Additional language versions
as PDF files on enclosed CD-R
Page 2
CAUTION AVIS
RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK
DO NOT OPE
N
RISQUE DE SHOCK ELECTRIQUE
NE PAS OUVRIR
CAUTION: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRIC
SHOCK DO NOT REMOVE COVER (OR BACK).
NO USER SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE.
REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED PERSONNEL.
ATTENTION:POUR EVITER LES RISQUES DE CHOC
ELECTRIQUE, NE PAS ENLEVER LE COUVERCLE.
AUCUN ENTRETIEN DE PIECES INTERIEURES PAR L´USAGER.
CONFIER L´ENTRETIEN AU PERSONNEL QUALIFE.
AVIS: POUR EVITER LES RISQUES D´INCIDENTE OU
D´ELECTROCUTION, N´EXPOSEZ PAS CET ARTICLE A LA PLUIE
OU L´HUMIDITET.
Instructions pertaining to a risk of fire, electric shock or injury to persons.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS
The lightning flash with the arrowhead symbol within an
equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user to the
presence of uninsulated voltage within the products
enclosure that may be of sufficient magnitude to constitute
a risk of electric shock to persons.
Le symbole éclair avec le point de flèche à l´intérieur d´un triangle
équilatéral est utilisé pour alerter l´utilisateur de la presence à
l´intérieur du coffret de ”voltage dangereux” non isolé d´ampleur
suffisante pour constituer un risque d`éléctrocution.
The exclamation mark within an equilateral triangle is
intended to alert the user to the presence of important
operating and maintenance (servicing) instructions in the
literature accompanying the product.
Le point d´exclamation à l´intérieur d´un triangle équilatéral est
employé pour alerter l´utilisateur de la présence d´instructions
importantes pour le fonctionnement et l´entretien (service) dans le
livret d´instructions accompagnant l´appareil.
SS
AA
VE THESE INSTRUCTIONSVE THESE INSTRUCTIONS
S
A
VE THESE INSTRUCTIONS
SS
AA
VE THESE INSTRUCTIONSVE THESE INSTRUCTIONS
Warning - When using electric products, basic precautions
should always be followed, including the following:
1. Read all the instructions and observe the graphic symbols
above before using the product.
2. Do not use this product near water - for example near a
bathtub, washbowl, kitchen sink, in a wet basement, near or
in a swimming pool, a swamp or the like.
3. This product should be used only with a cart or a stand that
is recommended by the manufacturer.
4. This product, either alone or in combination with an
amplifier and headphones or speakers may be perfectly
capable of producing sound levels that could cause permanent
hearing loss. Do not operate for a long period of time at a
high volume level or at a level that is uncomfortable. If you
experience any hearing loss or ringing in the ears, you should
consult an audiologist.
5. The product should be located so that its location or
position does not interfere with or obstruct its normal flow of
ventilation.
6. The product should be located away from heat sources such
as radiators, heat registers or other products that produce
heat.
7. The product should be connected to a power supply only
of the type described in these operation instructions or as
marked on the product.
8. The power supply cord of the product should be unplugged
from the outlet when the product is left unused for a long
period of time.
9. Care should be taken so that objects do not fall, or liquids
are not spilled into the enclosure through openings.
10. The product should be serviced by qualified service
personnel when:
A. The power supply cord has been damaged; or
B. Objects have fallen or liquids have been spilled
onto the product; or
C. The product has been exposed to rain; or
D. The product does not appear to operate normally or
exhibits a marked change in performance; or
E. The product has been dropped or the enclosure
has been damaged.
11. Do not attempt to service the product beyond those
means described in this operating manual. All other
servicing should be referred to qualified service personnel.
Trademarks: The Nord Electro logo is trademark of Clavia DMI AB. All other
trademarks mentioned in this publication are the properties of their respective holders.
Specifications and appearances are subject to change without notice.
