Nord 3 Electro Newbie - Programs

[Whistler Jess]

Hi all,

Two days into owning a Nord 3 Electro! Two days down a rabbit hole of videos and reading. .....and I am in love with Baby Red (61 keys)
I have been playing a Roland FP-90....that was 52 lbs too heavy to drag around to friends to learn how to jam. (I was classically trained and now I see why scales and chords were pounded into my skull as a kid).

We now have had our first two gigs. One outdoor....yeahhhhh! And one indoor.....phew that sound was hard but equally as fun!

So. I am trying to find the sounds I love (Rhodes, Santanaish organ, Reggae Wurly). How to I find what the programs actually are? I sit on 8a and 8b a lot. Is there a list? Ie 1 is this and 8 is that...?
I have watched walk throughs and reviews but they don’t reveal their secrets! Rightly so I suppose.

I did scroll though 4 pages of forum before asking this question which I am sure is answered somewhere. I have not yet hooked up to computer as need a USB a to b cable.
In advance.
Much love,
Jessica

[FZiegler]

It's probably an Electro 3 that you have. I have never seen one - I'm too new into Nord. But I guess it should be comparable to the Electro 5 and 6 in the basics.

The Nord world is different to other manufacturer's in that it has the online sound libraries behind you can choose from. Which makes that there can't be a list of presets as a Nord doesn't have a fix list of presets. If you purchase one, it has samples and programs pre-installed, but they are only examples - you can change anything to your liking.

Which means: Your aren't meant to find your sounds in a list, but create them on your own. Of course, it's easier if you've got a program that is close to what you want - that one you will have to find by browsing. And of course, you will need a system for your settings, so it's easier to find your self created programs within the existing programs again.

For me, it's easier, as I have a Nord that displays names rather than numbers for the programs. Connecting your instrument to a computer will be quite important for you as this is the way you get the programs organised much easier (with the Nord Sound Manager).

[Tasten-Bert]

Hi Jessica

and a very warm welcome to this wonderful forum of nord enthusiasts. I had an electro 3 myself - it was my first nord - and I loved it from the first touch on. The ability that you can choose among all the free samples, be it pianos, e-pianos, synths and others, from the nord website is a great feature. I agree with you that the two or three digit display is a bit of a limitation if it comes to look for and find a particular sound.

Once you have your USB cable, this will make it much easier if you connect your nord to your PC and install the free nord sound manager available here:
https://www.nordkeyboards.com/software- ... nd-manager
There you can also read the names of the sound programs and their specifications and samples they use.

If you like you can name here in this forum some of the songs you play and I‘m sure the one or the other user will be able to share a program or give at least ideas how to create the according sound.

Have fun. Sunny regards from Germany

[vortmaxx]

I've had an Electro 3 61 for about 10 years and counting. It might seem a little confusing at first, but I assure you once you get comfortable with it, it becomes very easy to create and store your own sounds.

Navigating thru programs can be a little tedious, but in most band contexts I really only need about 4 or 5 things; a good piano, a couple of different Rhodes, a Wurli, and organ (B3). I keep my primary acoustic piano in 1.A and an upright in 1.b, with my "go-to" Rhodes in 2.A and the Wurli in 2.b. This allows me to get to any piano I need within 1 or 2 buttons. I keep the "live" button set to organ as that can vary quite a bit, but the Nord is designed so that you can manipulate the settings much like you would on a real B3, so I can dial up whatever organ sound I want pretty quickly.

You should definitely have a look at the sound manager when you get a cable and can get hooked up to a computer. That will tell you what pianos you already have loaded, and allow you to substitute different pianos that you might want. I would also recommend checking out the piano library (https://www.nordkeyboards.com/sound-lib ... no-library) and if you really want to go down a rabbit hole, the sample library (https://www.nordkeyboards.com/sound-lib ... library-30).