Which pianos were sampled for the Nord piano library?

[Nordine]

What a great list!!! please may you add the last EP9 Stockholm to the list? thank you.

[FZiegler]

Fair point. I really forgot to add that. The original list has been updated multiple times as you may have seen.

May I ask you to delete the above quote of the list? It's outdated now and will be more and more, I hope.

[kirsty]

Found the following comment from the video linked below and thought it would be useful for your list:
"Sampletekk is one of THE most underrated piano library producers EVER. Some might know that Nord uses several Sampletekk libraries in their Piano Library-- Rain Piano (Rain Upright MKII), Concert Grand (Black Grand MKII), Studio Grand 1 (TBO MKII), Studio Grand 2 (7CG MKII), and, while not available from Sampletekk's site anymore... they did "The Old Lady MKII" (which is Nord's Grand Lady D), and "Emperor MKII" (which is Nord's Grand Imperial). Phenomenal libraries and worth every penny. Plus, they have sales a lot! Totally worth it. Btw, THANK YOU for showcasing these amazing pianos with your immense talent. More people need to know about Sampletekk."

[kirsty]

Interesting !!

And if you also visit this link: https://www.sampletekk.com/about_us it seems very logical why they have chosen SampleTekk

It might be possible that they also used some Rhodes from SampleTekk too... I might be wrong.

[23skidoo]

I would personally like to see Nord integrate PianoTeq instead. The physical modelling is, in my and many others' opinion, superior now to samples.

[JeffLearman]

I'm convinced that the Bambino is a Baldwin Acrosonic, although what year I couldn't begin to guess. Sonically, it's a dead match for my mom-in-law's, from the mid-1940s.

I grew up playing one of these, which was bought for my mother as a child in the 30's. It was a lovely little awful piano. So much that was great and so much that was terrible. I guess I'd have to say that it was hard to make a spinet sound much better, and upright actions of that era were what they were (super light, making dynamic control difficult.) Regardless, I'm grateful I had it to play and learn on! And I think you're right that it's an Acrosonic.

[JeffLearman]

The Bambino really helped when I had to prepare for playing a spinet at a venue. It's so different that it throws me off sometimes!

Play it on a semi-weighted action, and you're really not far off!

[FZiegler]

Good idea!

[FZiegler]

.

[Vicky]

After my original table probably got corrupted during forum software update, I tried to create it anew with the new ascii table format.

With Piano 5 and Stage 4, all piano samples are v. 6.x.

Note: "Grand Imperial Lrg 6.1 and Bright Grand Med 6.1 do not support Soft Release, and Ballad EP1 Med 6.0 supports incorrectly String Resonance." (ElectroStrat summarising some problematic findings in the restore pack for Stage 4) So, there are some issues at the moment with the latest versions.

(last updated: 2024-10)

