The Nord Stage MIDI Tutorial

the basics of understanding MIDI and how to setup your Nord

Stage (Classic, EX, and Nord Stage 2)

written by Henrik Larsson (henriklarsson@live.se)

with additional input from mjbrands and Johannes from
www.norduserforum.com

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Preface ................................................................ 3

Some words about Volume and Expression ..... 12

The fundamentals of MIDI ................................... 3

MASTERCLOCK............................................... 13

MIDI Channels ................................................ 3

Master and Slave, Send and Receive ............ 3
Control Change messages (cc) ...................... 4
Program Change messages ........................... 4
The Nord Stage architecture ............................... 4
Different MIDI Sections ................................ 5
About the Dual KB mode: ............................... 5
Nord Stage MIDI menu walkthrough ................... 6
MIDI Control Local .......................................... 6
MIDI Global Channel ...................................... 6
MIDI Panel A/B Channel ................................. 6
MIDI Organ (Piano, Synth) A/B Channel ........ 6
MIDI Dual KB Channel .................................... 6
MIDI Prog Change Mode ................................ 6
MIDI Control Change Mode ............................ 6
Send MIDI Ctrl ................................................ 6
Nord Stage Extern menu walkthrough ................ 7
Extern MIDI Mode ........................................... 7
Extern MIDI A/B Channel ................................ 7
Extern MIDI A/B Volume ................................. 7
Extern MIDI A/B Prog Change ........................ 7
Extern MIDI A/B Bank Sel cc0 ........................ 7
Extern MIDI A/B Bank Sel cc3 ........................ 7
Extern MIDI A/B CC Value .............................. 7
Extern MIDI A/B CC Number .......................... 7
Extern MIDI A/B Send (Wheel, A.Touch,
CtrlPed, Swell) ................................................ 8
Extern MIDI A/B Vel Curve .............................. 8
Extern MIDI Send on Load ............................. 8
Extern MIDI Soft Thru ..................................... 8
Examples of MIDI setups .................................... 8
Simple NS2 setups ......................................... 8
Control other gear with the NS2 ..................... 8
Play the NS2 from outside............................ 9
General Examples .......................................... 9
Example 1: One slave, monotimbral mode ..... 9
Example 2: Two slaves, monotimbral mode ... 9
Example 3: One slave, Multitimbral mode ....10
Example 4: Using the Nord Stage with a
Sequencer (maximum multitimbrality) .......... 11
How complex setups can be made? .............12

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Preface
The purpose of writing this manual was to shed some
light over what MIDI is and how to use your Nord
Stage keyboard in different MIDI situations. There has
been, and still are, many questions about this on the
Nord user forum. Hopefully this document can help
you to understand the basic ideas of MIDI and how it
works. MIDI can be as complex and complicated as
anything. I have no intentions digging too deep into it
within this manual. This is just a basic introduction to
start you up. May, 2011
July 2013: Various updates and corrections, including
the Nord Stage 2

The most basic setup - One master and one

slave
So what are the requirements for being a MASTER?
Well, your keyboard has to have a MIDI OUT jack.
This doesnt necessarily mean the particular keyboard
owns a black belt in mastering slaves. Just that it has
the ability of doing so. In the same way a SLAVE has
to have a MIDI IN jack. To connect two devices, use a
MIDI cable between the MASTERs MIDI OUT and the
SLAVEs MIDI IN. Now, youre the telephone operator.
Make sure the MASTER sends MIDI data on the same
channel as the SLAVE receives MIDI data to have
them communicate.

The fundamentals of MIDI

MIDI Channels
Think about the MIDI technique as a telephone
operator. If the operator connects all calls to the one
and the same person, it would be one messy
conversation. The situation would end up intolerable
when everyone speaks at the same time and to wrong
persons. The telephone operator avoids situations like
these by putting through the first call on one line and
the next call on another line. In MIDI language we call
these lines CHANNELS. Our MIDI operator has 16
channels available for simultaneously chats.

Master and Slave, Send and Receive

To get anything out of the conventional telephone call
one person has to talk while the other one is listening.
In MIDI language we call the talker a MASTER and
the listener a SLAVE. However this is not very much
of a conversation. The MASTER tells the SLAVE what
to do and the SLAVE arent supposed to have any
opinion about it. The topics arent very diverse either.
They dont talk about the weather or some distant
uncle they have in common. Its more like the
MASTER says: -I am playing an E minor here and
youre about to do the same! Or: -When I turn this
knob you will increase your volume!
When a MASTER talks, it SENDs MIDI data. And
when a SLAVE listens, it RECEIVEs MIDI data.

