Here's a test recording of the Nord Piano 88 - OS 1.44, Grand Lady D 5.3.

I did have to tweak it because it didn't have the proper EQ on my headphones so I added lows and mids. These have a significant effect on tone I might add. Listening to the recording, I may have overdone the EQ (too much mids). It sounds different from headphones.

My Romance
http://www.box.com/s/2jc0600qcp5q68hdu75n

I wanted to do a combo recording with a backing track but I couldn't mix it in easily. I need new cables to accomplish that so that'll be a later project.

There's also some slight buzzing. I'm recording direct from NP 88 to Zoom H4. Then I'm monitoring from Zoom headphones.

As far as feel, I felt like I had easy control of dynamics for example between LH and RH (for a DP). The sound had the fullness no matter how hard I play.

Very nice playing.
I am pleasantly surprised by the piano sound you are using.
It reminds me of the tone Keith Jarrett manages to get out of his pianos.
I have been trying to find a digital piano that would come close to that sound and this one seems to get there or close to it.
I can't help wondering if that sound is as good when you play live or out of speakers/amplifiers ?

Thanks for the nice piece of music.

filipi, thanks! I said the same thing in another thread. The tone is like a "Keith Jarrett" tone. So impossible to duplicate on a real piano but easy on the Nord! And it doesn't matter what dynamics I use, it still has that pretty sound all the time.

I hope mine sounds that good !

I would agree with you that the EQ boost needs to be backed off a notch or two. There's a very pleasing overall tone that gets covered up at moments by a boxy-sounding mix midrange emphasis.

Sounds very good. You can really hear the detail in the string and sympathetic resonance. Nord has done such an amazing job capturing those nuances. Are you also using the Long Release feature which I feel does add some to the overall sound, particularly for solo work like this.

As for your playing, very nicely done! I've gone back and forth as to whether I like the Grand Lady Steinway or not, but your mix and playing makes me want to explore it further.

ZF,

From the original post I'd venture a guess it just might be called "My Romance"!

Good sound JW...glad to see you got it going.

The good news is that there's amazing EQ control here. I couldn't believe the amount of tonal variation I got with that mid-sweep thing.

I didn't try to tweak this or try to re-record multiple times. I just plugged this in and played once. So I'm sure I'll get better tone and better playing too as I figure it out.

I have the Grand Lady D and the Bosie loaded. I switch back and forth and I'm gravitating more to the D. But this may also be a function of the EQ tweak. So I reserve the right to change my mind

Yes it's back and forth between these two, isn't it? (Same here.)

Nice recording, jazzwee. As to the EQ: For some purposes the Lady D may even sound interesting if the low mids are taken back somewhat (using gain -3 at 600Hz or so, with some boost in bass and treble). That's what I experimented with recently... wouldn't sound well with the Bösendorfer though; this one can take some midtone boost, to my ears at least.

I seem to be the only person who prefers the Yamaha studio 2 sound. It sounds somehow cleaner and slightly more cutting than the others. I do like the Bosie as well for solo playing.
Anyway here is a demo I did with the Yamaha studio 2 sound on my nord stage 2.


http://soundcloud.com/david-beebee/em-braceable-nord-stage-2mp-3

I like Studio Grand 2 as well. Not instantly impressive perhaps but when you dig down into it there is a real sense of dynamics with it. Personally I'm not fond of Grand Lady D but I don't think I could convincingly explain why. I like the Bosie although it can be a bit nasal in the upper mids but it is one massive piano! With these three pianos there is genuine variety on the Nord Piano.

Beeboss that sounds fantastic. I'm with you. My ears have always preferred the Studio Grand 2 C7 in both recording and live settings. I use the Bright Grand S4 Yamaha for live when I'm really needing to cut through.

What settings did you have on your recording? EQ?

Yes, Beeboss, I'm interested in the EQ setting for C7. It just sounds so bright to me when I listen to it but it sounds really good in that recording. Or maybe it's just your playing. You could probably make an out of tune upright sound good.

Maurus, I'm going to check out your EQ setting too. Looks like that's the thing to tweak here.

