Nords, they're everywhere. Should they be?

[stoken6]

5 hours ago, Docbop said:

Funny how Nord threads are always love 'em or hate 'em never seems to be a middle ground

So I guess I'm a middle ground. I don't love them (piano samples don't cut through, limited sample playback capability, insufficient synth slots, limited morph/modulation capabilities), but they're darned useful in their place. I can't think of a better board for a quick-change cover-anything festival gig. 

 

6 hours ago, Krakit said:

it's a wonder how everyone can afford one of these things

My take on this is that I see players here flip/upgrade boards every 2-3 years. My NS2 is now over 10 years old and still doing sterling duty. Mind you, it was £2200, not $5500

 

9 hours ago, AUSSIEKEYS said:

the keybed felt like playing on squishy slugs

That was the 88? I like the hammer-action TP40 in the Nords - just goes to show that it's a matter of taste.

 

8 hours ago, AUSSIEKEYS said:

think ive just invented a "forgetmenot" device

Colo(u)r it red, call it the Forgetmenord, and charge $400 for it

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Outkaster]

The Nord keyboards are the Apple of the keyboard world.  It’s the soccer mom keyboard.  I make a lot of jokes about not liking the keyboard but the truth is it’s more the attitude about them. Nord sells culture to me, just like Apple and there is a belief they can do no wrong with a lot of players.  It just isn’t true, not for any manufacturer.  I see them in a lot of rigs both locally and on a national stage.  Some people really like the sounds.  I think they are really nail the clav and electric piano thing.  The organ not so much.  You never here Yamaha, Korg or Hammond mentioned in the same light though and It’s strange to me.  I have had dealers try to oversell them to me before.  That happened more than once.  I think they do what they do well.  

[ITGITC]

11 minutes ago, AnotherScott said:

 

 

But basically, I think Nord prioritizes two things with mass appeal: Ease of use and light weight. And for a long time, almost no one else did, and even now, few do it as well. Maybe that's all I had to type. ;-)

 

 

 

I still enjoy my Electro 3 HP, although I'm no longer playing out.

 

I believe their red color was a genius marketing idea.

Love the sound.  Love the light weight.  Love the library.  Love the knobs.

Will buy another Nord one day.

[David R]

Before I bought my own Nord electro 5, they were always my first choice for backline. The live mode makes it easy to set up piano, Rhodes, Wurlitzer & B3 at the touch of one button, instead of having to wade through Motif & RD menus. The new MODX live set fixes this for Yamaha. 

 

The majority of my gigs are piano, Rhodes & B3. If I need synth & sample stuff I put my Mainstage rig on top. 

[AWkeys]

I'm a Nord guy:

 

Nord Electro 2

Nord Stage 88

Nord Stage Compact

Nord Stage 2 Compact

Nord Stage 2 EX Compact

Nord Stage 3 Compact

 

Wow, until I wrote that I didn't realize I've owned all of these! Anyway, I still have both Stage 2's and the Stage 3. I play full-time and the Nord Stage is the centerpiece of every rig. Most of my bar gigs are one of the NS2's (I keep the older one as the outdoor "beater"), and people continually come up to me wondering how I get all the sounds I do out of it. Thanks to the pitch stick I've become fairly adept at mimicking pedal steel guitar, and I actually get hired to do that with a couple country bands.

 

They are reliable as heck. I had an outdoor gig 10 years ago with my then-brand new NS2, and it got rained on. Took it off the stage, put it in the gig bag, placed it upside down in the car with the AC on full blast, got home, opened it up and used a hair dryer (which I was happy I kept around as I'm bald) to dry it out. It's been around the country and to Europe a few times. It's fallen over and a chunk of wood from a corner of one of the ends came off. I've replaced the pitch-stick, the jog dial, a few pots, the contacts. It died in another rainy gig and was resurrected. It has a weird thing now where the screen sometimes gives live readings of some of the pots over in the amp/EQ section when I'm not touching them - maybe they need replacing, I don't know. But it works EVERY TIME.

 

My NS2EX is newer and nicer.  Use it for mostly indoor gigs and pair it with my Kronos.