On the Nord Stage 2, Nord introduced

also MIDI over USB. Using the standard USB cable,
you can thus use the Nord Stage 2 immediately as
MIDI device from your PC/Mac. Make sure to select a
USBx channel in the MIDI settings where x denotes
the number of the MIDI channel.

More complex setups - One master and

several slaves
In order to use more than one SLAVE, we need to
introduce the MIDI THRU jack. Connect one MIDI
cable from the MASTER MIDI OUT to the MIDI THRU
jack on the first SLAVE. Connect another MIDI cable
from the first SLAVE MIDI OUT to the next SLAVE
MIDI IN. To make this setup work out well youll need
the MASTER to send MIDI data on two different MIDI
channels. You also need to setup the SLAVEs to
receive on different MIDI channels.
If your SLAVEs dont have a MIDI THRU jack, you can
solve this by adding a MIDI THRU BOX to your chain.

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More complex setups - Several masters and

one slave
There may also be situations when you want two
MASTERs to control one SLAVE. For example if you
have one sound module and dual keyboards. In this
case youll need to add a MIDI MERGE BOX to your
chain. The MASTERs should send on the same MIDI
channels as the SLAVE (sound module) receives.

You can locate the specific Nord Stage cc messages

in the manual, chapter 15; MIDI controller list. The
Nord Stage are set to send and receive MIDI cc
messages by default. This means whenever you press
a button or turn a knob on the front panel a MIDI cc
message is being sent.
If you use your Nord Stage as a master and your slave
are set to receive MIDI ccs the sound characteristics
will most likely change in some way when using the
controls. What will happen to the sound depends
entirely on the MIDI controller list for your slave.
The bottom line is that the Nord Stage can send MIDI
control change messages to any other synthesizers.
But there is no guarantee that, for example, the
amount of reverb changes just because you turn the
reverb knob on the Nord Stage front panel.

The MIDI language

MIDI is the common language between devices
regardless of brands. This makes it possible for a Nord
to communicate with a KORG or Roland synthesizer
for example. However that is not entirely true. But i will
come back to that later.
All MIDI supported synthesizers with a keybed sends
NOTE ON/OFF. Meaning that every time you press or
release a key on the keybed a MIDI message is being
sent. This is necessary for playing sound modules or
other keyboards. Beyond the note on/off messages,
there are another two fundamental categories;
CONTROL CHANGE messages and PROGRAM
CHANGE messages.

Control Change messages (cc)

Control change messages are pretty much everything
that affects the sound. Modulation wheel, filter
settings, volume, organ drawbars etc are typical
control change messages. There are 120 (0-119)
destinations available for cc messages. Some of these
are standard for all MIDI devices while others are
model specific.
Cc messages, such as Modulation wheel (cc001),
Breath controller (cc002) and Volume (cc007), are
standard and works regardless of brands. A list of this
MIDI
standard
can
be
found
here:
http://www.midi.org/techspecs/midimessages.php#3.
Note! Pitch bend and After touch are not classified as cc's. They
are another type of messages, but they are also standardized.

Program Change messages

I dare to say that all synthesizers on the market today
have the ability to save sound setups. These setups
may have different names such as Patches, Voices
etc. depending on what the manufacturers want to call
them. In Nord language we know them as
PROGRAMS. It is possible to send a MIDI message to
switch Programs on another device. These messages
are named Program change messages.
There is a numerical limitation within one MIDI
message. No values higher than 128 can be sent and
today's devices can easily store more than 128
Programs. Therefore we will need yet another MIDI
message, the Bank Select message. By combining
these two messages we can cover the needs of today
(128*128=16 384 Programs).

The Nord Stage architecture

Before we proceed I shall briefly explain how the
architecture of the Nord Stage is built. Unlike many
other keyboards on the market, the Nord Stage always
works in a multitimbral mode. Multitimbral means you
always have the opportunity to play the different
instrument sections simultaneously. Also the different
instrument sections don't have to share polyphony.
The Nord Stage are built from three different sound
engines (Piano, Organ, Synth) which produces their
own polyphony.

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GLOAL
Only
active
slots

SLOT A/B
SLOT A or
B (even if
inactive)

Instrument
SLOT A or B
(even if
inactive)

Split settings
respected

YES

YES

NO (always
full range)

Instrument
responds if
all LEDs off

NO

NO

YES

TRANSPOSE
Global/Prog

YES

YES

YES

Always
applied to
the section in
focus

To the
corresponding
slot

To the
corresponding instrument

SLOTS
responding

All the piano samples are exchangeable. You can

download
these
samples
for
free
from
www.nordkeyboards.com. The Piano section is the
only instrument section that is possible to upgrade.
The Organ section and the Synth section are not. All
these instrument sections can be run through the
effect section of the Nord Stage. Together with the
Extern section these instruments and effects creates a
PANEL. There are two Panels available within one
PROGRAM. You can play the Panels one at a time or
together in a layer or a split. The Program can be
stored (and named) in the Nord Stage flash memory.
The Program also stores the system effects (reverb
and compressor), which affect both Panels equally.
The Extern section is affected neither by the
instrument effects nor the system effects.

