Swedish company Nord have introduced us to the Nord Grand 2, a refreshed addition to their lineup, featuring the latest premium Hammer Action keybed from Kawai. On display at their booth during this year’s NAMM show, this sleek and elegant looking instrument combines the responsive feel of an acoustic grand piano with Nord’s renowned Sound Libraries and an intuitive tactile user interface, promising a beautiful sound and playing experience.
I personally am a huge fan of Nord keyboards. I have an Electro 5HP 73 as my main keyboard at the moment and have always loved the user interface and sound quality they’ve produced. Let’s be honest, if you’ve been any gig with a keyboard, chances are you’ve seen the striking red keyboards on stage all over. Rightly so as they are well built and trusted by the industry.
Equipped with a new and improved Kawai responsive hammer keybed, the Nord Grand 2 boasts triple sensors for accurate tracking of hammer movement. Retaining the ease of use of its predecessor, this version adds dual layers of Piano and Synth, offering increased flexibility for live performances and sound creation.
In the performance realm, the Nord Grand 2 stands out with dedicated LED faders for each layer, along with knobs and buttons facilitating instant tasks like Creating Layers and Splits, adding effects, or transposing the instrument.
The Piano section introduces an extensive collection of Grands, Uprights, and Electric Pianos from the Nord Piano Library. New features, including Dynamic Compression and Unison, giving users more versatility in their sound design, while state-of-the-art sampling techniques capture nuanced details for more character. Special features like ‘Advanced String Resonance’ and ‘Dynamic Pedal Noise’ contribute to delivering that unique Nord sound.
The Sample Synth section showcases two independent Sample Synths with expanded memory, offering a diverse range of sounds from wind, brass, strings, basses, and guitars to classic analog leads and basses. With controls for attack, decay/release, and dynamic velocity response, shaping sounds should be easy and fun. The Sample Synth section also introduces several new features, including Unison for rich ensemble-like sounds, “Tru-Vibrato” modelling, and round robin for natural-sounding fast repetitions.
The Nord Grand 2’s Effect section per Layer looks to be a great standout feature, introducing brand new types of Reverbs, Delay, Amps, and Modulation effects. You will be able to explore a wide range of creative possibilities, shaping your sound beyond a typical acoustic piano tone.
With its additions of new technology, sound capabilities, and a refined user interface, the Nord Grand 2 impressive instrument in the realm of professional keyboards. You can expect a gorgeous sounding instrument with standout performance and musical expression. We might even have to do a video comparison on the differences between the Grand 2 and recently announced Grandstage X from KORG…
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