Ocean Beach DB-1 User manual

Drawbar Controller DB-1
User Manual
Ocean Beach Digital
www.oceanbeachdigital.com

Program
Button
Top Button
Power
Button
DIP Switches
Battery
Door

Thank You
Thank you for your purchase of the DB-1 Drawbar Controller from Ocean Beach Digital. The DB-1
Drawbar Controller was created specifically to complement the Nord and will greatly enhance the
experience of playing organ sounds on these keyboards. Now you can finally reach over and grab a
handful of drawbars just like you would on a B-3.
A lot of effort was put into making the DB-1 as easy to set up as possible. However, the various Nord
organ keyboards use different MIDI mappings for drawbar events, so the DB-1 needs to know which
Nord you are using. This is accomplished by setting some small switches (called DIP switches) inside
the battery compartment. It is necessary to set these switches in the correct position for the DB-1
Drawbar Controller to work correctly with your keyboard. It may also be necessary to program
the MIDI channel, depending on your keyboard setup. Please note – if you do not configure the
DB-1 Drawbar Controller correctly, it will not work for your setup. And nobody wants that. So please,
take care to follow the steps in this manual to set everything up. You will only need to configure your
DB-1 Drawbar Controller(s) once, and then these settings are stored permanently unless you change
them later.
One quick note: throughout this manual you will encounter terms like “Nord,” “Electro,” “Stage EX”
and so on. These are all trademarks of Clavia DMI AB, the Swedish company that manufactures these
keyboards. The DB-1 Drawbar Controller is manufactured in San Diego, California by Ocean Beach
Digital. Words like “Nord” and “Electro” are used for descriptive purposes in order to explain how to
use this DB-1 Drawbar Controller with their various products. You should understand that the two
companies not affiliated in any way, nor should you infer any such affiliation.
Once again, thank you for your purchase. We hope you enjoy your new DB-1 Drawbar Controller.
Getting Started
OK, you’re probably eager to get going with your new DB-1 Drawbar Controller, so we’ll try to make
this as quick and painless as possible. Here are the five steps you need to follow:
1. Determine your keyboard & drawbar configuration
2. Set the DB-1 Drawbar Controller DIP Switch(es) accordingly
3. Make all your MIDI connections
4. Check for power
5. Teach your DB-1 Drawbar Controller(s) what MIDI channel(s) to use
That’s it. So we will tackle each of these steps one at a time.
1

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.
2

3
Electro / Electro 2 / Electro 3 / Electro 4
Stage / Stage EX / Stage 2
C1 / C2
one DB-1 controlling both manuals
MIDI channel is set automatically
MIDI channels must be programmed in Learn mode
MIDI channel(s) must be programmed in Learn mode
down-down-down
down-down-up
down-up-down
lower manual for Electro / 2 / 3 / 4
two DB-1s - one for each manual
each manual for C1 / C2
upper for Electro / Electro 2 / 3 / 4
Stage / Stage EX / Stage 2
MIDI channel must be programmed in Learn mode
MIDI channel must be programmed in Learn mode
MIDI channel must be programmed in Learn mode
down-up-up
up-down-down
up-down-up
GSi VB3 / Jupiter / Kronos / Kurzweil
Hammond-Suzuki / other
MIDI channel, polarity, and Control Change number
are programmed via Configurator App
up-up-up
special

Step 3: Making all the MIDI connections: one DB-1 Drawbar Controller
If you have one DB-1 Drawbar Controller, regardless of which Nord you have, your MIDI connections
should look like this:
The MIDI connections are as follows:
a. DB-1 Drawbar Controller MAIN OUT to Nord MIDI IN
b. DB-1 Drawbar Controller MAIN IN from Nord MIDI OUT
c. DB-1 Drawbar Controller AUX OUT to external sound module (optional)
d. DB-1 Drawbar Controller AUX IN from external keyboard triggering Nord (optional)
4
midi out
optional keyboard acting as lower organ manual
midi in
optional external sound module
a
b
c
d
out in
main
out in
aux
outin
midi