 

The Stage 3...it's complicated. A redesign from the ground up, it's mostly amazing, but they either forgot to keep certain functionalities from its predecessors or more likely removed them. I use Pending Load on the NS2 All. The. Time. It's gone from the NS3, I heard it has something to do with seamless program change that's new to the NS3. They changed the MIDI implementation to where I can't do things I could do on the NS2 - exceedingly frustrating! I can't navigate to programs on the NS3 with the facility I could on the NS2 (again - Pending Load). However, considering the incredible mileage I eked out of the NS2 Synth/Sample engine, the NS3 is SO much better! I don't mind single-layer samples in all honesty. Works for most live applications. Again though, hard to find programs in the synth section of the NS3 as easily as the NS2.

 

So for most stuff, I'm still in NS2 land. I've been slowly working the NS3 into new projects, and combined with the Kronos it is so fantastic. Just wish Clavia didn't f*** with the MIDI implementation like they did.

 

Sorry if I'm babbling, but yep I'm still a Nord fan.

[ABECK]

37 minutes ago, AnotherScott said:

 

But absent that background, I think a Nord Stage is a terrible thing to provide as a backline instrument unless someone knows and specifically requests it. It's one of the easiest to use if you have prior experience, but almost unusable if you don't. Even finding patches is a chore. It really requires that you set up your patches the way you want them, compared to other boards where you can more easily search for the kind of sound you're looking for.

Agreed.  I had an Electro 3 for a while and was quite comfortable on it.  Years later, I sat down at a Stage and was shockingly lost.

[16251]

I see Nords in terms of acoustic piano characteristics. IMHO Rhodes, Wurli, Clavs, etc seem easier to create good samples (except casio - hehe.) But here's the thing that keeps me up at night. Nords are Enigmas. My latest example happened in the last few months on FB. (BTW - to restate, when I play any acoustic piano sample on the Nord Piano 3, I briefly owned, sounded phony in many ways.) There was this excellent jazz pianist's concert and he was playing a Nord Piano and honestly thought it sounded like he was on some real grand. The other video I saw, the player was on a Yamaha (high-end, can't remember exact model,) and it sounds plucky, fake. I've had many Yamahas and never felt them unplayable like I do Nord.

 

Anyway, until next thread about same subject pops up.

[stoken6]

15 minutes ago, 16251 said:

(BTW - to restate, when I play any acoustic piano sample on the Nord Piano 3, I briefly owned, sounded phony in many ways.) There was this excellent jazz pianist's concert and he was playing a Nord Piano and honestly thought it sounded like he was on some real grand.

This is the mystery. Nord sounds great to the audience, but meh to the player. What kind of voodoo do they use to achieve that?

 

Cheers, Mike.

[AnotherScott]

37 minutes ago, AWkeys said:

The Stage 3...it's mostly amazing, but they either forgot to keep certain functionalities from its predecessors or more likely removed them. I use Pending Load on the NS2 All. The. Time. It's gone from the NS3, I heard it has something to do with seamless program change that's new to the NS3. They changed the MIDI implementation to where I can't do things I could do on the NS2 - exceedingly frustrating! I can't navigate to programs on the NS3 with the facility I could on the NS2 (again - Pending Load). However, considering the incredible mileage I eked out of the NS2 Synth/Sample engine, the NS3 is SO much better! I

 

Yeah, NS3 wasn't a step up from the 2 in every respect, there were definitely trade-offs.

 

For Pending Load, though, you can address that via an external patch changing device... here's a really nice solution using an iPad:

 

https://www.norduserforum.com/nord-stage-forum-f3/my-touchosc-layout-direct-access-to-75-sounds-bank-a-b-c-t19742.html

 

There are lots of other apps that you could set up to allow you to scroll through your patch names, and then click-to-send the necessary Program Change when ready. You could so it with set management apps that can send MIDI (like Set List Maker, which also runs on smartphones, including Android), and probably in any app that allows you to route MIDI to external devices (Camelot Pro, Keystage, etc.). You may miss having the conveniently located knob, and it would be a nuisance to have to enter names for newly created programs into your app instead of just having them automatically already selectable in the list (MIDI 2.0 !) but at least you get the functionality back.