Knobs, parameters
(CCs)

For the NS2, the different MIDI channels can be

illustrated as follows:

Different MIDI Sections

The Nord Stage can distinguish 3 (NS2: 4) Midi
sections allowing a detailed configuration, as it can
be seen from the following pictures:

About the Dual KB mode:

This particular mode will allow you to use a second
keyboard to play SLOT B of the Nord Stage while the
Nord Stage keybed will control the Instruments of Slot
A. This is thus ONLY useful if you have this setup, to
play, e.g., the Organ via an external unweighted MIDIkeyboard.

For the NS2, the MIDI configuration of different

messages can be confusing at times. The following
table summarizes what MIDI messages are
transmitted/received over the different sections:

One particularity of this mode is that whatever MIDI

channel you set it up to will make the NS NOT respond
to any incoming MIDI messaged on this channel,
whatever the other MIDI settings are. So if your
instrument does not respond to incoming MIDI, it is a
good idea to check if the Dual KB channel is set to an
unused MIDI channel.

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Nord Stage MIDI menu

walkthrough

synth on your MIDI keyboard.

Now, let's find out what settings can be made in the

Nord Stage MIDI menu and what they mean. To enter
MIDI menu hold down [SHIFT] and press [MIDI].
Where a MIDI channel needs to be selected, options
are channel 1-16 (NS Classic/EX) while for the Nord
Stage 2, the options are Range: MIDI 1-16 and USB1 USB16 referring to the MIDI interface via standard
MIDI plugs and the USB cable, respectively.

MIDI Control Local

Here you set whether the front panel knobs and
buttons should control the internal instrument sections
or not. The default setting is <On>. Setting this
parameter to <Off> won't prevent the Nord Stage from
sending MIDI cc's, but the internal sounds will be left
unaffected.

I recommend setting these values to <Off> when using

the Nord Stage as a Master keyboard.

MIDI Dual KB Channel

This sets the MIDI receive channel for Panel B when
using the Dual Keyboard function. You don't have to
dig into the menus. Just hit the Dual KB button and the
whole Panel B will be playable from another Master
keyboard. Read more about this feature in the manual.

MIDI Prog Change Mode

Here you set how the Nord Stage should handle
Program Change messages. If you want your Stage to
receive Program Changes from another keyboard, set
this parameter to <Receive>. If you want to control
other devices programs, set this to <Send>. There's
also possible combining these two <Send & Receive>
and to disable this feature <Off>.

MIDI Global Channel

The Global Channel transmits all keyboard, pedal and
panel actions as MIDI signals. It can also be used as a
receiving channel with full control of the entire Stage 2.
This sets the transmitting and receiving MIDI channel
for the Global Channel. Default value is USB1.

MIDI Control Change Mode

Just as with Program Change messages, you can
control how the Nord Stage handles Control Change
messages. Options available are <Off>, <Send>,
<Receive> and <Send & Receive>.
Example:

MIDI Panel A/B Channel

You want to use the Nord Stage as a Master, controlling an

external sound module.

You can choose to set a fixed MIDI channel (1-16) per

Panel. The Nord Stage will then send and/or receive
MIDI data on this specific channel. This option may
come in handy when you want to use your Nord Stage
as a Slave. But it may also cause you trouble when
using the Nord Stage as a Master. Therefore I
recommend setting both Panels to <Off> initially.

1.

Set MIDI Panel A/B Channels to <Off>.

2.

Set MIDI Control Change Mode to <Send>.

With these settings your sound module will respond to General

MIDI cc's such as Pitch bend, Modulation wheel, Sustain pedal
and After touch. But it won't respond to cc's from the knobs and
buttons on the Nord Stage front panel (since they are disabled).

MIDI Organ (Piano, Synth) A/B Channel

Here you set the MIDI channels per instrument section
AND per Panel. This can be used when the Nord
Stage works as a Slave.
Example:
1.

Set Organ/Piano/Synth Panel A = <Off>

2.

Set Synth Panel B = <3>

3.
Layer a Piano and some Synth strings on Panel A.
Route them to all keyboard zones.
4.
Enable a Synth lead sound on Panel B. Route it to NO
keyboard zone.
5.
Setup the MIDI Master keyboard to send on MIDI
channel 3.
6.

Layer Panel A and Panel B.