Step 3: Making all the MIDI connections: two DB-1 Drawbar Controllers
If you have two DB-1 Drawbar Controllers, regardless of which Nord you have, your MIDI
connections should look like this:
a. Upper Drawbar MAIN OUT to Nord MIDI IN
b. Upper Drawbar MAIN IN from Nord MIDI OUT
c. Upper Drawbar AUX OUT to Lower Drawbar MAIN IN
d. Upper Drawbar AUX IN from Lower Drawbar MAIN OUT
e. Lower Drawbar AUX OUT to external sound module (optional)
f. Lower Drawbar AUX IN from external keyboard triggering Nord (optional)
5
midi in
optional external sound module
midi out
optional keyboard acting as lower organ manual
a
b
c
d
e
f
outin
midi
out in
main
out in
aux
lower drawbarsupper drawbars
out in
main
out in
aux

Step 4: Check for Power
The DB-1 was designed to run, when possible, using the voltage present on the MIDI signal coming in
the MAIN MIDI IN jack. For this reason, if you plan to run off MIDI bus power, you need to make both
MAIN MIDI IN and OUT connections as described above. That generally seems to work just fine for
simple setups (ie nothing else connected via MIDI except your Nord and the DB-1.)
If your setup involves the use of the AUX MIDI connections, it may be necessary to use a 9v battery.
Power up your Nord, and double check the MIDI connections described above. The DB-1's power
button operates differently from other power buttons you've encountered:
button is in: DB-1 draws its power from the internal 9v battery (not included)
button is out: DB-1 draws its power from the MIDI bus
Whenever the DB-1 has power, the LED will flicker whenever you move a drawbar. If you don't see
this, or if the DB-1 appears to be operating erratically, try installing a fresh 9v battery and putting the
power button in the in position whenever the DB-1 is in use.
When inserting the battery into the battery compartment, take care not to accidentally bump any of the
DIP switches into different positions. And when whenever there’s no battery in place, you should use
the protective battery terminal cover to prevent the battery harness contacts from inadvertently shorting
against anything inside the drawbar controller.
Some Words About MIDI Bus Power
This DB-1 Drawbar Controller has been designed to run off MIDI bus power when possible. But you
should understand that there is no MIDI Specification for drawing power off the MIDI bus. This is
really unfortunate, as it’s quite handy for a small device such as this one. Ocean Beach Digital has
gone to great lengths to minimize the current consumption of the DB-1 so that it can run under MIDI
bus power in as many scenarios as possible. Most of our customers have found that a single drawbar
module connected to a single keyboard works fine under MIDI bus power. But you may need to use a
battery if you have a more complicated MIDI setup or if you are using multiple DB-1s.
By the way – we also provided a way to make the power switch “off” position really truly off. That’s
what the rightmost DIP switch is for. You'll probably never need to use it.
6
When power switch is off, DB-1
draws power from MIDI bus
When power switch is off, DB-1
cannot draw power from MIDI bus

Step 5: Setting the MIDI channel – one DB-1 Drawbar Controller
This procedure varies slightly depending on your keyboard configuration, so please read carefully.
Electro family with one DB-1 Drawbar Controller
The short answer: MIDI channel selection happens automagically for Electro and Electro 2 setups, and
also for Electro 3 and Electro 4 setups that don't use an external keyboard as a lower organ manual.
That seems to be the majority of DB-1 buyers. If you're among this group, you can skip this step.
The long answer: the DB-1 defaults to MIDI channel 1 at boot, but automatically switches to whatever
channel you are using. This makes life very easy for most Electro owners. But if your Electro is on
MIDI channel 6, you will need to play something before the DB-1 starts transmitting on channel 6. If
that's an annoyance, you can set the MIDI channel explicitly. And if you're using an Electro or 4 with a
second keyboard as a lower organ manual, you will need to teach the DB-1 what MIDI channels you
are using. The procedure is simple:
1. Press and hold the white P ROGRAM BUTTON located on the rear panel. Hold this button down
until the LED begins to flash. Release the button. The LED will continue to flash, indicating
that you are in Learn Mode.
2. Press and hold the T OP BUTTON. While holding the T OP BUTTON, play a few notes on the Electro
keyboard. If you have an Electro 3 or 4, and if you are using an external keyboard as a lower
organ manual, play a few notes on that keyboard also.
3. Release the T OP BUTTON
4. Quickly press and release the P ROGRAM BUTTON. The LED will stop flashing. Done!
Note for Electro 4 owners
The Electro 4 has the ability to use either USB or 5-pin DIN as its MIDI interface. The DB-1 uses the
5-pin DIN interface, so you'll need to go into the Electro 4's MIDI menu and change the menu function
MIDI Interface setting to P(DIN MIDI).
C1 or C2 with one DB-1 Drawbar Controller
You need to teach the DB-1 Drawbar Controller which MIDI channels are used for the upper and lower
manuals. To do this:
5. Press and hold the white P ROGRAM BUTTON located on the rear panel. Hold this button down
until the LED begins to flash. Release the button. The LED will continue to flash, indicating
that you are in Learn Mode.
6. Press and hold the T OP BUTTON. While holding the T OP BUTTON, play a few notes on the upper
manual, then play a few notes on the lower manual.
7. Release the T OP BUTTON
8. Quickly press and release the P ROGRAM BUTTON. The LED will stop flashing.
7

