Setting up a nord as a midi controller ???

I use an electro 3, I also have a DSI tetra, having to use the editor and step menus to get the sounds I want with the tetra is starting to drive me crazy.

I play the synth with my nord, is there any way I can map my midi output settings on my nord so that I can customize what they do to my tetra?

For instance, could I set a specific knob as a mod wheel, a certain button to toggle the arppegiator on and off... etc?

I'm a guitar player mainly so this stuff sometimes goes a bit over my head.

There are devices that let you remap controls, like the MIDI Solutions Event Processor

http://www.midisolutions.com/prodevp.htm

so assuming a Nord knob or button sent out a MIDI CC, you could map it to do whatever you wanted on the DSI.

But honestly, I think it's going to be more complicated than it's worth, especially considering that the Nord is so poorly designed to be a controller in the first place. For example, even if you mapped a Nord knob to do something on the Tetra, there would be no way to simultaneously prevent it from doing what it normally does on the Nord itself.

You'd probably be better off getting a dedicated control surface and mapping those knobs instead. Something like a Novation Zero SL Mk II for example.

I know it's a {censored} controller, I wish the nord had a module.... but the thing is that I don't have the space to set up another keyboard, I travel a lot with this rig and I can't make it any bigger.

I don't mind that it would effect the nord at the same time, I actually expected it to, the idea is to be able to label the nord somewhat and be able to tweak and find sounds to save as presets, rather than use a computer.

The Novation Zero SL Mk II isn't too big, but you can find smaller tabletop-style controllers. Maybe look for something like a used M-Audio X-session UC-17 (quite small), they had a few others too. A small Korg NanoKontrol should work if you connect it through an iConnectMIDI (to do the USB-to-Standard-MIDI conversion).

... also, you might be able to use an iPad, if you happen to have one. You can get a MIDI connector for it, and there are apps that let give you screens of MIDI controls.

that x session looks like it might fit. Do you know if the knobs or pots or are they value(clicky) knobs?

Smooth pots.

Note that sometimes you can run into something with knobs that click, but it's just a feel they add to the mechanism, and there's no correlation between a click and a value increment. I had an old Yamaha board that worked like that, terrible!