Nord User Forum

[Anair]

Hello guys does anyone has any experience of using midi keyboards with electro 5d? I was thinking of getting 88 keys midi controller and connect it to control electro's piano. I plan on using it only for piano so i need midi controller that has hammer action keys. Do you have any suggestion of the most simple (i only need keyboard, no buttons needed at all) ha midi controller that isnt very expensive? Ty

[Berretje]

nord-electro-forum-f9/electro-4-and-midi-controller-question-t13089.html?hilit=midi%20keyboard#p84498

[anotherscott]

Hello guys does anyone has any experience of using midi keyboards with electro 5d? I was thinking of getting 88 keys midi controller and connect it to control electro's piano. I plan on using it only for piano so i need midi controller that has hammer action keys. Do you have any suggestion of the most simple (i only need keyboard, no buttons needed at all) ha midi controller that isnt very expensive? Ty

One of the problems is that some manufacturers have been taking MIDI jacks off their low end products (using only USB). So whereas in the past, the least expensive Casio, Yamaha, or Roland piano could be used for this function, today they cannot. You might want to look for something like a used Yamaha P35, P95, or P85, or a Casio CDP-100, PX-100/110/120 or similar. Most 88 key soundless controllers with hammer actions have cost more than those pianos.

In something new, you could look at the Studiologic SL88 which is a controller, or the Alesis Coda Pro (or its various near-twins like the Kurzweil KA90) which have sounds... though one thing that's nice about those is that they have speakers and a line input, so for low volume stuff, you could actually plug your Nord into it and hear it out of the 88's speakers.

[maxpiano]

The Kawai ES100/110 have standard MIDI DIN too

[Lee Batchelor]

There seems to be several requests for information about controlling the VERY GREAT piano Programs on the Nord keyboards with another weighted controller. To anyone out there in Nord Design Land, listen to us - perhaps you need to revisit your weighted keybed technology.

When I considered my 5D purchase, I opted for the waterfall action because your weighted action was WAY too heavy. To be fair to Nord, and in my opinion, no manufacture has achieved the correct weighting for a piano keybed. What the heck is the problem?? A regular piano requires x Newtons of force for the hammers to hit the strings. Why, with all the most amazing technology today, has no one been able to mimic the same amount of force for an electronic keyboard?? It seems EVERY electronic weighted keybed requires almost double the force to create sound. What am I missing here???

I have a friend who is a seasoned pro pianist. He owns a baby grand piano and a Yamaha Motif XF. After a three hour stage show with his Motif, his wrists are shot. He can do a nine hour studio session on his baby grand with ease. I don't see why the manufacturers can't create a keybed that requires the same amount of force. Sorry if I've digressed from the original topic, but this is something that needs to be addressed, yesterday!!

[magic_dillitzer]

Totally with you, thanks.

[magpie85]

There seems to be several requests for information about controlling the VERY GREAT piano Programs on the Nord keyboards with another weighted controller. To anyone out there in Nord Design Land, listen to us - perhaps you need to revisit your weighted keybed technology.

When I considered my 5D purchase, I opted for the waterfall action because your weighted action was WAY too heavy. To be fair to Nord, and in my opinion, no manufacture has achieved the correct weighting for a piano keybed. What the heck is the problem?? A regular piano requires x Newtons of force for the hammers to hit the strings. Why, with all the most amazing technology today, has no one been able to mimic the same amount of force for an electronic keyboard?? It seems EVERY electronic weighted keybed requires almost double the force to create sound. What am I missing here???

I have a friend who is a seasoned pro pianist. He owns a baby grand piano and a Yamaha Motif XF. After a three hour stage show with his Motif, his wrists are shot. He can do a nine hour studio session on his baby grand with ease. I don't see why the manufacturers can't create a keybed that requires the same amount of force. Sorry if I've digressed from the original topic, but this is something that needs to be addressed, yesterday!!

The problem is, it is so subjective. One person's good action is another's poor action. Every piano manufacturer does it slightly differently and even every piano from the same manufacturer will be slightly different. There isn't a formula like you said "a regular piano requires x newtons of force.

The best thing to do is try before you buy and try as many different options as possible. The likes of Nord don't have the money to be spending big on keybed action for all their keyboards, hence why they buy in the action and tweak it. I believe the tweaks make a world of difference.

Personally at home I use my Roland RD 700 keybed to control my Electro 3HP, but only because I already had my Roland. I hated having to travel with the Roland because it weighs so much, which is why I got a lightweight board from Nord. I'm considering going for an SW keybed in any new Nord I buy.

[jdwosh]

I have owned the NP 3 and have played it regularly hours per day for the past 8 or 9 months. I agree the piano sounds are wonderful/unbeatable. The keyboard itself has issues as detailed elsewhere, but I can't agree that too forceful an action is one of them. I have a Yamaha C2 grand and the action on the acoustic is definitely harder to play then the NP3. It takes a few minutes to adjust when
Ing back and forth between the two and I make sure to play them both regularly to maintain skills with both. I got the retrofit extra thick felt installed on the NP 3 a few months ago which eliminated the horrible clacking noise. The keybed is still loud/ mildly annoying when playing at low volumes and even with headphones sometimes, but I've adjusted and am very happy with the instrument as a whole. In my opinion the action on the NP 3 if anything is too light (at least as compared to my acoustic).

[Lee Batchelor]

Therein lies the problem, Magpie. Often an electronic keyboard that very closely mimics a baby grand often has poor piano voices. I understand the idea that weighting is a very personal call. No argument there. I also think that most acoustic pianos fall within a fairly narrow range of force required to activate the hammers. That same range in electronic keybeds seems to go from "Pretty darn heavy" to "My wrists are done!"

I remember some earlier models that had a more of a semi-weighted action that was very close to the Steinway and Yamaha pianos I've played. Not sure what the answer is ??

[anotherscott]

in my opinion, no manufacture has achieved the correct weighting for a piano keybed. What the heck is the problem?? A regular piano requires x Newtons of force for the hammers to hit the strings. Why, with all the most amazing technology today, has no one been able to mimic the same amount of force for an electronic keyboard??

It's not just an "amount of force" thing that determines how much it feels like a piano. The fundamental problem is in trying to recreate the feel of a grand piano action that is quite large and heavy and simulate it with an entirely different kind of mechanism that is much smaller and lighter.

So for example, to your complaint that actions feel too heavy, I can point to other actions that are quite light (whether hammer actions like the Yamaha GHS action used on models like the P45, P115, MX88, MOXF8, etc.) or non-hammer actions that can feel much lighter, but do not respond like real piano keys for other reasons.

You said no one has gotten it right... There are actually some hammer actions that are lighter feeling than what Nord uses in the Electro HP, and which I think respond more like a real piano... but they are heavier mechanisms that make the boards heavier, like a Roland FP90/FP80/FP7F, or Kawai MP7/ES7, or Yamaha CP1/CP5. Have you played any of these?