 

As for the broader topic of what you give up when going from the 2 to the 3, I'll paste what I'd typed elsewhere:

 

-----

 

Advantages of the NS2/EX over the NS3 include pending load, bank buttons, endless encoders with LED rings for some synth and fx parameters (for visual indication of current settings and morph status, and no jumping when you move the controls), latch/KB gate, more flexible MIDI control, and more complete clav EQ emulation.

But the NS3 has the improved more informative display, seamless sound transitions, a more capable synth section, more polyphony, more sample memory, more morphable destinations, 4 definable zones instead of 3, improved Leslie effect, song mode, crossfades, pipe organ, compatibility with newest sample enhancements (piano EQ filters, nsmp3), and on the 73,  real drawbars, an action that I find improved in terms of its piano playability, and the low E (which the 2EX had, but  not the 2).

The Monitor input only goes to the headphones on the 2 while it also goes to the main outs on the 3... I guess which is better depends on what you're trying to do with it, but I think the latter is more useful overall. Reverb comes after the Leslie on the 2, but before the Leslie on the NS3, and again, which is better depends on your goal (sounding more like a Hammond organ that had a reverb in it, vs. duplicating the sound of a room), though an external box will let you get the 2 approach out of the 3, whereas there's no way to get the 3 approach out of the 2.

The current version of the NS3 Compact has holes to support a music stand... earlier NS3 Compacts did not, and I'm not sure, but I don't think the 2 series Compacts had those holes either. I think all the 76 and 88s have had them, though, maybe someone else can confirm. A stand is nice to hold a tablet for charts/lyrics or a patch selection app.

Also, if you want a 76-key hammer action, the NS2 has the better feel, while the NS2EX and NS3 are lighter to carry around.

My personal preference might be the NS3 if I wanted the semi-weighted 73, the NS2 if I wanted a hammer action 76 (maybe adding a Ventilator pedal for better Leslie), and the NS2EX if I wanted the 88 (ditto), but someone else's priorities may be different.

 

 

[Reezekeys]

This probably won't add anything useful to this conversation (!), but as a total outsider to any kind of hardware keyboard I'll throw my take in. I've been playing the Scarbee rhodes on my laptop for over 15 years and it always sounded – to me – pretty much like the two actual Rhodes I used to own. The band I play with had a big gig a few years back and bandleader wanted a backup for my laptop rig so rented a Nord for me - don't remember the exact model. What ensued was almost comical and may still be enshrined in a thread here as I appealed for help in how to get this thing to sound like a Rhodes! I think I wound up with a patch called "Nefertiti"-something, but I'll say this - it sounded nothing like any Rhodes I ever heard or played! Maybe I was doing something wrong, I don't know. It sure is a pretty keyboard though!

[GovernorSilver]

I only have one Nord keyboard - the Modular G2X.

 

The only way I would have another one is if somebody hired me to play keyboard(s) for them ,  and wanted me to play a Nord badly enough to buy me one.

 

Nothing against Nords.  It's just that I have more than enough gear to make music already.

[Stokely]

I used an Electro 6 in my gig rig for a while, and only sold it to fund a Stage 3.  Unfortunately covid hit, my gigs went away and by the time they returned, Nord had hiked the prices way, way up.   So at this point, yes they are too expensive for what you get in my opinion.

I really enjoyed the Electro, the keybed was not my favorite but it sounded great (to me) and had good build quality, relatively light weight, and no wall wart.   Their pick-and-choose downloadable library still hasn't been matched by anything for whatever reason.   I mixed sound for a friend's band where he plays left-hand bass, organ/strings/piano all from the Stage and it sounded great to me.

I'd still love a Stage 3 but even used prices are crazy.  At one point just a couple years I was given a quote for a new Stage 3 compact at 2800 or so, now they are 4200.  Ridiculous.  Unless I fell onto an unusually-good used deal (like say GC makes a pricing mistake, which they certainly do sometimes), I won't be a Nord player again.   Even I did save up or have the money--and I could technically afford it especially if I sold other stuff--it's just passed the threshold of value for money, for me.  For others maybe not.  Not every manufacturer has jumped their prices up, thankfully.   I just got a Hammond SK pro for a bit more than half the cost of the Stage 3 compact, obviously not quite the same thing but scratches the same itch minus the dedicated poly synth (hopefully!)