I might try a different sample for a band recording I might do later.

In general though, all the samples still sound better to my ears than anything else I've played.

jazzwee - just listened to your recording. I agree the mids need a tweak. Nice playing! You know that this recording is mono don't you? It would sound 1000% better in stereo.

Steve

Totally agree! There's nothing else remotely interesting to me in one package compared to the Nords, particularly the Nord Piano. I wonder when the Nord Piano 2 is coming...

I did a quick listen, but lost interest as soon as I realized it was in mono. Gotta be stereo for us studio freaks!

I would not expect any announcement for this Winter NAMM. So, perhaps a year from now, minimum? More likely, two years. Only the bean counters will know for sure!

Sorry I can't remember what it was, I usually just twiddle the eq until it sounds right and this changes depending on the acoustics and the monitoring. Often I use a small treble cut and a small bass boost. On that occasion it went through a small mixing desk so maybe I twiddled the eq on there as well.

LOL - you guys are hardcore. I don't recall if I left the mono switch on. Maybe. I play mono in a gig so that's my normal setting.

But I definitely fed two channels into the Zoom H4.

Whoa...I just bought this. Give me at least a year...

Test recording #2. Backing Track is iRealB (Iphone App). Sample: Grand Lady D. EQ Mids 600 -10db (less mids than earlier recording). Stereo. Reverb added at NP88.

Inputs of Nord Piano and Iphone fed into Allen & Heath ZED10FX Mixer. All EQ on the mixer left flat.

Stella by Starlight
http://soundcloud.com/jazzwee/stella-by-starlight-nord-piano

Does it stand out in the mix? To my ears, very much so.

I don't know if the mixer alters the tone so here, I might add more lows.

Here's a little different test. I just cut it short so you don't have to hear me play for hours just to get to the point.

I play 3 samples here. I start off with Grand Lady D. When you hear me go back to the top, there will be a pause and then I go into the Bosie sample. Then you will another another pause, then it's Studio 1 sample.

Of course there's no time here to tweak EQ for each sample. Each sample seems to have it's own preference.

Solar 3 Samples
http://soundcloud.com/jazzwee/solar-3-samples-nord-piano-88

Nice playing again. For me the Boesendorfer sounds best here...

jazzwee,

Interesting recordings. Technical things first: I hear lots of noise. The recordings are still mono by the way. The pianos have much more reverb than the backing track which stops it all hanging together and spoils it a bit due to sense of disconnection between piano and the rest of the track.

The main issue for me is the mono thing...the pianos can't breathe in mono. You're doing something wrong somewhere.

Love the playing by the way and really like the fact you're doing this for everyone - we're very grateful so please forgive my nit-picking. The tonal differences between the three pianos on the second (of the two more recent recordings) would have much greater impact on a better quality recording in stereo. Based on this recording though I quite like the Grand Lady actually.

Cheers,

Steve

Steve, on the mono thing. I checked the original 1st recording and it recorded two channels and that's direct from the keyboard. This second set was a bit of a pain and now I've got a zillion wires hanging from the mixer so it's not coming direct from the keyboard now.

I don't have the mono light showing on NP 88. What else could be happening? Are you sure it's still mono? Or is the mixer just altering the tone so you think it's mono?

It could be a cabling thing, no? Or a software setting in your DAW.

When I listen to the L-R difference I get some high-hat and just a ghost of the rest of the backing track. Not the slightest hint of piano.

Great playing.

My favourite sample so far is their latest which was released in June which is a Yamaha Bright Grand, I have the extra large file sample which takes up the majority of my Stage EX memory. Part of me wishes I had held on and got the Nord Piano!

What's the Long Release feature?

Nord's are great and I actually really like the red- makes it stand out a bit!

If the Backing track is coming out stereo then it has to be somewhere in the chain in the mixer or at the NP88. The backing track is mixed in through the mixer.

This is possible. I may not fully understand how this 'new' mixer works (Allen & Heath). It's a bit complex. I may have to pan the channels. I'll figure that out.