New to Forum - New to nord...

[P A U L]

Hi, just joined...

I'm new here, but, not to Internet forums (been around since usenet days). I'm new to nord, but not to piano & music. I have a long history, but...

here goes:

I started music in 2nd grade ('72), w/ the (Bb) clarinet in elementary school. I learned how to read basic. I also, was brought up, by my mother singing in the church choir, & in 2nd grade, when I joined band, I also joined the school chorus. I learned pretty well, when in 3rd grade, the chorale teacher recommended me for high school honor chorale. So, I would get bused over to the local HS water school & did a little touring w/ the HS Honor Chorale.

3rd grade was transformative for me, as I started my rebellious streak, I didn't get along w/ my 3rd grade teacher, who was also the chorale teacher. So, I wasn't getting along & I didn't like the songs, so I quit. I also quit band & while still going to school, checked out, because I was bored.

So, I pretty much dropped all of that & in HS (10th grade - around '83), I decided I wanted to be a guitar player. Taught myself, & all my friends thought I was the greatest, but... we all know better, eh? I was a semi-decent hack.

A couple years after HS, I decided to straighten out y life & ended up in a huge circle of musicians. In this circle (SoCal - LA area) The demographic was something like guitarists 90+%, vocals 2-3%, drummers 1-2%, keyboards 1-2% & there was 2 bass players. I saw myself as maybe avg, or maybe a little less, in the pool of guitar players, & a friend of mine's band needed a bass player. So, I started learning how to play bass. The band leader was a guitarist, that was a drum major in school, so he learned drum theory, subdivisions, etc. he coached me to play bass, to play along w/ the drums, not to just be a bass note guitarist, staying on the root.

So, I played bass, for 15 years on a professional level. In that, I was introduced to a small amount of keyboards. I had a little Casio, as a kid, & taught myself the notes, so, I already had that knowledge, & could play easy chordings to back a small part here & there (the band had a Roland D50). Towards the end of that period, I bought myself a Roland XP10, but, after the band split up, I never really played it. In 30 years, I've probably played that thing less than 50 hours...

A couple years ago, I decided I wanted to finally get serious about learning, so I started looking for an electric piano, w/ weighted keys. I picked up an old Roland that, I guess was semi-weighted, & not very inspiring. It did get me back into it though, but, not really enough to keep me going (lasted about 6 months)...

Last year, I decided, hell or high-water, I wanted to get serious about it. So, I started scouring the internet looking to see what keyboards are considered "best" in the upper class of keyboards. Obviously, being into musical instruments & other audio/video gear, there really is no best, but there's top of the line & a few different brands w/ different philosophies. It was up to me to find the best for me, based on what I wanted, my philosophy, & who had what I wanted, & then look around for best bang-for-buck...

After months of educating myself, looking at weighted keys, best hammer action, sounds, etc., I saw a pawn shop selling a piano5 for $2200. I went & checked it out, & offered $2000 & he took it. It didn't have the nord 3 pedal, but had a 3rd party single. I ended up buying the nord 3 pedal.

So, now I have the piano5. I'm still a hack, albeit, a semi-educated hack, as far as the world of music goes, & especially piano playing.

I play guitar, bass, piano, violin, cello, harmonica, & sing a little. I should have been a great singer, but, not keeping up with/ it, you lose it, & I have a problem w/ laryngal collapse, that gives me sleep apnea, & has affected my voice, where I don't get the range I once had, plus... getting older. So, I do play a lot of things & can pick them up easily, but, I'm not great, at any of them. For the most part, I can hold my own & be a team player.

My playing style in music has always been aggressive when needed, & soft & subtle, also, when needed. I am tending to gravitate towards classical sounds on piano, but, I am a (heavy) metal head at heart. I have always like rhythmic playing, & harmony.

I have been playing on the nord, since last early Dec. I was playing it through my Yamaha studio monitors, through a Neve interface. I decided to buy some dedicated speakers, & bought a set of QSC K12.2 w/ KS112 sub's. Kind of nuts, having this (8,000 watts) for my living room, but... the sound is awesome. I am using a mix of 2 grand pianos (white & silver) & 2 string sounds (symphonic strings legato & mellotron 3 violins) a little delay & cathedral reverb...

Hopefully, I'll be doing a program, where I'll be playing some piano/keyboard, before too long & also playing some guitar/possible singing. This is why I joined. I have some questions, &... they seem like the most elementary to getting going on performance, but I haven't found the answers yet browsing through the forum yet, so, I'll probably be asking a few things.

Anyway, glad to be here & look forward to being a part of the community, if there's any way I can help, I'll be glad to, but, as of now, I'm the n00b...

Cheers!
P A U L

[madmaxtheking]

Hi Paul,
You mentioned being drawn toward classical sounds on piano but still being a metal head at heart. Have you ever experimented with blending those two worlds on the Nord Pips NYT? Like layering orchestral textures with more aggressive rhythmic patterns to echo your metal roots? I feel like your background on bass and guitar could give you a pretty unique approach to that.

[P A U L]

Hi Paul,
You mentioned being drawn toward classical sounds on piano but still being a metal head at heart. Have you ever experimented with blending those two worlds on the Nord Pips NYT? Like layering orchestral textures with more aggressive rhythmic patterns to echo your metal roots? I feel like your background on bass and guitar could give you a pretty unique approach to that.

definitely...

I'm a big fan of John Paul Jones & Don Airey to name a couple of keyboardists. I follow Derek Sherinian & have been listening to TSO a lot lately. They have some great keyboard players as well... they had one guy, who recently passed away, named Vitaly, that was a classical genius. I've played w/ a few great keyboardists as well, but never thought to get into it back then.

I'm still a schlep though, I have a lot to learn...