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I brought my NE6d at gig today. Everything sounds great! I have prepared a couple of my own programs beforehand from pianos, tines, rhodes, eps, and digital pianos all layered either a pad or a string ensemble.
Regarding EQ, the bass and treble are self-explanatory. But I'm having a bit of a hard time figuring out the mids. And I'm particularly talking about the freq selector and its gain. There are times that I encounter part of my piano, especially White grand and Silver grand, around the mid range sounding a bit unnatural. I would like to ask for some tips on what frequencies you cut or boost. Now I know this is very subjective and playing style and genres play a big role in what to do. I just want to know what you guys go for in different situations as far as pianos or EPs are concerned.
I suggest you use your ears to accomplish this. Turn the gain for the mid all the way up. Then, sweep the frequency range until you hear the most ugly midrange. Leave the frequency knob where it is and then back off the gain 2 or 3 db to taste.
-dj
Last edited by DJKeys on 03 Sep 2023, 21:29, edited 1 time in total.
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Hello, and welcome to the Forum! In addition to the guidance above, when I want the high end to stand out on the DX7 or Rhodes, I'll sometimes set the mid EQ between 6K and 8K, turn up the mid level, and keep the high EQ flat. It's a nice option if you find that turning up the high EQ sounds too harsh. Good luck to you.
Last edited by WannitBBBad on 03 Sep 2023, 21:48, edited 1 time in total.
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There is no one size fits all answer because every room and group you play with is different. Especially mid-range that is many times key to being able to cut thru in band in a live setting. You have to learn to listen to the room and adjust for the room. Also rooms change during a gig as they get full and then when people leave the room changes.
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1. That sweep... hmmmm interesting. I ought to try it. thanks!
2. Factory presets.. I'll check them out too! Makes sense. Should be a good starting point.
3. 6-8khz? Interesting. That should be venturing near treble domain. I'll experiment with it.
4. And yes, room and venue plays a role on the final output of sound. The way I EQ on one venue might be different on another. Will keep this in mind. Yesterday on a padded restaurant, the Silver grand sounded thin and too bright. I suspect on other venues with no padding, the treble might go out of hand. So it is a constant tweaking of EQ then, on the fly, on different scenarios.
For Acoustic pianos, a good range to work on is between 800 and 1Khz (mid-hi range "body" of the sound, with the gain you can either emphasize or scoop it, depending on what you need)
Last edited by maxpiano on 04 Sep 2023, 12:47, edited 2 times in total.
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maxpiano wrote:For Acoustic pianos, a good range to work on is between 800 and 1Khz (mid-hi range "body" of the sound, with the gain you can either emphasize or scoop it, depending on what you need)
Duly noted. I will take this to heart.
Any more tips would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!
...4. And yes, room and venue plays a role on the final output of sound. The way I EQ on one venue might be different on another. Will keep this in mind. Yesterday on a padded restaurant, the Silver grand sounded thin and too bright. I suspect on other venues with no padding, the treble might go out of hand. So it is a constant tweaking of EQ then, on the fly, on different scenarios.
I find that if the piano sounds thin and/or too bright, the B3 and synth do as well, so I mostly use my mixer's EQ to adjust for the room when setting up and might adjust it once during performance. I rarely have to tweak individual instruments that way, but it's nice Nord made it easy for quick adjustments to the piano especially.
These users thanked the author WannitBBBad for the post:
...4. And yes, room and venue plays a role on the final output of sound. The way I EQ on one venue might be different on another. Will keep this in mind. Yesterday on a padded restaurant, the Silver grand sounded thin and too bright. I suspect on other venues with no padding, the treble might go out of hand. So it is a constant tweaking of EQ then, on the fly, on different scenarios.
I find that if the piano sounds thin and/or too bright, the B3 and synth do as well, so I mostly use my mixer's EQ to adjust for the room when setting up and might adjust it once during performance. I rarely have to tweak individual instruments that way, but it's nice Nord made it easy for quick adjustments to the piano especially.
This is what I did the other night. It was my NE6d's debut. Its first gig. I asked the tech guy to give me more mids (for more body of my pianos) and less of that treble as my pianos sounded too brittle on our first set. After that adjustment, I enjoyed my pianos!
I mixed my pianos on my studio monitors back home, and I'm pretty sure my monitors are flat neutral. So what is making my pianos thin and too bright is the mixing on the main board.
