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Thanks, that's helpful. I did once play one of the Hammond clones in a store but I can't remember which model it was. They also had a mojo. I liked the sound of both of them, but felt the experience of playing the mojo more immersive. Having said that, I think over time I'd appreciate the flexibility, MIDI spec. etc. of the Hammond.

I really don't think I have enough experience to have an opinion about C/V, click etc. I've only played a real Hammond a few times in my life and this will be my first clonewheel.

I'm glad you think it's the lightest, but I'm surprised you don't know for sure and can't quote its weight to the nearest gram.

Arpeggiator/Gate

The arpeggiator on the Wave 2 starts off seeming old-school, but you discover it packs a lot of complexity. You can have a different arpeggiator pattern per layer, allowing you to build some interesting counterpoints. Or, you can use the Group function to arpeggiate multiple layers in the same way.

Four directions are up, down, up-and-down, and random. I’d like to see an “as played” option here as well, such that the arpeggiator picks up on whatever order in which you strike the keys, but that’s absent. The arpeggiator can function in mono mode (playing one note at a time) or poly. In the later, chords are repeated or strummed, and increasing the range makes the arpeggiator sequence through different inversions of the held chord — neat!

Zig-zag introduces another variation. It skips the next note in any held chord, then goes back to that note, then skips, then goes back, and so on. Let’s say you play a Cmaj7add9. In the up direction, zig-zag would order the notes C, G, E, B, G, D to start off. If you modify the Random mode by adding zig-zag, I’m not prepared to quantify what happens, but her name is Rio and she dances on the sand.

On top of all this, rhythmic patterns can be introduced such that instead of “straight” notes, the arpeggiator plays triplet feels, dotted eighths plus sixteenths, and a plethora of other things.

There are 28 preset patterns, and patterns are also user-editable. You access the pattern selector/editor by hitting shift and then the Program 5 button, which on most Wave 2 units should be subtitled “Pattern.” Mine is early enough that it said “Utility” on the panel instead, and in version 0.84 OS just revealed a Layer swap function. Updating to OS 1.10 put the Pattern stuff where the manual said it would be. You can also adjust the number of steps in a pattern up to 16, and odd lengths are supported for experimental tastes from Brubeck to Bruford.

Alternately, the arpeggiator can function as a gate for “choppy” effects, with the range knob now determining the gate’s attack and release time, i.e. howchoppy it sounds. Combine this with the rhythmic patterns, and you can get close to things like the filtered synth-organ pulse that underlies Seal’s hit “Crazy,” pseudo-sidechain EDM pumping, and more. At subtle settings, the gate sounds like a tremolo.

On balance I’d say the Wave 2 arpeggiator is more of a discovery tool than a composition tool. Meaning, if you’re looking for inspiration and experimentation, it’s wonderful. Perhaps keep a DAW running to record any pleasant surprises — and be ready to mash the Store button the instant you hit a sweet spot, because if you stray from what you created, chances are you won’t hit it again exactly. But if you already have something in your mind’s ear and are trying to achieve it, even within the arpeggiator’s limitations, the impreciseness of the range knob and the general operating vibe can make getting there a matter of trial and error. I found that process more straightforward on a vintage Roland Jupiter-8 and a new System-8. Your mileage may vary, of course.

Is there a latch function? Yes, but it’s not exclusive to the arpeggiator. It’s a button over by the pitch bender that acts as an always-on sustain pedal.

Like the LFO, the arpeggiator is tempo-syncable to master clock and runs the full gamut of rhythmic subdivisions including triplet feels. Again, the Wave 2 automatically detects incoming MIDI clock as well as supporting tap tempo. If you want to put the time into setting up a Program with different arpeggiator patterns for each of four layers, the results can evoke what would happen if Bach got assimilated by the Borg.

Audio Effects



This looks like fairly straightforward effects rack: Sections cover time-based multi-FX (chorus, auto-pan, etc.), EQ, tempo-syncable delay, and reverb. The most impressive thing is that where many performance synths would settle for dumping the entire stereo signal into a common effects chain, the Wave 2 is more workstation-y in that you can have independent effects settings per Layer — or, again, group Layers so they have common settings. On the Program B23: SynBrass Env, letting the first layer speak crisply while the second was awash in a hall reverb was both haunting and pleasant.

