Nord Lead A1 demo sounds | there might be 80s...
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- čas přidán 3. 06. 2017
- Demo of some of highlight sounds from the first bank of performance presets on the Clavia Nord Lead A1 synthesizer. We'll listen to some pads, basses, effects and other killers sounds. Inevitably some 80s references creep into the demos, I just can't stop myself!
Facebook: www. woodypianoshack - Hudba
![Modulation envelope tutorial | Nord Lead A1 demo & review [04]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZAZvpWWFu5w/mqdefault.jpg)
![Modulation envelope tutorial | Nord Lead A1 demo & review [04]](/img/tr.png)
Is it just me or is the A1 simply the best sounding synth ever made? I could listen to these demos for hours and hours.
Came back after a year. Feels so nostalgic.
Amazing demo. Really love your creative interpretations of synth classics!
Awesome demo Woody!! what a great synth!!
thanks for sharing.
What a FANTASTIC demo.. just ❤️❤️ it 👏🏼👏🏼
Sounds amazing!! All the way through! I gotta get my hands on a A1 soon. Thanks for the great demo.
Wow! This baby sounds amazing! Great playing, Woody. Love these 80's riffs.
thanks moth for the compliment, didn't set out to play 80s stuff, it just happened. more to come soon...
I've had a 2x for 18 years. This A1 sounds like just what I'm looking for. Love those 80s sounds. Well played.
Loved your version of Souvenir. Went all tingly when I heard that iconic melody.
glad you liked it, thanks for the comment!
Beautiful playing!
Hi Woody. Very nice demo of this incredible synth. I really love it and the way you demoed it really deserve it well. Congrats.
hey there synthury, thanks for the comment, appreciate the kind words, cheers
That final patch @ 13:03 is just amazing - WHOA - those high moving notes are great.
Agreed, save the best for last!
What a wonderful demo... The best thing about your demos is the quality of the audio... I know, CZcams compresses it but generally it's recorded very well in comparison to some other synth demos.
so glad you noticed, i put a lot of effort into that! thanks for the great feedback.
CZcams compresses, but so do a whole lot of streaming services and mp3 download stores and they often do it worse. The software back end of how CZcams delivers audio to your OS is very good, and very few browsers will mess it up. Why are people still bitchin' about CZcams audio quality? 1440p and above is even lossless.
@@lemonslice2233 People bitch because youtube fucks up the audio. Period. The lossless means that the poster needs to provide high enough quality.
@@lemonslice2233 Seriously, you've not heard decent audio if you think that CZcams's audio is good. It's not. Neither is it awful, but I's severely compressed and cut. Listenable? Yes. Great quality? Sadly, no.
Tremendous thank you Woody!
Sounds are great Woody well done.
thanks synthadd, yeah, the NL did most of the work for me here, it made me sound great!
Sweet sounds!
Woodypianoshak = incredible
Incredible synth! great demo
Are all of those custom presets you blended, or are those the sounds out the box, Im looking to purchase this synth, just was wondering, cause that last sound, was mind blowing!
nice demo as usual
Great demo as always Woody! I see you're really in the "Nord mood" lately, hehe. I especially enjoyed the sounds with the sequences running in the background, like that beautiful sound at the end of the video. Good job! :)
thanks xavier, yes, the shack is quite red. and will be even more so in the future... glad you enjoyed the demo, thx for the comment.
Sounds awesome!!
Fantastic demo
too kind, thx!
Отличный инструмент, браво исполнителю!!! Спасибо!!
What a great sounding synth...nice Robert Miles tribute in there Woody!
you know, i didn't even know what the tune was when I was playing it. so kinda good there was an unplanned tribute, thanks for spotting it!
I definitely heard some Jean Michel Jarre and Jeff Wayne in there! Excellent job Woody.
thanks zapp!
Me too but I came across him on YT, ' Europa and pirate twins' very catchy... maybe it's the JP8 I'm in love with
did not know it could do choir sounds like that. Liked the FM sparkley stuff. Surprisingly versatile synth.
yes, it's got a bunch of unusual waveforms, i played them all in another video if you're interested. :)
Excellent demo! Great work and beautiful sounds... may iask how do you record it? It sound superb. ☺
I love your covers of Howard Jones' "New Song" and "Natural", Woody!
Very nice tribute to Robert Miles' "Children" as well!
cool that you recognised, appreciated!
Impressive sounds indeed. And nice shirt, too!;)
At 4:45 JMJ coming in..... beautiful sound there Woody at 5.11 amazing... thanks
thank you, yeah, this keyboard seemed very good for those kind of vintage tunes.
excellent in all regards
What an amazing tune at about 5:20!
