Nord Keyboards

The Nord Stage information page have just been updated with four new sound clips. The first example presents the impressive dynamic range and the sound quality of the new Studio Grand mk 2 Yamaha C7 that was released with the 3.12 OS update earlier this year.
We have also added three clips with examples of the Nord Stage Synth section. All the Nord Stage audio files can be found on the Nord Stage information page

Salon de la Musique

We have just returned from the wonderful Salon de la Musique in Paris, where all the Nord instruments were on display in our french distributor Algams booth. Click on the image above to see a slide show of pictures from the show.

Featured Artist: Rickard Nilsson

Have a look at the nice office where Swedish keyboard player Rickard Nilsson can be found during his working hours. Rickard used this setup, which consists of a C1 Combo Organ, a Nord Stage and a Nord Wave during a tour with the Swedish artist Peter Jöback.

Rickard is not only a great keyboard player and a avid fan of woolly caps, he is also very helpful to us here at the Nord HQ providing good comments for our instruments and our sound libraries. During the Jöback tour, there were also two additional Nords on the stage, a Nord Stage and a Nord Wave. Click here to see a picture of the entire setup during a sound check.

Nord were represented at the recent MIAC 2008 Trade Show in Toronto by our Canadian distributor Musicmarketing.
New Feature: Have a Good Old Click on the image above for a short slide show presentation of some of the action in the booth.
All of our products were on display and the great crew (the mugshot above shows Ray, Lyle, Lucas, Brandon and Lindsey) were quite busy answering questions and demoing our products. There were even some memorable musical moments when Canadian dealers took the chance for some impromptu jamming, as seen in the video clip below. The C1 and the Nord Stage sure brings out the best in people!

Thanks and Merci to everyone who stopped by the booth, see you again soon.

Product Highlight The Nord C1 Combo Organ has been acclaimed as "probably the best gig-organ in the world" by several satisfied users. In a compact package, weighing in at only 15 kgs (33 lb), you get an unrivaled portability, and a massive Wall of Sound from the tonewheel and the transistor models, complete with an amazing Rotary Speaker simulation and some great effects to spice up the sound even further.

Read more about the C1 and hear some examples on our Product Pages. And don't take our word for it, give yourself a personal Nord C1 Combo Organ experience at your local retailer.

Do not miss the update of the Nord Stage to operating system version 3.12 and the Nord Stage Manager to version 3.12. These updates are accompanied by a new USB driver version 2.06 and one new Grand Piano sample, the Studio Grand mk 2 Yamaha C7 Close. These updates are compatible with all previous and current Nord Stage revisions. Read more about the new features on the Nord Stage product pages.

The Nord Wave Sample Instrument library just got a lot bigger.

On July 3, we added 11 new archives with lots of new Sample Instruments; these archives also contain some new versions of the factory samples in the Nord Wave Sound Library area. This installment contains 281 MB worth of material, and is of course available for free. Use the Nord Wave Manager to download the new Sample Instruments to the Wave and don't forget to try the Samp Init function on the Wave (press Shift+Vibrato) to activate the default parameter set, for the sample you have selected as a waveform in oscillator 2.

Nord Catalogue 2008 If you'd like to get your hands and eyes on all the Nord product information in one go, you can download the 2008 version of the Nord Product Catalogue in the .pdf format. This special download friendly version weighs in at 3.8 MB and is available right here. Right- or Ctrl-click on the link to save the catalogue on your hard drive.

In order to commemorate the first 25th anniversary for Clavia, we have created the Nord Lead Anniversary Model Limited Edition. This collectible synthesizer will be made in a limited production run that will consist of only 299 units.
Read more...

Development news On January 24, 2008, members of the development team at Clavia began the process on updating the editor and the drivers for the Nord G2 Modular. The team are working simultaneously on a Vista driver and an Intel compatible Mac version of the editor. We cannot estimate on a release date yet, this will be announced later. The Vista driver and the Intel-compatible editor will be available as a free download on this website when they are completed.

The first version of the Mellotron Sample Library is available in the Nord Wave download area.

Latest OS versions

Nord Wave - v1.08

Nord C1 - v1.12

Nord Stage - v3.12

Nord Electro - v3.04

Nord Modular G2 - v1.40

We've seen some more very flattering product reviews that we'd like to show you (ok, bragging is probably the operative word here). The internationally acclaimed UK based magazine Sound on Sound had two Nord reviews, back to back in the April and May issues. The Nord C1 Combo Organ was under the scrutiny of Mr Gordon Reid. Here are a few quotes:

"Make no mistake: despite the lack of real drawbars, I like the C1 very much. It's superbly playable, and the sound is excellent. Choosing the Hammond mode, I experimented with jazz, blues and pop styles, and it responded and sounded just as I wanted. I strayed deep into prog rock with Deep Purple riffs, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Focus, and then - at the touch of a button - transported myself into soul and gospel territory, and the C1 always delivered."

"I think you could justify the cost of the C1 for its Vox and Farfisa modes alone!"

"The C1 is a first-class instrument. Its emulations are excellent, and the chorus/vibrato and Leslie effects are as good as I have heard. Would I use one? Certainly, and I believe that few, if any, listeners would be able to tell that I was not using an original Hammond, Vox or Farfisa."

In the May issue, Mr Paul Nagle took the Nord Wave through its paces, leaving no sonic stone unturned. Here are a few excerpts from his review:

"Speaking of ethereal mush, the Vocal filter is my personal favourite after the low-pass. It employs two resonant peaks which can be manipulated to resemble vowel sounds. The resonance control varies the distance between the peaks, and cut-off applies a shift, which can be quite dramatic over its full range. I was able to generate some beautifully expressive choir patches using the morph function with its filter: I set the velocity to raise the cutoff frequency whilst the mod wheel swept the resonance."

"Effortlessly, [using the Nord Wave Manager] I assembled a bunch of drum loops over a short range of keys, a bass over a couple of octaves and a solo flute higher up. USB transfer to the Wave happened without me even needing to think about it."

"Make no mistake, when you start to build your own instruments you really appreciate the Nord Wave's strengths. Not that the provided samples, the Mellotrons especially, are anything less than wonderful. But Nords are for programming and this one raises the bar in terms of the uniquely rich, organic tones it can produce."

"Somehow Clavia keep managing to leap ahead of the pack by creating these classic, simple-yet-powerful instruments. A winner."

Nord Stage and Nord C1 wins M.I.P.A Awards!

100 magazines from all over the world got together to vote for the best products of 2007/2008 in more than 40 categories. The awards were presented to the winners at a special mipa-Party/Awards-Ceremony held during Musikmesse / Prolight + Sound, March 13th, 2008. The entire Clavia crew are extremely honored and proud to have received two awards this year. The Nord Stage got voted Best Stage Piano for the third consecutive year and the Nord C1 got the award in the Best Organ and Portable Keyboard category. Thank you very much for this recognition!