Nord User Forum

I play a Nord Stage 2 and a Nord Lead A1 since years and got some month ago a AKAI EWI USB wind synth instrument (EWI means electronic wind instrument). This instrument is the cheapest one of this type (under 300€) and produces no sound but midi signals similar to a midi keyboard. The notes are triggered with keys (similar to a Sax) and my breath and other parameters (like how strong I "bite" the mouthpiece) trigger Control Messages inside the midi stream. Different to a keyboard, where the key velocity defines the volume, this instrument behaves more like a Sax or Flute and also like a string instrument, where the volume is changed all the time as long the note is playing. There are some special synths to connect to the Instrument on the market, mostly rather expensive. The market seems to be very small.
I tried to use my Nord instruments as the sound creator and it works very nicely. It is not possible to plug the USB directly into the Nord, because Nord does not deliver the necessary power supply via USB, so I connect it to my PC and the PC sends the midi signals directly to the Nord USB Interface.
I have very good results with Samples from Wind and String instruments on my Stage 2 and try to find out to have good results from the synth sounds on my Lead A1. Most of these sounds are not programmed for wind synths and very slowly I get the experience to make synths where it is fun to play.

My question: The last entries in this forum about wind synths are from 2014 an 2019 and do not answer any question. Are there people out who use this combination Nord & Wind Synth? It would be nice to exchange the experience or also sound programs and performances in the Lead A1. There is a couple of forums where wind synth lovers discuss (e.g. https://www.patchmanmusic.com/forum) but nowhere You find a connection to Nord Instruments.

Maybe there is somebody out there...

Don´t know if that´s helpful... I do not use my NS3 with a wind controller. But I have some general experience with using a BC (Breathcontrol) and a Kurzweil PC3. I guess there are some things pretty equal to a windcontroller.
Since you go away from volumecontrol via velocity and exchange that with strength of breath, I found out there are some main rules while programming synth to adapt it to those requirements.
I found out it´s no good idea to go the straight path and think BC should be linked to volume, to simply make it louder while blowing in. This was pretty hard to control in the sense of a clean tone and pleasant result.
Instead it was better to apply just very little, sometimes maybe none at all (depending of feel and personal preferences) to volume control and instead go for the LP filter. With that, you always have a ground level of volume, no matter how light you blow it, but when you blow harder, make the filter open up and add higher harmonics. This makes it louder, too, but add a way more realistic feel to it, and the same time it is easier to control with dynamic playing, without unpleasant jumps in volume. It feels more musical and even with synthetic sounds, more natural. I still have my BC, but since the NS3 has no input for that, I can not do any programming in this regard, although the synth section is not that bad.
The strength of breath could be linked to aftertouch and programming in the instrument AT can be easily linked to the filter. Maybe together with the ENV MOD, wich could also infulence it in a musical and more pleasant way, depending on the sound. While you also have the "bite" on your mouthpiece, this could be linked to vibrato (could be wheel on the synth) or both functions simply vice versa (AT=Vib, Wheel=Filter)
Good luck.

EDIT: This is me, 8 years ago with a BC

Possibly the best ever example of expressive playing on an EWI from the master.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90GDV4Y9q1A

D.

Instead of a wind/breath controller I use the expression pedal, but it's the same kind of thing in that you are manipulating parameters of a note without requiring hands off the keys. For most analog-style synths I simply use the pedal to control the filter cutoff, at least if the goal is expression/dynamics. Sometimes I will add a little bit of volume shift as well, or for the Nord you can try things like subtly morphing the osc shape etc. But the filter frequency is by far the most useful parameter in most cases, volume is secondary.

You can hardly - or depending on the sound not at all - play with a pedal the way you would do with breathcontrol. That is the point of doing it that way. It sounds different.

Kaffimusic wrote:You can hardly - or depending on the sound not at all - play with a pedal the way you would do with breathcontrol. That is the point of doing it that way. It sounds different.

I have yet to find a single example where this is actually correct. It comes down to how you manipulate the pedal, if you just leave it relatively stationary then yeah I would agree, but that's not what I'm doing.

Hold a key without blowing - no or very low sound. Now do something like staccatos just by blowing fast pushes. I don´t know about you, but I am not able to move my foot as fast as my tongue. You can stop or start the note hard, just by closing or opening the blowhole with your tongue. With more training you can even do thrills/growls that way by blowing some kind of "brrr" into the mouthpiece.
Using breath is more like talking instead of moving extremities. Feels organic and natural. I guess there is a reason why there are people who want to do it that way. The guy who started the thread wanted to talk about using a wind controller. Telling him to use a pedal instead is pretty far away from that, I guess.
But, I am happy for you that you have found your way to do it the way you like. Good. Have fun and live your style. There is nothing wrong with that. It´s also not wrong to do it differently. It offers other options and sounds different.

Thanks for Your comments.
I try to combine the pedal on Stage 2 or lead A1with breath, because Bite Control and Pitch Bend control on the wind instrument are at least in my early stage of playing very hard to control. May be its interesting for forum members that I found on the cognitone website (www.cognitone.com) a free tool (AKAI EWI USB Control) which is a nice interface (running on windows and Mac) between the USB (Midi) entry from the wind controller to the Nord USB input for Midi signals. With this tool I am able to define the Midi Controller Number going to the Nord e.g. for the breath controller or the bite controller of the wind instrument.
I use instead of the "native" Midi Breath Control (CC2) the Controller CC112 (this is the level knob of my Nord Stage 2 synth section) and the CC71 (output level - not volume) on my Nord Lead A1. For the real sampled instruments like trumpet, flute, cello on the Stage it works great. For the synth sounds on the A1 I will try Kaffimusic's idea of filter control, maybe together with an expression pedal or bite control for the Output level.
At least for a retired person in lockdown like me also playing some Saxophones this is a nice way to use the additonal time at home for something rare and new. The level of Mr. Brecker (in the above videoi) is far away from that what I can ever reach - but at least he shows me what could be possible on these virtual touchkeys...

Kaffimusic wrote:The guy who started the thread wanted to talk about using a wind controller. Telling him to use a pedal instead is pretty far away from that, I guess.

Sorry, but I think you're looking for words I never said. I did not tell him to use a pedal nor even suggest that he should. I simply stated what I have been doing, and the parameters that provide the most expression for me. Logically they would also work well if being played from a breath/wind controller.

I also stated I haven't heard anything done with a breath controller that can't be done with a pedal. That doesn't mean someone shouldn't use one. I love lots of performance controllers, and won't buy any board without assignable aftertouch and exp pedal inputs, whereas some people don't consider that a dealbreaker at all. All of that is fine, we all have our own playing styles and preferences.

If anybody in this forum is interested to use the Nord Lead A1 Synth driven by a Wind Controller I experimented to control volume and other parameters with morphing of the modulation wheel. This seems for me the most effective and easy way to influence the sound coming from the synth.