Everything about the Nord Electro 2, Electro 3, Electro 4, Electro 5, and Nord Electro 6.

Re: How much milage do you get out of the sample synth?

Postby jimmyjames » 20 Aug 2019, 18:10

I would take glide without mono mode. Yes...that's how the PX 5s does it....it was a feature added with one of its first firmware updates. For me it would be the one thing that would allow me to cover everything I play with just the Electro.
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Re: How much milage do you get out of the sample synth?


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Re: How much milage do you get out of the sample synth?

Postby jimmyjames » 20 Aug 2019, 20:08

One other feature Clavia could consider for a future Electro sample section to make it more usable, presuming it doesn't want to add pitch bend and mod wheel, is allowing the sustain and/or the expression pedal to be used for these purposes. While the PX-5S doesn't allow an expression pedal, the sustain pedal can be set to do many different things...for example I use it as a mod wheel substitute for the synth sounds for Cars covers.

Anotherscott...you said the E5 can be split to allow part of the board to trigger an external source...the E6 can't? Getting into soft synths more recently and have been considering how I might work these into a future rig...that would be an impediment.
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Re: How much milage do you get out of the sample synth?

Postby anotherscott » 20 Aug 2019, 22:04

jimmyjames wrote:One other feature Clavia could consider for a future Electro sample section to make it more usable, presuming it doesn't want to add pitch bend and mod wheel, is allowing the sustain and/or the expression pedal to be used for these purposes. While the PX-5S doesn't allow an expression pedal, the sustain pedal can be set to do many different things...for example I use it as a mod wheel substitute for the synth sounds for Cars covers.


The issue with modulation on the Electro isn't so much the lack of a wheel, it's the lack of something for a wheel to control. There's no LFO, so even if it recognized an external wheel, what would you have it do?

Bottom line, the board simply isn't a synth (even though the sample section lets you play back some pre-recorded synth sounds),

jimmyjames wrote:Anotherscott...you said the E5 can be split to allow part of the board to trigger an external source...the E6 can't?

Correct.
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Re: How much milage do you get out of the sample synth?

Postby jimmyjames » 20 Aug 2019, 23:30

Yes...I agree there would need to be an LFO for modulation. Could probably live without that...could work it somehow into custom samples in a pinch. Pitch bend with sustain or expression might still be a cool feature for those samples they've created to respond to it. Just trying to share some ideas about making some of the samples more usable without crossing the "Stage/Electro" line. Some enveloping has already been added so the line has already been breached.

Boy...that is strange the external control feature was taken out of the E6. Must have something to do with having the three separate sound engines.
Last edited by jimmyjames on 20 Aug 2019, 23:33, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: How much milage do you get out of the sample synth?

Postby Kfals » 21 Aug 2019, 17:19

I have the Electro 5HP and its aggravating that there is no pitch bend or ability to sweep and add on the go "live" effects. I bought a Microkorg XL to supplement this. Overall for most of the cover tunes you are correct - it is not needed but there are some in our set lists that require bending and special effects the Nord just cannot do. If I had the money I would be a LEAD4
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Re: How much milage do you get out of the sample synth?

Postby CountFosco » 21 Aug 2019, 18:34

Kfals wrote:I have the Electro 5HP and its aggravating that there is no pitch bend or ability to sweep and add on the go "live" effects. I bought a Microkorg XL to supplement this. Overall for most of the cover tunes you are correct - it is not needed but there are some in our set lists that require bending and special effects the Nord just cannot do. If I had the money I would be a LEAD4


Electro + Lead is a killer combo, I tossed up between the 4 and the A1. Loving the A1. I think to fill in the Electro's gaps, you really need to add a poly synth. That Microkorg XL looks pretty neat. Do you play it on its own keys or use the Electro? I guess the HP doesn't lend itself to synthing.
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Re: How much milage do you get out of the sample synth?

Postby anotherscott » 21 Aug 2019, 18:45

jimmyjames wrote:Boy...that is strange the external control feature was taken out of the E6. Must have something to do with having the three separate sound engines.

The architectures of the machines are quite different.

The 5 has an Upper section and a Lower section. You select sounds for them.

The 6 has a Piano section, an Organ section, and a Sample Synth section. You select key ranges for them.

That doesn't mean it would necessarily have been impossible for them to find some way to integrate external control, but they couldn't have done it the same way they did it in the 5.

Kfals wrote:I have the Electro 5HP and its aggravating that there is no pitch bend or ability to sweep and add on the go "live" effects. I bought a Microkorg XL to supplement this. \

I can't think of any other hammer-action board under 30 lbs that includes "clonewheel" organ function, so if that's what you were looking for, adding a second board was probably the only option. Kurzweil is coming out with the PC4 soon, so for people in the same boat, there will be an all-in-one option.
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Re: How much milage do you get out of the sample synth?

