Electro 5 - MIDI drawbar control

[WesBrook77]

Hi. New to the forum, hoping to find some advice on MIDI control on the Electro 5.

My live rig typically consists of a 5HP and Hammond XK1. Recently, I decided to MIDI connect the two boards, which has the following benefits:
1) Only needs 1 stereo pair to a DI, not 2 pairs.
2) Effects are global and no longer need to be assigned per board.
3) The Nord organ sounds and Leslie emulation are better than the Hammond, no doubt owing to technological advancements (this was the main reason I decided on this configuration).

However, as it stands, I must control the organ drawbar settings and Leslie speed from the 5HP front panel. Question is, is it possible to control these from the XK1? When I adjust the XK1 physical drawbars, the Nord MIDI LED illuminates, which suggests at least a signal is being received. Is it possible then to route this signal directly to the 5HP drawbars, without needing a MIDI interface/router? I see from Nord user guide that each drawbar has a specific MIDI CC number, so in theory this should be possible. Same goes for the Leslie speed control: I would ideally control this from the XK1 if possible.

Essentially, I am using the XK1 as a MIDI controller for the 5HP organ and Leslie, and as such my preference is for making drawbar and Leslie changes via the XK1.

Cheers, Wes.

[anotherscott]

I see from Nord user guide that each drawbar has a specific MIDI CC number

Correct. The other half of that is that each Hammond drawbar has a specific MIDI CC number as well... and the Hammond and Nod numbers are not the same (if they were, it would work). Since neither board has a built-in facility to define these numbers, you need a device to make the conversion from what the Hammond sends to what the Nord needs to receive. A MIDI Solutions Event Processor should do it, or there are apps for an iPhone/iPad that you could look at as well, if you happen to own one of those devices.

A possible hitch could also be that, IIRC, the Hammond drawbars send out 9 distinct values as you move them, and I don't know whether they will exacly line up with numbers that will similarly correspond to the 9 Nord drawbar locations, so there may need to be further adaptation for that.

As a "proof of concept," you could connect the two to your computer to see how it goes, and if it is satisfactory, then assemble a more compact/portable solution. On a Mac, the feeware MidiPipe should let you do what you want, there must be similar things for Windows.

[WesBrook77]

Great, thanks. I suspected as much, in that the XK is likely to output a different CC to what the E5 needs. I was hoping to not require an interface between the two, but this sounds like the only option. If the Electro had a "MIDI Learn" function...

Anyhow, thanks for you advice. I can live with making adjustments via the E5 panel, it's no great problem.

[WesBrook77]

I see from Nord user guide that each drawbar has a specific MIDI CC number

Correct. The other half of that is that each Hammond drawbar has a specific MIDI CC number as well... and the Hammond and Nod numbers are not the same (if they were, it would work). Since neither board has a built-in facility to define these numbers, you need a device to make the conversion from what the Hammond sends to what the Nord needs to receive. A MIDI Solutions Event Processor should do it, or there are apps for an iPhone/iPad that you could look at as well, if you happen to own one of those devices.

A possible hitch could also be that, IIRC, the Hammond drawbars send out 9 distinct values as you move them, and I don't know whether they will exacly line up with numbers that will similarly correspond to the 9 Nord drawbar locations, so there may need to be further adaptation for that.

As a "proof of concept," you could connect the two to your computer to see how it goes, and if it is satisfactory, then assemble a more compact/portable solution. On a Mac, the feeware MidiPipe should let you do what you want, there must be similar things for Windows.

+1 and in Windows you can do the same with MIDI Ox