After acquiring a second-hand Nord Wave 2 I got annoyed by the program bank numbering on the device. On my old Nord Wave, the programs were organized in 8 banks with numbers ranging from 1-128. If I wanted to switch sounds using external gear like a workstation synth or a laptop, just a simple MIDI program change number would get me to the right sound on the Wave 1.
But since Wave 2 organizes the programs in banks of 25 and the numbering is not from 1–128, using traditional program change messages becomes a bit trickier. Try figuring out the correct program change number for Bank D program 42 and you will get the idea (correct answer: 91).
Using GPT 4o and Grimoire, I made this handy little tool for quickly calculating the correct MIDI Program Change values. So, for example, if I want my Roland Fantom-07 to switch my Wave 2 to bank N, program 51, I input those to the calculator and it will give me values to give my Fantom: LSB 2 and PC 95.
In Wave 2, MIDI LSB 0 will get you to banks A–E, LSB 1 to banks F–J and LSB 2 to banks K–P.
So if you’re a fellow Nord Wave 2 user and wish to use external gear to send program change messages, feel free to use this free tool.