cphollis

I was very happy with my NS3. I am now overjoyed with my NS4.

Has anyone thought about a case for such a beast?

Can't say enough good things about my X32 Rack. Love it. The ethernet subsystem is killer. I can put 16 channel personal mixers in front of each muso. I run an I/O snake for the drum and bass player. I can drop a remote box with 16 ins/16outs right by the mixing desk if the guy is old school. Every sound tech in town has run one. They sound great. Yes, it's been out there for a while, and there's newer stuff. But if my X32 were to die, I'd go out and buy another. The inputs can be a bit low, so you might find yourself buying their powered DI rack, which solves a lot of problems for weak mics and similar. Check the sig link for more details.

If there was a market for good keyboard amps, there would be more good keyboard amps. Between PA speakers, IEMs, headphones, etc. -- way too many good alternatives.

More Ape Lab Maxis for band lighting:

Learn to play the harmonica.

FWIW, I run a band, we use a sound tech. We make it a point to never to get too loud, as it would turn off our 55+ audience.

Have you ever considered starting your own band, recruiting people you like to play with -- or is there just nothing to work with where you are?

Even if I was some sort of Disney nut, I can't see my wife agreeing to this in her living room.

I find the newer Nord piano engines (NP5, NS4, etc.) much more expressive than their predecessors, so maybe worth re-investigating. The NS4 with its per-engine FX is sort of next-level for me in that regard. The rest of your checklist is standard Nord fare. While you might think the NS4 is "overkill" due to the extensive synth section (not on your list), even if I didn't use it much I'd still love it for what it does with pianos and organs, much better than the NS3 predecessor. I am not anti-Yahama, and own several of their products. Good choices out there.

This. Not many dual manual organ beasties out there so start there. I'm no organ purist by any means, but I find that I'm using organ tones almost constantly as a matter of due course these days -- either as a lead voice, or as a pad behind something else. One of the reasons that led me to my current dual-controller (vs. dual manual) setup. That, and I can't play organ parts well on a weighted keybed, nor piano parts well on an unweighted one.

At a rated 200w per channel RMS into an 8" speaker, I would not expect it to cut through a noisy band. Then again, why is everyone playing so damn loud?

I think direct neural implants will make physical keyboards unneeded much like training wheels.

I see the Vegas Sphere and its next-level approach to immersive audio and video as a "new instrument" with new capabilities. Playing older music through the Sphere with cool visuals added is fine, but leaves me wanting. I think what it could really use is a bunch of new A/V performance pieces commissioned specifically for its unique capabilities.

Well, the demo didn't do them any favors. 1973 called and wants their disco lights back. It looks like it'd need a Vent and a Tall and Fat to sound ballsy, so probably more trouble than it's worth. Depending on price, might make an ideal controller for B-3X software.

If you have neighbors, consider investing in IEMs and a small mixer. No speakers or acoustic drums. It's a huge win -- no need to treat the room, you can play as loud as you want, you'll have more space, etc. Other things that work: - being able to play songs in people's ears to learn - being able to spontaneously record - a big screen TV to put chords/lyrics up if needed - lots of spares: guitar strings, batteries, cables, etc. - the Keurig coffee maker is popular

How are you using the two keyboards? If the NS4 is generating all the sounds and the other keyboard is a slave, yes. Also, the Nord User Forum is a wonderful place for questions like this: www.norduserforum.com

Having been in many bands, it's not unusual for one musician to rip on another. When I hear that, I tell them I don't like being in bands where musicians rip on each other. The implication is that if they keep it up, I'll leave. Since good keyboard players with a PA system, lights and rehearsal space are very hard to find, they tend to consider their options carefully. The only person I'll rip on is myself when I do something boneheaded.

