Nord User Forum

Roty34 wrote:that's it, I received my Nord Stage 3 HP
wow, I regret not having bought it before.
it is quickly taken in hand, everything seems simple and effective
I have a job ahead of me to redo my repertoire but I'm having fun like crazy !!!

Bonjour, bien joue ! Welcome to the club ! you will love it.
A+

I was just thinking back to when I was learning and playing Nords. I could get great sounds out of it quickly. I think my mistake at the time was to say "whoa, that sounds good" and go on to something else. I should have taken the time to figure out what else could have been done.

Now that I'm doing that, it seems that the first sounds are good enough if I'm in a hurry, but if you take the time to explore, you can be rewarded. If I was doing it again, here is what I would suggest, as there is a LOT of territory to explore. The user manual is very well written, I would suggest stepping through all of it early on for more enjoyment later.

I would first fully explore the piano section and its effects. Those "layered" piano samples can be awfully useful in certain band contexts. Dial up an Elton John piano. Visit the 60s with a funky clav. This can take a day or more, not because it's difficult, but because you will get lost in all the variations, and it will take your ear some time to adapt.

After that, do the organ section. Get the B3 sounds right for your ears: leslie, grit, etc. Now, go explore the two pipe engine models, as well as the farf and vox. All are useful in context and layering with other voices. Even if you're not crazy about building a naked, screaming Vox sound, you can blend it with something else for a nice flavor.

Next, the synth/sample section, which can be a bit overwhelming. Maybe get started by scrolling through all the synth presets (which requires glancing at the manual), followed by all of the samples. That can take many sessions, and you haven't really created anything -- just exploring what it can do. Remember, many have mod wheel morphs, aftertouch, etc. and you may get lost in a few of them.

Finally, step through all the presets that Nord has created. You'll see how someone combined the elements to produce a very cool sound (pay close attention to the effects section). That should take a few days.

The reason I am suggesting a more thorough, bottoms-up approach to everything it can do is because I didn't do that. And I'm still finding features and combinations that make me go "wow" and it's mostly because I never took the time to explore the nooks and crannies.

thanks for the advice