Nord User Forum

Al_DeKlein wrote:Anotherscott/baekgaard: My hopes of having a NS3C on top of a weighted 88-key controller (velocity issue aside) acting as two single panel NS3s may not be dashed.... correct?

I believe at is correct, within the possible caveats I just wrote about, which don't prevent you from playing the sounds from the different boards in the various combinations, but may impose some limits on what real-time tweaking you can do on the sounds that are being triggered from the second board while you are playing the first board.

anotherscott wrote:

Al_DeKlein wrote:Anotherscott/baekgaard: My hopes of having a NS3C on top of a weighted 88-key controller (velocity issue aside) acting as two single panel NS3s may not be dashed.... correct?

I believe at is correct, within the possible caveats I just wrote about, which don't prevent you from playing the sounds from the different boards in the various combinations, but may impose some limits on what real-time tweaking you can do on the sounds that are being triggered from the second board while you are playing the first board.

I think there may be some pedal/wheel/aftertouch issues trying to play panel B via a straight Midi assignment. I have sounds that have a Morph on Panel A and a different Morph on panel B. The pedal connected to the Nord controls the panel A Morph and the pedal connected to the external controls the Panel B Morph. I suspect in straight Midi Mode, the pedal/wheel/aftertouch connected to the Nord would affect both the panel A and B morph. Same for sustain pedals? Anyway, I'm going to try this when I get home. But I still think I'm dumping my NS3 and going back to an NS2EX (using my credit card for bridge financing ). These problems, combined with the fact that Nord still won't let me put NS2 samples on the NS3 are deal breakers for me.

Al_DeKlein wrote:Anotherscott/baekgaard: My hopes of having a NS3C on top of a weighted 88-key controller (velocity issue aside) acting as two single panel NS3s may not be dashed.... correct?

Al_DeKlein - this is the setup I'm trying for. NS3C on top of Roland A-88. I thought it would be a dream team. Worked great with the NS2 and NS2EX.

anotherscott wrote:Thanks, baekgaard. So then the entire advantage of Dual KB Panel split (vs. MIDI panel assignment) is that the Dual KB Panel split allows you to view and adjust the panel settings for the external keyboard while preventing the internal keyboard from triggering those sounds? Whereas with the MIDI approach, anything you play on the internal keyboard while the Panel B display is active will simultaneously trigger the Panel B sound?

Yes, more or less that is the gist of it.

I think most people could probably live with that. Although you don't need three hands to take advantage of the alternate functionality of the Dual KB Panel approach.

Sure, the three-handed player thing was said toungue-in-cheek! But I think most might be able to live with the setup as it is.

Is there a risk that the Panel B sound will "kick in" on the sustained notes that are playing from the internal Panel A sound?

No, Panel B notes will not start playing instead of the sustained part.

But there is an odd behaviour (maybe a bug) in that the sustain status is transferred also to Panel B, so that the notes you play hereafter on the external will also be sustained. The scenario is like this: You play Panel A locally and Panel B externally (so the A - B LEDs are On and Off). You now play a chord on A and hold down sustain. Then press the B button (so now the LEDs become Off and On). Panel A will continue to sound, as you intended. However, any NEW notes you play on the external keyboard will now inherit the sustain status, as you are effectively holding down sustain with Panel B selected while playing new notes (on the external keyboard).

In Dual KB mode the sustain can never impact the external sound... however, that is only true for sustain. If you couple sustain to rotor speed, it will impact the sound (as there is only one rotary effect), as will any pitch bend or mod wheel turns that you may have enabled on Panel B. This is shared between both MIDI modes (Dual KB and separate channel for Panel B). I'll discuss with Nord what is the more logical setup here I also found another minor bug while fiddling with this, which I will also bring up.

jdahms wrote: I think there may be some pedal/wheel/aftertouch issues trying to play panel B via a straight Midi assignment. I have sounds that have a Morph on Panel A and a different Morph on panel B. The pedal connected to the Nord controls the panel A Morph and the pedal connected to the external controls the Panel B Morph. I suspect in straight Midi Mode, the pedal/wheel/aftertouch connected to the Nord would affect both the panel A and B morph. Same for sustain pedals?

As mentioned above, it's a bit weirder that this. The only difference I can see with pedals etc is that in Dual KB mode, the sustain and control/swell pedals never impacts the externally played part -- but all the other controls (i.e mod wheel or pitch bend) apparently do, no matter which mode you're in. In MIDI mode, the control pedals will (always) impact the externally played part but the sustain will only do so when you have Panel B active...

