Topic: nord white grand

hello guys, my first time here , love the pianoteq 8 so far.  just wonder if anyone out there has a suggestion to make a piano sound to match the nord white grand ? i have the standard pianoteq 8. cant quite get the piano to sound as good as my Nord.  i have the upright/Kawai/one other grand.any suggestions would really help...

Re: nord white grand

daddyben wrote:

just wonder if anyone out there has a suggestion to make a piano sound to match the nord white grand

Hmm sounds similar to the steingraeber to me (or perhaps the Hamburg Steinway D). I would start from one of those, maybe rein in the sympathetic resonance a bit (sample libraries stuggle with that so sympathetic resonances are usually reduced). I'd also boost the treble in the Equaliser tab by maybe 3-5dB.

That White Grand also looks to be recorded pretty closely, so I would experiment with moving the close (virtual) microphones around in pianoteq's microphone panel.

Re: nord white grand

daniel_r328 wrote:
daddyben wrote:

just wonder if anyone out there has a suggestion to make a piano sound to match the nord white grand

Hmm sounds similar to the steingraeber to me (or perhaps the Hamburg Steinway D). I would start from one of those, maybe rein in the sympathetic resonance a bit (sample libraries stuggle with that so sympathetic resonances are usually reduced). I'd also boost the treble in the Equaliser tab by maybe 3-5dB.

That White Grand also looks to be recorded pretty closely, so I would experiment with moving the close (virtual) microphones around in pianoteq's microphone panel.


would compression help ?

Re: nord white grand

daddyben wrote:

would compression help ?

Hard to predict! I'd give it a try. You can use the Comp effect, or reduce the "Dynamics" slider (which acts as a "perfect compressor")

Re: nord white grand

I have a Nord stage 4, the white grand is sampled from the Steinway B-211. I've created a modified Steinway Model B preset for that and uploaded it in the FXP Corner to get close to that sound. What I did was capture the EQ profile and dynamics of the white grand on my nord stage 4 (init preset for the white grand), and then recreate that sound in the Steinway Model B model in Pianoteq (if you don't have that model B model, you can try the preset in demo mode in pianoteq 8).

you can find it over here:
https://forum.modartt.com/fxpcorner/index.php
look for the preset:  Steinway B White Grand

There is an audio demo attached to it.

Re: nord white grand

Robinez wrote:

I have a Nord stage 4, the white grand is sampled from the Steinway B-211. I've created a modified Steinway Model B preset for that and uploaded it in the FXP Corner to get close to that sound. What I did was capture the EQ profile and dynamics of the white grand on my nord stage 4 (init preset for the white grand), and then recreate that sound in the Steinway Model B model in Pianoteq (if you don't have that model B model, you can try the preset in demo mode in pianoteq 8).
There is an audio demo attached to it.

I don't have a Nord to be able to compare it, but your preset sounds really nice. Thank you very much for producing it! The only thing that might need fixing are the lower octaves. The sound is quieter there.

How did you capture EQ profile and dynamics of the Nord White Grand?

Last edited by amitev (07-09-2025 07:21)

Re: nord white grand

amitev wrote:
Robinez wrote:

I have a Nord stage 4, the white grand is sampled from the Steinway B-211. I've created a modified Steinway Model B preset for that and uploaded it in the FXP Corner to get close to that sound. What I did was capture the EQ profile and dynamics of the white grand on my nord stage 4 (init preset for the white grand), and then recreate that sound in the Steinway Model B model in Pianoteq (if you don't have that model B model, you can try the preset in demo mode in pianoteq 8).
There is an audio demo attached to it.

I don't have a Nord to be able to compare it, but your preset sounds really nice. Thank you very much for producing it! The only thing that might need fixing are the lower octaves. The sound is quieter there.

How did you capture EQ profile and dynamics of the Nord White Grand?

I don't think the lower actives are quieter, maybe you are using my velocity profile, because in my velocity profile the lower velocity area is far below the linear curve and then you get that quieter lower octaves if you don't use my piano. So try to override that with your own velocity profile (press the G button and select your own profile).

The process to capture EQ and dynamics and apply it to pianoteq is quite simple if you have the following tools:

- Audiolens : this one records your live playing (or midi file) and creates an EQ and Dynamics profile
- in Audiolens record your nord stage (or other piano that you want to analyse) and save it
- open Izotope 10 or higher
- switch to assistant view
- play the midi file on your pianoteq preset
- now a mastering chain is build for that pianoteq preset
- override that mastering chain with the one you have created in audiolens (the audiolens save is available in ozone)
- it will now create a new mastering chain based on your recording of the nord white grand piano
- select in the assistent screen how much it should be mapped to the audio lens results
- then press detailed view in Ozone 10 or higher
- go to the equalizer 1
- select every point in that equalizer and set those values in the EQ of pianoteq
- then go to the limiter and set it accordingly
- if needed (most of the time it's not needed because you don't really want to have a compressed sound), add a compressor in the inserts of pianoteq and set it to values in ozone

probably it sounds more difficult then it is, you can do this in a few minutes if you know these tools.

The final step is to program the condition, sympathetic resonance and the microphone setup of the original (based on comparing both audio signals from the nord and pianoteq by ear) and then you have something that sounds quite close.

Last edited by Robinez (12-09-2025 23:57)