Nord Lead 4 Editor VST

[syrious]

Hi there,

as there is no VST editor for the Nord Lead 4 series (please correct me if I missed something) and it's not planned to develop such (statement that nord gave me via mail) I'm wondering how the synth is nicely useable in combination with a daw (e.g. total recall of presets stored with the daw-project, parameter automation etc.).

To recall a preset, a program change needs to be done by sysex stuff, which isn't really intuitive to use.

So, I just had the idea of building a Midi-VST with the same control surface of the nord lead with bi-directional midi cc communication between VST and Nord Lead Device (knobs and switches) + a preset library inspired by the virus TI VST Plugin where your created patches can be added to a personal preset bank.

Do you think that would make sense?
Would you be interested in this plugin?
Are there still other points that this plugin should be able to do?

[chvad]

"I'm wondering how the synth is nicely useable in combination with a daw (e.g. total recall of presets stored with the daw-project, parameter automation etc.)."
It's fairly easy depending on your DAW. In Sonar I just created a instrument definition file (see link here: http://www.norduserforum.com/post36232. ... nar#p36232 ) for the program changes and bank changes. Other DAWS have similar abilities so you needed program a whole VST for something like program changes. Basic MIDI has covered that stuff extensively for years. Parameter automation is just a matter of assigning CC#s and again, this is DAW specific but usually fairly easy to implement.

[syrious]

OK I dont use/know sonar..I'm on Ableton Live..and I'm used to walk through presets and then make several changes to them and storing them in my preset banks.
With the virus plugin there's just a drag and drop necessary to achieve that..without any prior configuration.

For just storing a nord lead preset with a live project one need an extra track with a clip that sets the program change via sysex.

So at least for ableton users such a plugin should make "live easier".

[vision]

That guy is probably your best bet
http://www.maxforlive.com/library/devic ... -2x-remote

[pablomastodon]

It is not possible to send program changes via sysex (though for years I wondered why -- it would be so great to have other units disregard PC messages). What is possible is for the entire program data to be transmitted via sysex, effectively accomplishing the same thing.

Am not intimately familiar with Ableton, but have recently learned that apparently it does not have much/any implementation of sysex. This is an Ableton issue. Sure, it's pretty cool stuff, but any DAW which can't handle sysex is deficient in my book.

However, surely it is possible to send simple Program Change messages from Ableton, no? Sysex not needed for that...

Also, parameter control can be done by cc, which is not sysex. Surely Ableton can handle that, too? Sysex can be useful for actually storing a physical copy of a given program within a sequence. That way, one can take the sequence to another studio/location and connect to the same instrument and load the program for accurate reproduction of original sequence. But all the Program Change and CC control issues have nothing to do with sysex and should be controllable by Ableton without having to fabricate VST interfaces...

Pablo

[denu_]

Lack of VST to store presets in DAW for Nord lead 4 is a little pain for such a great gear. After finding no plugins in web, I've decided to use my DAW solution which is ability to create own controller intrument (by placing knobs and sliders on dashbord in a way that suits your needs). So I'm currently recreating each knob which I can spot on gear to have it on my new DAW instrument and assign midi #CC code to it.

I'm hoping that after all knobs are mapped between DAW and NL4, I could simply send whole program from NL4 to DAW with this program midi dump feature available from keyboard menu. From this point when I save project in DAW, my preset will be saved to automatically by midi controller. That's the plan and I wonder if it would work out smoothly.

[pablomastodon]

I would think that midi controller snapshots will accomplish what you want.

Pablo