Nord User Forum

I must be a dummy but I really cant make any sense out of how to load sample sounds into the electro3. I do not understand the difference between "banks" of sounds and the program tab, which at least makes some sense because each of these sounds are labeled A and B and correspond to what I see in the electro3 prorgam window.

For example, I went to the Nord web site, "Vox and Farfisa" library. I downloaded the .NEPG zip file. I wanted to load the sample "Light My Fire NE3". I deleted my 38B program (after uploading to PC to save, I get that at least) and dragged and dropped the "Light My Fire NE3" file into the program tab in the sound manager. It went to location 38B. so far so good. But when I disconnected the USB and played 38B, it sounded the same as my old file.

I do see the zip file I downloaded is very small so I suspected this was wrong. I donwloaded another zip file for Electric piano and those files are a couple megs in size (.nsmp file extension) so I am guessing these would work but I don't even know where to "put" them, it must be in Piano section... but then how do I know which location it will go to? This is all very confusing and I think Nord could have done a much better job explaining this.

Can someone straighten me out? Otherwise a great instrument!!

Hello sthsquid,
Welcome to the forums!
I always recommend doing a complete backup of your instrument before deleting or moving around stuff. This way you are guaranteed not to lose anything. If you're sure that your NE3 had only the factory programs and samples you could kip this step as the backup can be found here:
http://www.nordkeyboards.com/main.asp?t ... &osdwn=osw

Banks can be thought of as (folders of programs).

An (.nepg) program is a collection of front panel settings "effects, dynamics, type of sound, drawbar settings...etc"
A program doesn't have and actual sample in it, it only makes reference to a sample in your instrument.

On the other hand, an (.nsmp) sample, is only a sample. It has only a very limited set of program settings associated with it, things like "Vel DYN, Slow AT, Release rate".

The steps that you followed for loading the new program are correct. I would suggest trying it again but with a much different sounding program "if your NE3 was factory default, the 38B would have been (My Sound) a farfisa sound". I'd try deleting a piano type sound and load it there.

As for loading samples, In Nord Sound Manager (NSM) switch to the Samples Tab and look to see if the free (available) sample memory is enough to hold your new sample, if it isn't, you'll have to delete one.

Once you have enough room for the sample, simply drag it over to the samples pane of NSM and watch it's progress on the bar at the bottom of the window, also the red led display of your NE3 will indicate percentage completed.

To use the sample, you'll need to change to PIANO, set piano type to SAMP LIB

NSM software has it's own manual which can be found here:
Nord Sound Manager Manual PDF

To recap:
Using NSM any new program or sample will go to the first empty location.

The .nepg files are small in size and only contain binary instructions for panel settings

The .nsmp and .npno files are MUCH larger and contain audio samples and some binary instructions for the Nord instrument to be able to use the sample.

I hope this helps.
Cheers, Hanon

Hello Hanon

Thanks for the detailed explanation. I am still not completely clear on all this but I did spend some time yesterday reviewing what you wrote and the NSM literature and trying to make sense of things.

I think one thing that threw me off is the piano tab in NSM corresponds directly to what I have in my default programs on the Nord – in other words, if I go down the list for piano in NSM, the 16 programs (well, I guess those are not programs but samples, right?) correspond to programs 1A – through 16A on the Nord. Whereas the Organ presets follow no such pattern. Now I do understand the 17 presets for Organ, Farfisa and VOX save only the organ related settings (drawbar etc) and there are 17 for each, correct?

It sounds like if I want to load a piano sound (piano, Epiano, Wurlitzer or Clav/Harps), what I am really loading is a “sample” of the sound which is why the file is large. When I load an Organ "sound", it is simply a binary representation of the drawbar settings and effects since the Nord will create the “sound” on the fly? I am still confused as to why “Light my Fire NE3” didn’t sound like what it did on the Nord website but I will try your suggestion of deleting a more different sounding program and loading it there. One more question – whatever the drawbar settings are for that Light My Fire .NEPG file, once I drag it into the programs tab in NSM, have I essentially replaced one of my 17 Organ Preset drawbar settings for the VOX (since this pgm uses VOX for organ type)?

Hopefully this will all sink in for me eventually. Thanks for your help!

sthsquid wrote:Hello Hanon

Thanks for the detailed explanation. I am still not completely clear on all this but I did spend some time yesterday reviewing what you wrote and the NSM literature and trying to make sense of things.

I think one thing that threw me off is the piano tab in NSM corresponds directly to what I have in my default programs on the Nord – in other words, if I go down the list for piano in NSM, the 16 programs (well, I guess those are not programs but samples, right?) correspond to programs 1A – through 16A on the Nord. Whereas the Organ presets follow no such pattern. Now I do understand the 17 presets for Organ, Farfisa and VOX save only the organ related settings (drawbar etc) and there are 17 for each, correct?

It sounds like if I want to load a piano sound (piano, Epiano, Wurlitzer or Clav/Harps), what I am really loading is a “sample” of the sound which is why the file is large. When I load an Organ "sound", it is simply a binary representation of the drawbar settings and effects since the Nord will create the “sound” on the fly? I am still confused as to why “Light my Fire NE3” didn’t sound like what it did on the Nord website but I will try your suggestion of deleting a more different sounding program and loading it there. One more question – whatever the drawbar settings are for that Light My Fire .NEPG file, once I drag it into the programs tab in NSM, have I essentially replaced one of my 17 Organ Preset drawbar settings for the VOX (since this pgm uses VOX for organ type)?

Hopefully this will all sink in for me eventually. Thanks for your help!

Hello sthsquid,

You are correct, the 16 names in the Pianos tab are the .npno samples that are loaded. I believe that Nord named the corresponding programs the same as the samples for better tracking.

The Organ presets are an entirely different thing. These are .neop files an can be uploaded/ downloaded independently of programs and samples.

The Light My Fire program will have no effect on your #17 organ preset, only whatever program that you delete, and replace with it.

The following is all of the possible file extensions and where they are used:

.npno goes with Piano Library.
.nsmp goes with Sample Library.
.nepg goes with Programs.
.neop goes with Organ Presets.
.neb is a complete backup used by "restore".

Cheers, Hanon

Not having hours to figure out this process on my E3, I just decided to use the stock sounds and play fast. While the above explanation is very nice, it makes the mind boggle. As a Mensa member, this has humbled me very much. If I recall, and I HOPE I am wrong, I cannot even sample the sound before loading it. WTF?

Would simply like to see a list of Factory Organ Presets. Don't want to mess with software right now, cannot find any documentation other than telling me to go to the Sample Library which still doesn't really tell me. Does a list exist? Thanks