9. History ................................................................49
The story behind the Electro 2 instruments ........................49
What is an ‘electromechanical’ instrument?..............................................................................49
How does an electromechanical pick-up work?.........................................................................49
The Electro 2 organ section......................................................................................................50
The Electro 2 piano section ......................................................................................................55
The Wurlitzer EP ....................................................................................................................60
The Hohner Clavinet ...............................................................................................................62
Book suggestions .....................................................................................................................64
Web suggestions......................................................................................................................64
Music suggestions ....................................................................................................................64
Index .......................................................................65
IV
Page 7
,
NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x1. Introduction: Welcome
1. I
W
ELCOME
NTRODUCTION
We’d first like to thank you for purchasing the Nord Electro 2 - Virtual Electromechanical stage keyboard.
Clavia’s goal when developing the Nord Electro instrument was to create the best emulations of traditional
electromechanical keyboard instruments on the market, and to make the instrument compact and lightweight. Nothing else. No brass banks, no orchestral sounds. No compromises. Just outstanding electromechanical keyboard sounds with true feel, from natural keyboard response to authentic sound. To make
a great tool you have to put all the focus on a few things, and that’s what we did with the Electro. Think
about it, the best tool isn’t a Swiss army knife.
The organ section in the Electro is based on a digital simulation of the mechanical tone wheels of the B-3
organ. It offers innovative solutions to mimic the typical B-3 sound, for example:
• An extremely accurate digital model of the original chorus and vibrato scanner.
• Modeling of the individual random contact bounces for each partial.
• Modeling of the unique frequency characteristics of the built-in pre-amplifier which forms the ”body” of
the B-3 sound.
• Simulation of the energy stealth on the tone wheels that results in the typical ”compressed” sound.
The piano section in Nord Electro 2 OS V2.1 comprises five carefully multi-sampled electric piano instruments: Clavinet D6, Wurlitzer 200A, Rhodes Mk I Stage Piano, a Rhodes Mk I Suitcase Piano with a
brighter sound and the custom modified Clavia Electric Grand Model G. The Electro features a unique
multi-sample playback, catching every nuance from soft to hard key strokes. Nord Electro comes right out
of the box with these five electric piano sounds stored in Flash memory. As an extra bonus we also included
an acoustic grand piano (concert model) - in stereo! The big advantage with Flash memory is that you can
replace instruments with new ones and that no backup battery is required. The Electro also sports a USB
interface for quick and easy download of new piano sounds. On the CD-R that comes with the Electro 2
there are currently three additional Piano sounds: Rhodes3 (Shallow), CP-80 Electric Grand and the previous Acoustic Grand (in mono). More pianos will be available soon at http://www.clavia.se.
BOUT
A
The manual is arranged mainly as a reference manual. In many cases you’ll get tips on how to practically
use the functions, alone and also together with other functions. Every time the manual wants your attention to an object on the Electro, the name of that object will be printed
button ’ . The LED display on Nord Electro is always referred to as the D
erence to the ‘keyboard’, that reference also applies to any incoming MIDI note messages.
EADING
R
This manual is also available in the digital PDF-file format. It can be downloaded, free of charge, from Clavia’s web site at http://www.clavia.se. When reading the manual as PDF-file, you will need Adobe Acrobat
Reader 4.0 or later. This program can be downloaded, free of charge, at http://www.adobe.com.
THE
THE
WNER
O
MANUAL
S
’
ANUAL
M
IN
A
DOBE
CROBAT
A
EADER
R
LIKE
ISPLAY
e.g. ‘ press the S
THIS
. Whenever there is a ref-
TORE
Page 5
Page 8
1. Introduction: Clavia on the InternetNORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x
With Adobe Acrobat Reader it is possible to use special navigation features like hyperlinks. This means
that you can click with the mouse on a word or sentence and automatically get to the location indicated
by the word/sentence. To better show what words or sentences are hyperlinked in this manual, these words
are written in magenta.
C
LAVIA
If you have access to the Internet, you’re very welcome to visit http://www.clavia.se. There you will find
the latest information about Nord Electro 2 and other Clavia products. In the future you’ll also be able to
download new Nord Electro sounds and software upgrades, free of charge.
ON
THE
I
NTERNET
Page 6
Page 9
NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x2. Overview: The Nord Electro 2 front panel
2. O
VERVIEW
THE NORD ELECTRO 2 FRONTPANEL
Left panel section
The Organ section
THELEFTPANELSECTION
The Piano section
The Effects section
MASTER LEVEL
The MASTER LEVEL knob controls the output level from the two OUT jacks and the HEADPHONES output.
