Nord User Forum

[boybianchi]

Hi guys,

First post here, since i just purchased my first Nord instrument. Happy with the sound, but still figuring out how to connect it the way i want.
Here goes:

What i want to do, is basically to programm all 6 sounds within one midi clip. So far i have only been able to control one sound per midi clip. It seems like every sound channel has it's own midi midi channel, which is preventing me from addressing them all at the same time. I read in the manual something about CC and how each channel has it's own setting, but i am unsure how to use this in my situation. If i record myself playing the nd3, it does record different notes in the clip; they just all play back the same sound.

My ideal end result would be that i play the ND3, record the midi notes in a midi clip within Cubase, and then do some further editing of notes and automation in the clip.

Thank you in advance for your help!

Boy

[wartaler]

Hi Boy, welcome to the forum!

You probably already knew this about the basic setup..
The ND3p sends MIDI notes on the Global MIDI channel, each of the 6 sounds (channels/pads, whatever you want to call them) is coupled to a MIDI note, as set in the MIDI menu of the 3p, eg [n.60]. The pattern you recorded consists of these 6 different notes only. Example, let’s say note 60 (C4) is coupled to channel1, if you send note 60 to the 3p on the Global MIDI channel, you will hear whatever is programmed on channel1, eg. a bass drum, note 62 a snare etc..

Explanation of what goes wrong..
The individual MIDI channels can indeed be used to control sound parameters, but it is important to know that if you send a MIDI note to an individual MIDI channel, a sound will be triggered on the channel(s) of the 3p that you coupled to that MIDI channel. The MIDI note number will here control the pitch of the Tone section. If you’re using the same MIDI channel as the Global MIDI channel for one or more Individual channels, sending one of the notes as set in the MIDI menu [n.XX] will cause a problem; each channel of the 3p is monophonic, and you’re sending two notes to one channel at the same time.. Therefore, if you want to use Individual MIDI channels, avoid using the same MIDI channel as the global MIDI channel.. so if the global MIDI channel is 10 [GL.10], never use MIDI channel 10 for one of the individual MIDI channels [Ch.XX].

Setting up the Nord Drum Individual MIDI channels [Ch.XX] for CC control
If you want to control the same parameter(s) of all drum sounds at the same time, select the same MIDI channel as Individual MIDI channel for each of the 6 channels, but don’t use the same MIDI channel as the Global MIDI channel, and don’t use it to send MIDI notes to the 3p, unless you want all channels to be triggered at the same time. If you want to control sound parameters of individual drum sounds, choose a different MIDI channel for each, eg. MIDI channel 1 for channel1, MIDI channel 2 for 2, etc, but again, avoid the MIDI channel that is used as Global MIDI channel. Also, do not forget to allow the 3p to receive CC in the MIDI menu..

Setting up Cubase
In Cubase you will need to create at least one extra MIDI track for automation, because you’re going to send the CC’s on a different MIDI channel than the Global MIDI channel. And depending how many sounds you want to control individually, you’ll need to add more tracks, so up to 6 additional MIDI tracks for automation. Make sure the MIDI out channel for each track corresponds to the Individual MIDI channel as set on the Nord drum. If you want to have the recorded notes in the MIDI track that you’re using to control parameters of a sound, move (not copy) the notes that correspond to that drum sound (eg all D4 notes) from the recorded track to the new track. In the new track you can now also change/vary the pitch of the drum sound by moving the notes up/down, if you want to keep the original pitch of the drum sound, place the notes on C4.

I hope this helps,
Cheers,
Albert

[boybianchi]

Hi Albert,

Cheers for taking the time.
When i saw your post i'd already figured it out somehow. Still not sure what i've done exactly, but it works.
Honestly though, i find it a bit confusing. I've worked with MIDI for about 10 years but still some aspects make my head spin.

Anyways, thanks again!

[wartaler]

Hi boybianchi,

Great you got it working!
Yes the Nord drum 2 and 3p are very flexible when it comes to MIDI,
A huge whish after the first model Nord Drum was to get control over sound parameters with MIDI CCs, the ‘Individual MIDI channels’ are the result of that, and as you can assign any channel for each, it is possible to make configurations that in combination with the Global MIDI channel, will get you unwanted behavior..
Cheers,
Albert