Nord User Forum

Hi,

I know we’ve been discussing a lot about MIDI related issues of NS4 but I want to take (maybe the most) serious one to focus: multitimbrality and local off.

NS4 is basically 7 part multitimbral, right? 2 x organs, 2 x pianos and 3 x synths. You can even put individual effects to individual parts.

Now it’s amazingly stupid that (with its current firmawares) you cannot give those parts to external MIDI control (*) while you play other part(s) with NS4 itself. For example, you wanna play piano with NS4 and external sequencer takes care of synths A, B and C with their individual MIDI channels. Now it’s impossible. Stupidity comes from the fact that you have great power (multitimbrality and polyphony) which you cannot fully use.

It’s obvious what’s missing: chance to put part(s) to local off mode. It should not be that difficult and to me it was a huge disappointment to realize that Nord did not implement it. Retrospectively if I had known this I might not put my 4K to this board. Now I am stuck with NS3 and with NS4 I am waiting and waiting that does it develope or not.

So how to implement local off? There are at least rwo options: one is simply put it in MIDI Menu, now there’s just Local on/off for whole NS4. So idea is to expand that (Local off/on piano 1, Local off/on piano 2, local off/on Organ 1 etc.). Anyway individual local on/off’s should be Program level feature: these should be saved with Programs. (General Local off is of course fine to be in general level too). Another option would be to put it to KB Zone: last ”mode” of KB zone would be ”no zone” (=local off).




(*) of course there’s Aux KB mode but it’s not the same: you cannot play chosen parts individually. Aux kb mode is great anyway but it too has Midi related problems…

I have been discussing this issue (among others) with Nord people. I am glad they are considering implementing local off by using ”no zone” option. I think it’s the most intuitive way of putting it. I cross my fingers…

As an ns3 user with a dual board setup, I have been closely following the MIDI capabilities of the NS4 and was excited by the prospect of the layers having individual MIDI channels. Of course, I expected that layers could then also be set up individually for exclusive external control.

If it is now foreseeable that this will actually be implemented, however, I would briefly question whether global local off should really be a per-programme setting. Other than switching layers on and off for internal playing, full local off would rather depend on the hardware setup you momentarily use, so wouldn't it better apply in general?

As I said in the first post IMO individual local off’s should definatily be program level feature.

Isn’t it obvious that depending on program you would like to give different parts to external control?

For example Program 1:
Piano + Synth A for NS4 itself
Organ for Aux kb
Synths B+C for external sequencer

And Program 2:
Piano for NS4 itself
Organ for Aux kb
All A+B+C for external sequencer

Etc etc.

Sorry, I just missed that sentence which you put in brackets (I'm sure it wasn't there this morning, but maybe I wasn't fully awake . So we agree.