The result is Piano with strings on your Nord Stage and the lead

Send MIDI Ctrl

You can select Panel A or Panel B and once you hit
the STORE button, a dump of all Controller settings
of the selected Panel is sent via MIDI.
This can be very useful if you use a sequencer and
recorded some tracks including the Controller changes
such as Filter sweeps or drawbar changes (if your
MIDI Ctrl Change Mode is not set to OFF (see last
item). In this case, you might want to set all settings to
the original values and you can do so by recording in
your sequencer at the beginning of the song and while
recording going to this menu and hit the Store button.
This way, your Panel will be set to the values you
choose every time you playback your song.

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The last three functions in the MIDI menu (Dump

Program Source, Dump Synth Sound, Instrument
SysEx ID) I have no intention to involve in this
document.

Settings. GLOBAL is more suitable if you have a

standard MIDI setup.

Extern MIDI A/B Channel

This sets which MIDI channel <1-16> the Nord Stage
sends MIDI data through the Extern section. You can
set one channel for Panel A and another for Panel B.

Nord Stage Extern menu

walkthrough
The Nord Stage Extern section is used when you want
to use your NS as a Master. This section is a simple
but sophisticated interface to any MIDI connected
Slave. Let's start with having a look on the front panel
to see what we can operate from here.

Extern MIDI A/B Volume

The Nord Stage can send Volume (cc007) for Panel A
and B on Program load. If you want this, set a value
<0-127>. Otherwise set this parameter to <Off>.

Extern MIDI A/B Prog Change

If you have set MIDI Prog Change Mode (in the MIDI
menu) to <Send> or <Send & Receive> you can send
Program Change messages to your Slave from here.
Set a value <1-128> to send a Program change on
Program load. Otherwise set this to <Off>.

Extern MIDI A/B Bank Sel cc0

At the top there is a Rotary Encoder. This can be set to

control one of three messages; Volume (cc007),
Program Change or any optional MIDI Control Change
message (cc001-cc127). Use the [PARAMETER
SELECT] button to cycle between the options.
Use the [ON/OFF] button to toggle between whether
the NS shall send these messages or not. The
[ON/OFF] button will also work as a keyboard zone
selector when holding the [SHIFT] button.
Note! Turning the External Section OFF wont prevent the NS from
sending MIDI messages to the Slave if a value is set in MIDI
Panel A/B Channel which corresponds to the receive channel on
your Slave. Avoid this by setting the MIDI Panel A/B Channel to
<Off> in the MIDI menu.

The [OCTAVE SHIFT] works exactly as for the internal

instrument sections. Holding [SHIFT] and pressing
[OCTAVE SHIFT] controls how the Slave shall respond
to pitch bend and sustain pedal (cc064).
Now let's move on to the Extern menu.

By now we know the Program Change value gives not

enough information to complete a successful program
change. We need to add information about the bank
selection. Check the user manual of your Slave device
to find the right Bank number (MSB/cc00). Select a
value <1-128> or set this parameter to <Off>.

Extern MIDI A/B Bank Sel cc3

Similarly, for the program within a bank, you can
choose the Program number (LSB/cc32). Select a
value <1-128> or set this parameter to <Off>.

Extern MIDI A/B CC Value

This is explained in the next section, (Extern MIDI A/B
CC Number). Value <0-127>.

Extern MIDI A/B CC Number

Remember you were allowed to control any optional
MIDI Control Change message (cc) with the Rotary
Encoder on the Extern section? Here you select which
cc number <0-119> you wish to control. With the
previous function (Extern MIDI A/B CC Value) you set
the amount.
Example:
If you want the Rotary Encoder to adjust Breath Control, do
following.

Extern MIDI Mode

Settings made in Extern menu are either saved per
<PROGRAM> or <GLOBAL>. This can become handy
when you use different MIDI setups and thus have
different programs/patches with different MIDI External

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1.

Set Extern MIDI A/B CC Number to <2>.

2.

Set Extern MIDI A/B CC Value to <64>.

3.

Exit Extern menu, turn on External section, select MIDI

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CC function with the [PARAMETER SELECT] button.

4.
Turn the Rotary Encoder clockwise or anti clockwise to
change the sound.

Extern MIDI A/B Send (Wheel, A.Touch,

CtrlPed, Swell)

assign up to 9 MIDI channels using different

channels for GLOBAL, both slots, and the three
instrument in each slot. This way, you can record
your MIDI tracks, and by choosing the output
channel, you can assign it either to the full instrument (GLOBAL), two different sets of sounds
(SLOT A and B) or one of the six individual instruments.
If you want to control an external sound source,
just use the EXTERNAL section. This allows you
to setup also sending volume, CC, or
Bank/Program select messages as specified in
the EXTERNAL menu.

