Thank you! Actually the word 'bright' turned me off so I didn't download it. I should try it though just to see, but not right now. The last time I did major sample updates, it took a long time to restore. I haven't even figured out how to mix this in stereo.

I'm still not sure what long-release is. I've turned it 'on' but haven't spent the time to investigate the difference.

And none of the people with NP 88 on their sigs have explained either. But they all claim it's good

We all have different tastes, I like bright pianos and prefer it to the Bosie and Grand Lady. I do like the sound of all the Yamaha grands that Nord have. Having said that, they're all superb samples.

No, the backing track isn't stereo either. It's just not quite completely mono. The L-R difference on the backing track is maybe 15dB or so below the mono volume (but with some high-hat bleed through) while the piano track is 30dB or more down from mono.

P.S. By my reckoning something must be creating a mono signal by combining what was orginally separate, the ghost I hear may just be slight imbalance.

Brent, I'm not that sophisticated with this (which is why I'd rather play an acoustic ), but the backing track is fed into the mixer in one input and it has a balance control so I presume that's for stereo.

In contrast, the two channels of the keyboard are fed into two separate inputs on the mixer with separate pans, EQ, effects, etc.

So for the keyboard, it is quite possible that it's being summed. Now the backing track is from an iphone app so I can't tell you if it's generating a Stereo output (it's like a Band in the Box app). If I switched to an Aeborsold backing track, it would be mono for sure because the piano is on the other channel.

Are you panning the separate channels of the NP hard L & R on the A&H mixer ?
If you're not that could explain the mono thing.....

If I'm playing single lines, I do prefer the Grand Lady D. But when playing chords or dense harmonies, the C7 sounds cleaner.

Beeboss's playing sounded great so maybe it's also a matter of tweaks. There's still a lot to figure out here. It's pretty flexible.

That's what I just figured. I didn't know anything about that. First experience with this type of mixer. But since you recommended this mixer, I think you hit the nail on the head.

I'm not panning. I left all the knobs in mid position as it was originally.

The tracks in iRealB may indeed be mono. I have the same app although I've only used it for dinking around playing it through the iPhone speaker itself just playing for fun.

Jazzwee-that sounds like your problem-when going line outs into a mixer on 2 SEPARATE inputs you have to turn the Pan/balance knob on the Left Channel fully to the Left and the Pan/Balance knob on the right channel input fully to the Right to achieve a Stereo output.

If you are using just the Left/Right inputs on a SINGLE stereo line input on the mixer then the Pan/Balance knob will act as a Left/Right Balance knob

Great Day!!

Jack

Yeah that's any mixer...Mackie, Yamaha, even a Berhinger. If you can on the iPhone-take the 1/8 " mini plug from the iPhone output to a cord with TWO RCA jacks (then you'll need two 1/4" adaptors female > male to go into the A&H's inputs ) or if you can find a cord that's 1/8" to two male 1/4" jacks- plug the two outs from the iPhone into separate channels and do the hard pan L & R on those too.

On my old Beringher mixer, there's two 1/4" (L/R) in's per Input so that confused me.

My Iphone is using the two RCA jacks and on the Allen & Heath, there's a separate L/R there so I don't think I have to do anything there other than leave the pan in the middle.

I will try again recording again later

Lol. It was announced 2 years ago and released in May of 2010, so I'd guess it'll be up for a hardware update in a year just didn't know if anyone heard anything on an NP88 2.

Don't worry you'll be good to go for a while!

Well I won't have so much GAS if I don't find a deficiency. I did last with a P155 for several years because I did most of my practice on a grand.

I haven't gigged with this yet so I'm crossing my fingers. I did some recordings of the FP7F last year and the nice "stereo" recordings sounded really good. Then I play at a gig and it sounds like the recording below. You can see why I had to DUMP the FP7F fast.

Tenor Madness (Live with Roland FP7F)
http://soundcloud.com/jazzwee/tenor-madness

When the tone comes out metallic like this, I have to tell you that it impacts on what I play. I just can't get into it. My solo suffers too. That's why it's important to see how it sounds when I'm pounding the keys with a band.

(BTW - I did see your Youtube of Tenor Madness too. Nice job but too short of a solo ).

Yes well this is what I find too - the SN sounds transition into this horrible metallic sound at unnaturally low velocities. You play soft and the piano is totally lost, you play hard in order to be heard and it turns out like this.

People say Yamahas are bright and in general they probably are on the bright side, but they just don't ever sound like this in a mix - they cut through without sounding bad.

I think the Nord will please you a lot more than FP-7F for what you want.

Steve

But you hear that right? I placed an order for the Nord, blind, a few days after hearing that recording. At that point, I didn't even care how good the Nord was, just as long as it was non-metallic.

In a nice quiet setting doing a recording at home, I don't end up with the metallic sound and everything is hunky dory. So as a warning to everyone, THESE RECORDINGS NEED TO BE TAKEN WITH A GRAIN OF SALT.