The biggest shortcoming here is that there’s no way to process external audio through the Wave 2’s effects. The synth includes a 1/8-inch stereo Monitor In, but it’s only for routing music from, say, a smartphone (for backing tracks or break music) through the Wave 2’s main outputs and headphone out.

That said, as I would expect from a Nord instrument, the quality of the effects is excellent overall. From left to right, here’s what the sections do.

MULTI-FX: This section is switchable between ring modulation, chorus, vibrato (separate from the dedicated synth vibrato function discussed earlier), ensemble, auto-pan, tremolo, and phaser — that last one is active when the ring mod and chorus lights are on simultaneously. There are rate and amount knobs, and the omnipresent Group button, and there you go. The phaser was particularly delicious on sawtooth pads to nail analog string machine sounds reminiscent of ARP, Eminent, and so on.

EQ: Here we have a nifty split personality. The EQ can function as a two-band tone control with fixed bass and treble shelf frequencies of 100Hz and 4kHz, respectively. Or, it can be a single-band parametric EQ, with the frequency sweepable between 200Hz and 5kHz. You’d think this would be an odd place to add a Drive knob, simulating tube-like soft clipping when turned up, but that didn’t deter Nord. Used judiciously, this can get you more “analog warmth” but much past 12 o’clock, I thought it sounded too buzzy — something I’ve also found true of the overdrive on Nord’s clonewheel organs.

DELAY: This is a pretty comprehensive little tap delay, with sound and features I’d expect from a higher-end stompbox. You can set the time/tempo with a knob, a tap button, and/or sync it to master clock. (It should be noted this section is about repeat and echo effects, not about adding precise amounts of delay to a signal in milliseconds.) An “analog character” mode causes the pitch of the wet signal to change if you move the tempo knob while playing.

There’s a lot of control over how the feedback, i.e. feeding the already-delayed signal back into the effect, behaves. In addition to the obvious amount knob, you can impose an extra chorus, vibrato, or ensemble effect onto the feedback signal. The ensemble is my favorite; it can make things sound really huge, really quickly. Then, a choice of lowpass, highpass, or bandpass filter processes the feedback more the longer the signal goes on. The highpass was the most dramatic to my ears, as it can really emphasize the sense of an echo receding into the distance, not to mention keep trippy Marco Benevento-style loop-upon-loop playing from building up too much low-frequency information and sounding muddy.

Last but not least, a ping-pong option alternates each tap between the stereo channels.

REVERB: Not a lot of surprises here. Big, lush sound. Stage, room, hall, soundbooth, and cathedral types, with bright and dark options for all. The noteworthy feature is a “chorale” option that adds something akin to the delay’s ensemble effect to the reverberated signal. I found that at higher settings, this imparted a sense of reflections and movement happening in multiple places in a large space — as might happen in a stone church.

Miscellany

We’ve covered just about everything that matters at this point. A Live mode reserves five Program slots in which changes and panel tweaks are saved as you make them, with no need to press the Store button. Menu-driven settings are utilitarian, such as memory protect, what kind of switch and sustain pedal you’re using, and MIDI. A MIDI CC dump function will send all the CC values of a chosen layer externally, which is useful if you’ve hit upon panel settings you want to capture as “home base” for a sound in the context of a DAW project.

Shift + Program 4 gets you to an Organize screen where you can move Programs around, but this is far easier to do in the Nord Sound Manager software.

A word on updating the OS. The Wave 2 lacks a USB-A port for a memory stick. It just has a USB-B port for connection to a computer, so you’ll need one to update the OS. The instruction manual does not describe the procedure; Nord seemingly assumes it’s self-explanatory. You download a disk image for the latest OS from their website, open it, and follow the instructions. With the Wave 2 powered on and connected, everything happens from the computer end, quite quickly I might add. Users of MacOS Catalina will have to contend with Apple’s nanny-state balking at opening the app, which involves more “Yes I’m sure dammit” than before.

