Nord Wave Performance Tips

[earsmack]

I just picked up a Nord Wave - what an amazing instrument. I've had a an NL2 and NL3 in the past and an Electro now so I was familiar with the brand.

Anyway - I've been really impressed with the breadth of sounds this thing can make - having loaded the 1024 bank available on Clavia's (Nord's) web site and playing with some of my own samples. I'm preparing for a gig in a few weeks and plan on using this. As I've been playing I've found some things that I thought might be helpful - performance tips - mainly designed to not cause auditory glitches, etc. during performance while being able to tweak the instrument. I thought I would share my findings and see if anyone else had any tips.

All of this comes from OS 2.0.2 and some of it may be in the manual (that I'm still studying)

ENABLING TUBE AMP
This is pretty obvious - On some sounds I want to fade in the tube amp effect during a build of a tune. The key to remember here is to set the knob to zero first and then turn it on and fade it in when needed. If the knob is not set to zero the effect will jump in more harshly.

MORPH SETTINGS
Sometimes during a performance you might decide you want to slowly tweak a parameter. Unfortunately you may not be able to do it by turning the knob without causing an audible glitch. Fortunately, double-tapping a morph button allows you to change the associated morph settings without actually changing the sound. Then, tap the morph button again to exit edit mode and now your morph settings are live using velocity, mod wheel, etc. This is a nice way to set up a morph while playing and then having it enable when your'e ready.

CURRENT KNOB VALUE
If you're unsure of the current value of a knob, simply hold down the SHIFT button and turn the knob to see the value without changing the sound. This can allow you to set the knob to a CLOSE value if you want to then tweak it live.

I'm sure there are more...please add to this thread...

Thanks to the folks who put this instrument together - really great stuff!

[Wout Blommers]

[softroom]

One tip I've found especially useful is to use the space on the Wave's panel for two Eventide stompboxes. They fit perfectly.

[earsmack]

[fibreman]

You CAN create splits provided you're using the samples on OSC 2 for both slots. Load sounds into wave manager, decide where your split is going to be and insert silent samples where you don't want a particular sound to trigger - you may need to experiment slightly as the Nord Wave sometimes doesn't like it! Hey presto, 3 violins and flute seperately, but at the same time!

This next one is not so much a performance tip but here goes...

Create your own mellotron sounds - record the sounds you want to mellotronise into a DAW, use a tape simulator to mess them up (the best one i've found is the Space Echo simulator in Guitar Rig 3 set with no delay but maximum warble, with some subtle EQ dialled in as it tends to overcook the mids a bit), then load the resulting wavs into wave manager and up they go. The point being the only preventative to infinite processing of sounds is that you'll only likely live for a maximum of 70-80 years. So spend as much of it as you can playing Nord Wave!

[bbbodie]

We're playing a gig late this month and I'm looking for tips on key change/pitch change during performance. I don't find a global parameter anywhere and that's a little disconcerting having used Korg, Roland and Yamaha and having all this readily available. I'm sure it's obvious, but a little help would be appreciated.

Ideas?

So we play in Bb, shift to C, then D, then E for the final verse...

Bodie

[bbbodie]

Found it in the System Menu 2nd option down...couldnt find it to save my life at practice last night

[rnbw_six]

Okay an issue I have had with live situations is when switching programs it cuts the audio from the last program. It would be nice to hear that release sometimes wouldn't it? If you have two sounds that you have to switch abruptly between during a song try programming them in the same program and separate them into slots a for the first sound and b for the second.
I understand that some programs are multi-layered and this is not possible but if it is possible to get the sounds in slot a and b the switching will be fluid and play out that release or delay. A cut never sounds good.
Happy programming.

[fibreman]

Found one, don't know if this applies to any other Nord gear, BUT...

The greatest delay time on the Nord Wave matches up with 106bpm. If you select the greatest feedback (1 and 2 lit up) and stereo repeats (it just sounds better, trust me) and play along to a metronome, a click, a funky beat, whatever.

Once you have a nice little loop going, twist the time knob clockwise, then quickly back to it's original position, try and do it in rhythm, so beat 1 you go clockwise, beat 2 you return it back.

You will find that wherever there is an original portion of your loop left, it will still be completely in time with your click/metronome etc, in the meantime you have crazy glitchy possibilities! I've never known a delay work like that before!

[Wout Blommers]

Any chance there will be an audio example?

Wout

[fibreman]

Sure can, will upload something tomorrow.

[fibreman]

http://soundcloud.com/mrfibes/nord-wave-delay-test

[Wout Blommers]

Nice effect!
Thanks.

Wout