Nord Sound Manager

The Nord Sound Manager software makes it easy to organize and back up the memory of your Nord instrument. In version 9, you can now access the Nord Piano and Sample Libraries online. This means you can download sounds and samples from Nord Sound Libraries directly from the software for transfer to your Nord instrument or save offline.

Nord Sound Manager desktop


With Nord Sound Manager 9, sounds from the Nord Piano Library and Nord Sample Library can be browsed, downloaded and transferred to the instrument, all within the same application. This Quick Guide highlights and describes these new features, and how to get started using them.

Sound Library

With the new Sound Library view active, selecting either the Piano or Samp Lib tab shows all compatible Pianos or Samples from the online sound libraries to the left, and the corresponding content on the Nord to the right.

  • The Sound Library view is only shown when Piano or Samp Lib is selected and will close when other tabs, for instance the Program tab, are active.

NSM9 sound lib


Browsing content

The left-side Category selector filters the content both in the Sound Library list and in the instrument. Use the “All” option to show all Pianos or Samples – useful for instance when searching for a particular sound.

  • Sounds that are already present in the connected instrument are indicated with a small keyboard icon in the list.
  • Sounds that are present in the computer file cache (available for offline use) are indicated with an arrow in a red circle, similar to the "Save To Offline Cache" icon.
  • Some legacy Nord instruments, such as the Nord Wave, Nord Piano 2 and Nord Electro 3 and 4 will always present the full list of samples on the instrument, regardless of selected sample category in the Sound Library view.

Piano Sizes

Pianos appear in the list either with the size currently present on the connected instrument, or with the largest available size.

  • Below the Piano list is the size selection area, where all available sizes are displayed. Select the desired size here, before transferring a Piano to the instrument.

Piano sizes

Downloading Sounds

To transfer one or more sounds to the instrument, select them in the Sound Library list and press Transfer to Instrument.

  • For Piano sounds, remember to also select the desired Size.
  • To download one or more sounds to the computer, making them available for offline use, select them in the Sound Library list and press Save to Offline Cache.
  • The Transfer to Instrument and Save to Offline Cache options are also available in the context menu when right-clicking a sound.
  • From the right-click menu there is also an option to download all sounds in the selected Category to the offline cache.

NSM9 download sounds

Show Downloads

The Show Downloads view displays a list of all ongoing and completed transfers, whether from the Sound Library to the computer, or from the computer to the instrument.

  • The Downloads list is automatically closed when any of the tab buttons (Piano, Samp Lib, Program etc.) is clicked.

NSM9 show downloads

Using the Sound Library with no Nord connected

With no Nord connected, the Sound Library can still be accessed and content for a Nord of your choice be saved to the offline cache.

  • Press Sound Library and choose your Nord from the Instrument dropdown list.

NSM9 No Nord connected

Substitute

Piano or Sample sounds on the connected Nord can be directly substituted with sounds from the Sound Library. To do this, select the sound on the Nord which should be substituted and the sound in the Sound Library which should replace it. Then press Substitute Selected Sound in the central tool area, or Substitute in the top toolbar.

  • Substitute is also available from the context menu when right-clicking a Piano or Sample in either the Sound Library or instrument area, as long as sounds have been selected both on the instrument and in the Sound Library.

NSM9 substitute

OS updates

If a newer OS version is available for the connected Nord, this will be displayed at the top of the screen when Nord Sound Manager is opened. Press Download and Install to run the OS updater, which also will exit the application. Once the OS update is completed Nord Sound Manager can be started again.

  • Feel free to check out the Update History link, for details on the updates contained in the latest OS. We always recommend Nord users to update to the latest version available for their instrument.

NSM9 OS update

About the File Cache

The purpose of the File Cache is originally to speed up Backup and Upload operations, by using copies of Sample and Piano files stored on the computer, rather than uploading them from the instrument each time. With the introduction of the Sound Library feature, the File Cache is also the location to which files downloaded from the online libraries are stored.

  • Settings for The Nord Sound Manager File Cache are found in the Edit menu, by selecting “Preferences”.

