themixtape wrote:Hi! Can you guys and girls please rate each piano 1 through 5 (1 worst, 5 best), what styles/genres you feel each works best for, and thoughts on their live sound and recorded sound? Thanks!!
GRANDS
Royal Grand
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Velvet Grand
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Silver Grand
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Italian Grand
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Bright Grand
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Grand Imperial
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Grand Lady D
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Studio Grand 1
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Studio Grand 2
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Concert Grand Close
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Concert Grand Ambient
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UPRIGHTS
Black Upright
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BlueSwede Upright
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Rain Piano
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Bambino Upright
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Mellow Upright
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Grand Upright
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Queen Upright
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HonkyTonk Upright
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Saloon Upright
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Romantic Upright
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Also-- your absolute favorite Rhodes and any effects/amp sim settings?
Me personally, I haven't spent a lot of time with each yet.. but I find the Imperial or Studio Grand 2 are my favorites, usually. I like the Velvet Grand, a lot too. Not really feeling the Italian Grand, though I did at first, when I first got my Nord. Previously, I thought the Queen Upright (medium) was the most universally-appealing sound, but I've changed my mind since... and now go with the Black Upright, Blue Swede and Rain.... as far as most universally-appealing, it might be the Grand Upright. I usually run my Nord through a pair of JBL LSR305 studio monitors, or a Logitech Z2300 2.1 speaker system, and/or sometimes a PA (JBL EON 612's). Those sounds translate pretty well, live... no EQ at all, no amp sim, no reverb... I often keep the long release and string resonance settings OFF... the pianos sound better to my ears, without them. Maybe long release, sometimes...
Re: Rhodes.... I love the EP2 Suitcase, Close Ideal... I think that's the most universally-realistic Rhodes. I also love the EP5 Bright Tines. The Wurly is spot-on... I set mine with the Small Amp sim, drive set to 2.. some slight reverb and the key velocity set to 2 or 3, and I nail the "You're My Best Friend" Queen sound... perfectly.
The kind of music I play is indie/folk... Ida, Azure Ray, Gemma Hayes, L'Altra, The Album Leaf, that sort of thing. Nothing super fancy or technical... on the simpler side, musically.
Thanks, all!
As you explained in your first post, the piano sound preference vary with time.
Some sound may never please some ears. It's subjective, it depends on ... let's say "the mood", knowing that sound and its perception have rational/scientific models and characteristics, the psy / human factor matters/wins at the end imho.
A general question for a keyboard could be : "will it match your moods ?".
Nord provides a great choice of sounds, so there are great chances of "yes".
Compression and Eq settings are good friends too.
I was surprised how the Continental 's first piano sound can match so many musical moods / needs, using its 2 panel knobs : "dynamics" and "valve drive".