Second keyboard to get a two-manual organ

[ozio01]

Hi all,
I am moving from pianos to organ and I was wandering what keyboard could be coupled with my NE5D 73 as upper (or lower?) manual.

It must be light (one of the reasons of my love for my NE is its weight. I like them thin ), have a good hammond action and... have 4 or 5 octaves, not more.

I dunno if I'll be able to arrange the keyboards on a stand with an acceptable layout to simulate a two-manual organ. Anyway, I'd give it a try.

Is there anybody already doing this?
Have you got any suggestion about what keyboard to buy?

Thanks in advance.

[maxpiano]

Doepfer D3M, exactly the same keybed of your NE in 6.5 Kilos

Another option could be the Crumar Mojo61 Lower Manual module/accessory (weighs more but also offers support for the upper manual)

[anotherscott]

I am moving from pianos to organ and I was wandering what keyboard could be coupled with my NE5D 73 as upper (or lower?) manual.]
... have 4 or 5 octaves, not more.

If 4 octaves is enough, I'd look at he Samson Graphite 49. It's cheap, light, and has a surprisingly good feeling action. It also has 9 definable sliders which you *might* be able to use to independently control its drawbar sounds in two-manual operation, I'm not sure whether he NE5D supports that, maybe someone else can chime in there. Another small, light 49 you could look at is the Yamaha MX49. No sliders, but it has the added benefit of bringing along a bunch of high quality sounds of its own.

Another option could be the Crumar Mojo61 Lower Manual module/accessory (weighs more but also offers support for the upper manual)

That piece is specifically wired to draw power from a Mojo61. I don't think it would work with the Nord.

[maxpiano]

I am moving from pianos to organ and I was wandering what keyboard could be coupled with my NE5D 73 as upper (or lower?) manual.]
... have 4 or 5 octaves, not more.

If 4 octaves is enough, I'd look at he Samson Graphite 49. It's cheap, light, and has a surprisingly good feeling action. It also has 9 definable sliders which you *might* be able to use to independently control its drawbar sounds in two-manual operation, I'm not sure whether he NE5D supports that, maybe someone else can chime in there. Another small, light 49 you could look at is the Yamaha MX49. No sliders, but it has the added benefit of bringing along a bunch of high quality sounds of its own.

Nice and cheap gear, but I am not sure any of those "have a good hammond action" as ozio requested

Another option could be the Crumar Mojo61 Lower Manual module/accessory (weighs more but also offers support for the upper manual)

That piece is specifically wired to draw power from a Mojo61. I don't think it would work with the Nord.

You are correct, but it is possible to build a MIDI cable that can also carry power as the Mojo61 does (taking it from an external power supply) anyway I agree it is not the best option.

[fieldflower]

Hi all,
I am moving from pianos to organ and I was wandering what keyboard could be coupled with my NE5D 73 as upper (or lower?) manual.

It must be light (one of the reasons of my love for my NE is its weight. I like them thin ), have a good hammond action and... have 4 or 5 octaves, not more.

I dunno if I'll be able to arrange the keyboards on a stand with an acceptable layout to simulate a two-manual organ. Anyway, I'd give it a try.

Is there anybody already doing this?
Have you got any suggestion about what keyboard to buy?

Thanks in advance.

Just to get Your expectations right - You can't assign Lower manual to a MIDI keyboard, only Upper.
That kinda sucks for the B3+Bass if the NE is better on top, since the Bass pedals sounds can only be played from the NE5 keyboard.

I have set up my Yamaha P-155 as lower manual with the NE5D 73 on top, simply by making a couple of support legs fastened to the Yamaha keyboard stand behind the Yamaha.
So the NE has those legs in the back, and is standing on it's front feet on the Yamaha (since it has a nice flat, keyless surface on top).
The keyboard stand is kinda deep, so no problem for the combined depth of the Yamaha + half the NE.
This way the keyboards end up very close to each other, which is nice for organ playing.

Now if Nord could only allow Lower receive MIDI keys...

[ozio01]

Thank you everybody for your suggestions.

Summarizing...
If I'd like to replicate as best as possible the layout of a two-manual organ using my NE5D, my NE5D can work only as lower manual and another keyboard must be placed on top of it (as upper manual).
Therefore, the control panel of the NE5 becomes almost invisible/unreachable.
Therefore, I cannot do what I'd like to (unless some OS update allows an external keyboard to pilot the lower manual).

[anotherscott]

Summarizing...
If I'd like to replicate as best as possible the layout of a two-manual organ using my NE5D, my NE5D can work only as lower manual and another keyboard must be placed on top of it (as upper manual).
Therefore, the control panel of the NE5 becomes almost invisible/unreachable.
Therefore, I cannot do what I'd like to (unless some OS update allows an external keyboard to pilot the lower manual).

Or you can play your lower manual part on the upper manual and vice versa. And even then, it only matters if you're using percussion or the aforementioned B3+Bass function (which, technically, isn't authentic either... the bass pedal function should be played with bass pedals!)

[fieldflower]

Summarizing...
If I'd like to replicate as best as possible the layout of a two-manual organ using my NE5D, my NE5D can work only as lower manual and another keyboard must be placed on top of it (as upper manual).
Therefore, the control panel of the NE5 becomes almost invisible/unreachable.
Therefore, I cannot do what I'd like to (unless some OS update allows an external keyboard to pilot the lower manual).

Or you can play your lower manual part on the upper manual and vice versa. And even then, it only matters if you're using percussion or the aforementioned B3+Bass function (which, technically, isn't authentic either... the bass pedal function should be played with bass pedals!)

That way is working just fine - to just think upside down in Lower/Upper and assign Upper receive from the lower keyboard.
That's what I'm doing with my Yamaha below.
Percussion can be set to either upper or lower, so You can select where to have it.

Even if You use MIDI bass pedals You can only get the Bass on the Lower part, i.e. the NE5 keyboard, so also with bass pedals You can't get the Bass onto them...
I sincerely hope this was a mistake by Nord and that it will eventually be fixed in an update. Really hope it's not intentional product positioning.

[anotherscott]

Percussion can be set to either upper or lower, so You can select where to have it.

Ah, I didn't realize that. I thought that, if you set up an organ split with an upper and lower organ part, you could only put percussion on the upper. If you can put it on either, then the distinction between upper and lower really is pretty much non-existent.

[maxpiano]

Just an additional "crazy idea"... what about getting an "oldie but goldie" NE2 (or even NE3) for this job?

You may end up spending a similar amount of money but you get a full instrument and still very valid, rather than just a master keyb.