only assume it was a failure with the customer base.

Not with this customer base. I was disappointed to hear they dropped it.

Me too, I love the setlist.
I tried a S3 and returned it and stayed with my 5HP, I looked into a 6Hp and without the setlist its not an ungrade for me.
I gig a lot and need the set list. I cant see why anyone would have a problem using the setlist, unless they didnt read the manual and didnt understand that it was just a list pointing to the programs.

Normski wrote: I cant see why anyone would have a problem using the setlist, unless they didnt read the manual and didnt understand that it was just a list pointing to the programs.

People don't read manuals.

And people can get confused by "pointers." Windows "shortcuts" and Mac "aliases" have been known to confuse people. And you can find threads here where people have been confused by Nord's setlist implementation. I admit it even bit me when I first got the E5, as I made a change to a sound which I had invoked via setlist, stored it, and of course it wasn't saved.

It was a very useful functionality, but with Nord's focus on simplicity, I'm not shocked that it was removed from the E6. I hope/expect that the equivalent feature will remain in the Stage series, though, which by design, tends to appeal to a customer who is willing to trade off some Electro simplicity to get a lot more versatility.