This page is read from MIDI Instrument Definitions, a Python library used in the author's other projects, in which every number is traced to a document its maker published. Its source is on GitHub.

Nord Lead A1 MIDI implementation

The MIDI implementation of the Nord Lead A1: what it answers to, and the 68 controls it offers, on firmware 1.36.

At a glance

Firmware: This page describes firmware 1.36.
MIDI channel: Any one of 1 to 16.
Parts: Slot, 4 of them: each on a MIDI channel of its own, taking notes, controls, and program changes.
Voices: 26, shared by the parts that play notes.
Note range: 0 to 127: C-1 to G9, counting middle C as C4.
Velocity: Sent and received. Release velocity is ignored.
Aftertouch: None, sent or answered.
Pitch bend: How far it bends is not recorded, and the range can be changed.
Program change: Received and sent, with 400 presets.
MIDI clock: Received.
Start and stop: Not recorded.
Control change: 68 controls, in the tables below.
NRPN: None.
System exclusive: Supported.

Controls

In the order the definition gives them, by part and group. Under each control is the name a program calls it by, once pymidiinstrumentdefs.load("nord/lead_a1") has loaded them.

On the base MIDI channel

Arpeggiator

Control	CC	Values
Arp Run `arp_run`	90	0-127
Arp Tempo/Clk Divisions `arp_tempo_clk_divisions`	9	0-127
Arp Master Clock Enable `arp_master_clock_enable`	86	0-127
Arp Range `arp_range`	88	0-127
Arp Direction `arp_direction`	89	0-127

Glide, voice mode, bend and vibrato

Control	CC	Values
Glide Rate `glide_rate`	5	0-127
Mono Selector `mono_selector`	15	0-127
Voice Mode Unison `voice_mode_unison`	16	0-127
Pitch Bend Range `pitch_bend_range`	118	0-127
Vibrato Select `vibrato_select`	56	0-127

LFO

Control	CC	Values
LFO Rate/Clk Divisions `lfo_rate_clk_divisions`	19	0-127
LFO Waveform Selector `lfo_waveform_selector`	20	0-127
LFO Master Clock Enable `lfo_master_clock_enable`	2	0-127
LFO Envelope Selector `lfo_envelope_selector`	34	0-127

Mod envelope

Control	CC	Values
Mod Envelope Attack `mod_envelope_attack`	26	0-127
Mod Envelope Decay/Sustain `mod_envelope_decay_sustain`	27	0-127
Mod Envelope Release `mod_envelope_release`	28	0-127
Mod Envelope Invert `mod_envelope_invert`	38	0-127
Mod Envelope Velocity `mod_envelope_velocity`	29	0-127

Oscillator

Control	CC	Values
Osc LFO Modulation Amount `osc_lfo_modulation_amount`	68	0-127
Osc Mod Envelope Amount `osc_mod_envelope_amount`	69	0-127
Osc Control `osc_control`	31	0-127
Osc Waveform Selector `osc_waveform_selector`	30	0-127
Osc Configuration `osc_configuration`	33	0-127

Filter

Control	CC	Values
Filter LFO Modulation Amount `filter_lfo_modulation_amount`	48	0-127
Filter Mod Envelope Amount `filter_mod_envelope_amount`	43	0-127
Filter Frequency `filter_frequency`	74	0-127
Filter Type `filter_type`	44	0-127
Filter Keyboard Tracking `filter_keyboard_tracking`	46	0-127
Filter Drive `filter_drive`	47	0-127
Filter Resonance `filter_resonance`	42	0-127

Amp envelope

Control	CC	Values
Amp Envelope Attack `amp_envelope_attack`	73	0-127
Amp Envelope Decay `amp_envelope_decay`	36	0-127
Amp Envelope Release `amp_envelope_release`	72	0-127
Amp Envelope Velocity `amp_envelope_velocity`	35	0-127

FX

Control	CC	Values
FX Amount `fx_amount`	55	0-127
FX Selection `fx_selection`	53	0-127
FX On/Off `fx_on_off`	52	0 `off`, 127 `on`