Select whether Modulation Wheel, After Touch and

Control Pedal message will be sent or not. <Yes>,
<No>. With Control Pedal referred to the pedal that
can be plugged into the CONTROL PEDAL jack on the
Nord Stage rear panel.

3)

Extern MIDI A/B Vel Curve

Control other gear with the NS2

Use this setting to adjust the velocity curves for the

Extern section. Choose between normal <Norm>, soft
<Soft> and hard <Hard> responding.

If you want to control other keyboards,

modules, software instruments, or
record your playing into a sequencer or your preferred
DAW software, you need to set either a Global MIDI
channel to the corresponding channel of your slave or
use the External Section.

Extern MIDI Send on Load

As I wrote earlier all these functions above will be
saved per Program in the Nord Stage. Setting this
variable to <Yes> will make the Stage send all
Volume, Program change and Control change data
when you bring up this particular Program.
To prevent your Nord Stage from sending these
changes, set this parameter to <No>.
Note! Values for Program Change and Program Bank should be
set to the Panel which is active on Program load.

Extern MIDI Soft Thru

Incoming MIDI that matches the
Global or Slot A/B channels can be re-routed on the
Extern channel to the Stage 2s MIDI OUT jack or via
USB, if EXTERNAL is on. Set it to <On> if you want to
have an external controller also control the controlled
instrument thru the External Section.

Examples of MIDI
setups
Simple NS2 setups
1)

2)

For a start, setting a GLOBAL MIDI channel while

leaving all others OFF, and making sure that the
Dual KB is set to a different channel will get you a
standard full two way connection e.g., for recording, playing back etc.
If you want to have the most flexible way to use
the NS2 as a multitimbral sound source controlled
via your sequencer hard- or software, you could

The main difference is that over the GLOBAL channel,

all note data but also control changes etc. are
transferred whereas the External Section only
transmits
note
data,
Aftertouch,
PitchBend,
ModWheel, and the parameter you choose to control
in the EXTERNAL section (Volume, Prog Change, or
MIDI CC). The EXTERNAL section also allows you to
set it to send note data only on a split area of your
keyboard.
One important difference is the different velocity curve
that is used. The note data on the GLOBAL channel
corresponds to the main standard velocity curve of
the NS2. The EXTERNAL section, on the other hand,
has its own built-in velocity curves and in the menu
you can choose between Soft, Normal, and Hard.
IMPORTANT: The standard velocity curve is NOT
equal to the Normal setting of the EXTERNAL
section. That means that if you want to playback a
recorded MIDI track on your Nord Stage, it is advisable
to use the GLOBAL Midi channel since only in this
case the played back sound will be exactly as you
played it! Broadly speaking, the Nords internal
standard velocity curve is harder than the ones in the
External Section, so your Piano would reach much
faster the maximum velocity.
Also the TRANSPOSE settings are transferred
differently: While the notes transmitted over the
GLOBAL channel are always the ones you play, the
MIDI note data transmitted over the EXTERNAL
channel are transposed both according to the
SYSTEM transposition AND Program TRANSPOSE
settings.
A general rule of thumb is therefore to use the
GLOBAL channel if you want to record and playback

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MIDI from your NS2 in a sequencer, whereas using

the EXTERNAL section can be useful if you want to
use split settings and control external tone generators
only over a certain range of the keyboard.

Connection map:

Play the NS2 from outside

There are three different MIDI channel
categories that can be setup for the NS2 to respond to
incoming MIDI messages. The GLOBAL MIDI channel
will, if set, always respond to all incoming messages
and the NS2 will react exactly as if you were playing it
from the keyboard itself.
You can also set different MIDI channels for SLOT A
and B. In this case, only the corresponding SLOT with
all three instrument sections will respond to incoming
MIDI messages, e.g., allowing to playback two
different MIDI tracks on each section.
Finally, you can set different MIDI channels for each
instrument (Organ, Piano, Synth) in each section (up
to six different channels) to make only selected
instruments to respond to your incoming MIDI data.
This allows you to record and playback up to six
different MIDI tracks each playing back on a different
instrument. This setting also allows by double pressing
the ON/OFF button of an instrument to make it ONLY
respond to MIDI messages while not being assigned
to the NS2 keybed.

General Examples
Now, I will give some more detailed examples of how
you can use the Nord Stage as a Master keyboard
together with a sound module/rack synth. The
following conditions apply to all examples.
MIDI menu settings:
Function

Value

MIDI Control Local

On

MIDI Panel A/B Channel

Off (A), Off (B)

MIDI Organ A/B Channel

Off

MIDI Piano A/B Channel

Off

MIDI Synth A/B Channel

Off

MIDI Dual KB Channel

16

MIDI Prog Change Mode

Send

MIDI Ctrl Change Mode

Send

Sound Module setup:

Connect the SM to the Nord Stage. Set up the SM to receive MIDI
data on channel 1. Make the monotimbral mode active. Search the
manual for the Program Bank value and Program Change value
representing the string patch.

