which nord piano sample sounds best in mono?

[yamahaahamay]

i know, i know: "try them out yourself..."

 

i have an electro 4 hp, and i most often play in mono, using a zlx-12p (either as a monitor or as the sole provider). i currently only have the grand imperial xl loaded, which i feel might be suffering in mono (to a greater degree than its brethren).

 

the important bit is i don't really need "cut" -- most of my work is in smaller/quieter jazz groups, or solo. preference towards the "middle" of the brightness spectrum.

 

does anyone have any input? i'm also curious if any of you prefer to use the right output as opposed to the left, as well if anyone prefers to leave the "mono" setting off, even when using only one output.

 

THANK YOU

[OrpheusNY]

Haven't tried it in mono myself, but have seen several reports the new Royal Grand sounds good in mono. And it's slightly on the darker/mellower side, so it seems like it might be a good fit for you.

 

I generally like it and it has found a place in my Electro.

 

 

[Rusty Mike]

Something you may want to consider is plugging both Left and Right outputs into the two input channels on your ZLX. I've been doing that for a while now, and I like the result.

 

Like you, I play mostly small combo or big band jazz. I find the Grand Imperial way too bold for that application. Right now, I have the Silver Grand, Italian Grand and Queen Upright in my 3HP. I use the Silver mostly, but keep the treble down quite a bit on the EQ, as it does brighten up a lot at velocity. I've also used Studio Grand 2 and Grand Lady D, neither of which are overly bright or cutting.

 

I loaded the Royal Grand but have yet to try it in a live setting.

 

The Queen Upright may surprise you. It's got a wonderfully clear and musical upper range, and a bottom end that is present but nowhere near as bold as the Imperial or other "major" grands. There is also a slight nostalgic quality to the sound that works well for jazz.

 

Regarding the sample sizes. Try playing with String Resonance off for a few tunes with the band. If you don't hear a difference, you do not need the M or L samples; Small works just fine. The implementation of string resonance is the only difference between these. The XL samples are called "fully mapped", which like means there are more individual key samples. I suggest you try both XL and Small with your band and see if the makes a difference.

[nadroj]

Bright Grand sounds great in mono. I never use the mono setting, just take the mono out and it always sounds great through whatever amplification we use.

 

It's really the only one I use live regularly so I can't compare the others. Mellow Upright sounds nice in mono too.

[harmonizer]

The Black Upright was my previous choice for a mono acoustic piano sound from my Nord, but I like the new Royal Grand better and have switched to that. I have the Electro 3 which means the "L" size of Royal Grand is the largest size I can use.

[bennyray]

The Royal Grand sounds really nice. The upper register sounds much fuller than most of the other pianos to my ears.

[Stephen S]

Assuming that you are going to be playing live, I'd suggest that you connect your gigging amp/speaker to your keyboard and try various samples. Results can be amp/speaker-dependent, and you may want to tweak EQ to come up with the best match for your amp/speaker. I've gone through this exercise a number of times myself with Nord keybaords. I find that some things that seem to sound OK in mono through my practice room monitors don't translate well to my live setup. Other times, I find that I can get a really good result simply by applying EQ.

 

FWIW.