Nord User Forum

I currently have a Yamaha Motif XS8. It's a nice keyboard.

Something I'm real picky about is when a note actually "sounds" or "turns on".

For example - If I intentionally press a key with the intent of NOT making a sound, the Yamaha XS8 will NOT sound.

However - I recently purchased some grand piano patches, in particular Steinway, Bosendorfer, and a Kawai - they sounded GREAT on Youtube - and so, I bought them.

They take F.O.R.E.V.E.R. to load - Worse thing is - I was playing it, and noticed in quieter, ppp settings, the notes sound if you HARDLY play the keys. If I intentionally press the key down, with the intent to NOT make a sound, the note plays - QUIETLY, of course, but, still plays.

IF I switch to the factory sound patch for the grand piano, works like a charm.

THOSE of you who own a NORD GRAND, can you confirm this is NOT an issue with the factory installed pianos OR the samples that you would download from NORD's website?

Unfortunately, I can't find any store that has these keyboards to test this out.

I DO have one on order from Sweetwater - BUT, hate to return the thing IF it has this qwerkiness that Yamaha's keyboards have regarding these samples that are uploaded.

Thank you so much in advance.

Tim

All (recent) Nord keyboards with a piano section works the same:

A very quiet key-press will not make a sound in the piano section (just like a real piano), and will send out MIDI velocity 1. Also, if a Nord piano section receives MIDI velocity 1 it will not sound.

In the synth/sample player section, a key-press will always make a sound - like any other synth or organ that I know of.

So your (soon to be) Nord Grand will work as it should, not making piano sounds when you press a key very gently. You can use this creatively in combination with sympathetic string resonance (hold a key down and strike and release a harmonically related key to make the first key sound sound).

Note that you can only get proper multi-sampled piano sounds from Nord - but they are free, and there are plenty of then. And they all work the same way.

Welcome to the forum, trking!
(and avoiding to introduce yourself with a double post would make you even more welcome )

I have not totally clear what do you mean by those "other" samples that you want to play. Do you refer to the new pianos you downloaded for your Motif? Or to the samples in the Nord Piano Library that you will be able to access once you get your Nord Grand?

In the first case: no way. Nord instruments can only play their proprietary sample format. You CAN convert your own samples to Nord's format, but only for the Sample Synth section, which has single-layer samples (no variations with different velocities, basically useless for piano). Nord piano samples are in a closed format which can only be accessed and modified by Clavia, and can only be played on Nord instruments.
A workaround is to play the pianos in your Nord Grand from another keyboard via MIDI, but it makes little sense to buy such an expensive board only to use it as an expander. Besides, on my NS2 I noticed that for whatever reason, when played via MIDI it's impossible to get a silent key stroke- the keys will always sound, even when played at minimum velocity. When played from the internal keyboard, this doesn't happen and you can get silent keys normally.

That said, if you get a Nord Grand you'll hardly have any need to play it from an external keybed: the Kawai action is one of the best available, and should suit the Nord samples perfectly. As said, you will be able to install and play ONLY Nord piano samples, unless using the NG to control pianos from your Motif or a computer. But again, it hardly makes sense to spend so much cash on a dignified keyboard controller.

Guys - this is AWESOME news! I'm really excited to receive my NG! Your answers have really helped me to feel great about the purchase. I've been playing for about 44 years now - Well, since I was 9 (I'm 53, now) - HAHAHAHA I'm counting the moment I pressed my first key of interest. I have no room in my house for a grand piano - and I've ALWAYS been a stickler on "how" a weighted keyboard feels. I've had Roland in the beginning - BUT, have pretty much stuck with Yamaha's for the past 30 years. Recently, I went to a piano store - I was going to purchase a Schimmell Upright Grand - LOVED the RENNER (spelling) action. Very light, and easy to play. The piano at my church is AWFUL!!!! It's a grand - I think it's a KAWAI (I think) but - the action is just VERY stiff. I highly doubt it's anything special.

Reading the reviews, and PianoManChuck (or whoever he is) has SOLD me on the Nord Grand - I WAS going to get the NORD PIANO 4 - but - was sold on the NG's action as well as the weight of the keyboard. The Yamaha XS8, I think is around 70 pounds. The NG, around 45/46???? BIG difference for me.

Any ways - THANK you so much!!! THANK YOU!!!!

I'm sure you will be happy with the Grand. I bought it, sight unseen, based on the action and overall layout. Not to mention I've had great luck with several models of Nords in the past. I sat down and played for perhaps 2 hours straight when I got the Grand. Haven't done that in a while!

Thank you!