Nord User Forum

Georges description left some questions open for me. We will see.

Hi,
Thank you for your comments. I will specify my need.
I have been using Kurzweil synths for years, very powerful for synthesizer sounds. But their samples don't compare well with those from the Nord, especially for piano sounds and it's important to me.
On stage, I use a heavy touch masterkeyboard which emits on MIDI channels 1 and 2, and which controls a Kurzweil synthesizer (a PC3K6 at the moment), the light keyboard of which I also use to play synthetic sounds on MIDI channels 3 , 4, 5...
If Nord had released an external sound module, I would have bought it to replace the piano sounds of my Kurzweil. But apparently these external modules do not exist.
So I'm considering replacing my masterkeyboard which has no internal sounds, by a Nord heavy keyboard, which has the internal piano sounds I'm looking for, and which could play my Kurzweil synth on MIDI channels 1 and 2 - when they are not piano sounds of course.
This may sound complicated or very specific, but I have hundreds of programs on my Kurzweil that I have been using on stage for years, and I wouldn't want to lose them, just improve them with better quality piano sounds.
According to your answers, only the NS88 can transmit on two MIDI channels; the problem is that the quality of its keyboard is not excellent, I would have liked to have the Kawai keyboard of the Nord Grand, which does not seem to be able to transmit on 2 channels at the same time. Too bad…

Yes, The Nord Stage is the only Nord-instrument with the MIDI capabilities you'd want.
The key-bed on the Stage isn't bad, but it's clearly lighter than what you prefer. It's no problem playing dynamic on the Stage's key-bed, but if you are used to a heavier action, you will need some time to adapt towards the lighter touch.

georges studer wrote:If Nord had released an external sound module, I would have bought it to replace the piano sounds of my Kurzweil. But apparently these external modules do not exist.

Not from Nord, but you could look at something like a Dexibell SX7/SX8, or an iPad running any of a number of apps, or other sound source, to get a variety of additional high quality piano sounds.

georges studer wrote:So I'm considering replacing my masterkeyboard which has no internal sounds, by a Nord heavy keyboard, which has the internal piano sounds I'm looking for, and which could play my Kurzweil synth on MIDI channels 1 and 2 - when they are not piano sounds of course.
This may sound complicated or very specific, but I have hundreds of programs on my Kurzweil that I have been using on stage for years, and I wouldn't want to lose them, just improve them with better quality piano sounds.
According to your answers, only the NS88 can transmit on two MIDI channels; the problem is that the quality of its keyboard is not excellent, I would have liked to have the Kawai keyboard of the Nord Grand, which does not seem to be able to transmit on 2 channels at the same time. Too bad…

Yes, I'd say you understand perfectly. With a Nord Stage, you could set one EXT function to channel X and the other to channel Y, and thereby play any two Kurzweil sounds, split/layered along with the Nord's own sounds, all played from the Nord's keyboard... and the Stage is the only Nord that can do this.

In my eyes, a Nord Grand is only perfect for stage use, if you have someone who will carry it around for you. Unless, it's a bit of schlepp every time.

I understand that you want to separate two channels because the Kurzweil is meant to play to different sounds in a split manner. You could probably insert a MIDI processor for splitting the notes into two channels if the Kurzweil itself can't do that with incoming notes from one channel. Would that be a way?

FZiegler wrote:I understand that you want to separate two channels because the Kurzweil is meant to play to different sounds in a split manner. You could probably insert a MIDI processor for splitting the notes into two channels if the Kurzweil itself can't do that with incoming notes from one channel. Would that be a way?

Yes, one could look at the problem from the other side. Instead of having the Nord manipulate what it's sending, one could conceivably have the Kurzweil or an interim device manipulate what the Kurzweil is receiving.

While the Kurzweil may well be able to route the incoming MIDI appropriately, there may be an issue because of where he said "but I have hundreds of programs on my Kurzweil that I have been using on stage for years" -- each one might have to be tweaked to respond as desired. Another consideration could be that, whereas the Nord Stage would allow him to call up a Nord program and have it automatically send the desired program change to the Kurzweil, if the Nord is a Grand, it would require the reverse approach... calling up the song's patch on the Kurzweil, and then having the Kurz send the necessary MIDI to invoke the desired sound on the Nord. That may or may not be as desirable.

I don't think a simple MIDI Processor in between the two would be helpful, because it would always do the same thing. But using an iPad with a programmable MIDI processing app might be viable. One could conceivably run the Nord Grand in Local Off, run MIDI Out of the Nord Grand to the iPad, run MIDI Out of the iPad to both the Nord and the Kurzweil, and then use an app like Keystage, Camelot Pro, or iMidiPatchbay to route the Nord's keys to whatever sounds on whichever keyboard, as needed. The iPad would then also become the way to call up the sounds for the gig (as opposed to calling them up either from the Nord or from the Kurz).