Nord User Forum

[iaorana]

Maybe Nord should listen to the competition:
http://shop.motifator.com/index.php/voi ... hodes.html

[Cee]

Maybe Nord should listen to the competition:
http://shop.motifator.com/index.php/voi ... hodes.html

Actually this is what's wrong with all Yamahas and Roland keyboards. They have no idea what an actual rhodes sounds like. The above samples are just horrible.

Take a listen to Nord's electric pianos. Check out the timbre, the release, the growl, the bell. It's as good as it can get without having to haul a 50kg instrument around

[Johannes]

Well, it is Chick's Rhodes (He talks about it in July's KeyboardMag). 12 layers, no looping. and 400MB.
I am really curious how Nord does it in less then 10MB!
I find the examples not very easy to judge the Rhodes by itself due to the accompagnement, but I heard worse Rhodeses for sure, but Nords (or Korgs for that matter) are IMHO not worse almost surely.

The big difference though: Yamaha wants 129 bucks!!

[iaorana]

Maybe Nord should listen to the competition: (..)

Actually this is what's wrong with all Yamahas and Roland keyboards. They have no idea what an actual rhodes sounds like. The above samples are just horrible.

To be frank... I didn't even listen to them ! I'm rather happy with Nord's Rhodes on my NS2.

Now what about KRONOS Rhodes?

[Cee]

I'm not familiar with the KRONOS rhodes, can you post a link?

[iaorana]

I'm not familiar with the KRONOS rhodes, can you post a link?

AFAIK, there are few Rhodes demos at the moment, and too short to judge, e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFtEwLLQm-M

However, if you want ample details (and understand French ) look/listen at Michel Deuchst's complete KRONOS demo:
http://www.audiokeys.net/forum/showthre ... org-Kronos
where various Rhodes models are dealt with around 08:50

[Cee]

I just got around to watch the video. I wonder if anyone from Korg actually owned a real Rhodes at any point. Or is there no one there that has half an ear to go: "But wait a second guys, it doesn't sound anything like the real thing!" - or would he get fired for saying that, or something?

I don't know what it is with modern beds like these. I got the chance to play the Korg SV1 the other day, this one:


And it felt completely lifeless. The dynamics and key response was one of the worst I've ever encountered, and the sound, even though you can do the same auto pan/flange/chorus and it kinda works the same way like on Nord, the sound was just... stock.

I think that's the best way to describe these new beds... stock. There's nothing AWESOME about them, compared to NP88's keyboard dynamics, pedal noise, string resonance and great playability. It's like the world has dumbed down on keyboards.

With any other instrument, be it a grand piano, a guitar, a bass or a horn, you can spend a ridiculous amount of money and get a genuinely GREAT instrument. With keyboards, the only money you can spend is on Nords.

[iaorana]

Actually this is what's wrong with all Yamahas and Roland keyboards. They have no idea what an actual rhodes sounds like. The above samples are just horrible.

Those samples (taken from Chick Corea's own personal Fender Rhodes Mk 5) are actually used by Chick on his Yamaha Motif XF on tour at the moment, e.g. in Marseilles 3 days ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgYzr0NPn0k

Has Chick any idea of what an actual Rhodes sounds like?

[Cee]

Oh Chick knows what a Rhodes sounds like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM6F1sMk9Mc

I'm not a particular fan of the chorus he uses on that MK II (as far as I know), but you can hear the growls, the hammer release, everything, just as it should be from a real Rhodes. And you can get pretty damn close to this sound on the NP. I've tried it.

And after listening to the video I linked, go back to your video (the one with Stanley Clarke and Jean-Luc Ponty) - the difference is STAGGERING!!

Yamaha must've belted A LOT of cash for Chick to be playing that awful sounding keyboard instead of a Rhodes or even a proper grand. Jeez

[iaorana]

Yamaha must've belted A LOT of cash for Chick to be playing that awful sounding keyboard instead of a Rhodes or even a proper grand. Jeez

I discussed that point with Eric Legnini who gave a concert last evening in Rognes (the village I have my summer holidays in ) (Festival de Piano de la Roque d'Anthéron). He was terribly sorry to hear that Chick, like Herbie, is giving up his vintage instrument, the more so as these musicians don't have to carry their pianos in their arms: "They're getting old..." he commented

Eric played his Rhodes, as well as a Steinway: in these conditions, we must admit our clones - either red or black - we're so satisfied with at home, still lack a lot.