Nord Rack and MIDI Controllers

[livefastdieslow]

I was just curious what MIDI controllers people are using with the Nord Racks. I have the 2x and I'm hoping to find something that works well without too much proprietary configuration headaches.

I spent a lot of time tweaking the Nord to my liking with a cheapo controller that only had keys, but I want something that plays well with the knobs and other settings. I don't anticipate out of the box functionality, but it sure would be nice!

Truth be told, I have an MPK49 and although it's an impressive beast, it seems to have been designed with just the software DAWs in mind. I've spent a lot of time trying to get it to jive with my Nord, but it's not user friendly... at all. And I honestly just don't want to waste any more time fiddling with crap instead of making music. So I'd appreciate any recommendations from people who have, or had a Nord Rack with a dedicated MIDI controller.

What MIDI controller do you use with the Nord Rack and what suggestions can you provide in that regard?

Thank you,

[mjbrands]

Pretty much any keyboard with a MIDI output will work, though a keyboard on which you can set up splits is preferable since it allows you to make good use of the four slots on your Nord Rack 2X (i.e. bass sound on the left hand and a lead sound on the right).

What kind of issues are you having with your Akai Pro MPK49? I have an Novation Remote SL49 mk2 which should be fairly comparable to your MPK49; it is indeed fairly complex, but it works well for me with hardware synths (I have several modules that do not have their own keyboard, such as my Nord Rack 3 and my DSI Evolver). For my Evolver I created a template so I can control some functions via knobs and sliders on the Novation, but for the NR3 I haven't bothered since it pretty much has a control for every single function.

[livefastdieslow]

Ok so I figured out what my problem was. Turns out, my controller (mpk49) does work pretty well with the nord rack.

Part of my problem was a misunderstanding of the basic settings of the controller and how it assigns MIDI CC values.

So to answer my own question: I would recommend the MPK49 for use with the Nord Rack 2x.

[mjbrands]

So to answer my own question: I would recommend the MPK49 for use with the Nord Rack 2x.

Good to hear you and your MPK49 are now getting along better.

[livefastdieslow]

yeah it's been a bumpy ride..

Here's another question for you: Is it possible to assign the program change command to a knob on a MIDI controller?

My controller has this function built in but it takes way too much clicking through menus to get to, it doesn't appear to be something I can assign to a knob because it doesn't have a CC value, at least that's what google is telling me so far. So it seems like it's not possible, but I wanted to ask to be sure.

You've been immensely helpful, thanks again

[mjbrands]

Here's another question for you: Is it possible to assign the program change command to a knob on a MIDI controller?

Probably. I think I can do it on my Novation, but I might have to use the flakey template editor to do the initial setup.

My controller has this function built in but it takes way too much clicking through menus to get to, it doesn't appear to be something I can assign to a knob because it doesn't have a CC value, at least that's what google is telling me so far. So it seems like it's not possible, but I wanted to ask to be sure.

You googled right; it is more complicated than a normal CC. You generally also don't have a next program/previous program function. Instead, you always need to send a 'go to program XYZ' message, where XYZ is an absolute number. If you also want to change banks, it gets more complex and you may need to change banks with one message and programs with another.

If your natural habitat is a darkened IT, err, bat cave (like me) that might make sense though.

I could check the MPK manual to see if it could be done, but Akai wants me to register and I'm not going to do that.

[livefastdieslow]

'go to program XYZ' message, where XYZ is an absolute number.

This is the mystery; I'm trying to figure out what magic sequence of witchery and knob twists would accomplish this.

If your natural habitat is a darkened IT, err, bat cave (like me) that might make sense though.

Actually, yes. I'm in a windowless room surrounded by computers..

I could check the MPK manual to see if it could be done, but Akai wants me to register and I'm not going to do that.

No need for you to, I've got a manual. I do know that the manual is gonna tell me to use their klunky program change menu command and that's what I'm trying to avoid.

If I could find the value that Nord gives its program change function, that would be enough to get me going and I think I could figure it out from there.

What we do know is that it's not a regular MIDI CC value. So what is it?

[mjbrands]

The easiest way to find the correct MIDI data (for the Nords) is to connect your Nord to a computer; use the function you want to view (such as changing the program) and you'll see the MIDI messages needed for that. Most knobs will send MIDI on the Nords, but not all; for those that don't, it means you can't change that setting via MIDI. Viewing incoming MIDI messages can easily be done with MIDI-OX (Windows) or MIDI Monitor (OSX).

http://artsites.ucsc.edu/EMS/Music/tech ... anges.html

You send a program change message (with a value of 0..127) to the synth, which will make it change program. On some synth not all program numbers are used (i.e. it might only use 0..99). Before sending a change program, you can optionally send the MSB (most significant bits) and LSB (most significant bits) values; theoretically the LSB is bits 0..6 of the bank number and MSB bits 7..13. In practice it usually doesn't work like that, but this is explained in the link I pasted above.

View the MIDI data generated by the Nord to figure out whether you need to use LSB, MSB or both. On synths that just number the programs (the Wave may do this, I forgot) you send the lower 7 bits with the program change message and the upper 7 bits with a bank set for LSB (or MSB). For example, program 800 would be program change 32 and LSB 6 (since 800 = 6 * 128 + 32).

[livefastdieslow]

Once again, you have provided the most excellent information. I will give this a try. Thank you.