Nord Piano Library v5 is Released

The v5 is a new platform for Nord Piano sounds—a platform that was developed originally for the Nord Piano. This functionality plus the sounds are now available for the Stage EX series, with upcoming support for the Stage Classic and the Electro 3.

The v5 platform includes: both new and re-mastered sounds in the highly acclaimed Nord Piano Library, a new version of the Sound Manager with an integrated USB driver installer (Windows versions only), and a new OS for the Stage EX series. The USB driver is not only signed by us as a trusted publisher known by Microsoft, it is furthermore WHQL certified which means that you will not have to endure the warning dialogs during installation anymore.

Note: v5 compatibility is scheduled to be released in late June for the Electro 3 and the Stage Classic.

New sounds, more taste:

The 56 different sounds that we publish today have a total size of 1.8 gigabytes. You can download the sounds for free from the Nord website or purchase the Nord Piano Library DVD at your local Nord retailer.

One new feature in the v5 platform is that all the acoustic grand pianos and uprights are available in three sizes: large, medium, and small. This can help you optimize the memory usage in your Nord unit. The sizes all share the same zones and velocity levels, which means that they have the same great expressiveness and sound quality. The differences between the sizes are in the amount of String Resonance samples.

There are 7 brand new, fantastic instruments in the v5 Piano Library—more specifically one grand, four uprights, and two vintage electric pianos. The Grand Lady D is a carefully voiced Steinway Model D that has been selected by us because of its special tonal characteristics. The Queen Upright is a magnificent Boesendorfer upright; the Black upright is a smooth Petrof 132. The HonkyTonk has had its felt hammers replaced by nails, and the Saloon Upright is a deliberately detuned Baumgardt.

The Bright Tines Suitcase is our electric mk I Suitcase that has been prepared by one of the planet's most acclaimed electric piano technicians, with a special selection of hard hammer tips, adjustment of the striking line, and re-voicing of the harp. The Sparkletop is a real vintage beauty, born during the summer of love in 1967 and was refurbished in the US with new felt-hammers before we grabbed the great sounds in the sound lab.

Nord fans will recognize some of the very popular acoustic and electric pianos from the earlier version of the Piano Library. These pianos have been re-mastered to get them up to v5 compatibility.

Read more about, and above all, have a good listen to the sounds on the Piano Library v5 pages on the Nord keyboards website.

Disclaimer: All the trademarks mentioned in this text are the property of their respective trademark holders. These trademarks are mentioned here as a reference to a sound.