The M
ASTER LEVEL knob does not send or receive any MIDI CC# but is used to control the entire
instrument’s output level. (For info on how to control the level of an individual Program and via MIDI,
please refer to “Output Level” on page 32).
N
AVIGATORBUTTONSAND DISPLAY
To the right of the MASTER LEVEL knob are two buttons, the NAVIGATORbuttons. These are used to select
Program Banks (A-F) and various system functions. To the right of the N
PLAY
. It’s used to display Program Banks and also various system parameters.
T
HE STOREBUTTON
To the right of the DISPLAYis the red STOREbutton. This is used when storing Programs (see “Storing a
Program” on page 17) and also when executing various system commands.
P
ROGRAMBUTTONS
Below the DISPLAY are the eight PROGRAMbuttons (1 - 8). Use them to select Programs and to select
various system functions.
T
HE SHIFTBUTTON
Below the PROGRAMbuttons is the SHIFT button. It’s used to access various kinds of system functions etc.
O
CTAVE SHIFTBUTTONS
These buttons are used to transpose the notes +/- 2 octaves (if the selected instrument supports this).
AVIGATOR buttons is the DIS-
Page 7
Page 10
2. Overview: The Nord Electro 2 front panelNORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x
THE ORGANSECTION
The Organ section comprises four sub sections: the Percussion section, the Vibrato/Chorus section, the
Manual section and the Drawbar section. The nine drawbars of Nord Electro are represented by up/down
buttons and LED chain graphs instead of ordinary mechanical drawbars. This gives you a big advantage:
when you change presets, the correct drawbar settings are shown immediately by the LEDs. In other
words, no need for the regular ’trial and error’ method.
THE INSTRUMENT SELECTBUTTON
Inbetween the Organ and Piano sections is the INSTRUMENT SELECT button. Press this button to select
the Organ section or Piano section.
THE PIANOSECTION
The Piano sections consists of two sub sections: the instrument Type section and the Presence section. With
the T
YPE button you select the Piano instrument to use and with the Presence parameters you can add
parametric equalization to your piano sound. With the V2.0 Mega Clavinet D6 sound the Presence parameters act as filter and pick-up selectors (see “Presence with the Mega Clavinet sound” on page 26)
THE EFFECTSSECTION
Here you’ll find the numerous effects and modulations you could use to add that extra flavour to your
sounds. The Effects section also features a tube type Overdrive distortion, Rotary Speaker simulation and
a Treble & Bass EQ. Here you’ll also find the O
individual Program.
UTPUT LEVEL control which is the volume control for each
THE KEYBOARD
The keyboard of Nord Electro is either 5 octaves (Nord Electro SixtyOne) or 6 octaves (Nord Electro SeventyThree). Both versions feature the specially designed, semiweighted, velocity sensitive “waterfall”
(square front) keyboard for optimal feel and response. The semiweighted action is ideal for use with both
Organ and Piano sounds. The keyboard also sends Keyboard Velocity over MIDI.
Page 8
Page 11
NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x2. Overview: Nord Electro 2 rear panel
NORD ELECTRO 2 REARPANEL
CONNECTIONS
• Make all connections before turning on your power amplifier!
• If you are using a Nord Electro 2 together with a MIDI keyboard, connect a MIDI cable from MIDI
Out on the keyboard to MIDI I
• All signal cables used with the Nord Electro must be shielded.
• The two audio outputs (L
sum of the signals on one separate output only, use R
• If you connect the Nord Electro 2 in stereo to your audio equipment, you should use L
with R
IGHT OUT.
• If you choose the option to route Organ sounds and Piano sounds to a separate output each (see “Out-
put routing (hard pan)” on page 37), the R
Organ sound.
C
ONNECTINGPEDALS
The Nord Electro 2 has three pedal inputs, one CONTROL PEDALinput (for controlling Organ Swell or
Wah-Wah), one S
USTAIN PEDAL input (sustain) and one ROTOR SPEED input (for rotary speaker fast/slow
selection). Connect the pedals as shown in the figure below:
N on the Nord Electro 2.