Conclusions

The Nord Wave 2 is a powerhouse of an instrument for live performance and sound design. I’d say its greatest appeal would be to players who need multiple sonic personalities — real strings alongside string machines, crystalline ’80s textures alongside creamy analog leads and basses, and so on — in a package that presents itself as a synthesizer. “Duh, Fortner, what else would it be?” To take one example, the Yamaha Montage and MODX provide just as much sonic diversity using only two synthesis methods: sample-based (Yamaha calls their flavor AWM2) and FM. In many instances, they sound just as convincingly analog on patches that are supposed to, and their acoustic and orchestral sounds are stellar. You can rely on them for your main piano and EP sounds, which I wouldn’t say about the Wave 2. Yet, with their touchscreens and left-of-screen fader banks, their vibe is decidedly workstation-y, as is their workflow for creating sounds. I’d say all the same things about the Korg Kronos, or my trusty Kurzweil Forte (minus the touchscreen). On the Wave 2, you play, tweak, dance between controlling different Layers, and hit Store when you hear something you really like. It’s a knob-twiddler’s paradise.

It’s not an analog purist’s darling like a Prophet-6 or OB-6, but it does virtual analog very well, and several other things those synths don’t do at all. So, if versatility is what you’re looking for and you have money for just one synth, it delivers more bang for the buck.

Omissions? For the price (even the current street price of $2,699), it should at least work as a simple USB audio interface for those who’d like to put it onstage alongside a laptop. Again, I’d like to see the ability to process external audio through the synth filters and effects. For what it’s worth, the unassuming little MODX6 does both of these things at literally half the price. Finally, as folks have pointed out in this thread, a deeper modulation matrix would be most welcome.

To rehash some upsides, the multiple synthesis engines, customizability thanks to the Nord Sample Library, and ability to roll your own multi-sampled sounds via the Nord Sample Manager software all make the Wave 2 a true do-it-all instrument cleverly disguised as a specialty synth.

I have a couple more videos brewing for you — cool tempo-synced demos of the arpeggiator and delay — not to mention delving into Adan’s question about MIDI controller capabilities. Other than that, I’d now like to wrap up the part of this GearLab where I do most of the talking. I monitor the forum for questions nearly every day, so please consider it open to input and I will be sure to respond.

Hey, that looks exactly like my mom’s basement!

I’m glad for the opportunity to help out a friend I’ve met here. It has been a pleasure knowing Eric, he is truly one of the “good guys” and I enjoyed hanging with him at a couple of NAMM shows.

Regarding the stand, my only questions/concerns were 1. if my mom pitched it, and 2. finding it. Fortunately, both of these issues were favorably resolved after a surprisingly short search. It appeared to be in good working order, but will still need a little TLC…hopefully not much beyond a little cleaning and some new rubber pads for the arms that hold the keyboard (the pads in that picture were like petrified rocks). Will be fun to see the new rig!

At one time I had a B3 and Leslie in road cases. The B in its case would not fit through the door of most clubs we played. Had to take it out of its case in the truck, and schlep it in by hand. So, the case was basically a car-seat for the organ.

Several potential factors here. The Strat may be set up perfectly for your needs. The Ibanez may require tweaking to suit your preferences - sometimes subtle changes make big differences and other times things can be pretty out of whack. Truss rod adjustment needs to be checked, the frets need to be level, the action at the nut may need to be adjustet.

Jeff Beck started out in the Yardbirds playing a 50's Fender. Those have fat necks, something he specified for his signature model.

The Ibanez shredder guitars have much slimmer necks measured from the crown of the fretboard to the peak of the curve on the back of the neck.

It may be different width across the nut and the string spacing at the bridge may also be different, in other words - the spacing of the strings up and down the neck could be different.

The frets are probably different, the Ibanez has super jumbo frets, which require a relaxed, more subtle touch than smaller frets.

The finish is almost certainly a different type of compound and may also be buffed out differently. If everything else checks out and you like the shape, size and feel of the the Ibanez neck then this could be an easy fix.
It might simply be the glossy finish on the back of the neck makes your hand stick instead of sliding easily. You can probably find something like this locally: https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/3m-gray-scotch-brite-ultra-fine-pad-07448/22980936-p

You can use steel wool instead, I would recommend the 000 or 0000 grade but ALWAYS cover your pickups completely with masking tape before using steel wool on the finish. Otherwise you will have tiny steel hairs all over your pickups. 3M Scotch-Brite is plastic and will not cause that problem. In any case, you can try knocking of the gloss on the finish. A matte finish will reduce the friction and make it much easier to slide your hand up and down the neck. If that's all it is, you got lucky. I would have a tech check it out before doing that since it will be easier to sell and bring more $$$ if you leave everything the way it came from the factory.