Delay

Control	CC	Values
Delay Tempo/Clk Divisions `delay_tempo_clk_divisions`	78	0-127
Delay Master Clock Enable `delay_master_clock_enable`	51	0-127
Delay Feedback `delay_feedback`	79	0-127
Delay Ping Pong `delay_ping_pong`	100	0-127
Delay Amount `delay_amount`	76	0-127
Delay On/Off `delay_on_off`	99	0 `off`, 127 `on`

Output

Control	CC	Values
Output Level `output_level`	71	0-127
Pan `pan`	10	0-127

Reverb

Control	CC	Values
Reverb Amount `reverb_amount`	98	0-127
Reverb Selector `reverb_selector`	96	0-127
Reverb On/Off `reverb_on_off`	97	0 `off`, 127 `on`

Octave shift, hold and the slots

Control	CC	Values
Octave Shift `octave_shift`	17	0-127
Hold `hold`	58	0-127
Hold Enable `hold_enable`	54	0-127
Slot Focus `slot_focus`	119	0-127
Slot Enable `slot_enable`	115	0-127

Pedals, wheel and bank select

Control	CC	Values
Volume Pedal `volume_pedal`	7	0-127
Ctrl Pedal `ctrl_pedal`	11	0-127 Sent, never received
Mod Wheel `mod_wheel`	1	0-127
Wheel/Pedal Morph `wheel_pedal_morph`	11	0-127 Received, never sent
Sustain Pedal `sustain_pedal`	64	0-127
Bank Select MSB `bank_select_msb`	0	0-127
Bank Select LSB `bank_select_lsb`	32	0-127

Slot

Output

Control	CC	Values
Pan `slot_pan`	10	0-127 Received, never sent

Pedals, wheel and bank select

Control	CC	Values
Volume Pedal `slot_volume_pedal`	7	0-127 Received, never sent
Mod Wheel `slot_mod_wheel`	1	0-127 Received, never sent
Wheel/Pedal Morph `slot_wheel_pedal_morph`	11	0-127 Received, never sent
Sustain Pedal `slot_sustain_pedal`	64	0-127 Received, never sent
Bank Select MSB `slot_bank_select_msb`	0	0-127 Received, never sent
Bank Select LSB `slot_bank_select_lsb`	32	0-127 Received, never sent

Where these facts come from

Source documents

Nord Lead A1 User Manual, OS Version 1.3x, Print Edition F, dated 28 August 2014, its user manual, read on 11 October 2026 (the file read).
Downloads | Nord, a web page, read on 11 October 2026.
Nord Lead A1 - Update History | Nord, v1.36, dated 12 September 2024, its release notes, read on 11 October 2026 (the file read).

How they were read

NORD IS THE THIRTY-SIXTH MAKER HERE AND THIS IS ITS FIRST INSTRUMENT. The company is Clavia DMI AB and the name on its instruments is Nord, "The Nord logo is a trademark of Clavia DMI AB." (manual p. 2), which is the name the folder and manufacturer carry.

ONE MANUAL IN ENGLISH, WITH A MIDI CHAPTER OF FOUR PAGES. Nord's downloads page lists the English manual as English User Manual, OS v1.3x, Print Edition F (downloads_page). It is 40 sheets, its page number the sheet number, for the Lead A1 and the A1R both. Chapter 11 is MIDI: how the two kinds of channel work (manual p. 32), the kinds of message (manual p. 33), a list of controller numbers (manual p. 34) and an implementation chart (manual p. 35). The MIDI menu's ten items are in the chapter before (manual p. 31). No other document about MIDI is listed. The page lists the manual in five other languages too, four in an earlier print edition and one with none given, which were not read (downloads_page).

THE GLOBAL CHANNEL SENDS AND RECEIVES. "Keys you play on a Nord Lead A1 keyboard, and any tweaks that you do on the Lead A1 panel will generate MIDI messages on the Global Channel." (manual p. 32). It is heard as well: "MIDI that enters the Nord Lead A1 on the Global MIDI channel will play all the Slots that are active." (manual p. 32), with a Performance's splits and layers kept: "If a Performance includes layers and/or splits, or actions with the Morph controls, those aspects will be reproduced in the same way as if you played on the keyboard itself." (manual p. 32). It can be set from 1 to 16 or to off, and is 1 as shipped (manual p. 31). Of the three settings the manual says transpose, one moves the notes sent as well, the keyboard's octave shift: "MIDI Note messages at the MIDI output will be transposed." (manual p. 18). A Slot's Octave Shift and the System menu's transpose do not (manual pp. 18, 30).

