Nord Micro Modular Poly amount

microman · Joined: Sep 17, 2010 Posts: 4 Location: uk

Hey all,

I’m thinking of buy a Nord Micro Modular as I’m trying to get the Nord Lead 2 sound & more sound possibilities on the cheap. I have tried the G2 demo and I’m very impressed with what it can do.

For anyone out there that uses the NMM, if my DSP load is 50% what amount of poly would I get? Or put another way if I wanted to always get 4 note of poly what is the maximum my DSP load can be?

Regards

Karl

v-un-v · Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 1:36 am Post subject:

That's a really difficult question to answer, because if you are careful, and don't use the VCO's, you can squeeze much polyphony out of that little red devil. I once made a paraphonic string machine (5 note poly), using my MM. You can find it in the patch archives under the name of "terryfunken'.

Open it up to see what trick I used to obtain that polyphony. FWIW, using the same method in a much simpler patch, I squeezed a lot more than 5 notes out of it! (hint; Use a master oscillator controller wired to an LFO instead of an audio oscillator. You don't get as much range, and the sound is more rough, but it gives the whole little gem a whole new sound!).

oh yes,

welcome

to electro-music.com, Karl! Very Happy

Tom

microman · Joined: Sep 17, 2010 Posts: 4 Location: uk

Thanks for the replay Tom. The patches I like tend to have the VCO mods, as I mainly use the nord lead 2's architect. I was mainly trying to see if 4 notes of poly would be out of the question with an average DSP load of 50%, if so this would render the NMM unusable for chords ECT.

egw · Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 4:33 am Post subject:

If your DSP load is 50%, you will get two voices on the micro. Yes, you can get more voices by carefully designing patches, but it's not really a good choice as a polyphonic synth.

microman · Joined: Sep 17, 2010 Posts: 4 Location: uk

v-un-v · Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 5:44 am Post subject:

egw · Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 7:28 am Post subject:

As I said, yes you can get more polyphony by carefully designing patches, but they will be limited. The original request was for something that sounds like the Nord Lead 2, with 4 or more voices. As a flexible sound generation device with a small form factor, the micro is unparallelled. But I certainly wouldn't recommend it as a general-purpose polysynth.

microman · Joined: Sep 17, 2010 Posts: 4 Location: uk

Thanks for all the replies, from the info I have gotten, the NMM is not going to be of any use for me. I’ve decide to go with a Nord Lead 2

trybtek · Joined: Apr 14, 2008 Posts: 8 Location: Australia

Hi,
So Im looking at using a micro modular as a simple 3-4 note poly synth,
Im looking at making some very simple/80's sounding patches (Korg Poly 800 kinda brass/Junoish pads etc...).
If my patches are at 25-35% will i be able to play 3-4 note chords?
Regards,
Adrien

Wout Blommers · Posted: Sat Oct 16, 2010 7:41 am Post subject:

trybtek · Joined: Apr 14, 2008 Posts: 8 Location: Australia

Great thanks Wout!
Just what i needed to know!
Im just waiting for my micro to arrive in the post! sooooo dam excited!
I've been designing patches that should get me the 3 voices im looking for, but i just needed to confirm the little red bugger could do it, or i may have to re-sell it and look into a modular keyboard, but ill prob do this later down the track anyway!
i can just see myself getting hooked on building patches!!!!
Thanks again,
Adrien.

KarmanHardon · Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 4:00 pm Post subject:

Wout Blommers · Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 9:55 pm Post subject:

KarmanHardon · Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2010 7:44 pm Post subject:

Well... it is such a powerful instrument that it can easily become a rather time-comsuming universe to explore... however awesome it is.

Last time I had one (a NMM) with me is when I did a temporary gear swap with a friend. I had two months to both explore a bit AND make music with it... and I did not waste any time. Now I own one, it's four times as powerful (it's a keyboard version) and all I feel compelled to do is read a bit of a workshop, then patch away until I realize I really should go to bed.

It IS satisfying, fascinating and fun. But damn, can you spell "sidetracked"?