A general "hi" and a dirty clav solo!

[pianobasher]

Hi all, first off, this is a really great forum - I've found many helpful bits of information on here that have proved massively useful to me and I'm sure I'm not alone in that (especially regarding Triple Pedal and single key velocity issues - and I currently have both)!

I'm a multi-instrumentalist, full-time muso and gear nerd, so without further ado my current keys rig is:

Nord Stage 2 88 (I do 99% of my live gigs with this)
Waldorf XTk
Access Virus Ti Polar
Access Virus KC
Roland JX8P
Novation X-Station 61
Roland SH-201

As well as being my much loved all-round gig and studio work horse, I've found that the NS2 has some awesome capabilities for dirty, gritty wah clav sounds if you dig around a bit with the FX and EQ (it's a personal favourite sound for my ears) and I use that kind of patch as often as circumstances allow - here's a quick (and rather energetic) solo during a performance of Stevie Wonder's classic "Superstition" a few days ago using one of my nastier wah clav presets for anyone who's interested:

Cheers and thanks for having such a great community!

[analogika]

I like your style. A lot.

FWIW, if you've never played "Superstition" in the original Eb minor, you really need to. The pentatonic scale, including the hookline, is all black keys, so you can just hack at it blindly and do crazy percussive stuff that all sounds awesome.

[Mr_-G-]

[analogika]

Yeah, those Stage clav samples really suck, don't they…

[monsterjazzlicks]

Hey, your a real showman dude !! You must pull loads of birds at the end of the gig !! lol

You seem to be very comfortable with the Pitch Bend. I really can't get on with it and it totally ruins the Nord Stage for me.

Very rhythmic playing and heavy emphasis on 8th/16th triplets.

If I knew you were in Liverpool I would have come over to see you as I am only in Wallasey.

[pianobasher]

Thanks folks, you're too kind!

I'm just impressed as to how dirty the NS2 can sound at the more extreme end of the spectrum, as most all-in-one-box-workstation style keyboards I have used in the past have had overall quite "nice" sounding engines for the non-piano stuff (I'm thinking of my old companions the Korg Trinity V3 and Triton mainly here) without external processing of some kind - and yeah, obviously the Nord inbuilt samples are as good as you'd expect!

As for the pitch bend, I have to agree that I didn't like it at first having spent 10 years mainly using the Korg Trinity/Triton pitch&mod wheel system, but actually I now prefer the Nord method in that it feels and plays a lot more like a tremolo bar on an electric guitar to the point where you can pull off flutter effects by flicking it that are just impossible on a standard pitch wheel...it also feels less like I'm going to snap it off than on my other synths, but I'd still feel better if it was solid granite or pig iron - I dread the moment where mid-solo I find my left hand just holding a small piece of broken wood in the air! I'm eventually looking for a lightweight keyboard with all the versatility and quality of a modern Nord product but with Hammond-style durability that wouldn't object to the occasional violent Keith Emerson homage - the search goes on!

And as for female attention...in my experience at least, most people seem to find keyboard solos the equivalent at getting a really high Scrabble score. In public.

Feel free to hit me up on facebook or twitter, I gig weekly in and around Liverpool (I lived on Wallasey briefly myself 3 years ago) so I'm always out and about.

Cheers

[monsterjazzlicks]

Hi PB,

Nice one dude.

I broke my leg and fractured my ankle on Xmas Eve so I am out of action at the moment !! lol

Yes, you are correct in that you can achieve certain Pitch Bend FX on the Nord which can not be replicated on standard keyboards (I like your term 'flutter'). I much prefer 2 x Wheels (for Pitch and Mod) but this might be because its what I have been used to since 1988. Having said that, I do still think there is no justifiable reason for Nord to try and re-invent something which had nothing wrong it (just for the sake of being 'original') !! And even more annoyingly, on my Stage Classic I can not even change the RANGE (so no more Octave-Pitch-Bends !!).

I am not on FB or similar social network sites sorry. But I am on most music forum sites etc. Do you play freelance or always in the same band ??

Paul

[Hambone]

Would you be willing to share your presets for this sound? I have yet to dial in ones that I'm adequately pleased with.

[analogika]

The trick on the clavinet samples is distortion. And wah wah. And a really biting pickup setting.

I LOVE the standard clavinet setting I've had on the Electro 2 for about eight years. I was able to dial up something similar on the Stage in a couple of minutes.

[Frantz]

yeah That's a must see video !! very "refreshing".
Thanks for posting.