Step 1: Determining your keyboard and drawbar configuration
Because you just bought this DB-1 Drawbar Controller, it’s probably safe to assume that you have a
Nord keyboard that you want to connect it to. There are three “families” of Nord keyboards this
Controller can talk to:
!
The
Electro
family (Electro, Electro 2, Electro 3, Electro 4, Electro Rack)
!
The
Stage
family (Stage, Stage EX, Stage 2)
!
The
organ
family (C1, C2)
and as luck would have it, these three families use different MIDI messages for drawbar commands.
Also, you may be using one or two DB-1 Drawbar Controllers with your keyboard, and that affects how
you set up your Drawbar Controllers.
So the first step is to figure out what your configuration is. Are you using one DB-1 Drawbar Controller
with an Electro? Are you using two Drawbar Controllers with a C1? That sort of thing. If you’re using
two DB-1 Drawbar Controllers, you will need to designate one controller as the Upper manual
drawbars, and the other one the Lower manual drawbars.
Step 2: Setting the DIP Switches
Inside the battery compartment of your DB-1 Drawbar Controller there’s a set of four small white
switches called “DIP switches.” For each Drawbar Controller in your setup, you will need to put those
switches in the correct position. Otherwise, your controller will send the wrong MIDI commands and
all kinds of crazy things will happen. You don’t want that.
The photos and descriptions that follow describe the switches as viewed from the rear of the Drawbar
Controller, looking down into the battery compartment. So the MIDI jacks should be facing towards
you and the front of the unit away from you. We are only concerned with the three left-most switches as
viewed from the rear of the DB-1.
Depending on when your DB-1 was manufactured, the DIP switches may be toggle / paddle style
switches, or they may be sliding switches. Both styles are shown here. As you can see they are very
similar, but use the one that most closely resembles the switches in your DB-1.
All the DIP switch configurations are summarized on the next page. Note that the first group of three
are the settings when you’re using a single DB-1 Drawbar Controller, and the second group of three are
for when you’re using two of them.
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