Nord User Forum

I've been wanting to ask about this for a while....

Many Nord owners are amazing players, technically proficient and extremely well-practiced.

I'm wondering if there's anyone out there who appreciates vibe/atmosphere in addition to technical ability? Take for instance, Jimmy Lavalle (aka The Album Leaf). He plays a real Rhodes MKI live, and is great... music is simple, but so moody/atmospheric, and enjoyable.

There are many other artists who do record or perform with Nord (let's say, First Aid Kit)... technically amazing (Vocally) but the keyboards aren't exceptionally difficult. Or Lemolo, from Seattle. Same as that cover Nord just posted about, by Angus and Julia Stone. Nice vibe, chill... oh, and also London Grammar! Great vocals and vibe... but none of their keyboard parts take exceptional technical ability.

The reason I bring this up is... I'm a beginner piano teacher (and some intermediates). I love piano so much and try my hardest to improve, technically. I love vibey stuff but I also love stuff that pushes me. I am not a great player by any means, but.. I know what I'm doing.. songwriting-wise... vibe-wise... I know music theory, I know all my chords/inversions... bigger voicings of chords... left-hand patterns, etc.

Just wondering if any of you appreciate the Nord "sound" and vibe... on more simple, accessible music. The shredding stuff is always beautiful (Cory Henry and ALL the artists Nord features) but speaking for myself, I love the vibey/chill stuff... when I saw Phoebe Bridgers live in February 2018, it was amazing. She's a great performer and songwriter, no doubt... her pianist was playing a Nord... mostly grand or upright sounds... mostly simple parts. Gorgeous. It just fit... then again, that's her music.

Thanks for any input! All music is there to be appreciated/loved... I'm hoping in the future, Nord might feature some talented live-looping people who do stuff with a Stage 3 or 2... maybe loop some synth arpeggio, vibe underneath it... textures and whatnot... and just show what truly can be done, even if you're not classically or jazz-trained... and lacking super-fast chops!

Love and Respect,
Chris

Hey Chris!

themixtape wrote:Many Nord owners are amazing players, technically proficient and extremely well-practiced.

I am not

Not sure about what is the cause and what is the consequence, but I'm not very technical and I tend to give more importance to atmospheres rather than note rate. Thanks for giving some examples, some of which I don"t know: I'll go have a listen some time.

At some point in my life -I play music as a serious hobbyist, not a professional- I realized that beauty could lie in simple. At that time I was listening to Bat for Lashes: simple pop songs, nice melodies and ambiences, yet kind of powerful.

Try Shannon Wright. She sings, plays guitar, piano... everything in a not-so-simple way, but definitely not technical; more one the raw emotion side. You won"t find any Nord on stage though as she prefers her good old Wurlitzer or a grand piano when the venue features one.

Voilà, just some thoughts.

+1

I used to be a decent, technically well trained pianist between my 15th and around 25th year, then lost much of my technical proficiency due to lack of time to practice and playing. Started about 10 years later playing in a Rock/Pop band I built with a couple of friends, and guess what - even though I haven’t been able to regain most of my proficiency I like what I’m doing now much more in the past 15 years because we focus on vibe, atmosphere and fun - simple but groovy and well sounding, which is also recognized by the audience, much more than best technical capabilities

themixtape wrote:
Many Nord owners are amazing players, technically proficient and extremely well-practiced.

I am a self taught pianist and play only from ear. Although I know a bit of theory and mostly what Im doing I wouldnt claim to be technically brilliant by any stretch. I know many FAR better players.

That said, sometimes those far better players don't always get the atmosphere bit right. They may have the ability to play the keys but im not always feeling the expression that comes out.

I would say that when I play its mostly about atmostphere and feeling for me rather than technical ability... hence why i currently have no desire to do further extensive training to my piano skills. Some of the most moving performances can be very simple in skill level required.

K

I finally started to take some piano lessons this year as my level always frustrates me and I feel like a fraud when playing with the band.
Yet, some songs require synth parts that I only play with two fingers and still set the floor on fire every time.
Sure, I like the songs where I use all the other fingers as well But sometimes less is more.



Nice to see a reference to Shannon Wright.

Great testimonies

Hervshahn wrote:[...]we focus on vibe, atmosphere and fun - simple but groovy and well sounding, which is also recognized by the audience, much more than best technical capabilities

So true.

kirsty wrote: hence why i currently have no desire to do further extensive training to my piano skills. Some of the most moving performances can be very simple in skill level required.

From several people I've discussed with (and I tend to agree with), you have a talent that is not easy to learn; unlike technical skills, it's not a matter of how hard you work, it's a matter of how you feel things, how you express them. It's a matter of who you are vs. what you can do. Even better news is that no matter how technically skilled you can be, you are not likely to lose that talent.

LudovicVDP wrote:But sometimes less is more.

Amen to that!!

LudovicVDP wrote:Nice to see a reference to Shannon Wright.

Nice to meet someone who knows her! If you've never seen here live, please do yourself a gift

Honestly, as the meme goes, "Why not both".

Because technical proficiency is an empty exercise without the expressive instinct (what you call vibe/atmosphere) to back it up. The former should be in service of the latter. But that doesn't mean the latter can't exist without it.

(I've never been as technical as I aspired to be. Back in college piano juries, I was told, on multiple occasions, "You made mistakes, but you disguised them SO musically, no one would know except someone following along with the score". That's how I've leveraged my after-hours musical career, ha!)

To me, one of the greatest compliments ever

I used to get... You played all the right notes.. just in the wrong order

PScooter is right though... learning to disguise slipups well can be an art in itself.. and a very useful one of course

kirsty wrote:PScooter is right though... learning to disguise slipups well can be an art in itself.. and a very useful one of course

I guess this may part of the reason I was more attracted to playing jazz than classical music If it sounds weird, just do it again, and people think it is a really advanced chord you occasionally jam in... Of course it fits better with the overall style if the other chords have a similar degree of weirdness, then.

In my early childhood, playing wind instruments, I also learned quickly just to turn towards and look at the guy sitting next to you when you hit the wrong note -- but that trick usually doesn't work when being the only keyboard player.

Just to counterbalance a bit, Monk is rumored to have said something like this, though: "Stop playing all that bullshit, those weird notes, play the melody!" I guess he would have said that to me, if I had been near at that time.