I consider guitars to be experiements, I can't tell you how many I've owned because I thought they might be really cool and now they are somebody else's fun. Dozens or possibly in the hundreds. Some truly fine instruments too, I had a 1970 Martin D-35 since 1974 and about 7 years ago I sold it because I only wanted to play my Rainsong OM 1000. I don't have any regrets, the Rainsong simply ate it's lunch in all respects.

So your other option is to sell the guitars that you don't bond with and either try something different or play the one that makes you smile. Cheers, Kuru

Yes, interesting. The PC4 has aftertouch but I wouldn't expect that to matter here. I wonder what the source of the difference is. I wish they had included a Forte for comparison.

I also wish they had included a MODX8. When I played a MODX8 next to a DGX660, I thought the DGX felt nice and quick, and the MODX8 felt sluggish. Though I wonder if it's a model-to-model variation or a unit-to-unit variation.

Though I am also a bit skeptical of some of what the chart shows. They showed a Hammond SK1 as requiring more weight than a Nord Stage 3 Compact, and my experience is that the Nord is the heavier feeling board. Their test is based no the wmount of weight needed to trigger and sustain a note. I wonder if the Nord was set to its high trigger poit, and the Hammond to its low.

ETA: Further on, they note that the PC4 and SP6 required about the same force to trigger a note (76-77 grams), the difference came only when they needed to *sustain* the note. To me, that implies a bit of "bounce" such that just barely hitting the sensor to turn the note on could easily result in a bounce up that turns it back off. Though again, it's odd that it happens on one but not the other.

My $0.02 (though in Canada we’ve done away with the penny so that would be rounded down to $0.00):

Any of the cameras should be adequate for the teaching.

For YouTube / performance, I think it’s important to know if you play acoustic piano or DP, and if you’re just recording yourself or other musicians. If you’re recording acoustic sets, for sure the built in microphones on these cameras are not optimized to pick up the full richness of the instruments and you’d want to get your own specialized external mic for that. If you play digital piano and if you’re solo or the other band members are mic’ed, I’d suggest picking up the OBS software. It’s free and really easy to use - select the audio source you have plugged into the computer (I use my mixer / interface), select whatever video source you end up choosing (webcam / HDMI capture card), hit record and you’re off to the races.

Since the pandemic my wife and I have been busy covering some songs and posting them for friends on Facebook and YouTube. The quality of the audio has increased tremendously since I started using my interface and OBS for the recordings. It’s night and day compared to internal microphones of the various recording devices I was using.

So many of us got so close, but never got there, and so we were both "almost famous". Back in the 1960s from Detroit to Chicago I met a lot of other almost famous people and some who became famous. It was an exciting time in my life.

One nice thing about being "almost famous" was being treated as a peer by the people who made hit records we covered when we were a cover band. It was validation for our teenage brains. The other nice thing was the girls. There were always more females who wanted to get close to famous and almost famous musicians than there were musicians for them to get close to. Every female I have ever been intimate with was introduced to me by my saxophone, including the best one, and I married her.

Before Motown we had a 45RPM single self release that sold enough to pay for the recording and pressing, and made us a tiny bit of profit. It got some airplay on local stations in Michigan. This was when there were still stations that had the DJ pick the songs instead of some program director. It was easier to get airplay back then.

One of our friendly competitors "? And The Mysterians" (Rudy Martinez and the band) did the same thing with "69 Tears", which was changed at the recording session to "96 Tears" for fear or censorship. However they sold a percentage of their royalties to a DJ in Flint Michigan who played it a lot, got a number of his DJ buddies around the state to play it. Then one of the minor major labels picked it up and it became a hit. We never saw Rudy and his band of Mexicans again. I hope they did well with it, they were nice folks.

