Nord User Forum

I've had a Stage 3 for about 3 years, so not SO new. I just got my Stage 4 and of course am sad about not having a tool to migrate programs, but am busy trying to get up to speed on where everything is moved so I can start rebuilding my programs for our sets and know where to make any changes on the fly.

I was mucking with the organ the other day and it seemed to be everything I expected, when I suddenly noticed that my drawbar lights are totally dark until I press/light the preset button. Then they all light up and accurately reflect drawbar positions. it's important to note that the drawbars are completely functional- they alter the sounds just as they should as you move their positions, but they are completely dark. Is this an option I have turned on somewhere that I'm not aware of (seems pretty doubtful). Bug? Defective board?

Any input is welcome.

kgouldsk wrote: 27 Jan 2026, 02:16 I've had a Stage 3 for about 3 years, so not SO new. I just got my Stage 4 and of course am sad about not having a tool to migrate programs, but am busy trying to get up to speed on where everything is moved so I can start rebuilding my programs for our sets and know where to make any changes on the fly.

The latest versions of Nord Sound Manager have a utility for NS3 program conversion to NS4. It’s not perfect, but should save you a lot of time. Don’t be sad.

installed OS version ?

Version 1.64....meant to include that, sorry.

On my stage 4, preset will have all appropriate led's lit. When turning off presets, the led's only light up when I move any of the organ sliders.

Do they stay lit when you move them? Mine don't light at all, even in motion.

Hi!

The behavior you describe will be correct exactly as described in manual:

Nord Stage 4 User Manual v1.6X-Edition-N on pg. 19

DRAWERS AND LED GRAPHS

The mechanical drawbars are accompanied by LED graphs. Once a program is loaded,
the LED graphs display the saved drawbar settings, known as a Preset.

If the Preset is turned Off, the Organ is in Drawbar Live mode for that
Layer, meaning that the physical positions of the drawbars are used, in
which case the LEDs are unlit.

See https://www.nordkeyboards.com/wt/docume ... tion-N.pdf


Note. My NS4 with OS 1.42 works the same.


Lets play !

Vojtech

vojtech-h wrote: 27 Jan 2026, 18:11 Hi!

The behavior you describe will be correct exactly as described in manual:

Nord Stage 4 User Manual v1.6X-Edition-N on pg. 19

DRAWERS AND LED GRAPHS

The mechanical drawbars are accompanied by LED graphs. Once a program is loaded,
the LED graphs display the saved drawbar settings, known as a Preset.

If the Preset is turned Off, the Organ is in Drawbar Live mode for that
Layer, meaning that the physical positions of the drawbars are used, in
which case the LEDs are unlit.

See https://www.nordkeyboards.com/wt/docume ... tion-N.pdf


Note. My NS4 with OS 1.42 works the same.


Lets play !

Vojtech

Thanks, that makes it clear that this is expected.....

Glad you figured out that it is working as designed.

Did you see my note about how you can import your NS3 programs to NS4? That seemed to be a sad topic for you and all is not lost. It's not perfect, though it is more than we've seen on prior upgrades such as NS1 -> NS2 or NS2 -> NS3. Good luck with your NS4!

Yes, thanks I did manage to get my old programs imported. It worked reasonably well, had about a dozen with missing sounds referenced, and as I didn't check each in detail I've had to do some on the fly fixes at practice when I land on a program that has an unexpected weird effect going on - seems like the most prevalent thing is weirdly dramatic effects applied to some of the organ layers. Generally just shut the effect off and go back to apply something reasonable later. It allowed me to start taking the NS4 to practice and am completely comfortable using it now.