Ah, if we just had those marvelous toys back in the 80s... ;-)
Good work, Gareth!
Keep it up.
NL originally inspired by the prophet 5, from the 80s of course, but you're getting like 4 of them in one box. plus lots of extra goodies like the morph and arps. yeah, we modern musicians got it pretty good.
Oh, I see..powerful analog virtual synthesis and amazing sound quality! Thanks to the 80s we got the sound of the future, that's the beauty of synthesizers, it's a long way till now, but it's worth every technological step!! Thank you, Gareth.
Woody Piano Shack it really sounds nothing like a p5 though.
I am surprised how Nord has developed over the years. When I compare these presets with the original Nord Lead I played in the nineties, they've come a long way. It sounds way less digital. The reason I never bought one was because of the aliasing sounds and the audible steps. But that is totally gone now with this model. And well played, Woody.
Love these 80's sounds. I don't have any hardware synths at the moment using VSTs for music production, used to have a Proteus Pop/Rock I but got it lost somehow after a club gig where I had been using it for backng tracks... :(
Fucking sold mate! Great demo! Always wanted to get a Nord
at 12:00 min, you did an incredible tune and made it look so easy.
You're making that A1 sound amazing. I can't afford the A1. I can get the 2X or the 3. I've wanted a Nord ever since I knew what it was. What would you recommend? Cheers!
What's with the wheel you keep fiddling around with? Is it like the rotator input control on a CME UF series keyboard?
Great sound! Could you tell me, how many factory patches does have this synth? Thank you!
I have a BIG DILEMMA, two years ago I bought the Nord Lead 4 which sounds super cool however for me is not that easy to use. When I see videos from the Nord Lead A1 I am blown away with its sounds and I read the comments that it is easy to use. I don''t know if I should sell the NL4 and get the NL A1 or keep the NL4. I would supposed the NL4 can do everything the NLA1 does since it cost more ???
Sounds 80s forever ! ! !
Hi. I am a bass player and want to buy a synth to compose some of originals. Would you recommend A1 or Lead 4? . . . TIA
Hi Woody. Love your channel, everyday it's like going back to my teens!!!
I loved Howard Jones but there was also one more genius whom never seems to be mentioned -he is Thomas Dolby...
Do you think a cover would be good idea? Brian
you know, his music passed me by, i can remember a few hits, but nothing that grabbed me like HJ, depeche, omd, human league etc.
Woody Piano Shack You need to check out Thomas Dolby. Entirely different to HJ though. Have a listen to Airwaves from his 1st album (The Golden Age of Wireless). It’s awesome. 👍
@@guyonkeys Agree with Golden Age of wireless 👍 Also should check out the New Musik Albums "Anywhere" and "Warp" aswell as Naked Eyes as has a full list of Synthesizers on it including Fairlight which was to become a big part of producer Tony Mansfield's sound 😎
Woody you just explained more than you know why everyone above and below this comment play's the keyboards , there are no words , justs notes played ! , now you need to go to the fridge and grab a beer and tell yourself you earned it ! , this is one hell of video you made ! 😎AK👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
At 10:40, the Roland D-50 patch "Fantasia" as the Nord Lead A1 patch?
similar indeed adam, it even sounds like the "chase" function on the d50 is enabled.
excellent demo thank you I traded away my lead 4 for other gear but might get this in rack version I do miss the EP stuff.....this engine sounds more transparent than the lead 4, do you hear the same difference?
never really tried the 4, but a completely different character than the 2x i previously had. nord did good with this one.
This would be my only keeper synth
Hey Woody, could you please do a demo on the MicroKorg? It's a great classic synth with plenty of options :-) I really dig your channel!
you know I used to own one, never really bonded with it, but wouldn't mind trying one again.
Johan Hald microkorg is cheap.
Don’t know if I should get this or a Roland rompler
very good demo
3:18 drum kit or drum machine?
really nice video!. Now I have some GAS for a Nord A1.. maybe someone wants to do a exchange for a MOXF6
Hello, what is the last song if this demo please?
amazing synth i love it! this better than Lead4?
yes it does, sold my NL4 and now using two A1's
Which preset did you use starting at 11:59?
10:45 Ultravox, Vienna LOOOL :-D
BTW are you recording at 96k with high end sound card such as antelope ? whatever you are doing it's the best quality I have heard on you tube.
thanks, glad you appreciate the audio. nothing high-end, running the synth into a 15 year old m-audio 2496 PCI card at 48k 16bit. recording with plenty of headroom then using loudmax limiter to raise the volume. that's all the nitty-gritty :)
Woody Piano Shack wow I had that card x 4 back in the day.....on the 24ai now......awesome work
Sadly this means nothing to me (it's way over my head !!!!). It just sounds so clean and pure. Brilliant demo, brilliant synth. Better than a Sledge?
