Nord Piano 88 Comprehensive Review!
Nord Piano 88: the best Keyboard for performance Pianists
Nord Piano 88
The Nord Piano 88 brings all that is excellent about Clavia Nord to a powerful performance keyboard that’s just for pianists. The Piano 88 incorporates Clavia’s standard of simple controls, versatility, and commitment to sound quality into a simpler, more affordable keyboard that still retains all the authenticity and functionality of the more powerful Nord Stage models. Combined with access to the full Nord Piano Library and Nord’s superb effects, the Piano 88 is one of the best digital performance pianos on the market. Please read our following Nord Piano 88 review for some insights.
Nord Piano 88 Specs & Features
The Nord Piano 88 hones the quality of its all-in-one instruments, like the Nord Stage 2 and Stage EX, into a keyboard that is specialized for piano. There is no organ and no synth, but the keyboard’s sound quality and performance aspects for piano are better than ever. Nord’s commitment to excellence ensures the keyboard feels and sounds as authentic as possible. The velocity-sensitive, fully-weighted keys have a great spring and feel for fast play.
Nord Piano Pedals
The best part of the Piano 88’s performance is its realistic harmonic resonance, modeled on the effects of the powerful, authentic Nord Stage EX. Called “String resonance” in the Nord line, struck notes excite vibrations from harmonic “strings,” simulating the sympathetic resonance of a genuine piano. This background resonance adds a layer of even greater depth and realism to the Nord’s sound.
The Piano 88’s velocity-sensitive, fully-weighted keys have a great spring and feel for fast play. At the same time, the Piano 88 is just about the perfect weight for a fully-weighted keyboard. It is light enough to transport easily, but none of the concert quality has been compromised, making it a portable but powerful model for performing pianists. It has all the standard connections for stage performance, including stereo output, headphone jack, mini-jack monitor output. It has basic MIDI outputs, but players looking for a comprehensive master keyboard might prefer a more integrated model like the Nord Stage 2.
As a side note, audio from an iPod or other source can be fed through the headphone jack, allowing players to play along with a source track. The Piano 88 has no level control, though, so this is not a fully developed feature.
Nord Piano 88: Control & effects
As in all Clavia Nord keyboards, a simple central control panel provides user-friendly access to all the keyboard’s effects and features. The control interface is easy to master. The most needed features have dedicated controls on the main panel, and less-used functions and settings can be accessed quickly from simple menus with no more than a few clicks.
Nord Piano - Control Panel
There are two effects arrays clearly marked out on the main control panel. Easily accessible sliders control the intensity of effects, which include tremolo, narrow and wide or hard and wide autopan, autowah, chorus, and phasers, flanging, and reverb with impressive depth and clarity. The Nord Piano 88 handles all the effects covered in the Nord Stage EX with equally believable vigor and richly varied depth to the modulation and amp settings.
Like the Nord Stage EX and other models, there are five separate effects sliders which are clearly accessible on the main control panel. The effects cover a good range of treatments and all have incredibly realistic sounds. The Nord Piano also comes with the “Nord Triple Pedal” piano set. The damper pedal effects are as realistic as those on any other Nord keyboard, and contribute handsomely to the instrument’s overall authentic sound. Not only so, but the pedals have very pianistic effects such as the sustain pedal (right), the sostenuto pedal (middle), and the soft (or Una Corda) pedal (on the left).
Extensive Piano Library included in the Nord Piano 88
The Nord Piano 88 has full access to the Nord Piano Library’s current and emerging selection of sound samples. The library features dozens of different piano samples: grands, uprights, electric pianos, harpsichords, and even Clavinets. Thanks to Nord’s unique sound sampling techniques, all samples ring with the most authentic possible sound. Nord has taken a lot of care to give its sound library character and vibrancy, from smart, stylish electric pianos to rich, elegant grands. Any of the individual piano models in the Nord Library play like the real thing, with the perfect mix of ring, resonance, and reverb.
The Nord Piano 88 is no different. It handles any of the sample piano models in the library with incredible polish and vigor. Some Nord Piano 88 reviews say the Piano 88 is in a league of its own compared to the “shimmery, artificial” sound of other digital keyboards. The Piano 88 comes with at least a dozen different piano samples installed, and you can trade out installed sounds for new samples at will.
As with many Nord models, one drawback to the Piano 88 is there isn’t enough onboard memory. You will inevitably find more great samples in the Nord Piano Library than you can store on the instrument’s RAM. However, samples are easy to delete and replace, so this usually isn’t much of an inconvenience.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this Nord Piano 88 review has been helpful. Though less jam-packed with features than more expensive models like the Nord Stage 2 and Stage EX, the Nord Piano 88 offers a great combination of simplicity, quality, and features in one portable specialty keyboard. The intuitive controls, fantastic sound, and versatility of this lightweight but functional instrument should appeal to a wide range of performance pianists.
Nord Piano 88 Professional Stage Piano
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 List Price: $2,799.00 Sale Price: Too low to display Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Eligible For Free Shipping 
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Nord Piano 88 Professional Stage Piano - Product Description
The Nord Piano 88 is a professional stage piano with 88 keys, designed with the performing musician in mind without compromising quality or means of expression. The Nord Piano comes loaded from the factory with 19 different piano and harpsichord sounds. The program memory is filled with 120 programs that showcase the possibilities you have with the selection of pianos and the Nord Piano effects - acoustic, electric, vintage or contemporary piano sounds. And with unique features like String Resonance, totally replaceable sounds from the extensive Nord Piano Library and the dynamic Nord Piano Pedal, the Nord Piano delivers in every aspect. Not only can you effortlessly change the sounds and dial in the desired effect settings on the panel, the Nord Piano is the world's first stage piano that allows you to completely replace the piano sounds in the instrument. When your needs, or your mood changes, just download another piano from the large selection of unique sounds in the Nord Piano Library. Exchanging the piano sounds inside your Nord Piano is easy. Connect the piano to your computer using the built-in USB-interface and your choice of sound is simply a matter of preferred style. There are 120 programs in the Nord Piano. These are accessed by 24 banks with 5 programs each, with convenient program buttons located right on the panel where you need them during your performance. You edit the programs by just changing the parameters on the panel, and all the changes you make can be stored in any program location by using the Store button. The Nord Piano has a Live Mode with 5 separate locations, where every setting you change is automatically stored. It is the first Nord unit to have its USB functionality extended to include MIDI messages. Even though the Nord Piano is built to easily cope with a hard touring life, it is the most lightweight and portable professional stage piano on the market.
Nord Piano 88 Professional Stage Piano - Details
- New improved weighted hammer action keyboard
- Most lightweight professional stage piano on the market
- Receives and transmits MIDI overextended USB functionality
- String resonance reproduces acoustics that occur inside acoustic grand or upright pianos
- Download free new instruments from Nord Piano Library
