blofeld, nord lead 3

[shpongled]

so... i picked up a nord lead 3 keys and blofeld desktop fairly cheap. so far due to other things taking my time, i have really only had time to play around on the nord. originally a classical piano player, and the keybed on the nord is really bothering me. i would like to get a hammer weighted digital piano type board as i no longer have access to an actual piano. thing is, ideally i would like to minimise additional expenses - logically this means selling something. so my question is - which would you keep out of the two that i have?

i'm trying to consider everything, including the interface (the nord is absolutely amazing for this, but the blofeld is also not too bad for what it is, from what i have seen so far). the thing that really kills it for me with the nord is the keybed - unweighted and only 4 octaves, which i didn't think would bother me as much when i first got it. the pitch stick is amazing, although having never really played "lead" type keyboard, i mainly use it for humanistic vibrato. i love the crystal "polite" finessed clean sheen of the nord, particularly for those wide smooth lush ambient pads. i love the "metal in a glass jar" character of the blofeld (only way i can think of to describe it ), and i love its pads too but i haven't been able quite as much spaciousness so far when compared to the nord (the unison on the nord really helps here but i'm wondering if this is a gimmicky feature i will grow tired of and could be accomplished elsewhere anyway?).

as far as my ability/knowledge goes, i would say that i understand the basics of synthesis and i understand the theory of how it works/what happens when you modulate x with y etc (from taking some classes many years ago at university), but i haven't had much actual hands on experience since then.

music i'm into is ambient - both soundscape/evolving pad/drone type stuff, but also artists like solar fields and carbon based lifeforms.

any suggestions would be much appreciated, i simply don't have enough time yet with either of these two instruments, or the hands on experience with synthesis

[Julio Di Benedetto]

As you will be exploring & learning as you compose your music I would recommend the Nord as it has a lot more dedicated pots to turn to achieve the sound you are after.  I feel it can be more of a struggle to work with synths like the Blofeld that have limited pots and deep menu's to have to scroll through.  You will really get to know synthesis in a much more intuitive way with the Nord.  I cant speak for either sonically as I have not played them.

I use a weighted 88 key digital piano controller and I do prefer it but then Im not a classically trained piano player....I imagine my drummer hands are not as sensitive

Enjoy the journey!

[El culto]

If space is not a problem, I would suggest keeping the Nordlead for all the reasons Julio mentioned.

Alternatively try to sell the Nord and find a Nord Rack Version! I bought this over Key-Version because, as you´ve realized too, of the very cheap Keyboard.

Greetings,
Tomas

[LNerell]

I'd keep both and forget the weighted keyboard bed, but that's just me. I've never been a fan of them on synths anyway. I think the closer a synth gets to a piano like action the less someone tends to think of it as a synth but what do I know.

[shpongled]

I'd keep both and forget the weighted keyboard bed, but that's just me. I've never been a fan of them on synths anyway. I think the closer a synth gets to a piano like action the less someone tends to think of it as a synth but what do I know.

yeah i understand what you're saying, but basically i want to get a hammer weighted board anyway, because i want (/need) to be able to play piano. even if that wasn't a consideration, the completely unweighted keys on the NL3 really do bother me. i would much rather a semi-weighted board as a compromise, having played some of those before. completely unweighted is almost unplayable for me for anything beyond simple chords. anything faster or more intricate and it doesn't work for me at all, which i understand is different to many people who prefer unweighted for faster synth work. since i've played piano most of my life and have become used to the feel of hammer weighted keys, i'm the opposite

just trying to figure the best way to do that while being friendly to my bank account
also i don't see my situation changing much as far as time goes, so it may be a while before i get to fully dig into the blofeld anyway. i know i would probably regret selling it though, because from what i've heard other people achieve with it, i would really miss it. it's a tough one.

[APK]

You could keep both and look out for an inexpensive used weighted controller keyboard on eBay, local kiji, or wherever that won't set you back too much cash.