Postby Motoman51 » 28 Aug 2019, 11:58

I 'upgraded' from a Nord Electro 4 61 to an Electro 6-73. At first, I found the interface quite confusing...but that's a subject for a different thread. I have 3 keyboards..A Yamaha P255 that nothing so far can touch where true piano feel and sound is concerned (as it should be at 40lbs), a Kurzweil Artis 7 and the Electro 6. The Electro 6 sample synth has some serious deficiencies that I've encuntered. First and foremost is the lack of some percussive sounds such as a steel drum and chimes. The next is the orchestral section. There is no comparison between the Kurzweil and Nord in these respects. Kurzweil wins hands down. The most serious deficiency in the keyboard however is that you cannot layer two sounds from the same grouping. For example, if you wanted to create a layered sound from two patches in the sample section, it cannot be done. This is standard on the Kurzweil...no limitation. the second most vexing thing on the Nord is the lack of performance buttons to quickly switch sounds. I know about the page view but it's just not the same. The Nord 6 is my bottom keyboard for small gigs or one keyboard gigs where space is limited and I need quick portability. Otherwise, it's the Ymaha on the bottom with the Kurz on top.
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Re: How much milage do you get out of the sample synth?

Postby anotherscott » 28 Aug 2019, 14:19

Motoman51 wrote:I 'upgraded' from a Nord Electro 4 61 to an Electro 6-73. At first, I found the interface quite confusing...but that's a subject for a different thread....The most serious deficiency in the keyboard however is that you cannot layer two sounds from the same grouping. For example, if you wanted to create a layered sound from two patches in the sample section, it cannot be done.

It's the classic feature creep problem... there's always people who want more, and yet adding stuff always makes things more complicated. On the E4, people kept saying they want to split/layer, and then when they add it, you end up with two groups of people who may still be dissatisfied... people who bemoan the loss of the earlier simplicity, and people who bemoan the fact that the feature is still as limited as it is. Congratulations, you fall into both camps! ;-) But for people who need more split/layer flexibility, they do have the Stage 3.

Motoman51 wrote:the second most vexing thing on the Nord is the lack of performance buttons to quickly switch sounds.

Have you looked at turning on Numeric Keypad mode? You can create sets of 16 sounds, and within those sets, you can get to any sound with two button presses. (Stage 3 has the same thing, with sets of 25 sounds.)

Motoman51 wrote:The Electro 6 sample synth has some serious deficiencies that I've encuntered. First and foremost is the lack of some percussive sounds such as a steel drum and chimes.

The Nord lets you add your own samples. So if you like these sounds in your Kurz, you can sample them into your Nord so you still have those sounds even when the Nord is the only board you take. Single shot percussive sounds are the easiest to sample.

Motoman51 wrote:next is the orchestral section. There is no comparison between the Kurzweil and Nord in these respects. Kurzweil wins hands down.

Yes, and there's no good way around this one. Kurzweil can employ different samples at different velocities for greater authenticity, Nord cannot (except in its piano section, which you can't add custom samples to).

Kurzweil Artis 7 is one of my favorite boards, and is certainly a lot more versatile than NE6. But the design goals were different, and there are trade-offs. Kurzweil has advantages like those you mentioned... ability to split/layer any four sounds at a time (with their own split points anywhere you want), easy direct-button patch recall of a large number of programs, better quality orchestral sounds, and others, like a full true VA synth engine (including things like mono mode, glide, pitch/mod wheels, full filter/envelope controls, etc.), and 4-zone control of external sounds over MIDI. But Nord arguably has better piano and organ sounds, the ability to load custom samples (and new ones that Nord comes out with), a lot more hands-on control for instantly altering parameters and manipulating effects.
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Re: How much milage do you get out of the sample synth?

Postby NolaNord504 » 01 Sep 2019, 21:30

While it's true that the sample synth is limited, I've been able to get some good use out of it. In the beginning, the Electro was firmly focused on the reproduction of electromechanical instruments (hence the name). The inclusion of the Clav and EPs instantly boosted the Electro 2 above all the other so-called "clone-wheels" being offered at that time. The addition of a realistic acoustic piano in the Electro 3 was a giant step that greatly expanded it's usability even further. That alone would have been enough, but the E3 also added the sample synth. Now, starting with the 5, we can layer it. I just think of it as a really nice bonus on an instrument that is primarily designed for something else.
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Gone but not forgotten: Stage 76 (Classic), Electro 2 73, Electro 3 73, Electro 5 HP
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