A SLOT'S CHANNEL ONLY RECEIVES, AND A SLOT ANSWERS ON IT WHETHER OR NOT IT IS ACTIVE. "A Slot MIDI Channel is only receiving MIDI messages." (manual p. 32). "By using the individual Slot MIDI Channels in the Nord Lead A1, you have individual control of the Slots, for notes as well as for parameters." (manual p. 32). "A Slot does not have to be active in a Performance, it will always respond to incoming MIDI on its MIDI Channel." (manual p. 32). Each of the four can be set from 1 to 16 or to off, and all four are off as shipped (manual p. 31). So slot is a part below, four of them, each on a channel its owner assigns. Where the two conflict the Global channel takes precedence, by the update history's note on a fault mended in 1.12: "Fixed bug where Global MIDI channel did not take precedence over slot channel if in conflict." (update_history). It does not say what a conflict is, which is read here as the two set to the same channel; the manual has none of those words. A system exclusive dump is matched to a channel of either kind too, "the Global (or Slot) MIDI Channel" (manual p. 33).

ON THE GLOBAL CHANNEL A PARAMETER'S CONTROLLER MOVES THE FOCUSED SLOT. "There are more parameters available in the Nord Lead A1 Slots than there are available MIDI Control Change numbers. This means that the Slot buttons on the panel will be used to set the transmitting and receiving Slot focus of panel generated CC messages." (manual p. 32). So a parameter's controller sent to the Global channel changes the Slot the panel is focused on, or the Slots: "By using Multi Focus, Slot focus can be set to multiple Slots simultaneously." (manual p. 11). One sent to a Slot's channel changes that Slot. The wheel and the pedal are another matter: "Pitch Stick, Modulation Wheel and Control Pedal reaches all Slots regardless of focus and their active state." (manual p. 11), and "The global channel acts just like playing on the keyboard." (manual p. 11). That 1 and 11 arriving on the Global channel reach every Slot is a reading of those two sentences; no sentence says it of those two numbers. Of 7 and of 10 a sentence does speak, and not of the focus: sent on the Global channel or a Slot's they set "The output level of an Performance or an individual Slot" (manual p. 33) and "The position of an Performance or a individual Slot" (manual p. 33), read here as the Performance on the Global channel and the one Slot on its own. So Pan, a program's parameter (manual p. 36), is by that sentence an exception to the focus. The list has a Slot Focus, 119, and a Slot Enable, 115, with no word on the values either takes. The manual's own words for a Slot the keyboard plays are active and Slot Activation (manual pp. 11, 12), and no page joins them to Slot Enable.

THE LIST IS 61 ROWS, AND ALL ARE CARRIED. It is headed MIDI Controller list, in two tables of Nord Lead A1 parameter and MIDI CC (manual p. 34): 45 rows in the left and 17 in the right, one of the right's empty: 61 rows with a name and a number. There are 60 different numbers. 11 is there twice, once as what the control pedal sends when it is a Morph source and once as what arrives: both rows are controls here, one sent and one received. What arrives on 11 is a Morph source, beside the wheel, when the control pedal is set to volume; and when the wheel is set to vibrato alone as well, it is the only one from wheel or pedal. As shipped the pedal is at volume, P1 Volume (default), and the wheel at L1 Morph + Vibrato (default) (manual p. 30), so the pedal sends 7 and not 11 until its owner says otherwise. What arrives on 1 is the wheel's, and the wheel sends it: "The Modulation Wheel will transmit MIDI CC 01." (manual p. 19), with the Morph's sources on another page (manual p. 13). "Most of the parameters on the Nord Lead A1 panel will generate a CC message if operated, and the reception of these messages will change the parameter accordingly." (manual p. 33). The specifications put it more widely, "All control knobs and switches send and receive control change messages." (manual p. 36), and the chart has control change both ways and sends its reader to this list (manual p. 35). So the others state no direction. For three of them a sentence gives one way only: the one sentence about 64 is "The sustain pedal transmits CC64." (manual p. 33), with none that it is received, and bank select on 0 and 32 is described only as arriving (manual p. 33). What covers the other way is the chart, and one sentence wider than the two above: "By using the Global MIDI Channel, all MIDI notes and Control Change messages can be transmitted and/or received on a single MIDI channel." (manual p. 32). The list prints no range for any row. Its two notes say that a button for an on/off function is 0 at off and 127 at on, and that a button that steps through settings starts at 0 and rises by steps whose size turns on how many settings there are (manual p. 34). The three rows the list itself names On/Off carry those two values as choices; which other rows are such buttons the list does not say. The specifications call an envelope's velocity and its inversion on/off as well (manual p. 36), and no value is printed for those rows or for any Enable. No step is printed for any selector.

