A few quick setup questions

[galagator]

Hi guys,

Pretty fresh to the Nord Stage EX76 still, loving it so far! I replaced my two keyboard software setup with the Nord while retaining a second dummy controller keyboard (AKAI MPK61 w/ 16 pads).
I have found the sounds excellent, though it feels a little limited compared with my prior setup in a couple of ways..
Currently I have the midi out of the AKAI hooked in to the midi in of the Nord, transmitting on channel 16 and working beautifully with the dual keyboard setting of the Nord, allowing me to tweak organs and synths in real time using the Nord panel.

The issue I have is with the pads on the Akai, when using the Nord in DualKB mode, it is receiving midi on one channel only and then transmitting that channel out through midi out also. That means that if I want to have the pads using the Nord like a midi thru, the pads need to be transmitting on 16 which produces notes when the pads are hit.. even when they are set to the lowest possible notes.

Is there an alternate way to do it? I was hoping to avoid any reliance on the laptop - i.e sending midi out of the Akai to the computer, then out of the computer in to the Nord.

The other question is: how does everyone balance their sounds while using two keyboards for live use? I am currently using a foot controller to control B3 volume, Pad Filter Frequencies and Wah in some songs. Would the compressor help me in my plight to get both sounds at a similar level without having to constantly adjust them?

Here's a rough recording of our Australian funk blend if anyone's interested:

Any responses/advice would be greatly appreciated :)

Regards,
Funky G

[-Toro-]

hi Funky G!
i am really sorry, but i don't understand your post at all. what is your setup like? the NS, the Akai and a computer?
and what do you want to accomplish? use your NS and your Akai to playback your software synthesizers? or do you just want to control the NS from you Akai? or some kind of combination? please clarify for further help.

what i guess you want to do, is controlling your NS from your Akai, since you have connected the MIDI OUT on you Akai to the MIDI IN on the NS?
if the MIDI channels in your setup in some way collide, you can change them. the MIDI channel for DUAL KEYBOARD (on your NS) is not fixed to be "16", that is just the default setting. it can easily be set to any channel between 1 and 16, or set to OFF. you change this in the MIDI MENU [SHIFT]+[3]. [PAGE+/-] to MIDI DUAL KB CHANNEL and rotate the VALUE DIAL to select another channel.

[galagator]

Hi there,

Sorry if I was unclear - the issue is trying to use the pads on the Akai. I need the midi to pass through the Nord stage in to the computer, but it will only receive the one channel that Dual Keyboard is set to (16). If I want the pads set on Channel 15, the Nord will not pick up the midi for that up as it is only listening on channel 16 - so therefore the channel doesn't get passed through to the computer via the midi out of the Nord.

I have a work around for the issue though, where the midi comes out of the akai, in to the computer then out to the Nord.. however this restricts me in a few ways.

At the moment, balancing the two panels sounds is more important to me - I played with the compressor last night but I found in the Wurli/Jazzy B3 combo I had, the wurli Cut through the mix a lot louder even with the compressor being tweaked.

Thanks again :)

[-Toro-]

OK! i see! :)

you want to use your NS as a MIDI THRU device!
the NS doesn't have a MIDI THRU jack. and i don't believe the USB port works as a MIDI THRU either...?
so what you'll need is a MIDI THRU BOX, or build your midi loop the other way around starting with your Akai via your computer and then finally ends up with your NS.

try to google on "midi thru box" and see what comes up.
hope this helps.

[-Toro-]

when it comes to balancing PANEL A and PANEL B, it has to be done by adjusting the output level of each instrument section.

say you have wurli on PANEL A (playing on the NS) and the B3 on PANEL B (playing on your Akai).
gain up your B3 to maximum by rotate the LEVEL ROTARY ENCODER (for the organ section, panel B) clockwise.
turn the LEVEL ROTARY ENCODER for your piano section (panel A) anti clockwise until you're satisfied with your mix.

i think the compressor effect is more about eqaulize the dynamics in your playing style, than equalizing different instruments signal out.

[galagator]

Ahh, so you think I should always have the top keyboard set to max volume and then modify the Piano sound to suit? I did find in the presets I have made already, the piano level is at 70-85% a lot of the time.

There is a problem that some of the presets are louder than other presets, how would you recommend I get all presets at about the same level?

Thanks :D

By the way I jammed last night using AKAI -> Laptop -> Nord and it all went perfectly (I even have a vocoder vsti that I toggle with one of the buttons on the akai) I did find some of the volume levels a bit of a pain though.

Cheers,
Funkadelic GG

[-Toro-]

what i mean is, that the ORGAN section level should be maximum in your specific case.

from what i've discovered, the organ is the instrument section with the lowest output signal. and maybe that is because of the registry settings? one can't expect the organ to sound as much as the piano, using only a few drawbars. if all registries were set to max (8), would the organ sound as loud as the piano? haven't try, it's just a theory...

but independent of how many instruments you're using, you have to balance them considering which is producing the lowest amount of volume, right? in any other case that instrument wont be heard in the mix.

me, myself is struggeling with equalizing different PROGRAMS to similar levels, so i don't need to adjust the VOLUME knobs on my NS and my Yammy that much during a live gig... but so far i haven't find any "shortcuts", sorry!

EDIT:
hook up your gear to a mixer. find your "weakest" PROGRAM and gain it up to maximum. measure the output signal with your mixer. then try to set the output level of your other PROGRAMS to similar level.
there's a catch though!
say that it's a lot of "sounds" in your first song, maybe several distorted guitars and a lot of drums.
then in your next song there are only an acoustic guitar and very layed back drums.
now, if your output level is the same in both these songs, the risk is that the keyboard sounds way too high in the second song?! alternative too low in the first... so the best way to set your output levels per PROGRAM (for live usage) is relative to the overall band volume.

[galagator]

Thanks mate,

That is excellent advice, I will try to calibrate my sounds to the rest of the band at practice on Wednesday night :D Do you think using some hardware that monitored EQ bands would help?

[-Toro-]

you know, the best hardware is a sound engineer!! ;-)
no seriously, i don't have any experiences in using hardware (except for the audio mixer) for this purpose. sorry.

but i know about other bands with way too much money. they buy an expensive digital audio mixer and goes into studio to setup all the faders per song...