Have Nord Piano 5 - can I create sounds like Moog Sub 37?

[paidoperative]

Hi,
I've got access to my pop's Nord Piano 5. It's a beautiful instrument but I don't really know how to use it to make some cool synth sounds (maybe it's not designed for that, ha!)

I laid hands on a Moog Sub 37 the other week and it BLEW my mind. I have Logic Pro and I have tried to replicate that sound since, to no success, however.

Is there any way to get the Nord Piano 5 to produce sounds like the Moog Sub 37?

On the other hand, is there a Nord instrument you'd recommend if I dig the Moog Sub 37 sound? It's hard for me to navigate the Nord options



--
I know this is a really broad question ,so I apologize in advance. Just an amateur musician here trying to learn how to piece things together....

If it helps, I primarily write songs and perform live, not sound design.
Thx in advnce

[23skidoo]

The Sub 37 is a two-oscillator monophonic analogue subtractive synthesizer. The Piano 5 is a sample-based digital synthesizer. In short: no.

In general, every synthesizer sounds different from every other one - differences in filters, oscillators, features (how many lfos, what can they be routed to, how many oscillators and what waveshapes can they make, how many envelopes, etc. etc.), and the tonal qualities of each all make for wildly different results.

Nothing else sounds like a Sub 37 (I own one). But a lot of things can come "close enough" in some areas. In converse, the Sub 37 can't sound like much else except another two-oscillator analogue subtractive synthesizer. The Nords that would come closest are any in the lead series, as they are also two (or more) oscillator subtractive synthesis architectures with similar features to the Sub37. However, depending on what aspect of the Sub37 sound you like, they might be perfectly close enough or they might be nowhere near it, just from the tonal differences. The A1 has some lovely sounds that are quite analogue-like too, and the Stage series have a pretty good synthesizer section in them, but those have very different architectures and trying to translate a sound from the classic leads or the sub 37 (which operate in similar manners, to a degree) to the A1 or the stage style synths requires a solid understanding of synthesis fundamentals as the concepts don't directly map 1:1 in a lot of cases.

In short, if you want a sub37, get one. Full stop. If you want a synth that can do "sub37-like" stuff, but you're ok with it having its own sound and capabilities, some of which go FAR beyond the sub37 and some of which fall a bit short, the classic Nord Leads (any of them, from the 1 to the 4) will be worthwhile contenders. They're all superb models of various flavours of subtractive synth architecture, though they were styled more after the prophet 5 and 6 than the moog series.

[cphollis]

The Nord Piano 5 is great if you're a piano player, but is definitely not your instrument if you're a synth player. The NP5 can play samples, but not generate synth tones. You can download samples of popular synths, but you can't really modulate them, as there's no pitch bend, mod wheel, etc.

If you're just starting out and want to make cool sounds (incl Sub 37-type) for short money, consider a basic midi controller and iPad software instruments through headphones. It's inexpensive and loads of fun.

When you run out of steam there, that's when you start looking at dedicated synths.

[Jon Lukas]

I have a Nord Piano 5, rev B version, and I've been having a lot of fun playing synth sounds along with the pianos and other acoustic sounds.

With the Rev B version in particular, you can have monophonic playback, with legato and glide. That makes a huge difference when playing synth parts. There is no pitch bend, but the glide function can make up for it, especially if your other hand is busy playing another part anyway. For a more synth-like experience, you can add the Wah effect, which will vary based your playing dynamics (unless you're controlling it with a pedal). The vibrato feature is also useful for additional expression.

If you love the Sub 37 sound, you can sample that synth, or any other synth, and load it into the Nord with their Sample Editor software. You can also sample software synths. Moog's own software Model D sounds really good and is probably worth sampling. It takes some effort and learning to make useful samples, but it can be done. The Nord Sample Library already has some good ones, so you can get started that way with a lot less effort.

The Nord Piano 5 will not give you anything like the experience of tweaking knobs and exploring sounds on the Sub 37, but it works pretty well if you have a specific sound that you want to play along with the piano sounds, and you take the time create a sample of it.

[paidoperative]

The Nord Piano 5 is great if you're a piano player, but is definitely not your instrument if you're a synth player. The NP5 can play samples, but not generate synth tones. You can download samples of popular synths, but you can't really modulate them, as there's no pitch bend, mod wheel, etc.

If you're just starting out and want to make cool sounds (incl Sub 37-type) for short money, consider a basic midi controller and iPad software instruments through headphones. It's inexpensive and loads of fun.

When you run out of steam there, that's when you start looking at dedicated synths.

Everyone I really appreciate all the thoughtful responses so far.

Just because I'm in the headspace of shopping around and I'm curious.... if I had to get one more device (in addition to the Nord Piano 5), what would it be? I am happy to stick to Nord, if that makes the discussion a bit easier.

Some needs:
- Given I have access to the Nord Piano 5, does not need keys for piano/organ
- I don't really make Electronica/Dance stuff or sound design, but I do like stuff like Radiohead / Pink Floyd / etc.
- Can take to gigs and performing live...


Based on https://www.nordkeyboards.com/compare/?product_ids= and https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/which ... t-for-you/ it sounds like this ordering of preference will suffice:
1. The Wave
2. The Lead
3. The Stage

But in what case would I want The Electro? It sounds like The Stage is a beefier version of The Electro and more..

