Nord User Forum

+1 on going for a more generalist keyboard like a Yamaha/Roland/Korg workstation, given the target music and being the only keyboard in the OP's setup.

Hi Mike

and a very warm welcome to this wonderful forum of nord enthusiasts. As you may have seen today, we aren‘t all that nord-crazy that we are blind towards the rest. And as others have mentioned above, I‘d also follow the Korg or Roland fantom workstation lane, and I would say that you‘ll find a good one for your purposes in the price range from 1.000 to 1.500 €/$, especially for the music tunes you are talking about.

I didn‘t mention Yamaha because I could never get warm with their software menue structure, even if the boards may be good.

Cheers from Germany

Hello, and welcome to the Forum! For the use you describe, I agree with folks that some of the less expensive keyboards (even a used Kord X50 like I got for $350 US) might fit the bill if you just want to get close to a sound used without a lot of knob turning or menu diving. That said, if you plan to dive into keyboard playing for your own enjoyment aside from the band and are interested in creating your own sounds (even making your own samples), the Stage 3 can be very fulfilling to work with if you have the funds. The Forum is a great resource as well if you take that path. Good luck to you!

Ok thanks - that seems to be consistent with feedback I got at other boards. Just wanted to confirm that Nord probably isn’t my best option.

You don't want a Nord unless you are a focused keyboard player. Instead, I think you'd be better off with a "preset machine", loaded up with popular sounds from the past few decades. That being said, you will be stuck with whatever sounds they give you until you invest in learning how to program it.

If you are feeling more adventurous, go the midi controller and iPad route. There are great software versions of all the popular synths of the era, along with the presets that made them famous. Don't spend much money until you're sure you know what you want.

Welcome! And great question.

I cover primarily keys (and occasionally guitar) for a band that does a lot of 90s pop covers. My primary axe is a Nord Electro 5D (I also use a separate controller keyboard, and I have an old microkorg on the stack too).

Our approach to covers is to get in the general ballpark of the best known version, but to do our own versions that suit our line up and let us have a bit of fun within the music. The Nord is absolutely fine for working like that - as a bread-and-butter keyboard player I favour organs and pianos, but am not averse to adding in a few other sounds like strings, pads, or (via the korg) more explicitly synthy sounds where needed. As an example, we do "Toxic" - I have one board with a Rhodes and a hint of drive, one board with strings, and one with a monosynth. In isolation what I do sounds very little like the Britney Spears original, but in context it works really well. An advantage to the Nord is that I can change all that really quickly - if the mood takes me to move to organ, that's a switch-click away.

There are other covers bands out there that stick more closely to the recorded versions of the songs they cover. My rig would not work for that approach at all. The Nord doesn't have the flexibility for that kind of detailed sound design - and as other posters have noted there are cheaper keyboards that would do that kind of thing very well. For me as a keyboard player that kind of stuff would be outside of my interests, I probably wouldn't be in that kind of band to be honest - but I know a lot of players that do that kind of thing really well and I've nothing but respect for them.

For me, Nords work best for more experienced keyboard players with an interest in the fundamentals of the keyboard family - pianos and organs. The sample capacity on the 5D gives me more flexibility (and the microkorg gives me silly noises as I need them!), but it is not the same as a modern workstation like a Motif or Fantom.

I algo agree with above. I play keyboard in a mostly 80s Rock-pop band and i have always used a Korg Kronos. I also always dreamed of owning a Nord so i purchased a NS3compact to fulfill my dreams and although i love it, im now facing the reality of it not being the most versatile thing on the planet for my needs.
Yes, the organs and pianos are great but for the synth stuff is a little bit lacking, not because it doesnt do much, but because 80s stuff is very specific (and i think 90s too), and iam finding always struggling quite a bit and always depending on user samples found here on the forums, plus, the sample capability is...not very good (with just 1 layer )

Dont get me wrong, Nords are beasts of synths, but for your use scenario maybe you can get your hands on a used Korg Kronos 61. Yamaha Modx or Roland Fantom. Even you can go a little back and get a used KORG M3, Yamaha Motif XS/XF

Nord Stage 4 has just been released, maybe Nord Stage 3 will go down in price and you can get a hold on one, but my suggestion is check another brand.