Stage / Stage EX / Stage 2
Stage 2 version 1.40 or later
You should first verify that the Stage 2 is still using the default values in the MIDI Menu:
Global MIDI Channel = 1
MIDI Slot A Channel = OFF
MIDI Organ A Channel = OFF
MIDI Piano A Channel = OFF
MIDI Synth A Channel = OFF
MIDI Slot B Channel = OFF
MIDI Organ B Channel = OFF
MIDI Piano B Channel = OFF
MIDI Synth B Channel = OFF
MIDI Prog Change Mode = Send & Receive
MIDI Ctrl Change Mode = Send & Receive
If you use an external keyboard as a lower organ manual, that keyboard cannot use the Stage's Global
MIDI channel. You must pick some other MIDI channel. Set the external keyboard to transmit on this
channel. In the Stage 2's MIDI Menu, also set the MIDI Dual KB Channel to this same channel. Lastly,
put the Stage into Dual KB Mode. The exact procedure is described in the Nord Stage 2 manual.
To set the DB-1's MIDI Channel:
1. Press and hold the white P ROGRAM BUTTON located on the rear panel. Hold this button down
until the LED begins to flash. Release the button. The LED will continue to flash, indicating
that you are in Learn Mode.
2. Press and hold the T OP BUTTON. While holding the T OP BUTTON, play a few notes on the Stage
keyboard. If you have an external keyboard connected, do NOT play any notes on it.
3. Release the T OP BUTTON
4. Quickly press and release the P ROGRAM BUTTON. The LED will stop flashing.
If you set up a keyboard split, have two Slots active, and have organs active in both Slots, the two Slots
act as independent organ manuals. The DB-1 drawbars will act upon the Slot that's in focus (the slot
whose LED is flashing.)
When using either a keyboard split or an external lower manual, change Slot focus between upper and
lower organ manual by using the Slot A / Slot B buttons on the Stage 2 control panel. You can also
program the Top Button to toggle Slot focus for you – see the section on programming the Top Button
below. While in Learn Mode, press and hold the T OP BUTTON and press the Slot button that is currently
not in Focus, forcing the Stage to change Slots. Then exit Learn Mode.
8

Stage, Stage EX, and Stage 2 prior to 1.40
What is now called a “Slot” on the Stage 2 used to be called a “Panel” on the Stage and Stage EX. This
section will use the “Panel” nomenclature.
In order for the DB-1 to control legacy Stage and Stage EX keyboards, it must make assumptions based
on the MIDI channels it sees during the Learn Mode MIDI channel assignment. If it sees one MIDI
channel, it will operate in single-channel mode. If the DB-1 sees two MIDI channels during the Learn
mode assignment, it will assume that you have two organ manuals controlling two Panels.
For this reason: If you do not use multiple organ manuals, before assigning the DB-1's MIDI channel,
make sure that you only have Panel A active and that you have turned off all the Piano / Organ / Synth
MIDI channel overrides in the MIDI menu, as shown in the Stage 2 section above. The DB-1 will keep
track of whether it sees Note On events on one or two MIDI channels during the Learn process.
To set the MIDI Channel:
1. Press and hold the white P ROGRAM BUTTON located on the rear panel. Hold this button down
until the LED begins to flash. Release the button. The LED will continue to flash, indicating
that you are in Learn Mode.
2. Press and hold the T OP BUTTON. While holding the T OP BUTTON, play a few notes on the Stage
keyboard. If you have an external keyboard connected or a split point set, play notes on the
upper keyboard or split, then on the lower keyboard or split.
3. Release the T OP BUTTON
4. Quickly press and release the P ROGRAM BUTTON. The LED will stop flashing.
If the DB-1 sees one MIDI channel during this process, it will assume that you want to control one
Panel, and the Top Button defaults to doing nothing, but can be reprogrammed as described later in the
manual. If it sees two MIDI channels, it will remember both channels, and the Top Button will toggle
between MIDI channels, allowing you to toggle control between both Panels. But keep in mind, on
legacy Stage and Stage EX instruments, the DB-1 cannot control which Panel is in focus on the Stage
control panel. That means the DB-1 could end up controlling the Panel that is not in focus. The drawbar
commands will still be received by the Stage's “hidden” organ engine, but you won't see the LED
bargraphs change on the control panel (because those bargraphs always represent the Panel in focus).
Whew. Ok, you’re now ready to play.
9