Nord Stage setup

Bring up Program 1:1 with the internal piano
sound. Select Panel A. Make sure the keyboard are
not divided into several Zones.
Turn ON External Section. Press the Parameter
Select button to set Rotary Encoder to control Volume.
Disable pitch bend responding and enable sustain
pedal responding.

Enter Extern Menu

Function

Value

Extern MIDI A/B Channel

1(A), 1(B)

Extern MIDI A/B Volume

0(A), Off(B)

Extern MIDI A/B Prog Change

See SM manual(A)

Extern MIDI A/B Prog Bank

See SM manual(A)

Extern MIDI A/B CC Value

Off(A), Off(B)

Extern MIDI A/B CC Number

---

Extern MIDI A/B Send Wheel

Yes(A), Yes(B)

Extern MIDI A/B Send A.Touch

Yes(A), Yes(B)

Extern MIDI A/B Send CtrlPed

---

Extern MIDI A/B Vel Curve

---

Extern MIDI Send on Load

Yes

Exit Extern Menu. Make sure Panel A is active.

Save Program 1:1.
Result
When selecting Program 1:1 Panel A will be active
with a piano sound. The SM will load the string patch
and set Volume=0. When you reach the chorus, turn
the Parameter knob on the Extern Section clockwise
to bring in the strings.

Example 1: One slave, monotimbral mode

Task:
I want to blend an internal piano sound with a string patch from my
sound module (SM from now on). The strings should be loaded
along with Program 1:1, but they should not be audible until the
chorus. The SM should respond to modulation wheel, sustain pedal
and after touch. But not to pitch bend.

Example 2: Two slaves, monotimbral mode

Task:

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In the verses I want to layer an internal electric piano with a synth

pad from my sound module 1. In the chorus I want to play a split
(internal organ and acoustic piano) and layer the piano part with a
synth lead sound from my sound module 2.

Exit Extern menu. Activate Panel A and save

Program 1:2.

Volume should be controlled by the parameter knob on the Extern

section for both sound modules independently. Start Volume 60 for
the synth pad and 120 for the synth lead.

When loading Program 1:2 you will have the following

setup:

Result

The synth pad shouldn't respond to any controls. The synth lead
should only be responding to after touch and pitch bend. Everything
should be loaded together with Nord Stage Program 1:2.
Connection map:

Use the Parameter knob in the Extern section to adjust

Volume for the active sound module (Panel).

Sound Module setup:

Connect the SMs to the Nord Stage. Set up the SM1 to receive MIDI
data on channel 1. Set up the SM2 to receive MIDI data on channel
2. Make the monotimbral mode active. Search the manuals for the
Program Bank value and Program Change value representing the
synth pad/synth lead patch.

Nord Stage setup

Load Program 1:2. Divide the Stage into two zones
and set a split point.
Activate Panel A and set the electric piano on both
zones. Turn ON the Extern section for both zones. Set
the rotary encoder to control Volume. Disable pitch
bend and sustain pedal.
Activate Panel B and set organ on the lower zone
and acoustic piano on the upper zone. Turn ON the
Extern section for the upper zone. Set the rotary
encoder to control Volume. Enable pitch bend and
disable sustain pedal.

Example 3: One slave, Multitimbral mode

So far I have showed two examples of how to work
with sound modules in monotimbral mode, that is
when the sound module can only receive MIDI data on
one channel. In this example I will use my sound
module in a multitimbral setup. This of course requires
that the module supports such feature.
Task:
I want to layer an organ (NS) with some synth strings (SM) in the
verses. In the chorus I want to bring in synth brass (SM) and control
the volume of the brass with the modulation wheel. The synth
string volume should be fixed to 80. The synth brass volume should
vary from 0-127 with start volume 0 (zero). Everything should be
loaded together with Nord Stage Pragram 1:3.
Connection map:

Enter Extern menu

Function

Value

Extern MIDI A/B Channel

1(A), 2(B)

Extern MIDI A/B Volume

60(A), 120(B)

Extern MIDI A/B Prog Change

See SM manual(A/B)

Extern MIDI A/B Prog Bank

See SM manual(A/B)

Extern MIDI A/B CC Value

Off(A), Off(B)

Extern MIDI A/B CC Number

---

Extern MIDI A/B Send Wheel

No(A), No(B)

Extern MIDI A/B Send A.Touch

No(A), Yes(B)

Extern MIDI A/B Send CtrlPed

No(A), No(B)

Extern MIDI A/B Vel Curve

---

Extern MIDI Send on Load

Yes

Sound Module setup:

Connect the SM to the Nord Stage. Engage multitimbral mode and
set up the mix with a synth string sound receiving on channel 1 and
with a synth brass sound receiving on channel 2. Set volume for
synth strings to 80. Set volume for synth brass to 127.

