what is the best grand piano for live

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hspeulman
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what is the best grand piano for live

Post by hspeulman »

Dear All,

I've been using the Nordstage 2 88 for several years. I'm still not really happy with the piano sound I use. I may be using the wrong piano sound or setting. (Also because I recently bought a digital piano grand from Yamaha. (That really sounds better). When I just listen to a youtube video again, I'm almost sure I'm doing something wrong.

Which grand piano do you recommend. Really for live use. Two good piano sounds on stage is more than enough for me. With fewer different pianos, I can also load a heavier sample, I suppose.
While I'm at it, what's the most useful electric piano on the stage?
thanks for your opinion.

gr. henk
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Re: what is the best grand piano for live

Post by FZiegler »

If you are not happy with the piano sound you get, amplification issues come to my mind. Which monitors do you have? And do you use stereo amplification?
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hspeulman
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Re: what is the best grand piano for live

Post by DJKeys »

For live playing, I use the Silver grand almost exclusively-

-dj
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Re: what is the best grand piano for live

Post by Schorsch »

I would say it depends on what and in which kind of setup you use it.

Do you play classics, rock, pop, jazz or something else?

Do you play on your own, in a typical rock band, pop band, jazz trio or a brass orchestra?

Which amplification do you use?

I for instance play in a band together with a drummer, a guitar player, a bass player and 2 singers, we play kind of classic 70s/80s rock and pop music. I use 3 grand pianos, the white, the silver and the bright since they cut well through the mix. It might be completely different if the band setup and style of music changes
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Re: what is the best grand piano for live

Post by hspeulman »

Thank you for responding and thinking along. I appreciate that.
I play in both a duo (along with a guitarist) and a 5-man band. In both cases a lot of pop music, from the 60s to the present.
Coincidentally, I just saw this video ( and thought... that's how it should sound.
I also think I work with a good PA set. Everything from QSC. I also work with IEM.
Even if I listen to the sound directly through the PA, then I am not satisfied. That's why I think that your advice that you use on the stage will help me a lot.
Thank you for all the advice.

You are dealing with limitation of the internal memory. So very heavy samples is not possible. Which version do you use then?

gr. Henk
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Last edited by hspeulman on 30 Jun 2022, 21:14, edited 1 time in total.
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Schorsch
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Re: what is the best grand piano for live

Post by Schorsch »

Do you go stereo or mono into your PA and also into your IEM mix? The Nord pianos do not sound well in mono ..
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Re: what is the best grand piano for live

Post by hspeulman »

Yes that's right, I use stereo. My IEMs also give a stereo sound.
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Re: what is the best grand piano for live

Post by Mr_-G- »

Do you mean you use two channels and they are both fully panned in opposite directions? (You probably knew this, but many people here have raised similar comments but not noticed that important detail in the mixer).
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Re: what is the best grand piano for live

Post by hspeulman »

Sorry for my somewhat late response. Not online for a few days.

I use a digital mixer. The QSC 16. It has two stereo inputs. So I go twice mono out (Nord) to 1 x stereo in. Will there be the problem. Doesn't seem to me...
By the way, I want to change my sound library, which also means that I want to use other piano sounds.
Thanks for this support.
Nice this forum.
Greeting
Henk
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Re: what is the best grand piano for live

Post by Koss2003 »

hspeulman wrote:Sorry for my somewhat late response. Not online for a few days.

I use a digital mixer. The QSC 16. It has two stereo inputs. So I go twice mono out (Nord) to 1 x stereo in. Will there be the problem. Doesn't seem to me...
By the way, I want to change my sound library, which also means that I want to use other piano sounds.
Thanks for this support.
Nice this forum.
Greeting
Henk

I apologize for the rise of the old topic. But perhaps my experience will be useful to someone
I have the same situation - I am also not too pleased with the piano sounds. I get out of the situation in this way:
I reduce the volume in the piano section (so that there is no overload of the output signal), and then I add the necessary frequencies to the filters section. (More often, these are high frequencies). Plus configuration of dynamics
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