Step 5: Setting the MIDI channel – two DB-1 Drawbar Controllers
The procedure is the same for all keyboard configurations:
You must teach each DB-1 Drawbar Controller separately what MIDI channel to use for its
corresponding manual (upper and lower). We start with the Upper drawbar controller:
1. On the Upper DB-1 Drawbar Controller, press and hold the white P ROGRAM BUTTON located on
the rear panel. Hold this button down until the LED begins to flash. Release the button. The
LED will continue to flash, indicating that you are in Learn Mode.
2. Press and hold the Upper DB-1 Drawbar Controller’s T OP BUTTON. While holding this button,
play a few notes on the upper manual only. Release the button.
3. Quickly press and release the P ROGRAM BUTTON on the Upper DB-1 Drawbar Controller. The
LED will stop flashing.
Now repeat the procedure for the Lower manual:
4. On the Lower DB-1 Drawbar Controller, press and hold the rear-panel P ROGRAM BUTTON until
the LED begins to flash. Release the button. The LED will continue to flash, indicating that
you are in Learn Mode.
5. Press and hold the Lower DB-1 Drawbar Controller’s T OP BUTTON. While holding this button,
play a few notes on the lower manual only. Release the button.
6. Quickly press and release the Lower DB-1 Drawbar Controller’s P ROGRAM BUTTON. The LED
will stop flashing.
You have now taught each of the DB-1 Drawbar Controllers its MIDI channel. This information has
been written to FLASH memory, so you will not have to perform this step again unless you change
your Nord’s MIDI channel assignments. You will need to keep track of which DB-1 Drawbar
Controller is upper and which is lower. You’ll get unexpected results if you later swap them without
reprogramming them.
Time to Play!
That’s it! Go play some music. As you move each drawbar, you should see the LED display for the
corresponding virtual drawbars move up and down. If not, carefully double-check the procedures in the
five setup steps.
Also, please note that that the Stage and the Electro only display one set of virtual bar-graph drawbars
at a time, but these keyboards internally can support two organ manuals, each having their own drawbar
registration. The DB-1 attempts to control the organ manual that is “in focus” on the control panel, and
it attempts to keep track of panel focus changes by listening to the MIDI messages being sent by your
Nord. There may be some exception cases where the Nord has silently changed panel focus undetected,
and the DB-1 starts controlling the virtual drawbars that are not currently being displayed. These
exception cases have been avoided where possible to do so.
10

