New - Royal Grand 3D Piano

[Spider]

Lady D is usually renowned as the "best" Steinway in the piano library.
Always keeping in mind that "best" makes little sense, if you don't specify your needs, tastes and amplification.

Different pianos will suit different genres and playing styles. Nord pianos are VERY sensitive to quality amplification.
Don't underestimate the internal equalization, it can work wonders on most samples.

Finally, do you really care if it's a Steinway or not? These are samples anyway, it's not like I can brag "Hey, I'm playing a Bosie!"
I just let my ear decide. Take what you like most, tweak it to suit your tastes, your amplification and the room, and enjoy.

[Rusty Mike]

Lady D is usually renowned as the "best" Steinway in the piano library.
Always keeping in mind that "best" makes little sense, if you don't specify your needs, tastes and amplification.

Different pianos will suit different genres and playing styles. Nord pianos are VERY sensitive to quality amplification.
Don't underestimate the internal equalization, it can work wonders on most samples.

Finally, do you really care if it's a Steinway or not? These are samples anyway, it's not like I can brag "Hey, I'm playing a Bosie!"
I just let my ear decide. Take what you like most, tweak it to suit your tastes, your amplification and the room, and enjoy.

This.

Pick the piano samples that work best for your style of music, amplification, venue and approach to playing. Forget the names. Also, don’t limit yourself to the grand pianos. Some of the uprights are amazing.

There have also been multiple discussions about the S, M, L and XL samples sizes. Don’t always assume you need the largest sample available.

[kirsty]

Guys dont take my question as a complaint about the Nord Samples. I love my Nord for all it does and I'm not chasing a fully authentic Steinway sound, I know its never going to sound like the real thing.

I was just curious of thoughts of each sample, given they are all the same piano but sound and play very different. Ive read on here a hundred times people prefer the Lady D and wondered If there is only me that liked some parts of the other ones too.

My stage work more than often is playing to accompany one or sometimes two singers so being the only instrument. The Amplification we use is a pair of EV ELX 112's each with a ELX118 underneath. Not the most expensive kit ever, but it does the job for what we need in small to medium venues. The samples i use live are Lady D, Grand Imperial, Amber or Silver and the occasional Nerfetti

At home playing solo, i hear bits i like in all of them so I swap and experiment a bit.

On the samples in general, I have mostly M and L samples loaded (Silver is my only XL). I do love the Amber upright too.

[kirsty]

Hi Kirsty,
Just realized that the pink stuff you have behind you is just a cushion....I had always thought that you were wearing a big dress like the old ones in the 16/17th century and I had thought that it was really nice on your picture because it was looking like a Chopin or Litz concertist ....Ok, maybe I was too much into classic to imagine that...

I never looked at it like that before haha. No its just a plain old stool im afraid

[Quai34]

It's just that Classic sight illusion, like you show a portrait and some people see an old women, some other see a young one....Now that I has realized, I cannot see my super classical pianist dress....

[kirsty]

What a pity. I dont look glamourous anymore now haha. Least theres a Nord in the picture to make up for it

[pedalb0y]

sorry to ask this but how do i start a new post i cant see any where on the forum where you can do it, hope you can help

[Mr_-G-]

Hi, go to the right forum and press the button that says "NEW TOPIC".

[danrv]

I look forward to trying the Royal Grand 3D. I've been using the Silver Grand as a general piano and the Grand Upright for more mellow stuff where the piano is more featured.
The upright has a nice top end whereas others can get a bit weak on high notes.

I play all styles but most of my playing at the moment is live band function/corporate gigs plus a tribute band.
For this type of playing I'd really prefer a Roland piano sound, coming from years on an XP80.
I'm getting there, monitoring with my 2 DXR10's and have eq'd the Silver Grand accordingly.
I hope the 3D will be better than the Silver for lively rock/pop. I feel the character and string resonance etc.. . of the Nord pianos is just not heard or noticed.
I hope to build up some more Jazz/low key gigs.That's where the Nord pianos really shine.

[harmonizer]

I am a mono amplification user. I still use the acoustic piano sound from my old Roland XV synth on most songs where acoustic is needed, in rock/covers band situations. Standalone it sounds like crap, but Roland knows how to make it sit in a rock/covers mix, and they knew it 12 years ago.

For me, the thing that makes the Royal Grand special compared to other Nord acoustic piano sounds is that it works great in Mono. None of the other Nord piano sounds work in mono. Many of them sound spongy or dorky in the octave below middle "C". The only negative I have on the Royal Grand is that it does not really "cut" in a covers band situation. I play in a 7 person band, so I need the acoustic piano sound to get through in an aperature. Stereo amplification is not an option with our band's live sound setup - our audience in bars is not hearing us in stereo.

It is common knowledge that Nord acoustic piano sounds are not great in mono - I knew this when I bought my Electro 3, and I am very happy that Nord has since released the Royal Grand which solves the mono problem for solo/quiet songs. I did use it when we covered Adele's "Someone Like You". For me, it was a free product upgrade from Nord. Now if Nord can just take the next step and tweak this so it cuts, it would be a huge benefit for a segment of Nord users.