Nord User Forum

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!

Grand lady and blue swede are my best and polyvalent ones for me.
Don't have the courage too rate all the rest

I like Bright Grand- studio 2 - Velvet.

I have really tried two only, and they are the ones in XL in my stage 2, Imperial and grand and Italian Grant....A Bosendorfer and a Fazzioli in a 15 kgs package, how great is the word we are living in....

Grand Lady D still works best for me.

Bright Grand and Silver are a distant second.

I the only upright I use is the Honky-Tonk one.


Rhodes 1,2,4 &5. 1 for the R&B/neosoul warmth, 4 to better cut through when soloing. 5 with chorus and reverb for that '80's/90's big ballad sound.

Still getting used to the various options.

I love the Silver Grand, the Grand Upright and the Black Upright for my rock/soul/gospel playing. I'm also a big fan of the Amped Wurli.

My partner (who is a proper real piano player covering jazz, showtunes and classical) prefers the Velvet Grand and the Lady D.

Hej!

An impossible task?

Just like selecting the right red wine ... what food, what friends, what temperature, what time, what place, what purpose, what curiosity, what mood ...

I strongly believe that it's very individual.

/Vänligen
Michael in Scania

IMO, Bright Grand and Grand Upright works best for me, as they "cut" through the mix well.

I use only Lady D and Rain Piano.They do the job very well.

Which mix? What job?

Frankly, the variety of Clavia's Nord Piano Library is a great asset of our instruments, and since I finally have an instrument that can hold a few of the L or XL versions of the library at the same time I truly enjoying switching the sounds once in a while. Different sounds for different purposes. And each sounds inspires me differently in improvising. As Marlowes said above, the choice depends on mood - or on the needs/possibilites of amplification, or on interaction with other instruments.

Presently my Electro holds L or XL versions of the Fazioli, the Bösendorfer, the Shigeru, Lady D, Studio Grand 2, the Broadwood piano (which has lots of character), the Mellow Upright and the Black Upright, and I use and enjoy all of them - on different occasions. The available variety is simply awesome. Which is not to say that new piano (and larger Rhodes) samples would not be welcome - they are!