Nord Electro
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The Nord Electro is a series of electronic keyboards developed in Sweden, by Clavia that are digital emulations of electro-mechanical keyboards, like electric pianos and electronic organs.
[edit] Features
The Nord Electro's have two sections; one is a sample-player intended for electronic pianos, although samples of acoustic grand pianos are also available. The sample libraries are exchangeable, and Clavia has made several samples libraries available for free for Nord Electro owners.
The second section is a digital emulation of electronical organs. This is not sample based, but instead generated by the digital modelling of several types or organs. Unlike many other keyboards that feature tonewheel organ emulation, the drawbars of the Nord Electro are represented by LED bar graphs and up/down buttons instead of the traditional mechanical drawbars.
There is an effect section that emulates popular "stomp box" effect pedals from the '70s and the famous Leslie rotary speaker cabinet. These can be applied to either piano or organ. Additionally, the pianos contain a "presence" control, and the Clavinet includes settings to emulate the various switches found on the original instrument.
As with other Clavia products it is distinctive for its red coloration. Unlike the Clavia Nord Stage, it can only play one instrument at a time, although a second keyboard can be attached via MIDI as an additional organ manual.
One of the most prominent users of the Electro 2 is virtuoso keyboardist Derek Sherinian, formerly of the progressive rock group Dream Theater, and now touring with artists such Billy Idol and Yngwie Malmsteen in addition to a solo career in his group Planet X. This keyboard can be spotted very often nowadays, since it is one of the best-selling keyboards today.
[edit] Models
The original Nord Electro was released in 2001. It contained emulations of a Hammond B3 as well as samples of a Rhodes Stage 73, a Wurlitzer electric piano, a Hohner Clavinet and an acoustic grand piano.
The Electro has been released in 61 and 73 note keyboard versions as well as a the rack version, which features all the same knobs as the keyboard versions.
In 2005 the Nord Electro 2 was released. It contained new and updated software, but the electronics are identical and a Nord Electro can be updated to the Nord Electro 2 software and get identical functionality. It was also released in a 61 and 73 note versions as well as a rack.
In 2009 the Nord Electro 3 was released. It expands the functionality of the Nord Electro 2 with a Farfisa and Vox organ emulations as well as improved B3 emulation and more effects. It was released only in the 61 and 73 note keyboard versions.
In 2011 a Nord Electro 3 HP was released, that replaces the organ-style keyboard with a 73 note hammer-action keyboard.
