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Clavia
The Nord Lead 3 is scheduled to ship sometime during July or August at a list price of between $2,000 - and $2,500. Yes, the aforementioned gawkers were excited, but not too excited. They could only listen to, but not touch the just-completed Nord. Now doesn't that make you feel better that you weren't at the show? Clavia also introduced a new idea in digital stage keyboards: Imitate the classics, only the classics, and do it well. Their new Nord Electro keyboard concentrates on mimicking the B-3 organ and several electric pianos, including the Wurlitzer and the Clavinet. The 61-key synth is split into Organ and Piano sections. The Organ section emulates B-3 characteristics through new digital techniques including these quoted directly from the news release: a complex digital model of the original chorus and vibrato scanner; simulation of the individual random contact bounces for each partial; and simulation of the unique frequency characteristics of the built-in pre-amplifier that forms the "body" of the B-3 sound. I'm sure you all understand that perfectly, but just in case you were wondering, take it from someone who has heard it: It sounds great. The Organ section has full 61-note polyphony and 122 notes, with an additional MIDI keyboard to create a double-manual feel. The nine drawbars are represented by LEDs so they can be saved as one of nine user presets and recalled instantly. Swell, percussion, chorus/vibrato, overdrive, organ morph, and rotary speaker simulation comprise the organ effects. Over on the piano side of the Electro, six user presets lurk where you can store complete setups, including effects settings for overdrive, equalizer, chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo, wah-wah, and auto wah. Electric piano polyphony is 24 voices. Around the back of the Electro you'll find main stereo outputs, headphone out, four pedal inputs, MIDI in/out, and a USB interface to download new sounds. A CD-ROM with multi-sampled pianos is included. The Nord Electro is scheduled to ship sometime during July and August at a list price of around $2,000 www.clavia.se, U.S distribution by Armadillo Enterprises, www.armadilloent.com, 727-519-9703 |
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Attendees were thrilled, stunned, elated, and otherwise pleased with the debut of the Nord Lead 3. The new Nord packs 20-voice polyphony with new modulation features that offer up to three LFOs/envelopes per voice (LFOs are hard-syncable to MIDI clock) and Global Vibrato, which acts equally on all voices. Also showcased were a new sound engine, new endless rotary knobs, and a revamped oscillator section that provides six different waveforms per oscillator and a built-in sync oscillator so you don't have to sacrifice one audio oscillator just to sync another. And if that's not enough for you, there is also an Adjustable Unison mode that will stack oscillators to one note without losing polyphony.