Creating sound on the NordLead: tips and tricks

You can find more including sysex patches of the examples in this electro-music.com thread by Wout Blommers. Note you can obviously apply these techniques to other synths with similar parameters.

"As fischek wrote this thread is created special to the NordLead, NordLead2 and NordLead2X family, both in key and in Rack version. Some side steps could be taken towards the NordLead3 and the NordModular Classic and G2, if needed to explain.

Everybody is invited to chime in and write about things which come up in this thread, like how to use and play this synthesizer. Every opinion, critic, question and other kinds of contribution to the topic is welcome, allowed between the legally drawn lines, specially concerning copyrights. Text and audio examples are still the copyright of the rightful owner who shared the information with this community.

The forum is the normal place to ask question and discuss about the normal topics.

Here are some things to discuss about:

interesting ways to play,
strange things, like poly sounds in Mono mode Shocked,
how to create blibs-and-blobs,
FM (8 operator synth) and RingModulator,
the SecretFilter,
the Arpeggiator (like BPM),
what is the use of those extreme LFO values?,
analyzing Programs and Performances,
Percussion mode (also using the Arpeggiator in there),
the sound changing when using the SemiTones knob,
Sync,
syncing to an extern MidiClock (what is possible and what not?),
KeyBoardTracking Osc2,
and what else which is able to be shifted underneath the front door...

Wout"

An example...

"There is always the question how to make a broad and wide Saw sound.

In this kinds of sounds, which are sometimes called 'fat', a lot of oscillators producing different kind of Saw waves, of course detuned.
How to sound as many oscillators possible? Each Voice has two Oscillators, which can be detuned. To emphase this effect, the Unison cab be enabled. When using the sound in Mono mode Unison provides 4 detuned Voices. Octave Shift together with the SemiTone knob can be used to widen the sound in a single Slot.
And last but not least all these features can be used in a 4 Slot Layer or in a Performance.

To blend the detuning in the sound a Low Pass Filter can be used and turned down more or less. Mostly I program to one of the Slots, I prefer the highest pitched, a slight Glide.

When using the Poly mode to de-activate (to silence) one Slot results in a Voice extra.

Detuning (hear example 05) is realized by Morphing.

Wout"