EFT OUTand RIGHT OUT) are line level and unbalanced. If you want the
IGHT OUT.
EFT OUTin pair
IGHT OUTis for the Piano sound and the LEFT OUT for the
When connecting an expression-type pedal to the C
ONTROL PEDAL input, you should use a stereo cable
(Tip-Ring-Sleeve). Please note that the pedal must have a stereo output jack. The resistance range of the
Control Pedal should be 0 to between 10 kOhm and 50 kOhm. Pedals like the Roland EV-5 and control/
expression pedals from Proel works well with the Electro 2. Control/Expression pedals from Yamaha have
different characteristics and are not suitable for use with the Electro 2.
Page 9
Page 12
2. Overview: Nord Electro 2 rear panelNORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x
It’s also possible to use only one single Sustain pedal connected to the SUSTAIN PEDAL input to control
sustain for Piano sounds and Rotary Speaker speed selection for organ sounds (see page 14 for details on
how to configure this).
(For more detailed information on how to set up Nord Electro 2 for use with sustain and expression pedals,
see page 13).
Page 10
Page 13
NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x2. Overview: Nord Electro 2 block diagram
NORD ELECTRO 2 BLOCKDIAGRAM
Below is a schematic overview of the sound and modulation building blocks and the signal flows in Nord
Electro 2. The filled lines indicate audio signal routings and the dashed black lines control signal routings.
The ‘/2’ sign printed next to some filled lines indicates that the signal is/can be in stereo. The circles with
a ‘+’ sign inside indicates that any input stereo signals will be summarized into a mono signal before routed
to the specific effect. For example, the V2.0 stereo Acoustic Grand will be in mono if you apply any effect
except for the Pan, Tremolo or EQ.
As you can see, the internal configuration of Nord Electro 2 is pretty straight-forward, yet very powerful
and flexible. Each of the building blocks also offers possibilities for internal configurations. This is described
in detail in Chapter "5. Panel reference” on page 19.
Programs are single sounds that are stored in the internal memory of Nord Electro 2. The Program memory in Nord Electro 2 consists of 6 Banks each holding 8 Programs for a total of 48 Programs. All Programs
can be edited and replaced at any time. To select a Program for playing/editing, do like this:
1. Select Bank (A-F) by pressing
the U
P/DOWN NAVIGATOR
buttons if you want to change
Bank.
2. Select Program by pressing one
of the eight P
1 to 8.
ROGRAM buttons
Press the UP or DOWN
NAVIGATOR buttons to
select Program Bank A-F.
Press one of the eight
PROGRAM buttons to
select a Program to play.
The corresponding LED
will light up.
OCTAVE SHIFT
The two OCTAVE SHIFTbuttons to the bottom left on the front panel
can be used to transpose the notes two octaves up or down (if the selected instrument supports this). A flashing O
cates +/- 2 octaves note shift.
CTAVE SHIFT LED indi-
Note: Due to the actual key range of the original Piano instruments, some sounds cannot be octave shifted up and/or down. For organ sounds, the Octave Shift
will only generate notes that are within the 73-key note range of Nord Electro 2 73. This means
that using Octave Shift for Organ sounds in Nord Electro 2 73 won’t produce any sound in the
lowest or highest octave.
Page 12
Page 15
NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x3. Getting started: Transpose
TRANSPOSE
It’s also possible to transpose a sound up or down in
semitone steps. Press the S
(TRANSPOSE) buttons. The D
the U
P/DOWN NAVIGATOR buttons to transpose the
sound up or down in semitone steps. The range is +/
- 6 semitones in steps of 1 semitone. Press any button
(except for the S
to exit.
Note: Due to the actual key range of the original
Piano instruments, the lowest keys may not produce any sound when transposed down. The same
goes for the highest keys when the instrument is
transposed up. For organ sounds, the Transpose
function will only generate notes that are within the 73-key note range of Nord Electro 2 73. This
means that using the Transpose function for Organ sounds in Nord Electro 2 73 will cause the lowest or highest notes of the keyboard to be silent.