NSM9 File Cache


  • For the Sound Library feature to work the File Cache should remain enabled, and if any issues are experienced with sounds not being successfully downloaded, the maximum size of the File Cache can be increased to a larger number.
NSM9 File Cache 2

Other Features

  • Dependencies
    The Dependencies feature keeps track of which pianos and samples that are in use by programs. This lets you move your sounds around freely without it affecting the programs and will also tell you what programs that will be affected when deleting sounds.

  • Info pane
    The Info pane brings up additional information about the program/sound dependencies. When browsing the programs, the associated pianos and samples are shown and if browsing pianos or samples, you will see a list of programs that use these sounds.

  • Replace
    Replace allows you to replace a selected piano or a sample in your instrument and make sure that your existing programs will use the new sound instead.

  • Relink
    The Relink feature is used if you want one or several selected programs to use another piano or sample instead of the current. The Relink features can also be very useful if a piano or sample is absent in the Nord, to repair programs that are missing a component.

  • Bundles
    The Bundle-feature lets you pack together everything needed for one or more sounds (program, samples, pianos) to a single file on your computer. Very nice for backing up your stuff selectively or for sharing sounds you've created with others. When transferring a bundle back to your Nord instrument the Nord Sound Manager will only transfer the pianos and samples that aren't already present.

  • Export Sound Lists
    You can create detailed lists in HTML-format of the contents of your instrument, including the names, locations and sizes of pianos and samples and program dependencies.

  • Easy transfer
    Adding new sounds to your instrument is simply a matter of connecting your instrument via USB, drag-and-drop the desired files onto the application window.

    The files are automatically transferred to you Nord instrument and has an intelligent Download Queue functionality for transferring many sounds at a time.

    Nord Sound Manager can transfer sounds from the Nord Piano Library and Nord Sample Library as well as sample instruments you've created yourself in the Nord Sample Editor 4. The Nord Sound Manager also lets you transfer program files from your instrument to your computer.

  • Organizing your programs
    Nord Sound Manager lets you rename your sounds and programs quickly and associate them with categories on instruments that support this.

    The Organize Mode lets you move, duplicate, rearrange and rename your sounds and programs. You might want to put them in chronological order for the next show, or perhaps arrange them after in a special order that only makes sense to you and a select group of friends.
  • Backup/restore
    The Backup function lets you take a complete snapshot of your every sound and settings in your instrument, including sounds, settings. It can also be used to restore instrument to its factory settings.

Update History

  • Now possible to convert samples from the Nord Sample Library 3.0 (.nsmp3) for use in Nord Piano 5 or Nord Stage 4
  • Now possible to convert any user created sample (.nsmp, .nsmp3) for use in Nord Piano 5 and Nord Stage 4

See Update history for a complete list of changes. 

System Requirements

  • Mac OS X 10.10 or later
  • Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10 and Windows 11 64-bit.
  • Nord USB Driver version v3.00 or later required for Windows.

Compatible Products

Standard features:

  • Nord C2 Organ v1.10+
  • Nord C2D Organ v1.00+
  • Nord Electro 3 v2.00+
  • Nord Electro 4 v1.00+
  • Nord Electro 5 v1.00+
  • Nord Electro 6 v1.00+
  • Nord Grand v1.00+
  • Nord Lead A1 v1.00+
  • Nord Lead 4 v1.00+
  • Nord Piano v1.00+
  • Nord Piano 2 v1.00+
  • Nord Piano 3 v1.00+
  • Nord Piano 4 v1.00+
  • Nord Stage Classic v4.00+
  • Nord Stage EX v4.00+
  • Nord Stage 2 v1.00+
  • Nord Stage 2 EX v2.00+
  • Nord Stage 3 v1.00+
  • Nord Stage 4 v0.90+
  • Nord Wave v2.00+
  • Nord Wave 2 v1.00+

Extended features:

  • Nord Electro 4 v1.00+
  • Nord Electro 5 v1.00+
  • Nord Electro 6 v1.00+
  • Nord Grand v1.00+
  • Nord Grand 2 v1.00+
  • Nord Lead A1 v1.0+
  • Nord Lead 4 v1.00+
  • Nord Stage 2 v1.00+
  • Nord Stage 2 EX v2.00+
  • Nord Stage 3 v1.00+
  • Nord Stage 4 v0.90+
  • ​Nord Piano 2 v1.00+
  • Nord Piano 3 v1.00+
  • Nord Piano 4 v1.00+
  • Nord Wave 2 v1.00+