[HSS]

In February 2018 I picked up a NE5D 73 for an excellent price.  If the board hadn't been such a good deal, I probably would have never jumped on the Nord bandwagon mostly because I'm a very "thrifty" dude.

 

For the first year I had NE5D, I only played it sparingly for gigs because its SW springy action was very difficult for me to deal with, especially when playing AP. In fact, I thought about selling the board.  But I kept it and after about a year I forced myself to get used to the action.  Since then, the NE5D 73 has become my go-to single board for band gigs which are short in duration, have difficult load ins-outs,  and /or I'm just feeling lazy.  Now that I'm used to the NE5D's action, I find it to be OK for playing AP in a band situation as long as the AP isn't too exposed.  FWIW...  I've tried various NEHP's over the years and I find their weighted actions to be pretty bad (i.e. mushy and slow), ironically enough even worse for me than the NE's for playing AP.

 

Having said all of this, IMO finding specific sample section sounds on-the-fly is a significant potential downside to the NE5D in a live performance situation. I recall doing a gig in 2019 with the NE5D by itself and the band had a request to play "Can't You See" for $50.  The band waited for an embarrassing minute or two for me to find a flute sound in the NE5D's sample section.  I gave up and had to play the song's flute lick using the organ draws with CV and percussion turned off.  After that bad experience, I used Setlist Mode to set up an AP /flute split on the NE5D, along with other common splits and layers. 

 

As fate would have it, a couple of months ago a band I was playing a band gig which had a request for "Can't You See", and I easily pulled up the AP/flute split in Setlist Mode. On the same gig the band decided to play on the spur-of-the-moment the Neville's "Yellow Moon" and I easily pulled up a Rhodes / sax split in Setlist Mode where I held my nose and covered the sax which, lacking pitch bend and mod controls, was even more cheesy than usual. 

 

The moral of my long-winded verbose the story is that IMHO NE5D's (and I presume 6D's) are great portable "meat & potatoes" live performance boards as long as one sets up splits / layers in advance, doesn't require lots of high-end synth and rompler sounds,  and one can deal with their springy actions.  If I had the dough, I would possibly consider picking up a NS3 Compact for the pitch bend / mod controls and additional Midi / editing capabilities 

[Mills Dude]

I think the Nords (Electros and Stages) are great for gigging, relatively lightweight.  The sound is "good enough" through FOH and the control surface makes everything in quick reach, little menu diving if at all.  However, as an artists tool, I find them uninspiring.  

 

My last hurrah of gigging, almost 10 years back now, I bought an Electro 3 73.  A church gig I had been playing for a while had an Electro 2 and that inspired me to pick up the 3.  I liked having everything it had to offer in a 20 lb board.  I acclimated myself to play piano on the springy action.

 

For classic rock style gigs it was great.  Paired up with some sort of rompler, in my case either the light Korg X50 or later on the heavier MOX6 it was a decent lightweight gigging rig.  I no longer needed to schlep the RD700SX out.

 

Despite being great for gigging, it always stayed in its case when I was home.  I never had that urge to bust it out for practicing or experimenting.  I finally sold it a few years after I stopped gigging as it was sitting there depreciating.

 

If I ever jumped back in the pool, I'd probably pass on Nord.  Especially since the big price rise.  I'd probably look at Numa X or just go all software. 

[AnotherScott]

38 minutes ago, Reezekeys said:

This probably won't add anything useful to this conversation (!), but as a total outsider to any kind of hardware keyboard I'll throw my take in. I've been playing the Scarbee rhodes on my laptop for over 15 years and it always sounded – to me – pretty much like the two actual Rhodes I used to own. The band I play with had a big gig a few years back and bandleader wanted a backup for my laptop rig so rented a Nord for me - don't remember the exact model. What ensued was almost comical and may still be enshrined in a thread here as I appealed for help in how to get this thing to sound like a Rhodes! I think I wound up with a patch called "Nefertiti"-something, but I'll say this - it sounded nothing like any Rhodes I ever heard or played! Maybe I was doing something wrong, I don't know. It sure is a pretty keyboard though!