So it's not entirely logical to me either way as it is now

Al_DeKlein wrote:Anotherscott/baekgaard: My hopes of having a NS3C on top of a weighted 88-key controller (velocity issue aside) acting as two single panel NS3s may not be dashed.... correct?

More or less, apart from those differences that may arise from shared controllers/not-shared controllers (some of which may possibly be a bit inconsistent as it is currently).

baekgaard wrote:

Al_DeKlein wrote:Anotherscott/baekgaard: My hopes of having a NS3C on top of a weighted 88-key controller (velocity issue aside) acting as two single panel NS3s may not be dashed.... correct?

More or less, apart from those differences that may arise from shared controllers/not-shared controllers (some of which may possibly be a bit inconsistent as it is currently).

I'm curious as to what the the NS3 is capable of if you select the piano section on for the external keyboard in Dual KB mode:
1) Does Dual KB mode leave you with a single panel only on the NS3? If not,
A) Is one piano still available on the NS3?
B) Are two organs available to split/layer on the NS3?
C) Are two synths available to split/layer on the NS3?

Edit:
Also, Is Dual KB status saved as part of a "SONG?"

Al_DeKlein wrote:Also, Is Dual KB status saved as part of a "SONG?"

My understanding is that SONGS save nothing except Programs. But you should be able to save Dual KB status as part of a Program.

baekgaard wrote:

jdahms wrote: I think there may be some pedal/wheel/aftertouch issues trying to play panel B via a straight Midi assignment. I have sounds that have a Morph on Panel A and a different Morph on panel B. The pedal connected to the Nord controls the panel A Morph and the pedal connected to the external controls the Panel B Morph. I suspect in straight Midi Mode, the pedal/wheel/aftertouch connected to the Nord would affect both the panel A and B morph. Same for sustain pedals?

As mentioned above, it's a bit weirder that this. The only difference I can see with pedals etc is that in Dual KB mode, the sustain and control/swell pedals never impacts the externally played part -- but all the other controls (i.e mod wheel or pitch bend) apparently do, no matter which mode you're in. In MIDI mode, the control pedals will (always) impact the externally played part but the sustain will only do so when you have Panel B active...

So it's not entirely logical to me either way as it is now

So I just tried it on one of my patches. I turned off Dual Kb and assigned Midi 1 to panel A, Midi 5 (external) to Panel B and Global off. I found that the sustain AND control pedals which were attached to the Nord affected morphs and sustains on both Panel A and Panel B. The pedals attached to the external Keyboard only affected Panel B.

Dual KB works pretty much as you'd expect/hope. You basically can address ONE of the 3 sections in panel B from the external keyboard, and everything else can be played from the the internal keyboard. It obeys all layers and splits (and transpose, if you ask it to) on all you play from the internal as well as the external keyboard.

So, to address your questions:

1) No, you still have the remaining 2 sections.
A) Yes, if you have one piano addressed from the external keyboard, the other is available from the NS3 keyboard (in any split/layer/transpose you want).
B) Yes, in the same condition, you have two organs from the NS3 keyboard (in any split/layer/transpose you want).
C) Yes, in the same condition, you have two synths from the NS3 keyboard (in any split/layer/transpose you want).

As to SONG mode, then @anotherscott is again correct; the Dual KB status is saved as part of the program and not the song.

Now, there is another option to consider... What about a 3 keyboard setup (or 2 keys plus a sequencer)

If you enable Dual KB, you can address any of the 3 sections in Panel B. But at the same time, you can also assign a MIDI channel to Panel B. So you could have e.g. Panel B Organ adressed by an external keyboard playing MIDI channel 16, and the Synth and Piano in Panel B split, layered and/or transposed on MIDI channel 2 from another external keyboard, and still be able to play all 3 sections of Panel A from the internal keyboard in any split/layer/transpose you like. Or you could play the other 2 sections from Panel B and assign the entire 3 sections on Panel A to be played from another board/sequencer.

So most combinations of internal/external can be catered for, it looks -- with exceptions like not being able to play 2 sections of panel B externally and the last section in panel B layered with the entire panel A internally.

I am not sure if all possible combinations of using the sustain, control pedals and bender etc will work as you may want it to, but you're off to a good start with these many options.