Now having said that, I've tried to simulate a band at my house by playing pretty loudly so I probably have more faith in the Nord recordings.

Just did a test run and looks like the recording is stereo now. The waveforms are different for each channel. So I'll do some solo piano stuff later on on different samples.

OK this is in Stereo. Solo piano excerpts. There are four separate samples here (with space between each).

Order of Samples:
1. Studio 2 C7
2. Grand Lady D
3. Bosendorfer Imperial
4. Studio 1 C7

Solo Piano Excerpts
http://soundcloud.com/jazzwee/stella-excerpts-solo-piano

I just loaded the Studio 2 C7 tonight. I didn't have it there before. I have to say that in the medical register, it sounded the best to me. However it loses body in the upper register compared to the Grand Lady D or the Bosie. So depending on the circumstances, my favorites will be the Studio 2 and Grand Lady D.

Now as before, I left the EQ constant. With individual EQ tweaking, all the samples are actually good. If I forgot what I picked as a sample, I could get lost in it. (I did and then later realized I was on the Bosie).

They all sound good here just playing into the recorder, Nords always do. My preference here are the Yamaha studio 2 and Bosie.

You might wanna turn your levels down a bit, you were clipping pretty noticeable in places on the Grand lady d and Studio 2 recording.

With the group I find the Bright Yamaha to work the best for me live.

I'm downloading the Bright Yamaha sample and giving that a try. I think the useless one of the bunch for me is Studio 1. I can't find anything to like in that one.

Sorry about the clipping. But at least it's in stereo now.

Thanks Jazzwee for the compliments on the Tenor Madness...and yeah my solo was a hit short!

The Long Release to my ears allows for the note to ring out a little longer when struck to give a more natural decay and more acoustic like behavior. It's a subtle difference but one I could hear.

Jazzwee just listened to your recordings. I agree with Dave. The Studio 2 and Bosie sound quite good. I have to say give the Studio one some time. It took my ears a good 6 mos to warm up to the tone if the Studio 1, but it has its use for sure.

By the way, what are you using to record? I'm looking at buying an Apogee Duet but what software are you using?

Zachary, I'm using a Zoom H4 as a recorder. I have it plugged into the mixer. Really good recorder.

You don't find Studio 2 thin in the upper registers? That's the only issue I have with it. In my recording I didn't use the upper registers much.

I'm looking forward to listening to the Bright Yamaha. The word 'Bright' turned me off but the sample file name indicates S4. So if this is a Yamaha S4, I'm going to like it.

Yeah I just find the Studio Grand 2 so usable across various genres of music. As for the Bright Grand, notice how different the bass register is (an S4 is only 6'3"). Compare that with the bass of the Grand Lady D and Bosebdorfer Imperial!

Well I only have a 5'11 Steinway O at home Seems good enough. LOL.

For jazz combo playing though I'm staying away from the bass player's domain anyway. But in the real world, I love the sound of a real S6 and S4. And actually, I would call it the opposite of 'bright'. So it does make me wonder if they ruined a perfectly sounding S piano.

Haven't loaded it yet. Will do so in a moment and the mystery will be answered.

Someone in another thread made a comment about my playing lacking dynamic range. I play jazz so don't look at me as a source for testing this with classical music. Not my deal. I bought this specifically to stand out in a band mix.

And you can all criticize my playing all you want. Doesn't concern me.

But for a more delicate version, Beeboss did post this earlier in this thread.



A year ago, I had a similar samples thread on the FP7F and that's probably a more apples to apples comparison.

jazzwee, as you know that criticism on the other thread was motivated by a rather single-minded desire to defend the V-Piano and was very unfair in the circumstances. You are right to not be concerned about this criticism!

I quite enjoy your playing jazzwee. I'm waiting to see what you think of the Bright Grand S4. I played it last night and the sample itself sounds much more even throughout the entire register. You can tell the larger newer samples vs the original samples. I think you'll find that S4 very useful in a band setting. I really like that sound.

Zachary, I did load the Bright Grand and though tonally I can see why it would stick out in a mix, I was just a little disappointed because it didn't sound like a real S4. Or if it is, it's an S4 with hardened hammers. One of the things I liked about the S4 (I did consider buying one) was the tone.

So getting beyond that, I just looked at it as the bright grand sample that it is. It's very clean sounding. I actually think it would great for someone playing with a dense harmonic style like Dave Ferris.

For single lines I still like the Grand Lady D and the Studio 2. The Bosie's right there after that.

I have to give credit for Dave Ferris' experience so I have Bright Grand on the board in case my expectations at home don't match when I'm playing at a gig with bad acoustics. So far everything Dave has said has been spot on.

And thanks for what you and EssBrace said. I appreciate it.

Wow, that's great! Both musically and sonically. In fact when listening to Nord piano demos in their website, I like the Studio Grand 2 most. What kind of reverb have you used in that recording, is this all coming from the Nord Piano?

Thanks for the demo. I'm continually impressed that the Nord pianos sound like acoustic pianos, as opposed to digital pianos.