Nord User Forum

[AndyG1955]

This my first time I am commenting on the forum as it has taken me a long time to get to grips with the Nord concept. As a 'pro player' I have struggled to achieve the results I anticipated on purchase. Having owned Roland, Yamaha and Technics I was in the market a few years ago and could not injure my back any further on more heavy 88 note monsters so by working to that criteria the only choice was 24.2lbs weight 73 HP would do the trick. So I got the Nord and listening to players on you tube I thought I would be able to find a great piano. For me No!! For big band or small jazz gigs I want to bring in a small combo, and have spent the last three years trying new XXL downloads and by the 2nd tune I normally just give up and and go to a Rhodes sample.

[baekgaard]

Welcome to the forum.

Have you tried the White Grand or the Amber Upright?

What kind of amplification are you using (and what kind of monitoring)? Stereo or Mono?

[NoDirection]

I really think your problem is amplification. - Read this thread. accessories-and-amplification-f8/nord-amplification-faq-t16772.html

[Spider]

It's true that Nord pianos are different from most other brands. But it's also true that they normally sit very well in a mix, especially the brightest samples.
What musical genre do you play? Acoustic or electric? Which piano are you using?
Normally the Bright Grand, Italian and Silver work great for loud electric-rock contexts, while for jazz-acoustic-classical the Steinways (Studio Grand, Lady D and White) and Bosendorfer are great.
The Royal is a good all-rounder. The Velvet is awesome for soft delicate playing (Chopin, anybody?).
And the uprights are a whole different world, some of them are really really good especially for band playing (they don't step in the sonic territory of the bass player), don't underestimate them!

In general, what's the problem you encounter that forces you to shift to Rhodes? Not enough volume? Not "cutting through" the mix?
Don't hold back and use extensively the sound-shaping features like the equalizer, amp simulations and effects: they are an integral part of your instrument, don't think a piano "should" be used without them. I have EQ and a touch of reverb on all my piano sounds, and for specific situations I may add some more, maybe a bit of chorus, some compression or a small amount of drive.

Rhodes is a completely different sound from acoustic piano, so that gets me curious as to why it may work so much better for you.
It has less high and low frequencies but much more body and sustain at mid frequencies, much like an electric guitar.

Also, as many have said, check your amplification. If you're using guitar amps or crappy cheap speakers, no piano is going to sound good through them.

[AndyG1955]

Thanks for your helpful comments guys. I know this is a personal thing, and I have heard people using Nords and being expressive. My keyboard history 70’s – Real acoustics and Wurlizer (a growling barking groove machine sounded fantastic through guitar amps even) 80’s - Real acoustics and DX7 , 90’s started with Roland Fp8 – great sounding strong acoustic piano using SA synthesis. Kept repairing it till it was no more. Roland FP9 – I had great hopes for this, it sounded fantastic through piano monitors, but somehow not as strong as fp8 using line outs to amp or PA. RD600 - some good sounds but piano not as strong as FP8 on acoustic piano. RD300SX sounded promising and was pleased with lighter weight. Did a piano recording session on acoustic in stereo still sound a bit unnatural and clunky, ended up using el piano sound instead. Yamaha CP250 really strong but slightly unrealistic sounds, massive over PA but 70lb weight too much for injured back. Yamaha Clavinova actually great over PA or through mono amp – just works as an audio signal but could only use on long show residency, just not portable enough. Yamaha CP4 – horrible sounding through small rig, 10yr old clavina miles better! So here I am guys in my 60’s with a gigging addiction and a bad back. I had to make a decision if I wanted to carry on light is the only way for me so that criteria alone the Electro 5 HP at 25lbs or so in weight was about the only thing of quality available. Part2 coming soon

[AndyG1955]