I was never enamored of Nord's EPs, though I haven't really used them since the latest enhancements (V6). At least prior to that, though, they were never my EPs of choice. I'd take Casio (PX5S and some others), Kurzweil, Korg (SV1, Kronos, Vox), Kawai... so I guess anything that started with the K sound. I didn't especially care for Yamaha until the CP/YC series (though I never really had a chance to play with their SCM EPs e.g. from the CP1/CP4/CP5), I didn't like Dexibell's at all prior to their Platinum series, and I still don't care for Roland's. 

[allan_evett]

I bought an original Stage, 76 in 2006; was intrigued with the design and layout.  Having a modeled clonewheel, piano and immediately editable synth in one compact, lightweight package had strong appeal.  Still like to have at least one 'knobby' front panel synth in my keyboard stable. Couldn't get along with core pianos though, so I swapped the Stage 76 for a very early (almost prototype) Kurzweil PC3x - via a fellow KC'er. 

In 2012 I had a demo Stage 2, 76 for about a year, while contracting for a M.I. manufacturers rep firm.  Gigged it some and enjoyed the improvements from the original.  Eventually sold it.  

Forward a few years, and I received a fantastic demo of the Stage 3 from Pablo Mastadon - of American Music & Sound, at Gearfest 2017.  Purchased a Stage 3, 76 that December.  This one has worked out, very well!  It certainly wasn't cheap though. Thankfully I was able to cover much of that by selling off a loaded Muse Receptor and Hammond SK-1, 73 (Too bad that the SK Pro was likely still a concept then - along with the PC4, as I would have clearly considered both as well.). 

 

The Stage 3 is not a vast, multi-timbral workstation; it's not meant to be.  So the criticisms that call up the the instrument's shortcomings - as compared to workstations - make little sense. It is a compact and efficient keyboard optimized for live performance.  And much as I like the current crop of Sequential, Oberheim, Moog, Hammond, Kawai etc., my place in the music biz doesn't afford having a wide collection of specialized instruments. So having a well-made multi-tool for gigging is great. When I considered a dedicated analog 'board (along with the considerable wallet-stretch...), the sound and versatility of Stage 3's VA model brings me back to earth. And if extensive, patch layering is required, I have a workstation-type instrument for second-tier keys.  Though I've been pleasantly surprised by how much key-intensive material can be covered by the Stage 3 alone. With some creative programming (and a little RTFM), the two synth zones can function more like three or four; then the two zones each for the piano/electro-mechanical keys and clonewheel sections can be brought into play. 

[KuruPrionz]

I haven't read the thread, just responding to the title. 

If Nords were not useful to many players, you wouldn't see them often. 

It's not like they are inexpensive, certainly a serious purchase. 

 

In guitar world, some of us like Les Pauls (owned 8 of them in the past, not my jam but great guitars) and some of us use Strats (me for one, hot rodded well beyond stock).

The same is true with amps, microphones, cars, many fine items. 

 

Horses for courses. 

[yannis D]

2 hours ago, David R said:

Before I bought my own Nord electro 5, they were always my first choice for backline. The live mode makes it easy to set up piano, Rhodes, Wurlitzer & B3 at the touch of one button, instead of having to wade through Motif & RD menus. The new MODX live set fixes this for Yamaha. 

 

The majority of my gigs are piano, Rhodes & B3. If I need synth & sample stuff I put my Mainstage rig on top. 

You said it all, and described my situation.

Same situation. I use my NE5 d everywhere, but i miss a real 88 in piano centric gigs. It's the drawback when you live in a city as crowded as mine ..

 

[Docbop]

Appears Mike Patrick is back with Nord again after doing the Yamaha thing for a couple years.   