Do you think lead 4 will be able to get 80's sounds, pads and leads like the lead a1?
i would think so, the 80s synth sounds are pretty basic, i think most current va synths can pull that off.
sounds very digital?
Amazing.
I'm a keyboarder for 13 years (I only own a Yamaha PSR-450, but play a Yamaha DGX-660 in my band) and want to buy my first hardware synthesizer. I have some basic idea how synths work, never played one, but am really interested in the Nord synths (I have seen great demo videos). What should I go for? I was interested in the Behringer D first, but I can afford a Nord Lead A1 or 4 now. The Behringer D hopefully sounds like a Minimoog - I need minimoog sounds, because I want to cover some songs where they used a Minimoog, a Multimoog, a Roland Jupiter 4, a Roland Vocoder (prob. VP 330), a Prophet 5, Rhodes and a PPG Wave. Those are really expensive nowadays. As Behringer announced to clone some of the well-known 80s synths, they might also clone the prophet 5, multimoog or Jupiter 4. Do you think the Nord synths are capable of creating similar sounds to the mentioned synths? If so, which should I buy?
hi bert, the behr stuff looks interesting. you need another controller keyboard for those right? and they will probably be plasticky & cheaply built (just a guess). not as suitable for live use as the Nord as an all in one robust package with everything laid out in front of you. I'd say get the Deep Mind, A1 or even a 2X if you can find one.
The Behringer D will be available as a rack version only. You'd have to control it using a midi controller like the Roland A-49. I don't think it will be cheaply build. I think it's as useful for live situations as a Nord, I just wonder what sounds it can create. I'll check the ones you mentioned out. :)
0:42 what's the song? Reminds me of a particular 80s song
souvenir by omd
Would you recommend A1 as the only hardware synth and midi-controller for VST's/iPad software synths at home?
i dunno, it would be a very expensive controller,. you can get a ipad compatible usb controller for much less. also you will need some midi interface your ipad.
It would work, of course, but as Woody said, if you just want it as a MIDI controller, it's a bit pricey. Any keyboard with MIDI out will work to control VST synths, so if that's all you need any old cheap keyboard will do, as long as you like the feel of the keys and they all work! Also, for a controller I'd recommend something with at least 61 keys (the Nord is only 49).
He said "only hardware synth", so come on, don't recommend this guy a MIDI controller. Yes, get the A1.
That sounds like a great synth to me!
More fun than a Korg M1 isn't it?
yeah, i would agree with you mike. as you would expect, it costs 10 times more and is 30 years more advanced :)
I am not familiar with Nord but I wouldn't mind owning one.
And yes the M1 is cheap now, never like it. It may sound nice in the mix but on its own I find it horrible.
The Nord I could noodle all day long on, it sounds like a lot of fun to me.
Mike Hydropneumatic M1 had a crippled interface.
It does sound better than a Lead 4 - The 4 is more harsh sounding
I wondered about this: A programmer (like myself) reaches for the cutoff knob on the filter, and a performer reaches for the mod-wheel. All of your cutoff and other voice changes are on the mod-wheel, which I almost never go for first since I consider it unpredictable what the programmer assigned it to. Maybe this is just me with a force-of-habit due to working so long in "programmer" mode and not performer mode. Thoughts?
interesting! well, if i reach for the cutoff then my hands leave the keyboard, and the sound gets smaller. as you can see i can reach the mod wheel with my little finger whilst holding down chords. and on the nord it's easy to assign any number of knob changes (morphs) to the mod wheel. in fact, many interesting morphs are assigned to the wheel in the programs so nord's programmer made some great performance choices. plus better range of movement in mod wheel for more precision. you have a NL, what do you play?
I've got the NL3 as the Nord representative in my collection - I like it more for it's interface and immediateness (the LED knob displays are great) than for its sound - tho it can sound pretty good with the right material and effects. Right now its not in my "live rotation" due to space constraints, but I might pull it up onto a stand and give it some love. Current keyboards in the live set (i.e. hooked up to the mixer) are a Deepmind 12, a Technics WSA1 (really a odd board), a Korg Z1, a DX7IIfd with E!, a K2600XS, a Roland Jupiter 6, an Origin (really a good programmers board), a DSI PolyEvolver, and a Korg M3. Then there's the modules, which are too numerous... Most of my music today is dance related or classic recreations of well-known tunes. I also do a lot of theater and other show work, mostly as recording engineer, live mixer, or producer...
Does the JDXA sound better than this?