HIFT, STOREor UP/DOWNbuttons)
HIFT + PROGRAM 6
ISPLAY reads ‘0’. Press
SETTING VELOCITY SENSITIVITYFORTHE PIANOS
Some of the piano instruments sampled for the Nord Electro 2 have very wide dynamic ranges by nature
and naturally we wanted to capture this as accurately as possible. Therefore, it could be perceived that it
is a little hard to reach the most extreme levels when playing the Nord Electro 2 piano sounds with the
default keyboard Velocity Sensitivity setting. This is because the dynamic response curves have been very
carefully adjusted to match each original instrument's response characteristics. In other words, Clavia's intention was that when you play a Rhodes sound, for example, it should almost feel like you are playing a
Rhodes piano. However, If you want the piano sounds to respond more easily to keyboard velocity, you can
set this in the Config menu. The Velocity Sensitivity setting is global for all Pianos in the Electro 2.
1. Hold S
2. Change the Velocity Sensitivity between ‘U.0’
3. Press any button (except for the S
HIFT and press the PROGRAM 8 (CONFIG)
button four times. The D
(Velocity Sensitivity).
(least sensitive) and ‘U.9’ (most sensitive) with the
U
P/DOWN NAVIGATORbuttons.
U
P/DOWNbuttons) to exit.
ISPLAY reads ‘U.0’
HIFT, STOREor
USINGASUSTAINPEDAL
A foot switch connected to the SUSTAIN PEDAL input
can be set to act in two different ways:
• As a sustain pedal for both the Piano and Organ sounds (see Sustain Pedal Configuration below)
Page 13
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3. Getting started: Using a Rotor Speed switch pedalNORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x
• As a sustain pedal for Piano sounds and as a Rotor Speed switch for the Organ sounds (see Sustain Pedal
Configuration below)
SETTINGUPTHESUSTAINPEDALPOLARITY
Set up the pedal polarity as follows:
1. Press the S
tons. The D
HIFT + PROGRAM 7 (PED.POL) but-
ISPLAY reads ‘CL’ or ‘OP’.
2. Change sustain pedal polarity between ‘OP’ (Open)
(open when pressed) and ‘CL’ (Closed) (closed when
pressed) with the U
3. Press any button (except for the S
U
P/DOWNbuttons) to exit.
P/DOWN NAVIGATORbuttons.
HIFT, STOREor
SETTINGUPTHESUSTAINPEDAL
CONFIGURATION
1. Press the SHIFT + PROGRAM 8 (CONFIG) buttons. The D
‘P.t’ (Pedal toggle).
1. Change sustain pedal functionality between ‘P.S’
(Sustain for both Piano and Organ sounds) and
‘P.t’ (sustain for Piano sounds and Rotor Speed
switch for Organ sounds) with the U
N
AVIGATORbuttons.
ISPLAY reads ‘P.S’ (Pedal Sustain) or
P/DOWN
2. Press any button (except for the S
U
P/DOWNbuttons) to exit.
HIFT, STOREor
Nord Electro 2 sends and receives Sustain Pedal messages as MIDI (CC# 64). Note! If you have selected ‘P.t’, Rotor Speed selection is sent from the sus-
tain pedal as MIDI CC#82 - not CC#64!
USINGA ROTOR SPEEDSWITCHPEDAL
A foot switch connected to the ROTOR SPEEDinput can be used to switch between Slow and Fast rotor
speed for the Rotary Speaker effect (see page 31). Nord Electro 2 will also send and receive Rotor Speed
switch messages via MIDI (CC# 82).
Note: The Pedal Polarity setting that you made for the S
fects the R
OTOR SPEED input.
