MainStage Versus Nord Stage: Part II
Okay, I finally bit the bullet and decided to buy a Clavia Nord Stage. Why? Because I think it is the best live keyboard I have ever used, and it is an excellent addition to the studio.
Here are the pluses of the Nord Stage to my mind
Most ergonomically well thought out keyboard on the market:
There is pretty much a knob or button for everything you need to do. No searching around menus on a fiddly touch-screen or equivalent (wake up Roland/Korg/Yamaha!).
Modular layout:
Separate Organ, Piano, Synth, FX and Master sections. Simple, but utterly brilliant.
Compact and Light:
And, with a wheeled case which fits its stand (or “legs”, as Clavia like to call them), easy to transport. Compared with the new Flagships from Roland, Korg or Yamaha, who all seem to assume we all have roadies following us around, it’s a joy. For example, all the flagship models from the big 3 like to mount the pitch-bend and modulation at the end of the board, and that could be the difference between fitting the thing in your car or not, or lifting it on your own or not. I know these other boards may have sequencers etc, but who cares! I mean, we all have computers these days!
The Sounds:
And last, but not least., those fabulous sounds. I have learned to love the piano. The stuff inherited from the Electro is amazing, and the synth is pretty darn good. Oh, and one more thing…
Of Course:
It looks bleedin’ brilliant!
So, who wins? The Nord Stage or MainStage? Well, I have my reservations about going out on a jamming gig (piano/hammond solos etc with unpredictable polyphony requirements) with MainStage. But then again, the Nord Stage is missing a lot of crucial features for my live needs (such as any sample based sounds other than the ROM style ones for the pianos etc.) For example, if you need a vibraphone, or a more arco style string sound rather than the analogue pad, or if you need pizzicato, or even to just to fly in a sample loop or an arpeggio, you’re screwed.
So, to my mind, both together, makes for the killer combination as a compact live rig. I am so looking forward to my first gig with them both!
March 10th, 2010 at 42 0342300000031UTC38 ppm3831 7 423 3107UTC pm
Great observations. I now have both and am loving my new Nord.
Do you use them together? (ie, “…looking forward to my first gig with them both!”
If so how do you integrate them? Would you mind describing your setup?
March 10th, 2010 at 56 0356300000031UTC16 ppm1631 11 563 3111UTC pm
Yes, I’ve used them together now, and they work great. This post is a little outdated though, as Mainstage 2 is out, offering more MIDI flexibility. But to be honest, I haven’t tried out Mainstage 2 yet though, so here’s a couple of observations.
I downloaded the latest version of the Nord Stage Operating System, which allows it to be used in conjunction with the Nord Stage Manager on my Mac. This means I can put the patches in whatever order I like on the Nord, which is nice, particularly if your setlist doesn’t change much from gig to gig. I then set the Nord patches in the order I like, and match them up on Mainstage, so when I switch to the correct patch on the Nord, voila! Mainstage changes too. I submix the two on my Roland Amp and use a simple M-Audio USB MIDI interface. I use various audio interfaces from M-Boxes to Apogees, depending on the gig. Quite often, I just use the audio out on the Mac! I even use Mainstage to display lyrics (I sing a lot of BVs), even when I’m not using any sounds from it. I also put instructions on the screen about songs I’m doing if I’m working with stuff I’m not familiar with (ie – key of song, tempo, maybe first lyric etc). So overall, it works very well.