Nord User Forum

jeffkeys wrote:… Sometimes I play exclusively organ all night as well on it.

Ogunter, it all brings me back to the question resp. advice I had in my first post: what style, what kind of organ playing is what you do? I bet that those answers of above which don‘t see problems are from team „Eagles, CCR, Dire Straits, a bit of this and that“ and the others, those who do recommend a waterfall keybed for the organ, from time to time play demanding solos, maybe like Deep Purple or Uriah Heep tribute, as I do.

So I‘d say you can only take the answers that fit to your music, to be on the safe side.

Nothing can replace a good testing by yourself.

Cheers

I play Merl Saunders/Melvin Seals Jerry Garcia Band style organ. Heavy Gospel (no pedals).

Thank you all. Some of your comments convinced me that playing organ on the HA would work for me, and
some comments convinced me that it wouldn't. I have found a Stage 44 HA 88 at a relatively nearby store. I am going today to try it out.
I'll let you know what I think. What a great forum.

I think every keyboard player goes through a stage when they look for that ultimate "all in one" board. They figure they can adapt to whatever.

The reality is that no one really prefers playing organ/synth parts on a weighted keybed. It's like trying to dance while wearing heavy boots.

Playing piano/clav parts on a unweighted keybed is a far more reasonable proposition for most, but still has to be learned. I'm a heavy-handed player, and it's just not the same without the keybed fighting back as I whack it.

I started enjoying my gigs a lot more when I went to a dual-board setup. With extra real estate, there's much less need for annoying splits. I also do a better job of intermixing different sounds throughout a song vs. relying on a single sound.

The "extra schlep" is bringing a shorter weighted midi controller to sling under my NS4C, along with a midi cable. Additional cost aside, the incremental effort is minimal.

cphollis, that is a convincing 'argument' for carrying two keyboards. I was able to try a Stage 4 HA 88 yesterday,
I do think I could live with playing organ parts on the HA keyed and it is a compromise I could perhaps live with. What I did get out of trying the Stage 4 yesterday for
a good amount of time was the insight into Stage 4 in general.
I have owned two Electros and have loved the relative simplicity. I was overwhelmed by the complexity of the Stage 4 yesterday.
I don't think I need all that the Stage offers. So I"m back to either waiting for electro 7 if perhaps it had an HA version or
get Piano 5 and 'suck it up' and bring my Electro 4 for organ and other things.
Thank you everyone for comments.

ogunter wrote:cphollis, that is a convi...
...up' and bring my Electro 4 for organ and other things.

If you haven't owned a Nord Stage before, it will seem complex at first. But that won't last very long. A Nord Stage is just an Electro and a Wave squeezed together. That's why the interface seems crowded at first, but once you get used to it, It's really quite intuitive and comprehensible.

If complexity is the only deal braker, I'd suggest you think again. Besides: a 2 keyboard setup of Electro - Piano will have it's own complications over a single Stage, simply because you'll have 2 keyboards to worry about.

@cphollis has great justifications for 2 keyboards. It definitely adds a sense of reality to the feel, because you get both spring action and hammer action when you need them. But I know for a fact that he is far more comfortable with complex setups than @ogunter is.
Source: the numerous in depth posts by @cphollis, and "overwhelmed by the complexity of the NS4" - @ogunter

Now to the point of an Electro 'X' HA: probably won't happen. But I can't say it won't happen. It might. But there is no guarantee that an Electro 7 comes out at all. So I wouldn't wait for it.

Electro 'X' HP is already a thing. Did you try the "Hammer action Portable" provided by Nord?
(ignore this last question if the answer is already in the thread)

Elias, that is an insightful post and thought provoking. I did buy an Electro 4 HP and that keybed did not work for me at all.
I returned it and bought the SW, as I was used to that keybed from the Electro 2 I had purchased back in the beginning.

ogunter wrote:… an Electro 4 HP and that keybed did not work for me at all.

I can well understand that. Coming from a really good acoustic piano at home - I have a Sauter 130 - I realized that the HP keybed doesn‘t work for me either. It is too slow in its repetition and too little sensitive for me. Sometimes I call it the worst of three options.

Cheers from Germany