Nord Electros 3/4/5 Comparison Chart

[zilentman]

As Clavia has not published any official comparison chart between the three different electros, I made some corrections and I am giving you the proper file.

[NoDirection]

Tnx - Have a Nord Electro3-61 today, and I see several good reasons to upgrade. Also the existence of a 'transpose' button (and not having to go into the system menu) makes life easier for amateur players like me , although I should have learnt to play in any key

[analogika]

Very nice overview!

The Transpose button serves a very different function from the system transpose, for me (I own a Stage 2).

I play in a couple of bands that, for whatever reason, have decided to play everything tuned a half-note down ("safer" for the singer), but still note it in its original key. When listening to the originals and working out parts during rehearsals, it's much slicker to hit the Transpose button than to go into the system menu (though that is MUCH faster on the Nords than on any other digital keyboard I own).

[Spider]

very well done, thank you!

As other mentioned the new "transpose" button (which I agree is incredibly useful, compared to a transpose menu), it may be interesting to expand the comparison also to the software-control features.
But this is already pretty useful, thanks again!

[pablomastodon]

for whatever reason, have decided to play everything tuned a half-note down ("safer" for the singer), but still note it in its original key

I have this same experience and always thought it to be really stupid until a guitar player whom I respect pointed out that the lighter string tensions allow easier and further guitar bends.

Happily, my teacher as a child forced me to play in all keys and do much sight transposing, so I play it all in whatever concert pitch they're really in instead of using transpose on my NS2. Lots of Eb and Ab and Gb. This actually works really well for playing bass...

Bless,

Pablo

[RedLeo]

I personally find that playing in concert if the guitar and bass have re-tuned is that you are now playing in a different key. If you're trying to work out, for example, a harmony lead with the guitarist in rehearsal, then it can all get very Spinal Tap very quickly...

My personal preference is simply: if the band have actually changed the key, then play in the changed key, if they have re-tuned then re-tune with them or use the transpose button.

Otherwise:

Guitarist: Ok, I'm playing E F# G F# A, so you should be going F# Ab Bb Ab B.

Keyboard player: Um, don't you mean Gb for me, and are we in Ab - I mean A - minor or major, so should I be playing my B against your A or should I be playing C - your C# sharp of course, so that would be your A against my C for a major third.

Guitarist: (confused): Huh? A against C is a major third now? (Tiny brain explodes).

I have had more of these nights than I care to remember...

[analogika]

^ I agree.

If the whole band has tuned down, I tune down with them. If individual songs need to be in different keys, I play in a different key.

The bands I play with do both, which gets really annoying, so our song lists have a column for original key, new key and actual sounding key. Hey, nobody forced me to do this job... *sigh*

I do a lot of transposing-on-the-fly when I teach, because I have groups of up to four, some of whom will be playing a song in its original key, and some of whom will have the keyboard transposed to C as we're working with basic harmonic degrees, depending upon how far they are. It does interesting things to your brain.

[analogika]

for whatever reason, have decided to play everything tuned a half-note down ("safer" for the singer), but still note it in its original key

I have this same experience and always thought it to be really stupid until a guitar player whom I respect pointed out that the lighter string tensions allow easier and further guitar bends.

Happily, my teacher as a child forced me to play in all keys and do much sight transposing, so I play it all in whatever concert pitch they're really in instead of using transpose on my NS2. Lots of Eb and Ab and Gb. This actually works really well for playing bass...

Oh yeah, different keys have wonderful advantages. "Superstition" isn't really playable in any key other than its original Eb minor.

The guitar thing sounds like a welcome side-effect rather than a reason. I rather suspect we'll look back at this as a fashion in twenty years' time. Though of course, the case is to be made that it's "safer" for a vocalist not to have to take quite the risks he had to on the studio album.

This hardly applies to cover bands, though.

[Spider]

The guitar thing sounds like a welcome side-effect rather than a reason. I rather suspect we'll look back at this as a fashion in twenty years' time. Though of course, the case is to be made that it's "safer" for a vocalist not to have to take quite the risks he had to on the studio album.

This hardly applies to cover bands, though.

I think it applies even more to cover bands, as the average cover band singer simply can't safely sing Steven Tyler, Bon Jovi, Axel Rose, McCartney or Freddie Mercury for 3+ hours...

In most of the cover bands I played, all the songs were routinely tuned 1/2 step down, always for the explicit reason of making it easier on the voices: even when the singer could safely hit the high notes, it was a matter of preserving his/her throat for the remainder of the show.

Yeah yeah, I know the solution: find a better singer!

[RedLeo]

Indeed, tuning down a semitone makes a big difference to a singer. Thin Lizzy always played tuned down a semitone live because Phil Lynott reckoned it helped him get through a long tour. So even the professionals do it.