Nord User Forum

[FZiegler]

I do understand why Nord implement a continuous, rather lightweight action on the Stage HA series (which I don't like while others do), but don't understand why they don't use graded hammer actions for the Piano/Grand series even if available from Fatar/Kawai.

One possibility could be that the existing piano samples, having been programmed to respond well when played from a non-graded action, would have to be re-created and offered in different versions to play as satisfactorily from a graded action. Or, to approach the problem from the other side, they might have to develop velocity curves that can apply different curves to different key regions simultaneously, which may be beyond what the system is currently designed to be able to do.

[michael_C1]

Thanks for the replies.

With regard to the difference in feel of the Fatar TP40 keybed variations and the TP100 keybeds on Nord vs. Studiologic (and other) instruments my experience is that the Nords using the TP40 keybeds aren’t that different, perhaps moderately noisier, with the main difference being that the Nord keys bottom out more harshly than do the Studiologics (models both with and without aftertouch). One thought is that there may be more felt or other dampening material in Fatar’s own Studiologic brand instruments’ TP40 keybeds than what they provide to other instrument manufacturers. Fatar does in fact use lighter springs with their TP80 keybeds on their own instruments than they provide to other manufacturers, so it’s conceivable that Fatar reserves certain refinements for themselves and their own Studiologic brand.

The TP100 keybed has more obvious differences between manufacturers, unless some of those differences have been resolved over the last few years, although judging by some threads here the HP action is still much the same. The Nord HP’s tend to get pretty noisy after awhile and the key action gets looser, and the key lubrication being displaced seems to be the cause**. Other keyboards I’ve had with the same keybed don’t get nearly as bad, although they do get somewhat noisier over time.

I suspect the instrument cases themselves account for much of the difference in noise level and the feel of the different instruments. For instance, my Studiologic VMK188plus weighed 49 pounds and a Nord Stage 88 weighs 40-41 pounds and that difference is mostly the weight of the case itself. Kurzweil instruments with the TP40 are even heavier. Eight or nine extra pounds of metal changes dampening characteristics and, to some extent, how substantial an instrument feels.

An instrument manufacturer weighs the pros and cons of different tradeoffs, and I gather that Clavia went with a lighter gauge metal casing to maximize portability. With the TP100 instruments, which are smaller, I believe the tradeoff is more obvious, irrespective of the lubrication** issue.

** That, by the way, is a lousy design IMO. Yamaha's low end P series pianos use a similar design, using lubrication as an important action component. After a few months, those Yamaha actions get noisy, loose and they bottom out harshly also. Kawai has a lightweight keybed in it's ES100/ES110 series that has none of these problems, so a lightweight, reliable action is doable.