Nord User Forum

Hi everyone!

I just got my first Nord for Christmas (I must have been veeeery good this year) and have been reading these forums constantly since then. I've had lots of keyboards and software over the years including my main Korg which had sampling capabilities, but I've never dove into the world of sampling until now. These forums have been an incredible resource over the last month getting my sea legs, but I seem to have run into a snag.

I made a few samples mainly to test out the process, but I did make a pretty good accordion which I might post later. My latest project has been trying to sample one of my organ patches from my software out to the Nord. I've followed all the guides, sampled more notes per octave, less notes, tried 24bit and 16bit .wav files, even recorded the midi to an audio track as suggested in this video ( Whatever I do the .wav file sounds nothing like the source. Have a listen.

Source:

• input render 001.mp3

Output:

• output render 001.mp3

The source is a MIDI track from Logic, the output is that same patch fed through the sample editor and then recorded back into Logic. Pardon the sloppy playing! I cut my fingertip yesterday and it's making things difficult.

Seeing as the output from Logic sounds like the patch I created, I am thinking the problem lies with the Sample Editor. I've scoured the options and the manuals for any tips but I can't pin down the offending process. It's doubly frustrating because I feel like I'm a pretty technically-savvy guy.

For the curious, the file I fed into the Sample Editor is here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/rdpn7ft6s2bs6 ... 3.wav?dl=0

I hope someone could give me a hand with this so I can return the favor and make awesome samples to share with you all!

This is not a problem with the sample editor. What's happening here is that somehow, despite what you think, the sound you're actually sampling (or replaying) is a different sound. It's simply not the organ sound you *think* you should be getting. Either you're not actually sampling the organ sound in the first place, or you are sampling it, but are actually replaying a different sound. It's just not possible in any way for the sample editor itself to change the sound like that.

Second that. Sounds like your MIDI data is playing back another instrument, either on the other slot on the NP, another piece of hardware (?) or a VST...

hello..can i ask something simple? i m new about Nord keyboards.

whats the difference between a looped and unlooped sample?

thanks a lot..

It's nothing weird - it's exactly what you might guess:
An unlooped sample plays once - a looped sample keeps looping until you release a key.
So something like a pad sound might be a seamless waveform so that when looped it just sounds like a continuous sustained note/chord.

Thanks for the quick responses everyone!

I've cycled back and forth through the patches after I created them because I thought the exact same thing. Maybe it was calling a different program. The Nord is in fact playing back the output file I posted above. It is a patch with the name I specified playing in the slot I put it in. The piano has been connected and disconnected from my DAW so playing back a VST shouldn't be possible to my knowledge.

I've also said I created patches that sound like the source material with no problem before. I used the same methods to create this organ patch on the Nord so it's very baffling to me why my results should be different this time.

I also supplied my source WAV file that I used to create the sample. It's the Dropbox link at the end of the original post (17.1MB). It's set up to use the Multi Sample Assign @ 3 semitones. If anyone feels like having a go with the same source material and seeing what they get I'd be very curious!

I'm going to spend some more time with this after work today.

thanks a lot neolithic..

Preliminary update: I think a part of the problem might be the distortion used on the patch. I re-recorded and re-sampled the same organ settings without distortion and it sounds much better. Not a perfect 1:1 match but better than it was.

I'm busy right now, but I'll be back sometime this week with sound samples.

Wherever possible, record samples (of any instrument) dry and add effects later. Your Piano 2 has overdrive (various amp sims, try several and see which works), so use that. Your sample sounds to me a lot like those early 90s attempts to sample a distorted guitar on home keyboards - it just doesn't work very well. Did you normalise (or maximise) every one of your samples first as well, not just the whole file?

I would also suggest you turn down/off the key click, as it only occurs when a key isn't held down on the original, but will occur on every sample on the Nord and frankly sounds better not there. Finally your piano has no Leslie sim, but try sampling your organ with the Leslie disabled, then engage one of the chorus options, and use a low rate to simulate a slow leslie, then increase the rate to sound like a fast one. Not as neat as a proper Leslie sim, but with careful manipulation of the Rate control you can get a basic slowing down/speeding up effect as well if you have a hand free. Note I didn't say use the Pan control - that's only really simulating a very close Leslie.

hth,

Al

Great answer Cornopean! Thx