Name	Version	Instrument presumed	Technical notes	Released in or before	Sizes, MB (legacy)
Soft Grand	6.2	Yamaha G2	?	12/2023	199/118/97/61
White Grand	6.3	Steinway B-211	? (by SampleTekk 2016?, maybe related to SampleTekk's White Grand)	06/2019	204/129/114/69 (245/155/110/67)
Royal Grand 3D	6.1	Yamaha S6	dummy head (ambient), for use with headphones	12/2016	208/103/86/54 (200/99/82/51)
Velvet Grand	6.1	Blüthner Model 1	?	12/2015	197/112/92/61 (190/106/87/58)
Silver Grand	6.1	Shigeru Kawai SK-7	?	07/2015	203/105/89/55 (194/100/85/53)
Italian Grand	6.1	Fazioli ?	slightly ambient?	12/2012	189/101/85/51 (182/97/82/49)
Bright Grand	6.1	Yamaha S4	?	06/2011	195/88/74/45 (196/87/72/44)
Grand Imperial	6.1	Bösendorfer Imperial	? (maybe related to SampleTekk's Emperor MkII)	03/2011	198/90/75/44 (197/90/74/44)
Grand Lady D	5.3	Steinway D-274	(maybe related to SampleTekk's Old Lady Mk2)	03/2011	79/61/39
Studio Grand 1	5.3	Yamaha C 7	close-up (derived from SampleTekk's The Big One Mk2)	03/2011	69/57/35
Studio Grand 2	6.2	Yamaha C 7	close-up, custom preamps (maybe related to SampleTekk's 7CG Mk2)	03/2011	177/94/81/49 (69/55/34)
Concert Grand close	5.3	Steinway D-274	close-up, for live (related to SampleTekk's Black Grand Mk2)	03/2011	58/46/29
Concert Grand ambient	5.3	Steinway D-274	ambient: concert hall, for recording (related to SampleTekk's Black Grand Mk2)	03/2011	57/44/29
Steinway No1	5.2	Steinway No.1 'Kitchen Piano' replica (1836/2006)	?	01/2017	132
Mozart FortePno A.Walter	6.1	Anton Walter Fortepiano (1780~1800)	?	01/2016	157/110/95/59 (149/105/91/56)
Beethoven ForteP Broadwood	5.3	Thomas Broadwood Fortepiano (~1820)	?	01/2016	151/99/84/52
Perl Upright	6.0	Grotrian-Steinweg Mod. 120	?	12/2022	182/121/102/65
Felt Piano	6.2	Yamaha SU118	modified: felt inserted between hammers and strings	01/2022	186/115/97/61
Baby Upright	6.1	Nordiska compact	?	12/2017	136/95/83/50 (124/87/76/46)
Amber Upright	6.2	Grotrian-Steinweg Concerto G132	?	07/2017	165/102/87/53 (162/100/84/51)
Bambino Upright	6.2	Baldwin spinet piano (Acrosonic, as Pscooter63 guesses)	6.1 L and XL have an issue on the loudest F6 and F#6 sound; obviously, 6.2 (available through the NP5 factory bundle) and 5.4 versions don't (see here)	07/2016	132/102/86/55 (125/97/82/52)
Mellow Upright	6.1	Bösendorfer C 130	extra soft felt hammers	10/2014	170/98/81/50 (171/98/80/50)
Grand Upright	5.4	Yamaha U3	?	10/2013	160/86/71/43
Queen Upright	5.3	Bösendorfer ?	?	03/2011	66/52/32
Black Upright	6.1	Petrof 132	softened hammers	03/2011	79/59/38 (65/52/33)
HonkyTonk Upright	6.1	Baumgardt	modified: nails replacing felt hammers	03/2011	57/47/29 (55/45/28)
Saloon Upright	5.3	Baumgardt	detuned	03/2011	61/49/30
Romantic Upright	6.1	Schimmel Fortissimo 108 'Chippendale' (1967)	?	03/2011	73/59/ (60/48/29)36
BlueSwede Large Upright	5.3	Östlind & Almquist (now: Malmsjö)	stereo	03/2011	69/56/34
Rain Piano	5.3	Svenska Pianofabriken	close-up miking (by SampleTekk)	03/2011	47/37/23
EGrand 3	6.1	Yamaha CP80	tube amped	02/2014	22 (63/31)
EGrand 2 Gerbstadt	5.3	Gerbstadt Grand with CP80-pickups	?	03/2011	6
EGrand 1 CP80	5.3	Yamaha CP80	?	03/2011	9
DigiGrand 2	6.0	Roland RD1000 (according to Tony White/Bonner's)	?	08/2017	10 (10)
DigiGrand 1	6.0	Roland XP80 ?	?	08/2017	12 (10)
DX Rubba Tines	6.0	Yamaha DX7	FM synth based Rhodes piano imitation	05/2015	20
DX Full Tines	6.0	Yamaha DX7	FM synth based DynoMy Rhodes piano imitation	05/2015	21
EP 9 Stockholm	6.0	Rhodes Mk I (1976) Stage Piano	extended dynamic range	06/2023	101/51/35
EP 8 Nefertiti MkI	6.2	Fender Rhodes Mk I (1970) Suitcase "Nefertiti Club Göteborg"	slightly uneven timbre/dynamics/sustain	12/2018	29/14/8 (20)
EP 7 Amped Tines	6.1	Rhodes Mk I Piano	tube amped	12/2018	33/18 (31)
EP 6 Sparkletop	6.1	Fender Rhodes 'Silvertop' Electric Piano (1967)	new (felt) hammers, ideal timbre	12/2018	19/11 (12)
EP 5 Bright Tines	6.1	Rhodes Mk I (1975) Suitcase Piano	partially hard hammers, bright timbre, 'close miking'	12/2018	24/15 (15)
EP 4 Mk5 80s	6.1	Rhodes Mk V (1984) Stage Piano	ideal timbre, close volume	12/2018	12/7 (7)
EP 3 Shallow Close	6.1	Rhodes Mk II (1981) Stage Piano	shallow timbre, close-up	12/2018	11/7 (7)
EP 2 Ideal Timbre	6.1	Rhodes Mk I (1975) Suitcase Piano	ideal timbre, close volume	12/2018	10/7 (6)
EP 1 Deep Timbre	6.1	Rhodes Mk I (1978) Stage Piano	deep timbre, low amplitude (more fundamental)	12/2018	12/7 (6)
Wurlitzer 2 Amped	6.1	Wurlitzer Piano 200A	tube amped	12/2013	24
Wurlitzer 1	6.3	Wurlitzer Piano 200A	straight?	03/2011	8 (6)
Clavinet D6	6.1	Hohner Clavinet D6	?	05/2010	6

I left out most 'non-piano' piano samples (harpsi, vibra etc.) as well as the layered digital versions. I also didn't include the secret pianos that can be found on this forum.

I didn't label the timbre of the APs because this will schedule too much. Besides, most information given at the moment is available through hints that anyone can get with a Nord under his/her fingers. There are some claims and rumours about relations to SampleTekk sounds; the only one I really believe in is this short forum entry. Details for release dates thanks to a post from ajstan.