I am using a Nord Electro as an external keyboard both as a controller and for its organ sounds..
It accepts bank and patch changes when a layer is changed but does not remember the MIDI volume previously set in the layer. Each time, it reverts to full volume. It responds to manual input from the layer volume fader.
From studying the forum, I saw it mentioned that some keyboards may not respond so well. I set it up the MIDI monitor and can see that the correct messages are sent. Two or three volume changes followed by bank select/prg change plus another volume change for good measure….
I have used a MIDI track to set the bank select/prg change and just used the layer for MIDI volume. This did not make any difference. I changed this to setting the volume in the MIDI track and used the layer to change the bank select and this still does not work.
I have just set up Camelot Pro, which I am moving from, and it works fine with bank select/ prg change and volume so I am struggling to blame the Nord..
Having MIDI vols for both external keys and VSTs is useful when setting the mix for new projects and playing live. I’d be grateful for any help on this to get it fixed… Thanks.
The Layer volume setting is sent when them Layer is activated. It may well be that the Nord is resetting the volume when you send the Program change.
Two possible solutions:-
Send volume as well as the Program change - consider using an automation track instead of a MIDI one.
Abandon the MIDI track and add more Parts to make your program changes and use a shared Layer for the Nord. If you have “Shared MIDI Controls Global” turned off in Preferences, Layers then you will be able to set individual volumes in the Parts. Of course you will have to Share any other Layers you have. The kicker is that if you have Stacks you will have to duplicate them as they cannot be shared.
Hi Clive, thanks for the response. I’m very new to this so bear with me..
Ideally, I would prefer not to use automation or tracks. When setting up a song with a band, it is useful to see the levels of all layers on the screen so I can change during rehearsal.
I’m not sure that I understand. Do you mean..
Within a song. Add one part that changes the patch/sound then add another part after it where you control the volume? You would step through these parts in a live situation?
Or. Have two layers within a part pointing to the same instrument (Nord Electro in this case). One layer sets the patch/sound and another controls the volume?
Have I understood you correctly or am I in need of more education? At present, I am only setting up VST Live with external keyboards or VST instruments so nothing complex really. Regards, Tim
With the exception of FlexLoops and some other external control VSTL is a linear playback engine - you hit start, it goes to the end - just as your MIDI track does.
Each Part has a trigger time within that playback. Within each Part you have Layers and those are activated when the Part trigger is hit. You set the trigger time using the indicator in the Parts list - set the playhead to where you want it and click the time next to the Part name. Be aware that you can reorder Parts by dragging them up/down but that will mess with the Part times - they are expected to run “top down” from start to finish.
So you divide your Song into Parts (verse, chorus, bridge etc), and set up a Layer in each that controls your Nord. That single Layer can control Program change, MIDI volume, and other parameters using Quick Controls. I misled you earlier by mentioning shared Layers - they only apply when a Layer has its own VST instrument (oops, sorry, not applicable in your case).
Now it is possible to skip around the Parts without using playback by clicking on them. Or you can use an external controller to trigger Parts, in conjunction with Actions/Shortcuts (next/previous Part or by Part number) if you just want program selection, but most of us use VSTL as a backing track player.
I hope that makes sense.
Hi Clive. Yes it does make sense. At the moment, all I am looking for is a one button press to set up all the sounds I need for a given song. and…. stick a PDF of the music notation on my tablet in front of me (that’s another story).
Most songs only require one part to set up two external keyboards plus some VSTs. I do have some with several parts and I step through them with a MIDI pedal.
I appreciate this only scratches the surface of performance software but I do have an ambition to use some tracks and automate lights etc. Having all your sounds come together and the ability to tweak volumes without digging into external synth menus is very convenient.
The workaround around was to set up Part 1 to change the Nord sound and then step through to Part 2 which controls the volume. It works but I have to remember to step through the parts every time I have a Nord layer…
I have moved from Camelot Pro as I thought the Steinberg product was a bit slicker and, maybe, more trustworthy given the number of years they’ve been in the DAW market. Now I spent several days setting up 40 songs to find out that it’s a struggle to control one of my keyboards in a convenient manner… That’s life I guess. I won’t give up just yet and I have Camelot Pro to fall back on for this week’s gig.
You shouldn’t have to do that. Does the Nord take a while to load up on program change? I can only guess that it is swallowing the volume message while loading.
Hi. I downloaded VST Live last week, 27th Oct I think. Nord is up to date.
If you hook the layer through the MIDI monitor, you can that there are three instructions to set volume followed by MSB/LSB/PRG and then one more volume so in theory it should work.
The Nord accepts patch and volume changes from Camelot Pro and Mixcraft DAW without issues so I’m struggling to understand why. I’m going to have to revert to using Camelot Pro this week as I have to play so I’ll see if I can see any difference in the way messages are sent.
And you are using the orange slider rather than the white one in the Layer? (Dumb question but…)
I use layers with volume control all the time for my HydraSynth with no issues so this does appear strange, and if it were a general issue there would be lots of complaints.
The Downloader is v.2.2.60.437 which dates back to August. Not quite as up to date as the link you sent but I can’t imagine anything as fundamental as MIDI instruction would change.
It’s a Nord Electro 5D. I’m using a Roland RD-88 (3 part multitimbral) as well with no issues.
In the longer term, I may replace the Nord with the B3X VST which I like but don’t want to risk too much too soone as we have gigs booked.
We stumbled across devices having difficulties to keep up with Program Changes.
PGM CHG is a heavy task for almost all instruments, and some are too busy to be able to evaluate incoming volume/pan messages while still struggling to activate a new preset.
This is why in the latest version we added a “slighltly hidden” feature to delay messages after PGM CHG for a set time period. Try 50 ms or so, and see if that helps (menu Layer/Layer Controllers):
