Need to layer a piano and string instrument Nord Electro 5D

[NordTeapot]

I just got a Nord Electro 5D 61 and I'm starting to wonder if I may have made the wrong choice.

I need urgently to figure out how to layer instruments e.g. Piano and String instrument so that both play simultaneously. My Roland 88 keyboard is able to do that and it's easy to figure out how to do it.

Please someone help with the information on how to achieve the same with the Nord or alternatively if you can direct me to an existing post with the answer, either would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[ericL]

Did you read the manual or try the presets? Plenty of layers there to use as starting points.

[Ledbetter]

I'm pretty sure one of the presets is piano + strings. Try scrolling through.

[NordTeapot]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the pointers. I think I"m just really confused by the keyboard interface. Too used to my older Roland
I will read the manual again and try to figure out how to get there.

[pablomastodon]

NordTeapot,

Your NE5 has two available "parts," Lower and Upper. Turn them both ON. Set one to Piano and the other to Sample Synth. Select the piano and sample of your desires and play away.

The Nord is really very simple, but people who are new to the Swedish design paradigm often tend to overthink, over complicate and simply misunderstand because their brains are used to thinking in terms of Asian instrument design. Take a deep breath, examine the front panel controls slowly and carefully, and you will soon be gaining an understanding.

It will also help if you spend some time looking at the manual.

Bless, Pablo

[theGman]

^^^Well said, Pablo.

I might add that, once you get the 2 sounds set up and On together, that, if you find the volume balance too high/low on one of the sounds, remember that you can adjust it with the center knob thing.
BTW, don't panic if the adjustment knob doesn't seem to work until it's WAY over to one side or the other; that's just how it is.

As an owner of one Roland, a Jupiter 50, this volume balance definitely is harder than the 3 volume sliders on my J50, but, hey....the Nord sounds are great; the outstanding organ sounds make the twiddling with a knob not that important after a short while. Hang in there!

[Lee Batchelor]

Excellent replies.

I too have played Roland, Korg, and Yamaha keyboards over the past 25 years. I got used to drilling down through endless menus, riddled with complex engineering terms, just to set things the way I wanted. The 5D has almost every function linked to an "on the surface" knob or button instead. It is reputed to be a gigging musician's dream machine. I honestly believe that to be true. Nord has resisted the urge to overcomplicate things the way Microsoft and other incompetent companies have. When I sit at my Nord, it feels like I'm playing my old Lowrey Holiday organ from the mid-60s, although strangely enough, the Nord sounds better . It too had no menus and everything was a push button away. I will likely never buy another synth as long as I live. They are overly complicated for a guy who just wants to play. They also contain 10 million functions I never use. It took me all those years to realize, I only need good pianos, EPs, and organ sounds. The 5D fits the bill. For the more specific instruments like violin, trumpets, guitars etc...I also have a Yamaha Tyros 5. It completely destroys the Nord sounds, which are still stuck in the 80s (sadly).

Nordteapot - after you set the two layers (piano and strings), you can use an expression pedal to control the volume of the strings. I kept my Yamaha FC7 pedal for this purpose. I just finished playing a Canadian Artists tribute show. Some of the tunes started with straight piano. Later in the song, I used the FC7 pedal to bring strings in under the piano sound. It worked very well. After you get the layer set up, you can store your Program by pressing the red Store button twice. Note-you may over-write an existing Program.

Before making any changes to your 5D, I suggest doing a full backup. It takes about 45 minutes, but it's well worth it. I believe you can download the factory default settings from the Nord website too. Someone may want to comment about that because I too am a newbie.

Post any questions you want - even if they seem simple and obvious. Above all, have fun!

[Mort77]

The Nord Manual is the easiest manual I have ever owned its straight forward,(2nd to that is the New Roland I7 manual and Yamaha manuals)as well theyre r tutorials on Youtube showing how to use the new Nord E5D.Tpot you can do many piano and string combinations! When your more familiar with your Nord you can download Roland strings from your Roland,Ive done it with AB comparison tests.... pretty darn close, Ive even done it with samples from my Yamaha Motif and the Korg Krome
some samples r easy some r more complex.I stick to the easy stuff or go on Nords Library you can find some strings there as well.
just my 2 cents