Basic Operations |
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3. Basic Operations
Demo Play Function
Before you try out the new features for yourself, you may want to listen to what can be done with the instrument. Luckily, the Nord Lead 2 is equipped with a built-in demo playback function! There are six demo songs in ROM, showing the instrument’s versatility and features in different contexts. To listen to the demo songs, proceed like this:
1. Simultaneously press the Shift and Ring Mod/Sync (Demo) buttons.
OSC 2 |
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RING MOD |
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SYNC |
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OSC |
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DEMO |
1 |
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POLY |
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LEGATO |
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MONO |
AUTO |
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SPECIAL |
SYSTEM |
The Shift and Ring Mod/Sync buttons. |
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MORPH
LFO 1
OSC 2
FM
FILTER
SHIFT
Playback starts. During playback, all knobs and buttons on the panel are disabled, except for Master Volume.
2.The demo songs are played back one after the other. If you want to move to the next or previous demo song, press the Up or Down button in the Program section of the panel.
3.To exit demo play mode, press any other button on the panel.
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Basic Operations |
Basic MIDI Settings for the Nord Rack
If you are using the Nord Rack and controlling it from a MIDI keyboard, the Nord Rack must be set to receive on the same MIDI channel that the keyboard transmits on. To get started, proceed as follows:
1.Set the keyboard to transmit on MIDI Channel 1.
2.Press the Program Slot A button, so that the LED above the button is lit.
STORE
TUNE |
OUT MODE |
LOCAL |
PROG. CTRL |
3. Hold down the Shift button and press the MIDI Ch (Unison) button.
UNISON |
MONO |
AUTO |
MIDI CH |
SPECIAL |
SYSTEM |
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MORPH |
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LFO 1 |
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OSC 2 |
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FM |
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FILTER |
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SHIFT |
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The MIDI Ch button
The Shift button
The display will now show the MIDI Channel setting for Slot A (1 – 16 or off).
4. Use the Program Up/Down buttons to select MIDI Channel 1.
The Program Up/Down buttons |
MIDI Channel 1 selected. |
STORE
TUNE |
OUT MODE |
LOCAL |
PROG. CTRL |
5.Press Shift again to return to the normal play mode.
If you use Slot A when you play the Nord Rack (if you like, together with other Slots), this simple setting should be sufficient in most situations - even when playing Layers and Performances, as described later in this manual. For more information, see page 71.
Basic Operations |
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The Trig button
If you don’t have a keyboard connected to your Nord Rack, you can still try out the sounds by using the Trig button. Pressing this is equal to playing the note C3, with a velocity of 64.
CLEAR
TRIG
PERF. MODE
The indicator next to the Trig button will light up every time the Nord Rack receives a valid MIDI Note message. This is an easy way to check that your MIDI connections are OK.
Selecting Programs
Program are sounds that you have prepared in advance. The basic memory in the Nord Lead 2 contains 99 Programs. 40 of these can be used for storing your own Programs, see below.
There are also four Program slots labelled A to D. The slots can be used for layering and quickly switching between programs as described below. They are also used when the Nord Lead 2 is played via MIDI.
1.Select a Program Slot to play by pressing one of the four buttons A to D.
When you are only playing one sound at a time, as you are now, you can select any slot.
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STORE |
Use these four |
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buttons to select a |
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This “slot” is selected |
“Program slot”. |
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(lit up). |
TUNE |
OUT MODE |
LOCAL |
PROG. CTRL |
2.Use the Program Up/Down keys to select a Program for that slot.
Holding down a button scrolls the value quickly. Holding down the Shift key (the button above the Modulation wheel) while pressing the buttons makes the value change in steps of ten.
Press these buttons to increase/ decrease the Program number.
STORE
TUNE |
OUT MODE |
LOCAL |
PROG. CTRL |
If you hold down the Shift button while you press the Up/Down keys, the Program value will change in steps of ten.
MORPH
LFO 1
OSC 2
FM
FILTER
SHIFT
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Basic Operations |
There are 99 Programs to select from. If you have a PCMCIA card inserted in the holder on the back, you may have another 297 on this, arranged in three banks. The bank is indicated by the leftmost digit in the display:
Selecting Percussion Kits
In addition to the 99 Programs in the basic memory, there are 10 Percussion Kits. Each Percussion Kit consists of eight different virtual analog percussion sounds, arranged in zones across the keyboard. The Kits are located “above” Program number 99, and numbered “P0” to “P9”.
If you have a PCMCIA card inserted in the holder on the back, you have access to a further 30 Percussion Kits, 10 in each bank on the card.
▼To select a Percussion Kit for a Slot, proceed just as when selecting a regular Program: Use the Program Up/Down buttons to scroll to the desired Percussion Kit location.
STORE
TUNE |
OUT MODE |
LOCAL |
PROG. CTRL |
Percussion Kit P0 selected.
For detailed information about how to play and edit the Percussion Kits, see page 29.
Using the Slots To Switch Programs
The four Program Slots A to D can be thought of as four independent synthesizers, each capable of playing one Program or Percussion Kit. When you select one of the slots you will switch to play the Program set for that slot.
For live performance, for example, you can set up each slot to play a different Program and quickly switch between those four by pressing the buttons A to D.