NORD STAGE 3 AS A SYNTH (ONLY TWO SOUNDS LAYERED)

[CraigW]

The architecture of the synth in the NS3, sharing DNA from the A1 is specifically designed for getting programming results quickly. Yes, there are things you can't do, but that is true with almost any synthesizer. Many of the oscillators are dual function and the osc control makes it possible to combine a saw wave with a sample in a single slot, for example. The unison feature fattens up the sound considerably (sometimes too much for certain applications). You can also use the detune to get two different notes playing at the same time using Osc Control.

The NS3 is designed for live performance and not sound design. If you are scoring films, there are better choices. Also, as previously mentioned, the Song Mode gives you 5 programs for any song. That, and the ability to load custom samples makes the NS3 ideal as a gigging board.

-dj

[mahob]

Thanks again for the answers. I finally decided to jump in and yesterday I brought my stage 3 compact home! It’s a pleasure to play. Build quality is excellent and the feel too Though I could not play as much as I would like to fue to job, little daughter, etc., my feeling so far is that the electric pianos are above the expectations I had. Just amazing. Organs are incredible emulations. And acoustic pianos (I know this will be challenged) are below my expectations so far. I mean they are very good, but in my case did not blow my mind. Probably I had underestimated Jupiter 50’s pianos so far, but now I realize that they have nothing to envy to nord’s. Of course the Jupiter is much more menu diving to add effects, etc., but the sound itself is close in terms of quality. I am not complaining at all, just saying what I felt.
Could not experiment deeply the synth so far. Just went through presets and their combinations, tweaking filter, res, etc. I find the synth fat sounding, which I like. More than the Jupiter, which is more metallic. At the same time I find better harmonics in the presets of the Jupiter, more bright in both synth and acoustic brasses. Winds and guitars presets are definitely better in the Jupiter. And the pads achieve much more movement. I will have to get deeper in the nord though because I had the jup for years and of course I know it better.
Hands on control is definitely a game changer. Jupiter (and sorry I refer to this one but it is the one I am tending to replace) has very nice effects but it takes too many pressings of buttons to get there, and sometimes I just don’t want to do it. Knobs closeness in the nord is unbelievable.
I am very happy overall, and these are only very high level impressions. I am sure I will have more comments and questions to ask you!
Thank you again!

[analogika]

I love the Nord pianos for being sampled versions of REAL pianos, not idealised cliches of what an upright „should“ sound like, or a honky-tonk, etc. They come across a particular piano they really love, and then sample that — slightly worn hammers or mild detuning, sloppy mechanics and all.
This can be underwhelming, but they don’t aim to dazzle; they aim to recreate actual instruments. The difference is subtle, I suppose, but fundamental.

There are indeed hard limits on Synth sound complexity, but the advantage is that it never takes more than about twenty seconds to get anywhere this keyboard can go, and with layering, delays and panning, it can still be surprisingly rich.

[Hlaalu]

I love the Nord pianos for being sampled versions of REAL pianos, not idealised cliches of what an upright „should“ sound like, or a honky-tonk, etc. They come across a particular piano they really love, and then sample that — slightly worn hammers or mild detuning, sloppy mechanics and all.
This can be underwhelming, but they don’t aim to dazzle; they aim to recreate actual instruments. The difference is subtle, I suppose, but fundamental.

Forgive me for going a bit off-topic here, but I just wanted to second this, couldn't agree more.

At the very beginning I was slightly underwhelmed too with the acoustic pianos, both grand and uprights, so I see where the OP is coming from. But I'd suggest to bear on a bit, because I myself then I began to appreciate their "imperfect" nature and now I love them. As with anything imperfect, it can be disappointing at first but when you learn how to love its imperfection then the bond is much stronger. Just a casual comparison with women you know...

Jokes aside, one can easily flip the question: have you (you the OP) ever heard a "perfect" real piano? Don't think so... It could be because of the mechanics, the room acoustic, a slight detuning, or anything really, but those things all have the effect of making you want to chase perfection more and more with every key stroke of yours. With a super-polished electronic sound (be it sampled or not), there's no perfection to be chased, because it's everything already there, except the challenge and the joy of playing.

Just my opinion of course, but as I said keep getting acquainted with them and I'd bet you'll get to love them.

[anotherscott]

At the same time I find better harmonics in the presets of the Jupiter, more bright in...acoustic brasses. Winds and guitars presets are definitely better in the Jupiter.

Non-piano acoustic instruments will generally be better in the Roland. The Nord sample library acoustic instruments include only single samples for any given note, whereas the Roland can include multiple samples for a given note (which get triggered at different velocities), plus that particular Roland has their behavior modeling as well. If you want it all, you can consider selling the Jupiter 50 and picking up a Roland Integra-7 rack module, which you can integrate with the Nord via its EXT sections. Other than effects, the Integra gives you all the sounds of the Jupiter 50 along with many more, and it's a compact/light way to get them.

[cgrafx]

If you want it all, you can consider selling the Jupiter 50 and picking up a Roland Integra-7 rack module, which you can integrate with the Nord via its EXT sections. Other than effects, the Integra gives you all the sounds of the Jupiter 50 along with many more, and it's a compact/light way to get them.

