Adding Pitch and Mod to Nord Grand

[ryanq]

Hey all,

I love having all these great Nord sounds, but find myself wishing I could go to a quick pitch and mod wheel for the synth samples on the Nord Grand.

I'm thinking about picking up a midi controller like an Aurturia or Akai to use as a midi controller placed right on top of the Nord, but I'm not sure if this is something that Midi would be able to address alone.

So, does anyone know if you can add pitch bend to a Nord Grand through Midi?

[DJKeys]

Hi-

Even with a midi controller, I don't believe the Nord Grand responds to pitch bend messages, it is not mentioned in the Midi controller parameter section of the manual-

-dj

[FZiegler]

+ It's unclear what you think a modwheel could trigger. The only "morphing" mentioned in the manual is some FX settings controlled by a control pedal. I think the Grand doesn't have any function assigned to the modwheel - so consequently there is none.

[TurkeyRobinson]

I’ve had my Nord Grand a few months and love it.
I predominantly wanted the Piano engine and realistic touch.
However recently bought a Genki Wave MIDI ring controller, to explore the synth samples and control expressions like Vibrato via some hand gestures. Only now do I find that Pitch Bend is not available via MIDI command on Grand nor Piano range by the looks of it. Why not?

Here’s a basic example of what I’m talking about:



Allowing existing customers who chose Nord Grand or Piano for a reason, to take advantage of more dynamic expression with up and coming products like Genki Wave or Neova ring will only enhance the experience of these customers, who spent decent money with Nord. This sort of MIDI functionality will come standard on most of the competition.
I can’t see a feature like that stopping someone from buying other Nord product like the Nord Stage etc, as they are buying much more than a pitch wheel.
Anyhow, what is the process for gathering customer feedback for future Firmware updates, as I notice Nord Electro has had Pitch Bend added to one of its FW releases!! Specifically v1.12 : “MIDI Pitch Bend is now listened to on External KB MIDI channel“ Please Clavia, add this MIDI listen function to your whole range, specifically Nord Grand!!

[maxpiano]

Anyhow, what is the process for gathering customer feedback for future Firmware updates, as I notice Nord Electro has had Pitch Bend added to one of its FW releases!! Specifically v1.12 : “MIDI Pitch Bend is now listened to on External KB MIDI channel“ Please Clavia, add this MIDI listen function to your whole range, specifically Nord Grand!!

Hi, the process is to write to the Support page on Nord Keyboards website, as this is an unofficial forum and even if people working at Nord may likely take a look a it from time to time, there is no guarantee they will read all posts or they will take them into account (not even with the support ticket but at least that's the "official way")

[FZiegler]

The Electro 6 only got PB support for notes played externally. So no way to add a MIDI controller to get PB for the internally played notes, either.

The Clavia/Nord palette of instruments is fascinating in that they don't support multilayer user samples, USB audio, Bluetooth audio, historical/alternating tunings, MIDI 2.0, sequencer, GeneralMIDI support etc. and still are very nicely to be used. They have always been good at what they could. And of course, it's demanding to keep up with evolution.

There is often a subtext that can be heard saying: I bought that expensive digital board, it should be able to do everything I need. Unfortunately, I don't see that to be very likely. In my eyes, the Stage line is the only one with part of that claim inherent.

In any case, a Nord Grand is much more versatile than a Hohner Clavinet, a Fender Rhodes, a Wurlitzer Piano or a Yamaha CP80 was - but not everybody would call it better because of that. And it's not as versatile as an arranger keyboard, but in my eyes certainly better (as a digital piano).

[cphollis]

I’ve had my Nord Grand a few months and love it.
I predominantly wanted the Piano engine and realistic touch.
However recently bought a Genki Wave MIDI ring controller, to explore the synth samples and control expressions like Vibrato via some hand gestures. Only now do I find that Pitch Bend is not available via MIDI command on Grand nor Piano range by the looks of it. Why not?

Here’s a basic example of what I’m talking about:



Allowing existing customers who chose Nord Grand or Piano for a reason, to take advantage of more dynamic expression with up and coming products like Genki Wave or Neova ring will only enhance the experience of these customers, who spent decent money with Nord. This sort of MIDI functionality will come standard on most of the competition.
I can’t see a feature like that stopping someone from buying other Nord product like the Nord Stage etc, as they are buying much more than a pitch wheel.
Anyhow, what is the process for gathering customer feedback for future Firmware updates, as I notice Nord Electro has had Pitch Bend added to one of its FW releases!! Specifically v1.12 : “MIDI Pitch Bend is now listened to on External KB MIDI channel“ Please Clavia, add this MIDI listen function to your whole range, specifically Nord Grand!!

I would suggest you look at stage controllers such as the Nord Stage and others if this is what you want to do. Clavia has been pretty good at creating distinct products for different markets, I can't see them changing direction anytime soon.

[TurkeyRobinson]

Thanks, but all answers as expected. But if you don’t ask, you don’t get.
And likely in this case, if you ask, you still don’t get.
I’m sure there are plenty of things that people would like added in future FW upgrades, and this is the case for me.
I still think Nord Grand is the best option for the majority of what I want.
Just would have been nice if MIDI capability was just a little more featured, and pitch bend seems like a simple one.
I think wearable controllers will become more popular for adding natural expression.
Still wonder what drives their firmware decisions if not feedback from customers.

[maxpiano]

Still wonder what drives their firmware decisions if not feedback from customers.

Product positioning also does imho and they also need to prioritize their development capacity which is limited, the Electro had to wait several years before getting it (and only on ExternalKB function, which was introduced on NE5 and is instead absent on previous models and also on Nord Grand and all Nord Piano family, which is not a multi-part instrument)

[TurkeyRobinson]

Agree, product positioning is a big part of it, aswell as resources.
If I knew Grand and Piano series didn’t have PB before buying it wouldn’t have changed my decision to a Stage, nor I think many other Grand customers. We’re buying that machine for its realism when playing piano.
Just seems like a natural addition though if it does have Synth sample engine, even if not fully fledged like other models , that there would be some flexibility to add 3rd party interfaces etc.
testing Genki or Neova rings and providing a midi interface to the key parameters like PB would be a win for everyone!