Nord User Forum

One of the fun, but time consuming, aspects of being new to the Nord world (E5HP) is combing through the Nord Sample Library and the user samples (so usefully and wonderfully aggregated here- thanks, Johannes!) to customize the sample synth section to my particular needs and tastes.

However, since there is so much out there and I don't have unlimited time, I'm sure I've missed some gems. I thought it might be an interesting exercise if the members here could highlight between one and a few favorite samples in the available libraries here and and Nord (and other places like SC Sounds) they've come to find particularly useful, well done, inspiring etc.

DISCLAIMER: I realize this is an extremely broad question, since one's taste in samples depends very much on the types of music one plays. Still, I'm curious what samples others may have excavated that have really stuck with them.

I'll start with a few of my favorites on my first pass. These are all free samples, but I'm interested in hearing about great samples you may have purchased from commercial providers as well. My own needs tend more toward vintage and and acoustic instruments, and synths that blend into that palette (pads, strings, etc), so my choices are biased that way.

Large files:

Evdbnord's P12 Analog is the best warm synth pad I've found. Right now I'm splurging on the medium version (6.5 MB), since I find it a tad smoother, but the small version sounds good too :

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7158

I also love Funk76's recently added guitar bow pad. Very atmospheric, for that David Lynch score you've always wanted to compose. Also around 6 MB:

nord-user-samples-nsmp-samples-f14/guitar-bow-pad-t5914.html

Medium files:

The stereo Celeste in the Nord Sample Library "Tuned Percussion" library (2.9 MB), is really beautifully done, playable across a fairly wide range. Love this one.

Also I find artoor's "ambient st art" (1.6 MB version) layers beautifully with the pianos on the E5, to my ears better than the factory loaded strings.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1967

Small files:

Again from the Nord Tuned percussion library- "Vibes medium" is a surprisingly useful vibraphone given its 756kb file size.

The Sonatina "Tubastacc" sample (Nord Library- 384kb) makes a nice LH tuba bass alternative with piano or organ RH for some styles.

The Nord "Weltmeister 2" accordion (Accordion library) is a bargain at 512 kb, as is Hanon's "D50 pizzagogo" (same size):

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=899

I'll stop there before this gets any more long-winded. What are a couple of your favorites?

Lastly, THANKS to all the sample creators/uploaders. You are a big part of what makes these instruments great!

ONY

Hi Orpheus,

I'll confess that when I read the subject line of this thread of yours my first thought was: "what an impractical and dumb idea." By the time I was done reading your post, I was all hyped about culling some of my faves and in a followup to your excellent lead-in. Thanks! I'll be back with my short list after spending some time going through things this weekend.

Bless,

Pablo

Hi ONY,

Nice proposition indeed. I share Pablo's feeling that while there ARE a lot of samples and programs out there, most likely people have very different preferences and needs.
But I also agree I remember sitting for hours trying out most of the samples from the official library and the ones uploaded here, always hoping not to miss a sound I really like.
So maybe there IS a way to have a "poll" of some sort, anyways, posting one's favorites is already a great idea! Maybe by adding a sample of those sounds one could easily demonstrate what they sound like, as downloading, making space in your instrument, uploading, trying it out and start over again always taks some time and effort.

More in the poll direction: since the download counts of each sample uploaded on this website are available, I had already started to create a website kind of "ranking" samples by popularity expressed by the number of downloads (either total downloads or downloads per week to discount "older ones". Maybe will put this information in the collections some day after the holidays.

Anyway, looking forward to see peoples's favorites, will put mine as I have time.

Cheers,
Johannes

I like
Strings - I use the korg triton strings that is posted on here
22 violins mixed in.

Piano
Bright grand
Black upright
Imperial grand
Studio 2

Brass

Pop brass 1+2 and some others from on here (I'll have a look later)

I am planning on sampling a load of Roland FA-06 sounds soon for strings from the axial downloads.
I will post all samples on here

That's a good idea! I was wondering, what a huge quantity of sounds and I'm gonna put mine too in this thread as soon as possible.
Guitar Bow was one of my favorite too! Small size and nice pad effect.

Just nominating some favorite samples based on downloads here on the forum:
Just had a look at the most downloaded samples from the user collection and here are the top ones according to the total number of downloads (the three samples with more than 10.000 downloads):

Number	Name	Creator	# Downloads	link
1	Rd1000	Lemon	64911	link
2	Saxophone	urania	62794	link
3	M1 Tubular Bells	Dieguet	10398	link