Nord Stage setup

Load Program 1:3.

Activate Panel A. Turn ON the organ section and

make the registry settings. Turn ON Extern section and
set the rotary encoder to control MIDI CC.

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 Activate Panel B. Turn off all instrument sections.

Turn ON Extern section and set the rotary encoder to
control MIDI CC. Morph the rotary encoder to the
modulation wheel. Set the interval from minimum to
maximum.

Enter Extern menu

Function

Value

Extern MIDI A/B Channel

1(A), 2(B)

Extern MIDI A/B Volume

Off(A), Off(B)

Extern MIDI A/B Prog Change

See SM manual (B)

Extern MIDI A/B Prog Bank

See SM manual (B)

Extern MIDI A/B CC Value

Off(A), 1(B)

Extern MIDI A/B CC Number

11(A), 11(B)

Extern MIDI A/B Send Wheel

Yes(A), Yes(B)

Extern MIDI A/B Send A.Touch

---(A), ---(B)

Extern MIDI A/B Send CtrlPed

---(A), ---(B)

Extern MIDI A/B Vel Curve

---

Extern MIDI Send on Load

Yes

Function

Value

MIDI Control Local

On

MIDI Panel A Channel

MIDI Organ A Channel

MIDI Piano A Channel

MIDI Synth A Channel

MIDI Panel B Channel

MIDI Organ B Channel

MIDI Piano B Channel

MIDI Synth B Channel

MIDI Prog Change Mode

Off

MIDI Ctrl Change Mode

Off or Snd&Rcv*

*This setting depends on whether you would like to record CC

messages such as Drawbars, any Synth sound settings etc. If you
prefer to adjust the sound afterwards, set it to OFF in order to avoid
that the changes you make during recording get recorded. If on the
other hand wou would like to record things such as changing drawbar
registrations etc., put it on Snd&Rcv.

Exit Extern menu. Layer Panel A and Panel B.

Make Panel B active and save Program 1:3.
Result
On program load you will be able to play the B3 with
layered synth strings. Since Panel B is active you can
now control the Expression of the synth brass with the
modulation wheel. The synth strings volume are fixed
to 80. But if you feel like control the expression of the
strings, you just have to press the [PANEL A] button
and turn the rotary encoder on the Extern section.

Exit Extern menu. Layer Panel A and Panel B.

In your sequencer/DAW, create 6 or more MIDI

tracks. Assign them to receive MIDI IN on all Channels
(should be the default setting), and set the Output
channel of Track 1 on Ch1, Track 2 on Ch2, etc. From
track 7 on, you can use for instance virtual Instruments
(VSTis).
Result
Now you can start recording in your sequencer/DAW
by arming any track of the ones just created while the
order will be from left to right and Panel A to Panel B:
Organ A will be on Track 1, Piano A on Track 2, Synth
A on Track 3, Organ B on Track 4, Piano B on Track 5,
and Synth B on Track 6.

Note! If you don't want your synth strings to respond on volume /

expression changes at all you will need to block those MIDI cc's
from being received within the sound module.

Example 4: Using the Nord Stage with a

Sequencer (maximum multitimbrality)
In this example, we assume that your Nord Stage is
connected with any sequencer, like any DAW software
and you want to use all instruments of the Stage along
with VSTis.
Task:
You want to record and playback various tracks using your Nord Stage
sounds and other instruments such as VSTis while using the internal
sounds on seperate tracks.

Nord Stage Setup

Load the program of your choice.

Enter MIDI menu

Just decide which instrument to record first and arm

the corresponding track (Track 3 in the depicted
example, i.e., the Synth section of Panel A). Once you
are finished recording, double click the ON/OFF buton
of the instrument you just recorded so that if will be
active and respond to MIDI but not anymore respond
to the Keyboard and thus you can start recording
another instrument. So just arm the next track and
record the next instrument etc.
Note: One way to avoid the activating and deactivating of the
instruments after each track is to set in the MIDI menu MIDI Control

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Local to OFF. If at the same time you have in your DAW set Monitoring
to AUTO or ON (see the manual of your DAW), you will still be able to
play and immediately hear the sound of the selected track.

In the end, you can record the six instruments

independently from eachother and, if you do so in a
loop, you can easily build up a track using all six
internal instruments and simply add, say, a drum track.

How complex setups can be made?

