Nord User Forum

Hi! Could anyone help me how I can make my Nord sounding like Toto's Only the Children? There are synth sounds and piano sounds and now I might only be interested in piano sounds in the verse and chorus. What I could do that I can make the piano sounding as cool as it sounds in the verse? In the chorus it doesn't seem to be a basic piano either, there is some brightness or something else with it.

Thank you for your help! It would be really great if I managed to sound as much like the real Toto as possible.

I like to layer a grand piano (in my case a the White Grand), with DigiGrand 1. The acoustic gives a natural body, while the digital gives a really nice sparkle and brightness. It will overall sound less static, as there are slight differences in tuning between the samples (also try with Grand + Upright or any other combo). Tasteful chorus, delay, compression, (EQ) and reverb on both pianos. For maximum effect, use different chorus and delay settings on them. I use this piano sound exclusively on stage, for all songs.

But some songs require something a bit extra, like in this case. Then I just add a synth layer. For example on "The Best" (Tina Turner) I've layered it with the D50 sample that also appears on the original studio version. I also have one version with some strings added to fill up the sound. This is what the Stage 3 excels at.

Now for this exact song: I hear a lot of octaves on the piano. Not sure how it was achieved in the studio, but that's what gibes it the brightness. 2 alternatives on the Stage 3:
A: just change the octave range on one of the pianos. Might get you close enough with the brightness, but will take away from the fullness (because the piano layers aren't working in the same register anymore). Wether that's a bad thing or not.
B: add synth layer(s) with up-octaved oscillators (or an alternative method), to achieve that sense of "brightness or something else".
You're probably best off adding synth layers anyway. Just look for the right balance between octaves and fullness and punchiness all those cool words.

And the synth programs that you layer on the pianos don't need to be anything crazy. They just need to blend in with the piano, if (like in this case) all that's needed is "brightness or something else". So often fast attack is a good thing, maybe cut out the bottom (so it's not competing with the piano. Find the healthy amount unison/detune/thickness.

If the stars align, I'll upload the programs here that I talked about but for the mean time just try it out. Not that complicated to be honest, just some playing around with chorus rates and delay times.

Here is the base of all my piano programs. White Grand XL (can well be substituted) + DigiGrand 1.

• Seasoned Grand, Stringed Grand, Best Grand.mp3

I just did some playing around on my Stage 3: added piano timbre "bright", and layer detune 1. And finally a subtle pad for good measure.

• Seasoned Grand, Toto Grand, Toto Grand + Pad.mp3

EDIT: A bundle that also includes the Stringed and D50 bell versions. I swapped the White grand for the Clavinet to reduce file size.

Great sounds, Elias! Thank you! I am loading these up and have a song in mind for one or both of them.

I've done a similar approach usually layering a Grand with CP80 and underlying synth pads assigned to the control pedal.