Page 14
USTAIN PEDAL input (see above) also af-
Page 17
NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x3. Getting started: Using a control (expression) pedal
USINGACONTROL (EXPRESSION) PEDAL
As indicated in the illustration on page 9, a regular resistive (range 10 kOhm to 50 kOhm) expression pedal
can be connected to the C
pedal can be used to control either Organ Swell (the characteristic B3 volume control) or Wah-Wah modulation. Pedals like the Roland EV-5 and control/expression pedals from Proel works well with the Electro
2. Control pedals from Yamaha have different characteristics and are not suitable for use with the Electro
2. Nord Electro 2 will also send and receive Expression pedal messages via MIDI (CC# 11).
ONTROL PEDAL input, using a stereo (Tip-Ring-Sleeve) cable. The connected
BASIC MIDI SETTINGS
If you are controlling the Nord Electro 2 from an external MIDI keyboard, the Nord Electro 2 must be set
to receive on the same MIDI channel that the external keyboard transmits on. Nord Electro 2 is monotimbral (or bitimbral when using the Organ section.See“Using an additional “Lower Manual” MIDI keyboard”
on page 22) which means it can only transmit and receive on one MIDI channel at a time.
1. Set the MIDI keyboard to transmit and receive on MIDI Channel 1. (This is the default setting when
Nord Electro 2 is shipped from factory).
2. Press the S
The D
channel.
3. Scroll with the U
select MIDI Channel 1 (if it isn’t already selected).
4. Press any button (except for the S
U
P/DOWNbuttons) to exit.
For information on how to set up Nord Electro 2 for
use with an external sequencer, see “Using Nord Elec-
tro 2 with a sequencer” on page 42.
HIFT + PROGRAM 1 (MIDI CH) buttons.
ISPLAY shows the currently selected MIDI
P/DOWN NAVIGATORbuttons to
HIFT, STOREor
Page 15
Page 18
4. Editing Programs: What’s a Program?NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x
4. EDITING PROGRAMS
WHAT’SA PROGRAM?
A Program in Nord Electro 2 consists of a selected Instrument (an Organ sound or a specific Piano sound),
the settings you have made for the instrument, e.g. Drawbar, Percussion and Chorus/Vibrato settings for
Organ sounds or Presence settings for a Piano sound, Octave Shift settings plus all the settings of the Effects section. For Piano based sounds this means that a Program does not contain any samples - only the
parameter data that affects the selected Piano type. This is important to bear in mind when performing a
MIDI Sysex dump of a Piano based Program (see “Dump” on page 38).
EDITINGA PROGRAM
Actually, how to change a programmed sound can be described in one
sentence: “tweak the knobs and press the buttons”. It is as simple as
that! Don’t be afraid to edit and overwrite the factory Programs. If you
want to restore any of the original factory programs later, you can fetch
them at http://www.clavia.se and download to your Nord Electro 2 as
MIDI Sysex files. To indicate that a Program has been edited (changed
from the stored version), a dot is shown to the right of the Program number in the D
ISPLAY:.
THEKNOBS
All KNOBS on the Nord Electro 2 are of potentiometer type. This means that
when you begin to edit a Program the values of the parameters can be totally different from the K
the parameter value will ‘snap’ to the K
erate drastic changes to the sound but that’s normal.
NOBS physical positions. As soon as you begin turning a KNOB,
NOB’S physical position. This could gen-
THEBUTTONS
There are three types of buttons for editing sounds on the Nord Electro 2:
S
ELECTORBUTTONS
Press the SELECTORbutton repeatedly to select between functions printed next to the
corresponding triangular LED (see figure to the right).
O
N/OFFBUTTONS
The ON/OFF buttons have a LED next to them to indicate the status.
D
RAWBARBUTTONS
The DRAWBAR buttons are special in the way that they auto-increment/decrement the corresponding parameter when held. I.e. if you hold a D
to increment or decrement (within its range) until you release the button.
RAWBAR button the corresponding drawbar parameter will continue
Page 16
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NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x4. Editing Programs: Reverting to the original Program
SELECTINGINSTRUMENT (ORGANOR PIANO)
No matter what Program you’re editing, you could always select a different instrument type at any time. There are two main instrument
sections in Nord Electro 2: the Organ section and the Piano section.
You switch between these sections by pressing the I
LECT
button located between the Organ and Piano sections. When
NSTRUMENT SE-
you have selected an instrument section the other section, with its sub
groups, is automatically disabled (all its LEDs go blank). However, all
settings of the respective groups are memorized so when you switch
back, all parameter values of the instrument group are automatically recalled. The parameters of the Effects
section will always remain unaffected when you switch instrument group.
