Making Softsynth Sounds vs Using HW Keyboard Presets (Nord Electro)

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DimensionX

New member
I love sound design, I have many of my own sounds and presets. I am getting really fun and cool sounds but making sounds from scratch is so painful sometimes because it's like forcing inspiration out something that is so uninspiring. And a lot of the time the sounds I make are very strange (https://soundcloud.com/dyian/dark3sect016/s-AesCr - Yes that is a SINGLE sound)


I have SO many plugins (Camel Audio: Alchemy. Fabfilter: Bundle. Native Instruments: Komplete 9 Ultimate. Slate Digital: VBC, FG-X, VTM, VCC. Sugar Bytes: WOW 1/2, Vogue. XFER: Serum. Izotope: Music Production Bundle 2).
And I have had a MIDI keyboard and it just sits there. I'm just tired of laptops. It is fun for here and there but... I. Just. Want. To. Make. Music!


...And then it happened. The Nord Electro 5D - As soon as I touched the keys... And heard the sounds/presets I felt a feeling I hadn't felt in 14 years. The same feeling I felt when I first touched a guitar. The quality of these sounds... Is. Exactly. What I've been looking for. "Finally" I thought to myself, "I can focus on music"... Price tag reads $3500! AHHHHHHH!!!! "I must make this happen" I thought... "I must...". But then of course here I am with The question...


What do you think... Is it cheating to get this keyboard? I've gone through the presets of my synths, and I just can't seem to find the same quality. Is it placebo? Is it in my head? Am I just so deep down the rabbit hole of computer music and sound design that I have lost my mind and I just need to keep going? Can these sounds be recreated on a computer? Should I just get a better MIDI keyboard and finish what I started or do you think I have truly found the missing piece amidst all that I have been doing?


Thoughts?... Feelings?


With love... Dhji
 
Ay that patch you posted is pretty dope imo. I think it, and others like it could be put to good use.

I know what you mean though about buying new gear for a specific sound. Back in the 90s, when I first started out, this salesman tried to put me onto a Nord and I couldnt see anything good about it. Maybe it was because I was stuck in only listening to certain types of music, maybe it was because I was young, maybe it was because Nord sucked back then...I don't know.

...But I have played with Nords since then on demo units and i really like a lot of their sounds. I'm not sure if the particular unit i was messing with was geared towards electric piano/rhodes/other vintage sounds ( i haven't looked too much into Nords since that first experience), but I liked it alot. I was very impressed.

I personally would need to look into the exact tech behind the keyboard before considering a purchase (how the sounds are generated/can I edit them freely/functionality with external automation/etc), but I liked the thing a lot...until I saw the pricetag, and was immediately repulsed. Those things are out of my range and I can find alternatives that suit me just fine. -Think Kontakt libraries, look around for libraries focused on those specific sounds you want. Ive been messing with Addictive Keys at a friends house, the sounds are actually pretty good. I know there are really good Kontakt libraries geared towards keyboards of the past.

They probably are not "as good" as having a Nord or one of those Rhodes keyboards, but f it man, I'm personally not making purchases like that with my budget.:cheers:


edit:

BUT I would say, synthesizers are not made to try to recreate instruments the way the Nord is. This might be why you hear such a great difference. Synths can't accurately replicate most of these sounds. They are two different tools that design in different ways. If you are trying to get these sounds without the pricetag, I would look towards playable and expressive sample libraries, like Kontakt has.

just an idea though, check out some demos of libraries that contain sounds you may be looking for
 
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I wouldn't think of it as cheating and if so, who cares? As long as you don't break copyrights or piracy laws, anything goes in making music :cool:
You can get a long way with VSTs (in my case the instruments and rack extensions in Reason mostly) but there's a reason analogue gear still sells. A lot of the iconic analogue gear has an iconic feel and sound to it. Old amps, a moog, a korg volca, an electron analog, etc. That stuff still sells because of workflow and it's uniqueness.
If the sound and feel is something you really want, then you need to put some dow on the table or forget about it. And ey, stuff's expensive. Can't do anything about it. With a bit of good care, it'll last you a life time though. Doesn't hurt having good insurance though.
 
I highly doubt that you need specifically the Nord to make the sounds that the Nord makes.
You could get the sounds other ways, almost certainly using soft synths. Even if you can only get 95% of the way there because you're not that great a sound designer you could make sounds that are just as good, with practice

The value of any hardware is not that it makes sounds that can't be made any other way... it's that it's a really fun and hands-on way to make sounds.
 
for sure. i love the immediate access and response you get with hardware. plus theres something to be said about developing a relationship with an instrument instead of the disposable/interchangeable attitude i usually have towards vst synths. hardware makes the process less time consuming, because soft synths can be a huge hassle unless you have a good controller and mapped templates for ease of editing.

scrapheaper, which synth can accurately replicate those piano and epiano sounds?
ive never personally heard accurate reproductions of just about any acoustic or "real" instrument made with a synthesizer.
 
AudioPhorm said:
for sure. i love the immediate access and response you get with hardware. plus theres something to be said about developing a relationship with an instrument instead of the disposable/interchangeable attitude i usually have towards vst synths. hardware makes the process less time consuming, because soft synths can be a huge hassle unless you have a good controller and mapped templates for ease of editing.

scrapheaper, which synth can accurately replicate those piano and epiano sounds?
ive never personally heard accurate reproductions of just about any acoustic or "real" instrument made with a synthesizer.
Click to expand...

That's because you don't use synthesizers to reproduce real instruments, you use sample libraries.
Look into kontakt, sampletank, dimension pro etc... for piano you can use piano one, which is free, or any of the paid sampled pianos
The nord itself is half synth, half sampler
 
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I don't think the sounds are completely unattainable in software, but the Nords tend to have both a superbly playable soundset, excellent real-time controls and, what's often overlooked, a really, really good keyboard feel. I have the now-old Nord Electro 2, but it's still the best keyboard I've ever had, as far as the actual playing feel goes. Haven't really found any MIDI controller keyboards that come even close.

Sound-wise, there are excellent piano and Rhodes/Wurly libraries around. Also consider 2nd hand older Nord Electro models, or those of other manufacturers such as the Korg SV1.
 
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