[Gambold]

.

[WannitBBBad]

As you noted Pink Floyd, the Piano 5 won't cover the organ well, but for simple playing you always have the option of loading organ samples. I have over 70 samples posted here (mostly synth but some organ settings as well) that can be loaded on the Piano 5. I have mp3s posted to help you decide what you might want to download. Feel free to PM me if you have any problems.

Regarding what to get... if organ is not important or using samples is good enough, then going with a dedicated synth to complement the Piano 5 is a decent way to go. The less expensive route to consider would be following cphollis' suggestion of a MIDI controller and software. A friend of mine does incredible work using Mainstage on his Mac. Going the more expensive route, the Wave 2 has a lot of sonic flexibility. Sounds you create on any synth you buy can also be loaded on your Piano 5 if you want pads or other sounds (without use or pitch bend or modulation wheel) behind what you are playing on the synth.

For much more flexibility, I would suggest getting a used Stage 3 if you can find one; I love mine. I have over 100 programs posted here if you want to listen to some of what the Stage 3 is capable of. The good part about Nords is that they hold their value, so if you get a used one and it does or doesn't work out, you won't have wasted much. Good luck to you!

[23skidoo]

Well, I'm not a software fan of _any_ stripe, so I'm not going to recommend you do anything onstage that involves computers of tablet or laptop or other general purpose sort whatsoever. Everybody else on this forum disagrees with me on that, it seems, but this is my take, not theirs.

Radiohead is classic synth and some EPs. A Prophet 5 (possibly layered with a Rhodes) is what made the famous "Everything in its right place" sound.

Pink Floyd was for the majority of their mainstream albums in that older pre-synth era too, though I think (I'm not as familiar with their gear) they did use synths from time to time as they became available -- but the B3 and other organs and the usual stage electric keys (EPs etc) form the core of their keyboard sound also.

The Nord Electro is *designed* to replicate the Rhodes and B3 organs, among many other vintage keyboards - that's what it's for, to answer your question there - it's a whole stack of EPs, organs, and electronic keyboards of the pre-synthesizer variety, the stuff of legend that made jazz, blues/rock, and funk/soul sounds in the 60's and 70's (and up to today, of course).

Given what you've said, then, that comes pretty close to the instruments that were classically used by your two reference bands. However, it lacks a synth engine for making custom sounds (or the Sub37 stuff, which is radically different from the genre you're discussing now).

The Stage is an electro (with even more bells and whistles) plus a slimmed-down Lead synth engine, together. Obviously if money is no object that's the perfect complement to your Piano 5 - a stage 73 compact of pretty much any stripe (stage 2, 3, or 4, doesn't matter they're all really great if you don't need tons of piano memory) as it has the keyboards that have the vibe you/re looking for plus the synth engine to customize them.

However, as I said in my first comment, the synth engine in the stage, while very useful, is slimmed down (to make it easy/fast to use for an experienced synthesist and to reduce the complexity for newbies and for stage manipulation). As a result, you're not going to get as close to the sub37 with that one as with one of Nord's more full featured synths.

From what you've described, then, the stage is _exactly_ what I would reach for to replicate those sounds and the entire host of others in similar genres. If you can't afford a stage 2/3/4 73 compact (even used), though, you'll have to compromise on either the synth engine or the vintage keys in some way. Others have given suggestions on how to use sampling and various Nords to do this to varying degrees, but I find the sampling workflow to be annoyingly complicated and frustrating and so I just get synths that I can design or tweak the sounds on directly as that fits the live process that I prefer. YMMV.

There's a reason synth-heads tend to collect synths...

[cphollis]

The Nord Piano 5 is great if you're a piano player, but is definitely not your instrument if you're a synth player. The NP5 can play samples, but not generate synth tones. You can download samples of popular synths, but you can't really modulate them, as there's no pitch bend, mod wheel, etc.

If you're just starting out and want to make cool sounds (incl Sub 37-type) for short money, consider a basic midi controller and iPad software instruments through headphones. It's inexpensive and loads of fun.

When you run out of steam there, that's when you start looking at dedicated synths.

Everyone I really appreciate all the thoughtful responses so far.

Just because I'm in the headspace of shopping around and I'm curious.... if I had to get one more device (in addition to the Nord Piano 5), what would it be? I am happy to stick to Nord, if that makes the discussion a bit easier.

Some needs:
- Given I have access to the Nord Piano 5, does not need keys for piano/organ
- I don't really make Electronica/Dance stuff or sound design, but I do like stuff like Radiohead / Pink Floyd / etc.
- Can take to gigs and performing live...


Based on https://www.nordkeyboards.com/compare/?product_ids= and https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/which ... t-for-you/ it sounds like this ordering of preference will suffice:
1. The Wave
2. The Lead
3. The Stage

But in what case would I want The Electro? It sounds like The Stage is a beefier version of The Electro and more..

That's easy. For me, it's a Nord Stage 4 Compact. I play in multiple cover bands covering 60s to recent. The NS4 does it all, and then some.

The other choices are just gateway drugs for the real thing.