@MoonglowI shared your frustration with the single layer samples in the NS3: horns, strings, etc. I am pleased to say that the situation is not nearly so dire in the NS4. While they are still single layer samples, there is a lot more you can do with them. There are three independent synth/sample engines, each with their own envelopes, filtering, FX, etc. Also, there's a more useful unison effect for thickening individual sounds. As icing on the cake, there's a "bright" setting for each sample that makes it cut through quite nicely for solo work. The samples themselves sound better to my ears as well: more detailed, less mud. I can make sax solos pop a bit more, for example. I've been able to dial up big, juicy horn sections etc. without too much trouble. While not perfect, it's a far better situation than on the NS3. As far as the VA section on the NS4, it floats my boat but I can't compare it to the Roland.

I've now spent about six hours programming my new NS4C. There is a short learning curve coming from NS3 to figure out a few new workflows (like saving and recalling sections), but then its off to the races. Much like you'd work the drawbars on a B3, you can work the seven voice sliders leading to a new way to play the instrument. Every stage keyboard should have something similar. The best workflow seems to be to create a complete program (organ, piano, synth each with fx), and then save off the individual sections for later reuse. A great organ sound is a great organ sound, for example. Nice surprises: organ engine sounds better to my ears, the piano unisons are awesome, the FX section is next level, dozens of thoughtful touches throughout. You can tell Nord did not rush this board out, but took their time to sweat the details. Minor nits: stone-age USB interface, abysmally slow data transfer rates, comes with surprisingly few synth presets. Still a few midi bugs in SW, otherwise mature and robust. TL:DR major upgrade from NS3, very fast sound design with great results, new live performance features, very much worth it for me.

Welcome! Long time Nord fan, but I also like Yamaha piano actions. I use the short NP5 in two roles. First, as a standalone piano-style board for duo/trio acoustic stuff. It is brilliant in that role, I want for no other. Feel great, sounds magical, easy schlep, looks good, etc. Second, as a bottom board driving a new NS4 for full electric band gigs. As the NS4 sound arsenal is a superset of what is on the NP5 that works very well. The response curves are matched, and it's all very red. In that role, all sounds are produced by the NS4. The Yammie keyboards are wonderful from a piano player's perspective -- great feel, etc. I just don't bond with them as I do with the Nords. I also make great use of the extensive Nord sample library, which has saved my bacon from time to time. Example: band decides to play Uptown Funk and you've got to come up with a half-dozen signature samples for the next rehearsal. It all gets down to personal preference at this point, as all the options are pretty darn good these days.

Depending on the song, there's an opportunity to come up with a wilder keyboard solo lead than a guitarist would normally do. Think detuning oscillators, big glides, wild vibrato, phat resonant filters, bit crushing -- all of it. Bring on the firework show. The idea is to give the audience something different than a straight cover of Highway to Hell or whatever cookie-cutter tune the band has chosen. It doesn't matter if the original had it, or not. It does now, because I'm playing it

Just put my NS4 order into SW. I knew I was going to get one, it was just a question of when. I'm a fan of the 73 SW keybed over a weighted piano, currently a NP5. Originally, I thought it would be a huge task to reconstruct hundreds of presets. Then I realized I was thinking about it wrong. I think I can cover maybe 95% of my inventory with ~10 basic patches that I would then vary at performance time. The remaining 5% would be "specials" for a particular songs, e.g. cool flute voice, wild lead, orchestral hits, etc. I can probably knock that off in a couple of hours vs many days. Also, my band took the summer off (FL seasons are inverse), we've got maybe 30 new songs in the queue, so the timing was right. I wasn't waiting for them to go on sale, because that's not gonna happen anytime soon. Keeping the NS3 as it's a great axe.

A beefy Rhodes sound can do power chords all night long. Just make sure it's phat, and doesn't sound like a doorbell.

My challenge is that you can get either a) an iOS application with a plasticky bedroom controller, or c) a decently performing keyboard with an iOS device attached. What I would like is a decently performing keyboard built around a performance-centric iOS hosting app, much like AUM.