Actually the Nord by itself is not a suitable controller for the Intgra. You will lose access to all of the SuperNatural alternate samples (horn falls, guitar harmonics and picks, etc), because you have to have programmable buttons to trigger/switch to them.

On the Jupiter 50 they are the S1/S2 buttons on the left side of the keyboard next to the mod stick.

I already went through this exercise myself and ended up selling the Integra because there just wasn't any good way to make it work, and the loss of the alternate sample sets is a significant loss (as that was the whole point of getting the Roland in the 1st place - to do the things the Nord can't).

[anotherscott]

Good point. If he uses those buttons when he plays the Jupiter 50, that's something he'd lose playing the Integra from the NS3. If he's happy with the Jupiter 50 sounds even without using those buttons, then the Integra remains a viable solution.

[mahob]

Hi again. I have been enjoying the NS3 and that is why I am writing less! As mentioned before, I am amazed by its electric pianos above all. Combinations and effects knobs proximity are indeed a source of big inspiration in terms of sound creation. Still, I do prefer Roland's samples by far. Jupiter 50 is an underrated synth, but pairing with the NS3 in terms of samples, is better in my opinion, with the exception of pianos and organs, of course. Now that I have it hands on, I have a few questions regarding the previous answers to my OP:

Also know that the newer NS3's have Song Mode where you can add 5 different synth patches per song on the soft buttons....So layered you can have up to two synth's times 5 giving you up to 10 different synth's per song! Also up to ten pianos, and organs! When you own one of these beasts, and learn how to use it you'll find that it's hands down one of the best keyboards on the market! My board is the NS3C...Light! Stage saver! Free samples, and patches that the Nord Forum, and Clavia offer!

Not sure if I understand what it means and how this is done.

Also, regarding this:

At the same time I find better harmonics in the presets of the Jupiter, more bright in...acoustic brasses. Winds and guitars presets are definitely better in the Jupiter.

Non-piano acoustic instruments will generally be better in the Roland. The Nord sample library acoustic instruments include only single samples for any given note, whereas the Roland can include multiple samples for a given note (which get triggered at different velocities), plus that particular Roland has their behavior modeling as well. If you want it all, you can consider selling the Jupiter 50 and picking up a Roland Integra-7 rack module, which you can integrate with the Nord via its EXT sections. Other than effects, the Integra gives you all the sounds of the Jupiter 50 along with many more, and it's a compact/light way to get them.

Scott, do you think that sampling the JP50 could be a good idea? I know I will not get the different "movements" of the instruments according to velocity, but at least I would preserve some of the Roland's most important samples. What do you think? Is it worth the work? Too difficult? Will I lose sound quality?

Another thing that confused me when reading the manual before buying it is the "per slot" reverb. I thought this meant a different reverb for each section (like the Jupiter has), but it turned out to be that is a general reverb for all zones in each A or B panel. Is there a work around for this? Can I have a non reverberated piano and a reverberated synth in the same panel?

Thank you again!!

[WannitBBBad]

...Another thing that confused me when reading the manual before buying it is the "per slot" reverb. I thought this meant a different reverb for each section (like the Jupiter has), but it turned out to be that is a general reverb for all zones in each A or B panel. Is there a work around for this? Can I have a non reverberated piano and a reverberated synth in the same panel?

No, but if you really want some type of effect like in a single panel, an option is to add a little MOD ENV and AMP ENV Release to the synth along with delay effect to add a little dimension to the sound. Take care.

[anotherscott]

Scott, do you think that sampling the JP50 could be a good idea? I know I will not get the different "movements" of the instruments according to velocity, but at least I would preserve some of the Roland's most important samples. What do you think? Is it worth the work? Too difficult? Will I lose sound quality?

There's no harm in trying it... you already have the Nord, the Roland, and the computer, and there are free trials of programs you can use to sample the Roland and generate the WAV files you'd need to assemble a sound in the Nord Sample Editor (e.g. SampleRobot). It's worth spending a day on, even just to learn. And you might even get something you could find useful, whether by itself or layered with an existing Nord sound. But keep your expectations low, as there is a lot in the Roland sounds that you won't be capturing.

As I said, one thing that makes Roland (non-piano) acoustic instrument emulations better is that they can capture the different responses at different velocities, so even as soon as you said "I know I will not get the different 'movements' of the instruments according to velocity" you're acknowledging that you're not going to get some of what makes those sounds better in the first place. There's also the behavior modeling in the Jupiter 50, which even if you never use the buttons (as cgrafx talked about), is part of the sound of the Roland. For example, the way a horn attack might differ depending on the distance between one note and the next, or the unique way a horn does kinds of pitch changes that you duplicate with the bend lever, you won't get any of that either. There is also the issue of how a sound changes over time. If it's a sound that sustains/decays for a while, you'll probably want to create a short sample and then loop it so you don't use up tons of memory (looping is probably the trickiest part of sampling, btw) and then you lose (or have to use the synth section of the Nord to try to recreate) the sonic changes that happen to the sound over time. Also, again to save memory, you probably won't want to sample every key, but just every 3rd or 4th key which the Nord will stretch to cover the notes between... but that will also create a source of difference between your sample and the original. So there are lots of limitations and potential pitfalls. But if you just wish the Nord had a sound that had the basic sonic character of some of your favorite Roland sounds, you might be able to get what you're after.