The limitation when working in multi timbre mode is 16
MIDI channels. The multi timbre mode can be
compared to a 16 channel mixing board. That gives us
the opportunity to play back 16 sounds at the same
time. The MIDI receive channel can be set to 1-16 for
each sound. Setting all sounds to the same channel
will result in one big layer of 16 sounds.
When using the Nord Stage as a master you have the
ability to set 2 different transmit channels. One for
each Panel. Below I show an image of what a setup
could possibly look like when using only one sound
module and no internal instruments from the Nord
Stage.

part only. Playing at normal and hard velocity level

will trigger the string part and cut off the guitar. Finally
when hitting the keys hard a brass part kicks in.
In other words, very complex setups can be made only
from one competent sound module (slave) and one
Nord Stage (master). Adding yet another Nord Stage
as a master gives you control of up to 4 MIDI
channels. Adding several sound modules gives you
the opportunity to layer more sounds to existing MIDI
channels.
What can be done is entirely up to you, your fantasy
and your creativity!

Some words about Volume

and Expression
Now when we know what a Multitimbral mode stands
for I think the time has come to explain the similarities
and
differences
between
VOLUME
and
EXPRESSION.
Volume is control change message 007 and
Expression is control change message 011. They both
affect the overall loudness of the sound, but in a
different manner. Volume (cc007) is a main channel
volume. It sets the level of the MIDI channel. Let's say
you've set the level for the guitar at 90 on the scale of
0-127. This is as loud as the guitar will get compared
to the adjacent parts.

Here we are using 10 (out of 16) sounds layered and

divided across the keyboard. Split points need not
necessarily be specific notes on the keyboard. Sounds
can also be separated by different velocity layers.
Pressing the keys very soft will play one sound while
hitting the keys harder will play another. Have a look at
the picture below for an example.

Expression (cc011) can now be used to adjust the

level of that part from 90 down to 0. A foot controller
(swell pedal) assigned to cc011 on this channel will be
90 at the toe-down maximum position and 0 at the
heel-down minimum position. You have set a
maximum volume with controller 007 and you set a
performing volume with the pedal assigned to
controller 011.
In this example we're only using Panel A and the
sound module together with an internal organ and an
acoustic piano. The piano zone are shared with the
sound module. The Nord Stage piano sound will be
audible for all three velocity layers, soft, medium and
hard. Playing the keyboard soft will trigger the guitar

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Dial or use the tap-tempo button. The display will

indicate the BPM that is used internally when no
External signal is received. When an external module
is sending Master Clock, this tempo is used instead.

Have a look at the picture above. Here I have routed

the guitar part and the piano part to MIDI receive
channel 1 and the brass and string parts to MIDI
receive channel 2. If in this case we would choose to
send cc007 (Volume) on channel 1, the guitar and
piano would jump to equal levels. That would be a bad
thing, since that should devastate their internal mix.

The Arpeggiator (Press SHIFT + Arpeggiator Button),

Delay Effect and Effect 2 (Press SHIFT + Effect Select
Button) and the LFO of the Synth Section (Press
SHIFT+LFO Waveform Button) can be synced to the
Master Clock. Once synchronized, the selected
element's speed is not anymore set in absolute values
but relative to the Master Clock signal. Changing the
speed now affects the meter subdivision (or note
values) that the arpeggio should play. For instance, 1/4
is now half the speed of 1/8. A T after a numerical
value indicates triplets.

Expression (cc011) is similar to the main out faders of

an ordinary mixer. So in order to maintain the
proportion of the mix you should rather send
Expression than Volume.
In summary one can say that Volume (cc007) is
absolute volume (0-127) and that Expression (cc011)
is relative volume (0-127).
A swell pedal connected to the CONTROL PEDAL jack
on the Nord Stage will always send Expression
(cc011) through MIDI (if enabled in the Extern menu).
This cannot be changed.

MASTERCLOCK
When you connect your Nord Stage to a sequencer,
software, or other Synth, it can become useful to
synchronize the time dependent elements such as
LFOs, Effects (notably the Delay), and the Arpeggiator
between your keyboards and software, including the
different elements within your Nord Stage 2.
The Masterclock / MIDI beat clock feature is designed
to allow keeping various MIDI devices in Sync.
Basically it consists that the Master sends a MIDI
signal every 96th note using the set bpm tempo. All
slaves that are synced with the Master will have their
bpm-dependent elements automatically synchronized
to the received tempo so that effects, LFO and
Arpeggiator are in sync with the Master tempo.
The Nord Stage 2 only receives Master Clock so that
your external keyboard, module, or sequencer need to
act as Masters. However, it also serves as to keep the
different elements of your Nord Stage 2 of both Panels
in Sync amongst each other.
To enable Master Clock at the Nord Stage 2, press the
Mst Clk button once and dial in a tempo with the Value

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