NO NRPN, AND THE LIST IS WHY. An NRPN is addressed on controllers 98 and 99 and its value travels on 6 and 38. The list gives 98 to Reverb Amount, 99 to Delay On/Off and 38 to Mod Envelope Invert (manual p. 34), and the manual names neither NRPN nor RPN on any page. So nrpn is none, as a reading of the list and not a sentence of the manual's.

SEVEN STANDARD CONTROLLERS ARE WRITTEN TWICE. The mod wheel, the volume, the pan, the Morph on 11, the sustain pedal and the two halves of bank select each have a part-less control for the Global channel and a twin keyed slot_ that names the part and is received only. Two are named by the manual as reaching a Slot on its channel: the output level "can be set by transmitting CC7 to the Nord Lead A1 on the Global, or any of the Slot MIDI Channels." (manual p. 33), and the pan "can be set by transmitting CC10 to the Nord Lead A1 on the Global Channel, or any of the Slot MIDI Channels." (manual p. 33). Bank select goes with program change, which a Slot takes on its channel. The other three are written on the strength of the sentence that a Slot's channel carries its parameters, and of another: "If you want to make parameter changes on more than one Nord Lead A1 Slot at the same time, the Slot MIDI Channel approach will be more suitable." (manual p. 32). The rows that are a program's parameters reach a Slot on its channel by that same sentence, and are left part-less only because the rule this file follows covers the standard controllers. Four rows are not such parameters. Ctrl Pedal is marked by the list as a transmission, and a Slot's channel only receives. Slot Focus and Hold are settings a Performance holds for all four Slots, "Slot Focus, Slot Activation, Hold" (manual p. 12) among them, and Slot Enable is a name no other page uses; what any of the three does on a Slot's own channel is not said.

PROGRAM CHANGE MEANS THREE THINGS BY WHERE IT ARRIVES. "The Slots will respond to incoming Program Change messages on their individual Slot MIDI Channels." (manual p. 33). "Incoming Program Change messages on the Global MIDI Channel will change the performance, if Performance Mode is enabled." (manual p. 33). And otherwise: "Incoming Program Change on the Global MIDI Channel will change programs on the focused Slot if Performance Mode is not enabled." (manual p. 33). It is sent on the Global channel alone, as all that the instrument itself sends is: "MIDI output is always sent on the global channel." (manual p. 11). Bank select picks a bank first: "Bank Select messages (CC00, CC32) are used to select the 8 program banks (CC00, value 0 + CC32 values 0-7) or the 4 performance banks (CC00, value 0 + CC32, value 0-3) when Performance Mode is active." (manual p. 33), and "Bank Select messages should be immediately followed by a Program Change message when you wish to select a bank from an external unit." (manual p. 33). No page says which program change number picks which of a bank's fifty.

HOW MANY PROGRAMS A BANK HOLDS IS PRINTED TWO WAYS. "The memory contains 400 Programs divided into 8 banks, and 200 Performances divided into 4 banks." (manual p. 12), which is fifty to a bank, and the specifications say the same (manual p. 36). The chart gives program change as O, 0-98, ninety-nine values (manual p. 35), and the menu's dump of a bank speaks of "all of the 99 Programs or Performances in the current Bank" (manual p. 31). presets records the 400, and the 200 performances are in no field.

