Nord User Forum

maxpiano wrote:

Koss2003 wrote:

maxpiano wrote:The Mids at 8KHz are wrong, I suggested 838 HZ (i.e knob between 600 and 1KHz), maybe you misread it? Anyway finding teh right EQ depends also on teh audio system (headphones/speakers), so you need to find the one that works with what you have and the search has to be done by small increments.

Yes, these are completely different equalizer settings. Not the ones you recommended. I also tried your settings and they really give more body, but I wanted to get more "brilliance". And those settings that in the photo bring the sound closer to this one, but give extraneous noise when I start playing.

If you need more brilliance you should use only the High pot then, leave the Mids flat (0dB) or even with a little cut around 700Hz (-3dB to -6dB) + maybe add some Compressor (and even a little Drive, may help).

PS: or, before all the above, try a piano with more brilliance in its original sample, e.g. the Bright Grand.

Or the Silver Grand. The cuts through rather well.

I would never emphasize at 8K. Pianos don't have much in that frequency. I would suggest you try sweeping slowly through the frequencies. Set the gain just a bit exaggerated and go slowly with the frequency knob, playing the piano, until you find the range that you want to emphasize. Then dial the amount to taste.

• Silver noise extreme.mp3

• Silver noise.mp3

• Grand Imperial noise.mp3

maxpiano wrote:

Koss2003 wrote:

maxpiano wrote:The Mids at 8KHz are wrong, I suggested 838 HZ (i.e knob between 600 and 1KHz), maybe you misread it? Anyway finding teh right EQ depends also on teh audio system (headphones/speakers), so you need to find the one that works with what you have and the search has to be done by small increments.

Yes, these are completely different equalizer settings. Not the ones you recommended. I also tried your settings and they really give more body, but I wanted to get more "brilliance". And those settings that in the photo bring the sound closer to this one, but give extraneous noise when I start playing.

If you need more brilliance you should use only the High pot then, leave the Mids flat (0dB) or even with a little cut around 700Hz (-3dB to -6dB) + maybe add some Compressor (and even a little Drive, may help).

PS: or, before all the above, try a piano with more brilliance in its original sample, e.g. the Bright Grand.

This is what happens with these equalizer settings(first with EQ then dry piano). Silver piano and Grand Imperial with these settings. And Silver with my extreme EQ setting(on photo). I hope the noise is heard on the record. Be better listen with headphones

Rusty Mike wrote:
Or the Silver Grand. The cuts through rather well.

I would never emphasize at 8K. Pianos don't have much in that frequency. I would suggest you try sweeping slowly through the frequencies. Set the gain just a bit exaggerated and go slowly with the frequency knob, playing the piano, until you find the range that you want to emphasize. Then dial the amount to taste.

That is how I do and choose a Silver grand.

P.S. The only one that sounds good to me even without EQ is Bright grand. And a little EQ setting makes him even brighter. With reverb very beautiful piano

maxpiano wrote:…

PS: or, before all the above, try a piano with more brilliance in its original sample, e.g. the Bright Grand.

This is usually my first approach. I take the White Grand for ballads like Adele‘s or John Legend‘s because it has the most natural full body, I take the Yammi Bright Grand for tunes like Rockin‘ all over the world because of its brilliant highs which cut through very good and I take the Bosie, can‘t recall its file name, in cases I want walking boogie basses because it has a very warm deep range. You may find it useful …

And, re. the 8kHz point, I cannot imagine that boosting this frequency that high does keep the character of a real piano sound.

Good luck, cheers from Germany

Edit: Ah yes, I think the Grand Imperial is the Bosie, isn‘t it?

Tasten-Bert wrote:

maxpiano wrote:…

PS: or, before all the above, try a piano with more brilliance in its original sample, e.g. the Bright Grand.

This is usually my first approach. I take the White Grand for ballads like Adele‘s or John Legend‘s, I take the Yammi Bright Grand for tunes like Rockin‘ all over the world and I take the Bosie, can‘t recall its file name, in cases I want walking boogie basses. You may find it useful …

And, re. the 8kHz point, I cannot imagine that boosting this frequency that high does keep the character of a real piano sound.

Good luck, cheers from Germany

This is my favorite pianos: Bozzy xl, Bright grand, White medium and recently uploaded Silver small ver.

Tasten-Bert wrote:Edit: Ah yes, I think the Grand Imperial is the Bosie, isn‘t it?

Exactly!

I just listened a bit through my headphones: Where is the noise you mentioned? Am I so deaf with my tinnitus?

FZiegler wrote:I just listened a bit through my headphones: Where is the noise you mentioned? Am I so deaf with my tinnitus?

Extraneous noise on the release. Maybe it’s not very good heard on the recording, but i can hear it in the headphones and through the speakers when i play.

So I'm going to throw something out there that may or may not resonate.

Perhaps the Nord pianos are just not for you.

It sounds to me like the sound you're chasing are better made by the Roland/Yamaha/Korg bunch. They have a robust library of those over-produced, overtone heavy pop pianos among most of their instruments. The Nord pianos tend to be more realistic and less processed.

Another thought. A few months back, I saw a video from Bonner's Music where Tony explained how to get that "Elton John" piano sound, which is very bright and cutting. He said it could work on most keyboards, but I believed he used a Nord Stage to demonstrate his approach. It involved layering two different piano sounds or something similar. It was interesting to watch, but not something I would do myself as that is not a sound I use. You can find the video somewhere on YouTube.

Rusty Mike wrote:So I'm going to throw something out there that may or may not resonate.

Perhaps the Nord pianos are just not for you.

It sounds to me like the sound you're chasing are better made by the Roland/Yamaha/Korg bunch. They have a robust library of those over-produced, overtone heavy pop pianos among most of their instruments. The Nord pianos tend to be more realistic and less processed.

Another thought. A few months back, I saw a video from Bonner's Music where Tony explained how to get that "Elton John" piano sound, which is very bright and cutting. He said it could work on most keyboards, but I believed he used a Nord Stage to demonstrate his approach. It involved layering two different piano sounds or something similar. It was interesting to watch, but not something I would do myself as that is not a sound I use. You can find the video somewhere on YouTube.

Thanks for the constructive response. I found the video you were talking about. The timbre of Elton John that the author of the video recreates is really interesting and useful for me. For practical and educational purposes.
I chose the Nord quite consciously, counting on its variety of pianos. In the end, I come to the conclusion that in most cases you just need to use dynamic curve number 2 (I mainly tried to use curves 0 and 1). The most suitable option for me as a result is curve number 2. And on occasion, still change the Nord Stage to 76 or 88 keys.

It’s good to hear you found a way to resolve your issue.

Rusty Mike wrote:It’s good to hear you found a way to resolve your issue.

Thanks!
In addition to changing the dynamics curve, I found a more interesting solution to my problem. It allows you to make the piano sound more varied. Initially, I made a mistake: the volume of the piano section was at maximum when I turned the EQ. As a result, some distortions were obtained. This is obvious, but it didn't immediately come to mind - you just had to turn the piano section down and everything fell into place. And now you can play with the equalizer with any settings and use all the curves without distortion in the sound. This solution is so simple that it's even embarrassing I saw this piano tuning option in the recently purchased library of an excellent italian musician and video blogger Mex.