Programming the T OP BUTTON
The purpose of the T OP BUTTON depends on your keyboard configuration.
Single DB-1 Drawbar Controller with C1/C2: the T OP BUTTON acts as a toggle which selects whether
the drawbars are controlling the upper or lower organ manual. This button is not programmable, so you
can skip to the next section.
Single DB-1 Drawbar controller with Electro family, and
Single DB-1 Drawbar Controller with Stage family with second keyboard set up as a lower organ
manual: if you programmed two MIDI channels into your DB-1 Drawbar Controller, the T OP BUTTON
will act as a toggle which selects which manual the drawbars are controlling, but it can be
reprogrammed to do other things.
For all other keyboard configurations, the T OP BUTTON does nothing initially but can be
reprogrammed.
The T OP BUTTON can be programmed to send most MIDI Control Change (CC) messages to the Nord.
Subsequent pushes of the button will toggle between sending a data value of 0 and sending 127 (hex
7F) which is the maximum MIDI value. The T OP BUTTON is programmed by sending it a MIDI CC
message while in learn mode while holding the T OP BUTTON down, similar to how MIDI channels are
programmed.
Many of the Nord’s front toggle panel functions work by sending either 0 or 127 for some MIDI CC, so
you can program the T OP BUTTON to duplicate any of these functions. For example, you might want the
T OP BUTTON to toggle the speed of the rotary simulator. Or on an Electro, if you use two manuals you
might want the T OP BUTTON to toggle between Upper and Lower manual. To set this up:
1. Press and hold the white P ROGRAM BUTTON located on the rear panel. Hold this button down
until the LED begins to flash. Release the button. The LED will continue to flash, indicating
that you are in Learn Mode.
2. Press and hold the T OP BUTTON.
3. While holding the T OP BUTTON , press the button on the Nord’s control panel whose function
you would like to assign to the T OP BUTTON.
4. Release the T OP BUTTON
5. Quickly press and release the P ROGRAM BUTTON. The LED will stop flashing.
The T OP BUTTON has just “learned” the MIDI Control Change message associated with whatever Nord
button you pushed. (This assumes that the Nord button you pushed causes a MIDI Control Change
message to be send. Most of the Nord’s toggle-state buttons do this.) You should now be able to push
the T OP BUTTON and see that it duplicates the function of the Nord button you just assigned to it.
11

Programming the T OP BUTTON (Continued)
Send All Function: The T OP BUTTON can be programmed to resend all drawbar data whenever it's
pressed. This is useful if you want to have the drawbars set to one registration and then bring up a patch
set to some other registration. You can play the patch with the stored registration, and then instantly
change the entire registration by pushing the Top Botton.
The Top Button is programmed for Send All by exiting Learn Mode while holding the Top Button
down.
12

Drawbar Auto-Sync
An advantage of Clavia’s virtual drawbar system is the ability to have the virtual drawbars jump to a
pre-programmed set of drawbar positions (organists call this a “registration”) whenever you select a
preset. Now that you have real drawbars, when you call up this preset the virtual drawbars will jump to
whatever registration was stored for that preset, but the physical drawbars of course will not. Imagine
that you have all the drawbars in your DB-1 Drawbar Controller pushed in, and you call up a preset on
your Nord that has an “888888888” registration where all of the drawbars are pulled out. The DB-1
Drawbar Controller normally does not generate any MIDI traffic unless you do something, so the
Nord’s control panel will not reflect the actual positions of your DB-1 drawbars. As you move each of
the drawbars on your DB-1 Drawbar Controller, the Nord’s virtual drawbars will “snap” to the correct
position, and when you’ve moved all of the drawbars the two will be back in sync.
And some folks like that. And it's also possible to use the T OP BUTTON Send All function to resend
everything at once, described earlier in the manual.
A third option is Auto Sync. You can program the organ preset to resynchronize automatically with the
DB-1 drawbar positions whenever the preset is selected, sorta like the B and Bb presets on an old
console organ.
The DB-1 can remember up to four MIDI Program Changes that you designate as Auto-Sync presets.
These presets are stored by selecting Programs on your Nord while in Learn Mode and with the T OP
B UTTON held down, so the procedure is very similar to how MIDI Channel and the T OP BUTTON are
programmed:
1. Press and hold the white P ROGRAM BUTTON located on the rear panel. Hold this button down
until the LED begins to flash. Release the button. The LED will continue to flash, indicating
that you are in Learn Mode.
2. Press and hold the T OP BUTTON.
3. While holding the T OP BUTTON , select the desired preset(s) using the Nord’s control panel
4. Release the T OP BUTTON
5. Quickly press and release the P ROGRAM BUTTON. The LED will stop flashing.
Note: if you are using two DB-1 Drawbar Controllers, you only need to perform this procedure on the
Upper Manual Drawbar Controller.
Now when you select the designated preset(s), all of the DB-1’s drawbar positions will be automatically
re-sent to the Nord, effectively re-syncing the Nord with the positions of the physical drawbars on your
DB-1 Drawbar Controller. If you are using a single DB-1 Drawbar Controller to control two organ
manuals, the Upper manual will automatically be selected for you.
13