My amplification is everything from small combo, a pair of EV Sx300 ‘s (or 2 pairs!) Soundcraft desk and stereo power amps, or big touring rigs if on such a job. All acoustic pianos I felt weren’t that musical, and compared them to my Technics SXP30, a cheap back up board. I was pretty upset to find the Technics which must have pretty tiny samples sounded stronger (yes slightly less detailed) and could cut through a live band very well. I have been content to use the Nord’s Rhodes samples exclusively for gigging I think these are pretty cool to be honest, and have ‘vibe’ which I find musically expressive. Recently I downloaded the White piano, and I think there is a distinct improvement – the sample sounds fuller, more robust somehow. I actually managed to use it set to mono through two big band sets only changing to Rhodes on the funkier numbers. Since buying the Nord I have put every large sample in it, start the gig with anticipation and just moved over to Rhodes cos none of the acoustics were happening for me! I am not 100per cent happy with the white grand but if Acoustic is a definite requirement yes I could get away with it. I know the Nord is thoughtfully designed is the only thing I can lift so I keep persevering.

[AndyG1955]

Hi Spider, I noticed you use the Stage, I wonder if samples in the Electro are processed differently (ie lower quality), or do you layer two piano samples to create a fatter sound?

[lucascastro]

My amplification is everything from small combo, a pair of EV Sx300 ‘s (or 2 pairs!) Soundcraft desk and stereo power amps, or big touring rigs if on such a job. All acoustic pianos I felt weren’t that musical, and compared them to my Technics SXP30, a cheap back up board. I was pretty upset to find the Technics which must have pretty tiny samples sounded stronger (yes slightly less detailed) and could cut through a live band very well. I have been content to use the Nord’s Rhodes samples exclusively for gigging I think these are pretty cool to be honest, and have ‘vibe’ which I find musically expressive. Recently I downloaded the White piano, and I think there is a distinct improvement – the sample sounds fuller, more robust somehow. I actually managed to use it set to mono through two big band sets only changing to Rhodes on the funkier numbers. Since buying the Nord I have put every large sample in it, start the gig with anticipation and just moved over to Rhodes cos none of the acoustics were happening for me! I am not 100per cent happy with the white grand but if Acoustic is a definite requirement yes I could get away with it. I know the Nord is thoughtfully designed is the only thing I can lift so I keep persevering.

I think you don´t know what you want, because Nord pianos are one the best in the business, everybody goes to Nord´s often because of the quality of their acoustic samples.
And even if you don´t like the sound you can tweak it a lot

[AndyG1955]

What amplification do you use? Which Nord model?

[ajstan]

Welcome, Andy. The rawness, variety and customizability of the Nord piano library give me the ability to mimic the sounds I want, whether it's to cut through a mix or provide background/fullness as needed. I use custom patches for Grand and Upright APs, the EPs and Electric Grands at every gig to match the songs we cover from the 70s and early 80s. Here are a few ideas:

1. Have you considered IEMs? If you're using powered monitors, there is a tendency to play harder to get more volume to be heard at stage volume, which reduces the dynamic range for what you and FOH hear. Also, while certain pianos sound really good in mono (the White Grand, for example), others don't sound as good, but they shine in stereo.

2. I program my sounds at home through a pair of JBL 305p MKII monitors which made a huge difference in matching how it sounds through FOH. If the difference in character of each of the pianos isn't readily apparent, then your monitoring is likely the issue. I record gigs with a Zoom Q2n-4K and use it to tweak sounds, but what I hear at home is really close to what I hear at gigs.

3. I believe the audio quality should be similar between the Stage and Electro although the Stage will have additional options for layering, filters and effects.

4. Don't discount the part that the keybed plays in how you feel about a piano sound. For what it's worth, I MIDI'd an HA88 to a MODX7 and enjoyed playing the MODX7 piano through the HA88 keyboard more than I enjoyed playing the Nord pianos with the MODX7 synth keyboard. Others will disagree, but I have found the NS3c waterfall keybed to be fairly expressive and acceptable for piano, so I am fine using it as a stand-alone. It may be possible for you to feel more of a connection with the waterfall vs. the HP action for piano.

Hope this helps.