I don't know if things would have been better or worse if we took the Motown deal. There is no way to tell, so it's fruitless to spend time thinking about it. I'm having a happy life as a professional musician, living it on my own terms, and not a wage slave for some faceless and soulless corporation.

I wake up in the morning, go to bed at night, and in between I do what I want and what makes me happy. To me that is one definition of success.

Insights and incites by Notes

I’d like to be a part if the next hang if that’s okay. Might be tricky given the time difference, but should be able to make it work.

Darren

I've been going in the opposite direction - i.e., I've been mic'ing up synths or running them through amp sims to strip them of their obtrusiveness and make them sound more like guitars run through lord-knows-what pedalboard.

The right mic and the right acoustic guitar - there's something holy in that marriage for me that this man won't put asunder.

nat

Glad to hear you dig it. After having mine for several weeks, my initial thumbs-up still stands wholeheartedly. I used it earlier tonight for one song during a piano/vocal duo livestream, when I spontaneously decided to do one of the tunes on Wurli instead of AP. It performed beautifully and everybody dug it,

The only thing about it that I've come to like a little less is that the AP sounds have a sort of "boxy" quality that's most noticeable through headphones. I only noticed it for the first time tonight when I was using it for some transcribing. In a band situation I'd likely never notice it. And of course, the APs aren't what I got it for anyway. I got it because when I want to get my Richard Tee phased Rhodes or my Donnie Hathaway Wurli on, it gets me there like no other board. For that I'm still 100% happy with it.

Do you use any external MIDI controllers (besides a keyboard controller for note entry) to supplement the iOS apps? Or do you tweak parameters strictly with the touch on the iPad screen?

REALLY feel like I did too, but it sure was bittersweet. As I said, I had played that gig for 18 years, better than a quarter of my life by a good bit. You guys all know there aren't that many gigs like THAT around these days......still, I have ONE life, as does my wife, and there isn't a gig anywhere that's worth jeopardizing THAT....

Suzanne Ciani has a new piano+ synth album out. If you have Spotify, you can click here.

It is called "Music for Denali". It is meditative, and minimal, not flashy. If you are looking for jazz pyrotechnics and clever substitutions, this is not your album. But it does create and sustain a worthwhile meditative space, but an active one, not just spaced out ambience. There is movement and interest.

Gotta hand it to Sweetwater - they're on the ball, with an article to sell 808-themed stuff like Tiptop Eurorack modules, Behringer clone, all ready to go and tease credit cards out of readers' wallets.

https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/h...edium=email&utm_campaign=20200808-t1

This might help:
http://www.maximumvolumemusic.com/band-day-salem/

The article includes some links at the end that might aid your search.

You might also check their wiki entry.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_(UK_band)

Since their discography is listed, you might be able to search their albums for song titles you recognize.

Thanks Paul, I'll check it out.


Edit: haha thanks but at near $5k down here it can stay there

Thanks guys. I had a text conversation with Dan yesterday. What a great scene at that store. The owner takes 0% of the donations the musicians get – he just wants to help them. I've played Yoshi's in Oakland twice now and this place was walking distance from my hotel and I never knew about it. I can't wait to get back there – I want to put my hands on that CFX!

My Final Version of LOVE IN THE TIME OF COVID at least for now:


https://vimeo.com/444782013

"Remote Keyboard Switch." - done - thanks harmonizer

SOLD.

Wow! Thank you Kwyn for posting this.

I do have the same question as Improkeys regarding latency. Let us know what your experience is.

Larry

I hope you're right. There are already signs of a backlash building, not just from the right but from old school liberals, who remember the old days of "I may not agree with what you say but I will fight to the death to defend your right to say it".

Adding this link. What I said about when the last statue is toppled, they're coming for the songs.

https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/the-night-they-drove-old-dixie-down-needs-no-redemption/ (sorry, couldn't link to the offending RS article)

Here's a electrifying performance of that song by the racist Dobie Grey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SYtqI0PQLY

Yes,the Peterson stuff is most excellent.

For stage tuning I use a Boss TU-10 clip on tuner. It is accurate enough, much more durable than most, batteries last a long time and it automatically changes the display depending on the ambient lighting so it can be easily seen in bright sunlight or a dark stage. I won't use anything else, it's the best for gigging.