 

 

[zxcvbnm098]

I started with a used E2 and got an open box E5D new a bit after they were released. I've loved them both for the relative simplicity, and I appreciate the form factor and with the 5D the ability to tap into the Nord sample library. I think of it as a Swiss Army knife. Kinda most of the things I need in a single package. 

 

Funny thing about the sounds, at least to me: when I'm playing them solo, they sound good but not great? Or some great but many others good? But in a rock band setting, they sound really fantastic! They seem to sit in the mix or in the room with a loud rock band...not sure why that is, but that's a big plus for me. 

 

The E6 has too many features for me at this point; the E5D (73) with the drawbars, low E key had all the stuff I needed and need, so it has really been the sweet spot in terms of their models as of late. They have an elegance in their design and interface that appeals to me for sure. I'm also a Mac user for the same reasons. 

[Reezekeys]

13 hours ago, Krakit said:

Looks like everyone plays a Nord doesn't it? They're so ubiquitous it's a wonder how everyone can afford one of these things. 

 

I guess we're in different worlds. I've been touring the US & UK the last ten years and rarely see Nords in anyone's backline; almost always it's Motifs. This is doing a mix of clubs, theatres, concert halls, outdoor festivals, and casinos. Maybe all the backline companies we've seen have Nords but very few of the bands we perform with ask for them? I don't get out much so don't get to see what kinds of keyboards local bands use. All I know for sure is "ubiquitous" isn't the term that springs to mind when I hear "Nord"!

[octa]

I've previously owned ne2, ne3, nl2, nl2x w/ inverted keys, ns2c, grand, ns3c, and thought I was finished with them but now have NP5 73. 

 

Seems like Nord updates DAC between subsequent models, and lightly compresses their samples or the main output somehow, optimizing for loud and live settings. They sound better in mono than Yamahas, Roland and a few others that I've tried. 

 

But, currently deciding to keep YC88 over NP5 73 probably, for the many extra features and slightly better action. 

 

 

[16251]

Maybe I am wrong, but I thought the idea of Nord was to sell a product that you can upgrade the sounds and spend less by not having to upgrade as much, thus the increased price. If this is the case then why are so many people always upgrading?

 

It  reminds me of when i purchased my first desktop, a Gateway 2000 with a 486, but their big selling point was it could be upgraded to a Pentium. Only later did I learn after I upgraded that the motherboard lacked the same pathways of a real Pentium motherboard.

[AnotherScott]

14 minutes ago, 16251 said:

Maybe I am wrong, but I thought the idea of Nord was to sell a product that you can upgrade the sounds and spend less by not having to upgrade as much, thus the increased price. If this is the case then why are so many people always upgrading?

It's true that older models can generally load the sample set of the newer models, so yeah, you usually can get, for example, the new Nord piano sound, for free, without having to buy a new keyboard, something which you rarely see on any other board.  But new featured can still be a temptation for some. Some keep the old models, some upgrade.

[Iconoclast]

I didn't want to be a Nord guy, and I wouldn't say that I'm their biggest fanboy, but my Nord Stage has slowly become my main board.

The Reasons:
-The organ is the best in the business and controls like a real organ.

-The pianos and electric pianos are really good, certainly more than good enough to gig with.
-The Synth section, although limited, will do almost anything you need live.

-I can bang out more good, usable live patches in a short period of time than I can with anything else.
-It plays well with Mainstage, which fills in anything else that the Nord won't do.
-It has a dedicated song or setlist mode and a dedicated patch up/dn pedal. 

What do I wish it would do?
-The effects section is pretty limited. They really need to enhance the effects in almost every way...without ruining how easy it is to program.
-The Synth section needs more detailed envelopes, poly portmento, and some kind of vintage slop control that loosens up the envelopes...not just detune the osc's.
-A pitch bend wheel would make me happier than the stick.
-At 76 key version with the 88's keybed.

-Actual drawbars on the 88 version

-Smart split points like Mainstage has. Not just the crossfade option it has now.

Personally I have no problem with the Stage 88's keybed.

[TWizzle]

My favorite part of Nords (besides the sound) has been how they hold their value.