THE CHART. Channels 1 to 16 both ways, with the remark Indiv. channels for Slot A, B, C & D. Its default mode is printed Mode 1, 3 in both columns, which is two modes and not one, so mode is not recorded. Note numbers 0 to 127 both ways, with the line for the true voice left empty. Velocity on note on both ways, O, v= 1 - 127, and none on note off. Neither kind of aftertouch, either way. Pitch bend, control change and system exclusive both ways. Clock received and not sent. Commands, under System Realtime, has an X under Transmitted and an empty cell beside it, so transport is not recorded: the chart denies the sending and is silent on the hearing. The four lines under Aux Message, local control and all notes off among them, are empty in both columns (manual p. 35).

THREE OF THE KINDS OF MESSAGE CAN BE SWITCHED OFF OR MADE ONE-WAY. The MIDI menu has a mode each for control change, program change and pitch bend, over send and receive, receive only, send only and off, each shipped at send and receive (manual p. 31). The control change mode is printed in the menu as governing the panel's knobs and buttons (manual p. 31), and in the MIDI chapter without that limit: "If you do not want the Nord Lead A1 to transmit or respond to Control Change messages, this can be turned off in the MIDI Menu." (manual p. 33). Neither names the wheel or the pedals. Local control "disables or enables the connection between the keyboard and panel and the actual Lead A1 synthesizer." (manual p. 31), and goes back to on at each power-on.

NOTES ON ONE CHANNEL ARE PASSED THROUGH, AND MIDI GOES BY USB AS WELL. The menu's Soft Thru channel is 1 to 16 or off, and 10 as shipped: "Incoming MIDI note on/off data that is received at either the 5-pin or the USB MIDI on the Soft Thru Channel, will be re-routed to the 5-pin MIDI OUT connector." (manual p. 31). So the MIDI OUT can carry notes that are not the Global channel's; on what channel they leave is not said. "The USB connection on the Nord Lead A1 can also transmit and receive MIDI messages." (manual p. 8).

CLOCK IS RECEIVED AND NEVER SENT. "The Nord Lead A1 Master Clock will automatically sync to incoming MIDI Clock." (manual p. 33), and "The Nord Lead A1 does not transmit MIDI Clock messages." (manual p. 33).

26 VOICES AND FOUR SLOTS. The introduction has "a 26-voice polyphony and four simultaneous synthesizer parts" (manual p. 5), and the specifications 26 voices (manual p. 36). That is one figure for the instrument, given in one breath with its four parts, and no Slot is given a figure of its own. So polyphony_shared is true, as a reading: no sentence says how the four Slots draw on the 26. A note in unison takes more than one of them, "Unison 2 is four slightly detuned and panned voices." (manual p. 19), and the nearest any page comes to how they are shared is the update history's "Improved allocator: better at keeping mono voices and adopts to unison overload in a better way." (update_history), which names no Slot. A Slot can be made monophonic or stacked in unison, and the list has both among its parameters (manual p. 34). The bend range is the program's too: "Bend Ranges can be different for each program and can be set to a maximum of +/- 48 semitones." (manual p. 19). It can be off as well, and two settings bend 2 semitones upward and 12 or 24 downward (manual p. 19).

THE A1R SENDS LESS AND ANSWERS ALIKE. "Physical Pitch Bend and Mod Wheel controls are not available on the Nord Lead A1R but it will have an identical performance as the keyboard model when it responds to incoming MIDI Pitch Bend and Mod Wheel messages." (manual p. 6), and it has no keys, the keybed being "(keyboard version only)" (manual p. 5). So the A1R has no means to send Mod Wheel, pitch bend, or notes from keys; no page limits any other control here to the keyboard version. That it answers alike is printed of those two messages; for the rest it is this file's reading of one manual serving both. The A1R alone has a Note Trig, "Press Shift + Note Trig to trigger a note on the Nord Lead A1R." (manual p. 26); whether that note is sent is not said.

NOT RECORDED:

mode, the chart printing two;
transport, the chart's cell for hearing it being empty;
a range or a step for any parameter, the list printing none;
which rows are on/off buttons beyond the three named so;
the values of Slot Focus and Slot Enable;
by what rule the Slots share the 26 voices;
the 200 performances;
which program change number picks which program of a bank;
whether pitch bend reaches a Slot on its own channel, which no page says;
and what the three dump items of the MIDI menu send (manual p. 31), the focused program's parameters as control changes, a program or a performance as system exclusive, and a bank of either as system exclusive, of which no format is printed.