New Astoria Grand: Where Does It Rank

[Mighty Motif Max]

Gig Report

Sunday I had a solo worship leading gig where it was just me, the Nord, and vocals. Smallish space, house PA was just a stereo JBL EON 208 portable PA, with one of my Alto TX-308's as a mono monitor. A good chance for a trial run of the new sample - I like to test new samples via a "trial by fire" approach where I force myself to play an entire gig with it to evaluate how useful it is to me in a variety of different song contexts. So, I loaded in the Astoria Grand XL and swapped it into my general-purpose worship program for the whole gig (Main piano on Slot A, Soft Grand XL w/comp + high boost + chorale verb in Slot B, spiccato strings and a synth pad + a split pad at the top with KB hold enabled). For reference, I usually use the Royal Grand 3D as my general-purpose Grand, alternating with the Italian and Silver samples.




Thoughts: this is a very vintage-sounding grand, really well-suited to jazz in particular - very "woody". I think it could also be used in many cases where an upright sample might be used otherwise. It doesn't fall apart too badly in mono. A listener commented to me that it sounded like a "huge grand piano" in the room, which I'll take as a win. I found that with a bit of a low cut, the Bright filter + a little more high EQ boost, and a cut in the lower mids it worked pretty well for most uses, however. It has nice dynamics, but is definitely on the mellow side - no bright fortissimo bite anywhere to be found. Again, this was a piano + vocal context; I have my doubts about how it would fare in a denser band mix, no matter how much EQ was applied. This is probably not a piano for rock gigs.


In comparing the XL with the L/M/S variants, I found an anomaly at C6 - at a mezzo dynamic level, there's a "click" of sorts in the sample itself, which almost sounds like a person setting an object down on a shelf or something. In the XL version, this is only present on the C6 note; in the L/M/S versions (which all share the same samples, only differing in string resonance), that anomaly also exists on the C#6 key, which is evidently a stretched sample from the C6 below it. I found having two notes with that to be much more annoying than one, enough to make me free up enough space to keep the XL version along with loading the Royal XL back in. I'll also note that the L/M/S versions do sound a bit different - not a ton, but a smidge more like an upright than the XL version for whatever reason. Not a bad thing or a good thing, just an observation.


Overall Conclusion: This one's a keeper - I'd love to see the C6 anomaly fixed though. I ended up heavily editing my piano sample selection to make space for this one, because it has the perfect sound for a lot of the trad jazz and ragtime that I play, while also working well in an intimate setting. It is a really nice piano to match with the Soft Grand or Italian Grand if you're trying to keep a fairly consistent sound between songs but need to switch between different dynamic/timbral characteristics. It won't jump out to the ear as a massive transition - it's fairly smooth.

[jeffkeys]

Hey Mighty Motif Max,
Thanks for such a thorough and useful review of the sample!!
HNY!
Jeff

[tsss27]

I can agree with much of what was said above.
I will say, however, that I did use it in a full band on Christmas Eve (piano, 2 e-guitars, ac-guitar, bass, drums, additional light tracks, string quartet) and it cut great. I just added some trebble from the eq. I really enjoy pianos with a little bit of detune, without them sounding like a honky-tonk or similar and this fits the bill. Between this and the White I can cover a lot of ground.

[ElectroStrat]

In comparing the XL with the L/M/S variants, I found an anomaly at C6 - at a mezzo dynamic level, there's a "click" of sorts in the sample itself, which almost sounds like a person setting an object down on a shelf or something. In the XL version, this is only present on the C6 note; in the L/M/S versions (which all share the same samples, only differing in string resonance), that anomaly also exists on the C#6 key, which is evidently a stretched sample from the C6 below it.

I also like a lot the Astoria Grand, especially its warmth and its sustain.
When playing with the Bright equalizer, I’ve also noticed the noise on the C6 and C#6 keys.
It’s less audible with the normal equalizer setting.

[agcohn]

I really like the Astoria Grand so far as kind of a smokier, less brassy version of the White Grand. I think it cracks my top 4, along with the White, Silver, and Grand Upright.

[JazzP]

I like the Astoria Grand!
My regular go-to grand is the Royal Grand; I play a lot of jazz (big-band, combo), and most grands sound too thin in the higher registers to my taste, except for the Royal Grand and the White Grand. The Astoria is very rich also in the high registers (thus very well balanced), and has a "direct"/in-your-face character, which cuts nicely through the mix. I tried in the bigband during our christmas concert two weeks ago, and I was really surprised how great it sounded on stage and blended into the big band.

I also like it for ballad/ambient/electronic style music which I produce; add a lot of shimmer reverb and you get a really warm and lively sounding piano. You could say that it is a grand piano version of the like the Mellow Upright (same direct sound). Definitely a keeper for me!

[Gambold]

>there's a "click" of sorts in the sample itself, which almost sounds like a person setting an object down on a shelf or something. <

It is very odd that they didn't catch that. I haven't heard it, but my guess is this sound is not part of the piano's "character," but a mistake made during the sampling process.

Clavia has been doing this for a long time and you'd think they would have steps in the process to find those problems and get rid of them before releasing the sample...because going back and doing a fix, if they were so inclined, would take more time and money.

Or, maybe they are in leaner years now, and quality control isn't what it used to be...and you get what you get. It's looking like the final judgement on the Astoria is pretty much what you'd expect - it's charming, it's mood-specific, it could be one of the uprights...and no, it's not the new flagship grand. It won't be A-11 on the Electro 7. Looks the White will continue its now record-setting run in that regard.

[afroskully]

The Astoria Grand may not be the flagship piano for Nord, but I'm seriously digging this piano. I tweaked the eq (less bass, more high mids and treble) and brought the touch dynamics up a notch, and this thing sings! Yes it's moodier and darker, but sometimes the White is a little too bright for me, and the Astoria seems like I can have a lot more dynamic range, which TBH I didn't notice when playing in mono, but really noticed a difference in stereo. Having the White in A1 and Astoria in A2 is the perfect one-two punch for me right now. Of course, I'll be trying it at a gig for the first time on saturday, so my opinion may change.