Nord User Forum

Hey all,

I am trying get mono-synth keyboard function using Sound Editor 2. Basically, I want to trigger only one sample at a time with no others overlapping it; just mono, no polyphony. So after one note is played, subsequently played keys will trigger their own sample instead of the previous sample, but not over top of it -- never overlapping, rather "overwriting" the previous triggered note.

Does anyone know a way to do this? I'm using a looping vinyl crackle-noise sample layered behind piano and organ layers. The sample loops just fine, but playing it on the keyboard I obviously get polyphony. I do not want this as it phases and distorts the one sample that it assigned across the entire keyboard. This is for an Electro 6, but I imagine it should work for any keyboard if it's possible to obtain using the editor.

Thanks in advance and apologies if there's a ridiculously simple solution for my long-winded description!

Create the sample, then put it in your Nord, and you can select mono/poly on your synth section.

Polyphony (or lack thereof) is not something built into the sample file, it's something that has to be specified as a playback parameter on the board. On a Nord Stage, any loaded sample may be played monophonically or polyphonically, via one of the settings in the synth section. Sorry to say, the Electro has no mono mode like the Stage does. The closest you could come is that you could create a sample file that has silence on all keys except one, which would give you only one instance of the sound, but it will only play as long as that one key is sustained.

anotherscott wrote:Polyphony (or lack thereof) is not something built into the sample file, it's something that has to be specified as a playback parameter on the board. On a Nord Stage, any loaded sample may be played monophonically or polyphonically, via one of the settings in the synth section. Sorry to say, the Electro has no mono mode like the Stage does. The closest you could come is that you could create a sample file that has silence on all keys except one, which would give you only one instance of the sound, but it will only play as long as that one key is sustained.

Thanks, may just be the workaround I have to go with. That or assigning fewer notes to compromise on overlap. I was reading Auto Map in the manual and thinking that fewer samples could be triggered and setting intervals and whatnot, but alas it does not work that way. Cheers!

jimmydow wrote:

anotherscott wrote:Polyphony (or lack thereof) is not something built into the sample file, it's something that has to be specified as a playback parameter on the board. On a Nord Stage, any loaded sample may be played monophonically or polyphonically, via one of the settings in the synth section. Sorry to say, the Electro has no mono mode like the Stage does. The closest you could come is that you could create a sample file that has silence on all keys except one, which would give you only one instance of the sound, but it will only play as long as that one key is sustained.

Thanks, may just be the workaround I have to go with. That or assigning fewer notes to compromise on overlap. I was reading Auto Map in the manual and thinking that fewer samples could be triggered and setting intervals and whatnot, but alas it does not work that way. Cheers!

Just to be clear, this is not a workaround, this is the way it works (not just for Nord, but for every synth ever built). Synth engines are either monophonic or polyphonic. In the case of the Nord synth engine (and many others) it can be switched between the two modes. Under no circumstances do samples have any bearing on how that works.

Well, it's a workaround in that it gives him another possible way to accomplish what he's trying to do.

anotherscott wrote:Well, it's a workaround in that it gives him another possible way to accomplish what he's trying to do.

No, its not a workaround as there was never an option to do this in an other manner and the method to do what he wants is exactly as has been described. Words and their meanings are important.

I agree words and their meanings are important. A workaround can simply be some other way to accomplish your goal because your preferred approach won't work, i.e. you're working around the absence of some functionality you wish existed. In this case, he's working around the fact that there is no mono mode in an Electro, i.e. trying to accomplish his goal without having to go out and buy a Nord Stage.

ok. I've misread the thread and the suggestion to create a single note sample is in fact a workaround to not have a mono/poly option in the synth. My mistake.