I recall hearing you saying something like that in your "I sold my synth" videos.... Not sure...
From demos the JDXA sounds like a typical boring analog with some pcm samples on board.
The A1 has alot of cool Digital features it can do choirs good efx, morphing, not sure how they fair
i sold the a1 because my jd-xi covers those sounds admirably. xa i have never tried.
The Jd-Xa, has the same Supernatural synthesis engine as the JD-Xi but do also have an 4 voice analog part. Its much better sounding then every nord synth in my opinion and is also more powerful in many ways.
the JDXA is what the Jd-800 was for the 90s and the D-50 was for the late 80s.
Woody Piano Shack True but how easy would you say it is to just sit down at the Roland and noodle away like this, especially with the mini-keys? Surely the Nord scores there?
I tried to buy a used one last week. he wouldn't budge on the price from $1,200 (I offered $1,000.) I really like the range of sounds and features, but I guess I'll spend a couple hundred more and get a new Dave Smith rev2 with a normal 5 octave keyboard and real analog sound instead of imitation analog.
mine was about $800, perhaps nords are easier to find and therefore cheaper in sweden. i'd prefer imitation analogue, the real power of NL is the 4 slots (4 synths in one) with ample poly for them all. try that on analogue. i posted a demo of the NL without saying what it was and most people thought it was an analog :)
I remember when the original Nord lead came out in 1995. a local music store had one. had never heard of Nord before. that was before the "analog" craze was really in full swing. there are plenty of great sounding digital synths (DX7, D50, DW8000) that are mostly over looked these days because people are fixated on one type of synthesis. the Nords certainly have a fantastic sound. the new Dave Smith will have 16 voice polyphony, although I'll probably go with the 8 voice since it's $500 less and it will most likely be upgradable if that's not enough for me.
chieftp virtual analog sounds pretty much like analog these days.
@@SPAZZOID100 no, it doesn't at all. 2 completely different sounds.
I remember when Nord first showed up in the music store catalogs I thot they were an offshoot of Moog. I almost bought one just to see for myself why some folks are so critical.
Bob I. Gomez nothing to do with moog.
that is evident now, although the rumor here in the states was that NORD was started by former Moog employees...something like Blackstar & Heritage guitars.
Nord Leads are oversampled. They don’t sound digital. They sound fantastic. I am concerned that the 4 doesn’t have a newer replacement. I do think the A1 sounds better than the 4 but Clavia must keep on with synthesis.
the a1 is due for a refresh, i'm sure! i never got to grips with the oscillator controls on the a1, prefer the 2x myself. the a1 has the edge on sound and "analog warmth" tho :D
Sweeeeet! :-D
(I own the A1, 4 and 2X!)
woah! you got the nord synth sound covered! to complete the collection you should try and find the NL1, the funky one with the angled corners. i'd like one of those myself.
don't like those Nords . you make them sound good . you're a great poly synth player Woody . you know how to bring out the sound .it's all you Woody .
kind of you to say so, thx.
Not all you, Woody. The A1 is awesome too.
video killed the radio star
he's not dead. he's just resting.
This is like Jexus but in a post-coital chilled mood...hope you washed your hands...etc....
oh back in those good old days you never had to wash your hands :D
To say something that might get my head sawed clean off- A lot of these sound like patches off the MicroKORG. This has more digital stuff to play with, but seriously. A few times I forgot I was listening to a nearly $2,000 synth.
$1399
Man, if only I had $1800 ... if only .... :(
i bought mine used, for less than half of that, so good luck finding one!
its all reverb. whats so $1800 about it?
I don't know why the good folks at Nord would make such an awesome polyphonic instrument with a small keyboard.
i find it to be the perfect size, 61 is overkill for a poly synth imho. i can even get by with splits on the 49. the octave transpose buttons are conveniently located so yeah, works for me.
horowizard it has octave buttons.
Mediocre for quality VST in a pretty glamorous red box for a lot of money IMHO ps - thnx for the video
hi luck, bein a bit harsh there imo, yeah, you can probably find vsts that sound this good, but it's that control panel laid out in front of you that makes the hardware so easy to use when dialing in sounds compared to vsts. although if you're just playing presets (like me in the video) you can get away with software and your mouse.
would argue Lead has more character than a VST. but then someone would argue u-he. long live Swedish design.
And will last decades longer than your MacBook. Not to mention is an actual performance instrument 😆
What's with the wheel you keep fiddling around with? Is it like the rotator input control on a CME UF series keyboard?
fiddling around with you say? lol! i'm tastefully using the modulation wheel to morph between different settings. :) dunno about not rotator input
Lee Sanderson it's called a MOD WHEEL.