Nord User Forum

Thank you very much for your help !
You realy helped me.


Good night !

kisyq wrote:Oooh, I see. Yes, it's seen complicated.
Yes, you are right, the real drawbacks is much easier I think !

In your opinion, what is the simplest model ?

Hi Kisyq,

Of the two choices you list in your original post (stage 3 and electro 6) the electro 6 is simpler. One of the big differences between those two is that the electro doesn't have a full synthesizer built in. If you mostly want to play piano sounds you could also consider the Piano 4...it has the least number of controls to learn but is much more limited in terms of organ sounds.

I think most people that are trying to make a decision between these models evaluate them in terms of the sounds that they want to play e.g. organ vs. piano vs. synth vs. all the other cool instrument sounds that keyboard players get to use!

Hope that helps!
Barnaby

The big question is also, if you only want to use the preprogrammed factory sounds or if you are willed to make your own programs. Entering the program number is pretty easy and only a few buttons by choosing the alphanumeric program number. One of my colleagues is a 100% blind piano tuner and he often asks me for support in learning new gear he gets. Maybe i can try together with him, how good the Nord Sound Manager works together with screenreaders for vision impaired people.

If you want to program your own sounds, there will be two ways: tapping each button whilst testing how the sound changes without knowing its exact function and state (that is indicated by some LED above it) or knowing exactly what they do and which is their standard state when starting with a new program. That would be very hard learning work to do. Maybe someone who knows the instrument very well by your side could be very useful. Because he knows all the short cuts and how-to-do`s.

Let us know what you are planning to do with the instrument and then we could see, if it possible or very hard to do.

Greetings Clemens

Hi and welcome to the forum with a very good question!

I will guess that Nord instruments are much better than most other brands for the visually impaired. I have three synts. Nord Electro - Nord Stage and Yamaha Montage. I strongly believe that my Nords would be much easier for you to learn and create the sound you like.

* No deep menus at all. And you don't normaly need to go into the menus, setup, MIDI, MIDI external more than once in a while. And then maybe someone can help you read them up.
* Most knobs have a one or two function - direct or SHIFT. I guess you will learn that very quick.
* The storage banks on my Nord Stage 2 are easy to navigate counting clicks. 4 banks A, B, C, D then count cliks for storage postition. I think you could navigate within a few hours practice.
* The physical drawbars on the Electro should be a breeze for you to use.
* I used to own a Nord lead A1 (sold it) but those Nord's nearly have no display at all. Just a very simple LED - number display - You could design advanced sound with no menus - just knobs turning...

I really think some of the users here on the forum use their Nord so much that they could navigate it and adjust it in bad stage lightening without much problem.

Good luck! - and maybe you could borrow or test a Nord Electro or stage depending on your needs.
The question is the need for an advanced synth or not. And how technical you are (many knobs and many more functions on the stage)
Maybe you could give us more information about your intended usage...

Please be aware that the Nords also have a Menu system for a number of settings and that might not be visually-impaired friendly, so you would need some help with the initial setup with for example selecting USB or DIN MIDI, the MIDI channels, memory protection, setting song mode, etc. Perhaps the phone reader can read the display text? If so that would be very helpful.
I might be an idea, for comparison to compare with preset oriented instruments, simplicity of access and the ability to tweak tend to be inversely related. Having multiple buttons and knobs I think would be easier than instruments with large screens like the Kronos or the Yamaha MODX series, but this all depends of what type of use and sounds you are after. I remember a couple of users of the forum reporting visual impairment, so hopefully they might chime in with more information, just keep asking.
If the LEDs intensity is an issue (this might be a long shot) perhaps they could be replaced with high intensity white LEDs.

Thank you so much for your sugestions and your help guys !

I'm looking for a very versatile first keyboard. I really like the organ sound of the electro but I need 88 keys to learn to play (maybe not ?). The piano 4 is tempting but I'm afraid there are not enough different sounds, especially the organ sound.

The stage 3 is like a "mix" of all Nord keyboards, right ?

I know that, Nord keyboards are really expansive for a beginner. I was interested in Nord keyboards because I read that they were easier to use than their competitors.

I would imagine the effects can be handled blind, by sound and fiddling.
Organ is the same, with physical drawbars of course.

It's piano and sample sounds, and the programs selected I can't get my head around how to select blindly.
Perhaps if You program everything into a setlist so You have direct access to a handful sound, and can select between a handful songs with each a handful sounds so You can easily select live.

I think Fieldflower may have a useful suggestion. You program your favorite sounds or combination of sounds into a set list and you memorize what each number contains, for example: #1 has electric piano and a string pad, #2 is an organ, #3 a grand piano layered with a harmonica etc. etc. This is of course a hypothetical list. The actual instrument, or layered instruments combination, and their order number are up to you. Maybe this could work for you. Welcome K.

Hello Kisyk,
maybe you can contact 'jprykiel' on this forum
https://www.google.fr/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... sll4z2bUnJ

harvey

Hi, Kisyq,
You've gotten a lot of good advice here, and I'd like to throw in my two cents' worth. To answer your original question, I don't believe that the ability to see the OLED screen display is necessary in order to enjoy basic functionality. I have a Nord Piano 4, which is simpler to operate than a Stage or an Electro, but that seems to be a difference in degree, not in kind, and certain overlapping operational principles can be helpful. JayDee and CRClemens have it exactly right. You can prep your instrument with the help of a sighted friend so that the sounds and combinations of sounds (known as "Programs" in Nordspeak) that are important to you are accessible by turning or pressing a small number of knobs and buttons, which you can mark with common rounded 1 cm rubber bumpers (used on cabinet doors). The same goes for the most essential adjustable settings (on the NP4, for instance, those might be Piano vs. Sample sound volumes, Reverb level, Equalization, and the two sets of Special Effects such as Tremolo and Phaser, which can be cycled through with a couple of buttons, and anything else you would consider key). The Nords come preloaded with a lot of excellent factory sounds and over time (after you've familiarized yourself with your instrument) you can replace them with others available in the Nord Sound Libraries (again with the help of a friend). Since I mentioned cycling through the FX buttons, I might also add that (again, in the NP4) all of the Piano sounds can be cycled through by just turning one knob, and likewise for the Sample sounds. As for the combination Program sounds, they can be easily organized so that your main sounds are simple to call up. Since you have no problem with knobs and buttons, as a practical matter you should be able to operate a Nord and achieve 80% of the functionality you could want. Which ain't bad. I certainly don't use or need all of the bells and whistles on my NP4. Good luck and Happy Jamming.
ps: As you mentioned using your phone to "zoom" in on text, have you considered a glass reading magnifier, either handheld or flexmounted?