Nord User Forum

I think the problem of the leds vs the drawbars is mainly that the + and - buttons are at the top and bottom of the drawbar range.
If the leds themselves also featured a sensor (or a ribbon sensor), they could manipulated closer to what one can do with physical drawbars (i.e. moving them in parallel).

Mr_-G- wrote:If the leds themselves also featured a sensor (or a ribbon sensor), they could manipulated closer to what one can do with physical drawbars (i.e. moving them in parallel).

In theory, yes, that would help, though the implementation of that idea on the Vox Continental is actually not as good as I'd have hoped.

Oh, I was not aware that the Vox had that feature (I have not even seen one!)

anotherscott wrote: Scroll down the page to the Stage Plate 73 for another mounting approach. You also could place/velcro it to any available surface in your rig.

I hadn't read closely, it look like a nice installation. It's unfortunate they aren't being produced anymore. Makes me want to buy one for the Stage!

anotherscott wrote: though you could also use that Dexibell to control something like B-3X on an iPad or laptop, and it can be set up so that you would recall your B-3X presets from the Dexibell patch select buttons and the faders will be in sync with the B-3X sounds.

True. Or some other hardware clonewheel, which personally I'd favour over software instruments. Still, a lot of money for what would be just a MIDI controller...

Mr_-G- wrote: If the leds themselves also featured a sensor (or a ribbon sensor), they could manipulated closer to what one can do with physical drawbars (i.e. moving them in parallel).

Now that's an ingenuous solution! I couldn't think of that and didn't know the Vox had that either, but it would be an economical and perhaps more durable alternative to the motorised drawbars, with almost all the pros of them AND the LEDs! Too bad it doesn't work properly on the Vox. By the way scott what is exactly that is off with them? Is it a calibration thing of some sort?

Hlaalu wrote:By the way scott what is exactly that is off with them? Is it a calibration thing of some sort?

Maybe. It's just hard for me to get it to consistently do what I want, and I've heard the same from others. Like when I posted elsewhere a while back, "I had a heckuva time trying to get the first drawstrip to 6. I'd keep tapping 6, and it would usually end up at 5, or sometimes 7. It was very hesitant to lock into that 6!" Sometimes a swipe just doesn't seem to "take" or end up where you expect. You can also see in one of Korg's livestreams that the guy demonstrating could not use them flawlessly (see the 40 seconds or so starting at 12:00):

That's unfortunate because it looks like a very nice keyboard and in fact I have been lurking over it for a while... it seems to be very reasonably priced as well.

anotherscott wrote:It's just hard for me to get it to consistently do what I want
...You can also see in one of Korg's livestreams that the guy demonstrating could not use them flawlessly

Wow, I didn't think it was SO bad! That demostration is almost embarassing, those touch strips seem to have a life of their own: sometimes he touches them and nothing happens, sometimes he has to try multiple times...maybe due to the sensitivity implementation, or maybe they used a component that was just not good enough?
Honestly that rules out the Continental for me, the whole point of these touch drawbars was to be manipulated live, and I can't imagine to be on a gig and flabbing around like that, hoping to sooner or later get the result I want. It's a pity because it's a great board in many respects, even with it's weird limitations.

Spider wrote:Honestly that rules out the Continental for me, the whole point of these touch drawbars was to be manipulated live, and I can't imagine to be on a gig and flabbing around like that, hoping to sooner or later get the result I want. It's a pity because it's a great board in many respects, even with it's weird limitations.

Yeah, I was really disappointed by that too. It sounds like a great idea, and maybe now we know why it hasn't caught on. That said, I still like the board. I have it set up as a lower manual to a Nord Stage 3. Since I don't use the drawstrips in live performance, I have no qualms about covering them up, so I can keep the keys of the two boards quite close, for nearly true dual-manual ergonomics. I just keep enough of the Vox exposed to select patches. (One of which is a "silent" patch which I use in conjunction with the Nord's "Dual KB" button to quickly put it into "lower manual organ" mode at any time.)

What makes it a really nice lower manual for the Nord (regardless of whether your Nord is waterfall or hammer)?
* It's got a great waterfall action (better than Nord's own)
* it's very lightweight but still with a Nord-level build quality
* It has (IMO) better EP sounds than the Nord
* many of the non-piano-library acoustic instrument sounds are stronger (they are not limited to a single velocity layer) - they are from Kronos, after all
* it's a second board that adds a bunch of sounds but still allows you to easily keep the keys of the two boards close for double manual work
* If you pair it with an Electro, it adds VA synth sounds with mono/portamento options and pitch bend control that the Electro lacks
* the fact that it adds sounds is also especially nice on an Electro, since splits/layers don't permit you to otherwise employ more than one sound that isn't a piano or an organ

...and if you happen to be in Europe, it's very reasonably priced (the 61 is under 1000 euros/pounds).



(I use some rubber stoppers under the front of the Nord, so the weight of the Nord is not resting directly on the Vox knobs beneath.)