 

Started out with a NP2 HP. Sold it, used the money to buy a NE6 HP without having to put too much more money down for the new one. Sold the NE6, used the money plus literally $100 to buy A NP5 73. Snuck that in early this year right before prices started skyrocketing. It's my holy grail - always wanted Nord to make a 73-key weighted board with a better action than the HP.

 

Also had a NE3 61. Sold it plus a little more cash to buy a used Electro 4D. Sold that plus a little more cash to buy a used NE6D 61.

[ShadowMan]

I’ve had a Nord in my rig now for years.  From Electro 2 61 I moved up to a 73 - then to a NE3 73 and more recently to NE6D 73. Always got very good value on resale. The interface has indeed gotten more bulky on each, but every one has been a great keyboard. 
 

Several times throughout I’ve gotten a bit jaded with the organ sounds - but each time I let a friend sit in on my rig and went out in the audience… and had a renewed appreciation for them as they’ve sounded great. 
 

My favorite Nord was a C1 that I still regret selling. Absolutely LOVED the feel of those dual manuals!

[Radagast]

Once a big church started using a Nord keyboard, other churches had to copy them.  After all, the first church must had a good reason to get a Nord. So it’s easier to copy what they did instead of doing research on which keyboard would best fit their needs.

[RABid]

18 hours ago, Krakit said:

Does anyone feel any pressure to save up for a Nord?

Had several Nord synths over the years and finally bought a Stage because they are so popular. It is long gone. I don't like playing piano on organ keys or organ on piano keys so. The Stage ended up being nothing but a piano for me so I moved to an RD 2000. Of all the synths I owned by Nord my favorite by far was the Modular Rack. Compared to the other synths in the Nord line, the synth on the Stage was simplistic and almost crippled. Another reason I got rid of the Stage. Now I get to see one every Sunday as my church bought a Stage. Don't know why. It is never turned up in the mix enough for me to even tell what patch they are using. I don't know if we have the worst sound man ever, or if he was given instructions to have the piano at full volume, organ at half volume, and everything else buried.

[eric]

It will be no surprise to many of you that I'm a longtime Nord enthusiast, dating way back to the earliest Nord Lead models starting in the '90s. I have dabbled with just about every Nord keyboard they have produced and I still own many Nords.

 

It was fun to search and find this thread from over 20 years ago, when I was hopeful that Nord might consider making an all-in-one keyboard option, a few years before they introduced the first Stage model. I was craving something that would blend the Nord Lead and Nord Electro products into a single instrument. I can't claim credit for the Stage, though I get a little bit of odd satisfaction having posted about this all those years ago.

 

 

Over the years, I've had most variations of the Nord Lead, Nord Electro, Nord Stage, and a few of the Modular models. In the days I was doing gear reviews for Keyboard Magazine, I was lucky enough to write the reviews for the Nord Stage 2, Nord Electro 5, and maybe something else.

 

I used my Nord Stage 2 for close to ten years on the road before placing it in my music room above my Hammond, after updating to the Nord Stage 3. I had three versions of the Nord Stage 2 (88, EX 76, EX Compact) and I currently gig with a pair of Nord Stage 3 units - one always on gigs and one for rehearsal and as a backup for bigger gigs. I still have my Nord Electro 2 that I bought about 20 years ago and used on gigs for many years, along the way also using the Electro 3 and 5.

 

Something about the Nord interface and flow is comfortable for me, almost like another poster saying that it is like "Nord crawled inside my brain and made an instrument that works for me." I have invested countless hours dialing in hundreds of Nord Stage 2/3 Programs that I use with joy in four+ bands covering quite a wide range of musical territory. I am very satisfied with everything I get from my NS3 on gigs.

 

Is it trendy? Maybe so. Is it expensive? Maybe so. You get what you pay for and none of my Nord gear owes me a single thing. They have paid for themselves many times over on the road and in the studio.

 

Are there some better options, particularly in a multi-keyboard rig? Sure. I also am a bit of a purist at home, with a Hammond and Leslie, Yamaha CP-80, various analog options, etc. For my primary gigging needs, I am really fulfilled by what I can do with a NS3.

 

That's my story! Proud to be a Nord Soccer Mom.