Learn Mode summary
In earlier sections of this manual we have described various settings that can be stored using Learn
Mode. Here’s a quick summary of all those settings.
To enter Learn Mode: press and hold the white P ROGRAM BUTTON located on the rear panel. Hold this
button down until the LED begins to flash slowly. This should take approximately three seconds.
Release the button. The LED will continue to flash slowly, indicating that you’re in Learn Mode. Once
you’re in Learn Mode, the DB-1 Drawbar Controller listens for certain MIDI events and remembers
them. The things that can be learned this way are:
! MIDI Channel (except for Electro with one DB-1 Drawbar Controller)
! T OP BUTTON function (except for C1/C2 with one DB-1; see “About the T OP BUTTON” above)
! Program Changes for Drawbar Auto-Sync
The things learned in Learn Mode are written to FLASH memory. This memory is retained even when
there’s no power, so you will only need to reprogram things in Learn Mode if your keyboard
configuration changes, or if you decide to move your organ presets around.
To exit Learn Mode: quickly press and release the small white PGM button on the rear panel. The LED
will stop flashing slowly, and will resume flashing only when MIDI is sent or received.
Clear Memory
The things learned in Learn Mode can be un-learned by using the Clear Memory function, which
restores everything to the factory defaults. To perform the Clear Memory function, press and hold the
small white P ROGRAM BUTTON on the rear panel. After about three seconds it will flash slowly, but
continue to hold it down. After approximately 8 more seconds it will flash quickly. Release the button.
All of the user setup data has now been cleared and the factory defaults have been restored. You will
need to repeat Step 5 to reprogram the MIDI channel.
Rubber Feet
Your DB-1 Drawbar Controller comes with self-adhesive rubber feet. These feet are remarkably grippy
and should help your drawbar controller stay parked where you want it. Peel four of the feet off of the
rubber backing and apply them near the outside corners of the bottom of the drawbar controller
enclosure.
If you find that the 9 volt battery rattles inside the battery compartment, you can use one of the feet to
stop that from happened. Just apply it to the bottom of the battery door and it’ll stop the battery from
moving around.
14

Configuring the DB-1 with other MIDI tonewheel organs and modules
The DB-1 was designed to be particularly easy to set up with Nord keyboards, but it can used with
other keyboards, organ modules, and virtual organ software as well. However:
! Not all keyboards with drawbar organ sounds respond to drawbar commands. Many keyboards and
modules just play an organ sample, with no ability to control the individual drawbar positions. So
adding drawbars to such an instrument will not magically give it the power to make drawbar
adjustments.
! There is no MIDI standard for drawbar events. Even among the various Nord models different
MIDI CC values are used, which is why the DB-1 has DIP Switches to select specific Nord
products. It’s unlikely that non-Nord keyboards will respond to Nord drawbar MIDI commands in
a useful way.
One exception to this is EVB3 which comes bundled with MainStage. In EVB3 parlance, keyboard
mappings are called “MIDI Modes” and there is a MIDI Mode which emulates the Nord Electro
mapping. Click on the MIDI Mode field and select NE. The DB-1’s DIP switches should be
configured for Single DB-1 controlling Nord Electro.
Another excellent and very popular virtual tonewheel system is GSi VB3. The DB-1’s default
MIDI CC mapping in User-Defined mode is set to the VB3 defaults, with the T OP BUTTON
preconfigured to toggle rotary speaker speed. Thus the DB-1 is compatible with VB3 right out of
the box, with no programming necessary.
Most virtual organ software can be trained to “learn” MIDI CC values and assign those commands to
specific drawbars. That might be the easiest way to configure such a setup to work with the DB-1.
But you can also program the DB-1 directly. The DB-1’s drawbars and T OP BUTTON can be configured to
send MIDI CC on any MIDI Channel. To perform this programming, you need a standard USB-MIDI
cable (available at just about any shop where electronic keyboards are sold) and the DB-1 Configurator
app (a free download at www.oceanbeachdigital.com)
The Configurator also has drop-down menu selections for a number of popular keyboards made by
Korg, Roland, Hammond-Suzuki, Kurzweil, and others. Please check the Ocean Beach Digital website
for the latest list of supported instruments and the newest DB-1 firmware.
15

