Nord User Forum

[maurizio]

I read in an other thread that of the people here have both a NLA1 and a Little Phatty.
Does it make sense, musically speaking, to have both ? Are they complementary ?
Of course the NLA1 have a much larger spectrum, and the Little Phatty is specialised in "Moog" sound;
but in practice, are you really (i mean, in real musical situations, like in a group) able to do things with the Little Phatty
to do things that you cannot do with the NLA1 and his 24Db/Oct emulated filter ?

Maurizio

[keef321]

Hi,

I have only had the Nord A1 for around 1 month, but have had a Moog slim phatty for a few years.

I personally have found them complimentary. Yes the Moog, well umm sounds like a Moog, it sounds very alive and organic, huge & fat, and the overdrive on the filter is lovely. You can get lovely deep bass from it, or lovely leads. I imagine if it was polyphonic it would be an overkill, as the monophonic sound is kinda huge. I like to use it for Reese Bass (Dnb), Electro Bass, some leads and the sync sounds are nice. I could just play with that filter cutoff all day. In a busy mix it would need to be tamed a lot. It does not necessarily need effects, as it can sound good raw, but some reverb and delay will open up more possibilities, and if you need that, then that's another addition to think about for a live scenario.

For me the NLA1 is a little bit more aggressive when used for lead sounds, that would cut through though mix / sit in the mix easier. The bass is not as fat, but this can be a good thing, depending on your needs. Of course the Nord is polyphonic so no cross over, I love the trance / dance chord sounds I can get out of the NLA1. The NLA1 imo has great effects built in.

In a live band situation I would say they compliment each other, although this is not something I have tried myself. I got the Nord to learn how to actually play the keys, maybe one day I might play it live, but if I did, I can imagine it being great having both!!

The only downside perhaps with a Little Phatty live on stage, depending on how long set up you get, it does need some time to warm up. It seems to vary a bit from unit to unit, but mine takes around 10-15 minutes before the oscillators become stable / in tune, so something to think about.

Hope that helps.

Keith