REVERTINGTOTHEORIGINAL PROGRAM
If you have edited a Program and want to revert to the stored original, just press the corresponding PRO-
GRAM
button again.
STORINGA PROGRAM
Storing a Program will permanently overwrite the existing Program in the selected memory location. Be
careful so that you don’t accidentally erase a Program you’d like to keep!
Note! When Nord Electro 2 is shipped from factory, Memory Lock is set to ‘On’. To be able to store
Programs, first disable the Memory Lock function. See “Mem Lock” on page 35.
To store a Program do like this:
1. Press the S
starts flashing in the D
2. Select Bank (A-F) by pressing the UP/DOWN NAVIGATOR but-
tons (if you want to change Bank) and then Program location by
pressing the corresponding P
through the memory locations, you can play and hear the Program currently shown in the D
This prevents you from overwriting a sound that you want to keep. (To cancel the operation, press any
button, except for the S
3. Press S
flashing.
TORE button once. The Bank and Program number
ISPLAY
ROGRAM button (1-8). As you scroll
HIFT, PROGRAM, STOREor UP/DOWN buttons.)
TORE again to store your Program. The DISPLAY shows the selected memory location and stops
Copying a Program from one memory location to another is just a variation of storing:
1. Select the Program you want to copy. Press the S
once. The Bank and Program number starts flashing in the D
PLAY
1. Select Bank (A-F) by pressing the UP/DOWN NAVIGATOR buttons (if you want to change Bank) and then Program location by
pressing the corresponding P
can play and hear the Program currently shown in the D
sound that you want to keep. (To cancel the operation, press any button, except for the S
GRAM
, STOREor UP/DOWN buttons.)
2. Press S
TORE again to store your Program. The DISPLAY shows the selected memory location and stops
flashing.
ROGRAM button (1-8). As you scroll through the memory locations, you
TORE button
IS-
ISPLAY. This prevents you from overwriting a
DELETING PROGRAMS
There is no command for deleting Programs from the internal memory. What you do to “delete” a Program is simply saving a new Program (and thus replacing the old Program) in a specific memory location.
DOWNLOADING PROGRAMSVIA MIDI
You can receive MIDI Sysex data for one Program at a time into a selected Program location. For example,
if you use Nord Electro 2 together with a sequencer, it is often practical to record a Sysex Program data
dump in the beginning of your song to download sounds. It’s also possible to receive an entire Program
Bank and even all Program Banks as a bulk (see “Dump” on page 38 and “Receive MIDI Sysex Dumps”
on page 44).
HIFT, PRO-
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NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x5. Panel reference: The Organ section
5. PANELREFERENCE
THE ORGANSECTION
The Organ in the Nord Electro 2 is based on a digital simulation of the mechanical tone wheels of the B3 organ. It offers innovative solutions to mimic the typical B-3 sound, for example:
• Full polyphony
• An extremely accurate digital model of the original chorus and vibrato scanner
• Modeling of the individual random contact bounces for each partial
• Modeling of the unique frequency characteristics of the built-in pre-amplifier which forms the ”body” of
the B-3 sound
• Simulation of the energy stealth on the tone wheels that results in the typical ”compressed” sound
• Authentic tuning of the tone wheels according to the original B3 design
• Extremely fast keyboard response
The Organ section comprises a number of sub groups which include all the functions found on the original
B-3 organ, such as Percussion and Chorus/Vibrato.
Page 19
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5. Panel reference: The Organ sectionNORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x
THE DRAWBARS
The drawbars of Nord Electro 2 are represented by buttons and LED chain graphs instead of ordinary mechanical drawbars. This gives you a big advantage: when you change presets or Programs, the correct drawbar settings are recalled immediately and shown by the LEDs. In other words, no need for the regular ’trial
and error’ method. It’s very easy to get the hang of changing the drawbar settings in a natural way with
the buttons.
The drawbars of Nord Electro 2
behave similar to their mechanical
counterparts, i.e. you “pull out”
the drawbars by pressing the
L
OWER DRAWBAR buttons and
“push them back in” by pressing
the U
PPER DRAWBAR buttons.