Internal MIDI Routing
You may find this block diagram of the DB-1's internal MIDI routing useful. Note that it is the AUX
MIDI IN that is merged with the DB-1s internal drawbars.
You will probably want to connect your master controller’s output to the AUX MIDI IN jack, and the
DB-1’s MAIN MIDI OUT to your sound module or virtual tonewheel software. This will allow you to
use the DB-1’s internal MIDI Merger to merge your drawbar movements into the MIDI stream
generated by your master controller keyboard.
Note also that the DB-1 can only grab power from the MAIN MIDI IN jack, so you would need to use
the 9v battery for power in this configuration.
16
MIDI INMIDI OUT
MAIN
AUX
MIDI INMIDI OUT
merge
drawbars
Ocean Beach Digital DB-1
in out

Troubleshooting
If you are reading this section, apparently Trouble has befallen you and so must be shot. This section
will guide you through the necessary steps.
First, let’s take a step back and look at the big picture. The DB-1 works by sending MIDI messages to
your Nord, and it also must be able to receive messages from the Nord for programming. If the setup
steps at the beginning of this manual didn’t get things going for you, any one of several things could be
the cause. In order for the DB-1 to function, the following conditions must all be met:
! The DB-1 must have enough power to operate.
! The Nord must receive the MIDI messages sent by the DB-1
! The DB-1 must receive messages sent by the Nord.
So let’s work our way down the list.
1. The DB-1 must have enough power to operate. The easiest way to remove any uncertainty is to
connect a fresh 9-volt battery to the DB-1 and press the Power button in. When you move the DB-1
drawbars back and forth, you should see the LED flicker, indicating that the unit has power and that
it’s sending MIDI messages. If this isn’t happening, make sure the Power button is on (pressed in)
and that the battery is in good condition. Once you’ve verified the DB-1 has power, you can move
on to the next step.
2. The Nord must receive the MIDI messages sent by the DB-1. Your Nord has a MIDI indicator
LED of its own, and it should also flicker when you move the DB-1’s drawbars. If not, double
check your cable connections – the DB-1’s MAIN OUT should be connected to the Nord’s MIDI IN,
and the DB-1’s MAIN IN should be connected to the Nord’s MIDI OUT. You might also try
swapping the cables for different ones to make sure it’s not a cable problem. Also, if your Nord has
USB-MIDI capabilities (such as with the Electro 4), you must configure your Nord to use the round
5-pin DIN MIDI input and output connectors, not USB.
3. The DB-1 must receive messages sent by the Nord. Similarly, when you play note on the Nord,
move the expression pedal, or press the virtual drawbar buttons, you should see the DB-1’s LED
flicker, indicating that it is receiving those messages. If not, double check the cabling as described
above. It might also be a Nord MIDI configuration issue, the resolution of which is described
below.
If it appears that you have physical connectivity (cables are plugged into the correct places), you should
also verify that the Nord has been configured to send and receive MIDI Note On and CC information.
All of the Nord models have MIDI menu functions to configure this stuff, and to our knowledge the
default configurations work fine. But it’s possible at some point these menu settings have changed, so
you’ll want to bust out your Nord’s manual and go to the MIDI menu sections towards the back of the
manual. The things you want to look for are described on the next page.
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Troubleshooting (continued)
Here are the things to look for:
For all keyboard models:
! make sure that you have the MIDI cables connected to the correct jacks. Even if you connect
the cables backwards, the DB-1 may still be able to run off MIDI power, so don’t be fooled by
this – make sure DB-1 MAIN OUT goes to Nord MIDI IN, and Nord MIDI OUT goes to DB-
1 MAIN IN.
For all keyboard models with USB MIDI:
! make sure that the Nord is configured to use the DIN MIDI interface and not USB. For
example, on Electro 4 menu function MIDI Interface the default setting
U (USB MIDI) must be changed to P (DIN MIDI)
For Electro and Electro 2:
! make sure that the MIDI channel is set to 1-16, and not “ — “ (off).
For Electro 3:
! make sure the MIDI channel is set to 1-16, and not OF
! make sure Control Change (CC) Mode is set to Sr (Send and Receive).
! make sure Program Change Mode is set to Sr (Send and Receive).
For Stage 2:
! double-check the MIDI menu settings described in the Stage 2 section of this manual
For Stage and Stage EX:
! make sure the MIDI Panel A/B Channel is set to 1-16, and not Off
! make sure the MIDI Organ A/B Channel is set to 1-16, and not Off
! make sure MIDI Control Change Mode is set to Send & Receive
! make sure MIDI Prog Change Mode is set to Send & Receive
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