The D
RAWBAR buttons are spe-
cial in the way that they auto-increment/decrement the drawbar
value when held. I.e. if you hold a
D
RAWBAR button the corre-
sponding drawbar value will continue to increment or decrement
(within its range) until you release
the button. Each drawbar represents a partial. The numbers
printed below each D
LED C
HAIN have a history. Orig-
inally, the B-3 was created to
mimic a church organ. The numbers on the B-3’s drawbars referred to pipe sizes on a church organ. That’s why it, for example, says 16’, 5 1/3’ etc. It corresponds to the
church organ’s pipe length in foot. In the figure above you can see the pitch interval among the nine drawbars. Note that the second drawbar from the left actually lies a 5th above the basic partial. However, in
most situations it’s perceived as sounding below the basic partial. When you play different notes on the key-
board, the whole partial “package” is being transposed up or down with the fixed intervals.
RAWBAR
In the figure above we have chosen C3 as our reference note. The 8’ drawbar is considered the basic partial in the organ sound. The arrows point at the respective note
that each drawbar represents when C3 is our reference note.
DRAWBARPRESETS
Below the UPPER
D
RAWBAR but-
tons are printed 8
drawbar presets
plus RND (Random). Press
S
HIFT + the corresponding UPPER DRAWBAR button to select one of these presets. There are 8 different
drawbar presets plus the ‘Random drawbar settings’ function. The Random function generates a new random preset every time you activate it.
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NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x5. Panel reference: The Organ section
USER DRAWBARPRESETS
There are 9 user
configurable
drawbar presets
in addition to the
9 fixed ones described above.
These are located on the L
BAR
button to select one of the nine user configurable presets.
PPER DRAWBAR and LOWER DRAWBAR buttons to create the drawbar preset you want to
store.
2. Press S
HIFT + STORE (USER STORE) + one of the LOWER DRAWBAR buttons to select a location for
your preset.
PERCUSSION
In the original B-3 the Percussion effect is generated by a single envelope generator that controls either the 2nd or 3rd partial. The envelope “opens up” for a short moment in the beginning of the sound
when you press the key(s). The Percussion effect can be set to control
either the 2nd or 3rd partial. The envelope decay time can be set to
Fast or Slow and the volume characteristics to Normal or Soft. You activate and deactivate the Percussion effect by pressing the O
(The horizontal dotted lines
represent the current drawbar level without Percussion)
N button.
The figure above shows the Percussion envelope in
SOFT mode
The figure above shows the Percussion envelope in NORMAL mode
Like on the original B-3, the Percussion is a single-triggered non-legato effect. By “single-triggered” we
mean that the percussion is only present when you hit the keys when no other note is sounding. In other
words, if you play a note or a chord and then add on more notes without releasing the previously pressed
keys, there will be no percussion effect in the new notes. You have to release all keys to be able to play new
notes with the percussion effect. Also, like on the original B-3, in Normal Percussion mode the sustain level
is significantly lower than in Soft Percussion mode (or with the Percussion effect disabled).
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5. Panel reference: The Organ sectionNORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x
VIBRATO
The original B-3 chorus and vibrato scanner consists of a tapped delay line
in combination with a rotating scanner. For the Vibrato effect, phase shift
is applied to the signal. For the Chorus effect, the phase modulated signal
is added to the original signal. A lot of time and effort have been spent in
accurately recreating the chorus and vibrato scanner effect. Like on the
original, Nord Electro 2 offers three different types of choruses (C1-C3) and
three different types of vibratos (V1-V3). Select one of these types by pressing the S
ELECTOR button. You activate and deactivate the Vibrato section by pressing the ON button.
MANUAL
In the Manual section you can choose to split the Nord Electro 2 keyboard into
two sections, the Lower Manual and the Upper Manual. Each Manual can have
its own drawbar, percussion and chorus/vibrato settings. If you don’t use the Split
function you will only have access to the Upper Manual settings from the internal
keyboard.
K
EYBOARD SPLIT
Press the SPLIT button to divide the Nord Electro 2 keyboard into two sections, the Lower Manual and
Upper Manual sections. By default, the split point on the keyboard is between the keys E4 and F4 (Nord
Electro 2 61) and between the keys B3 and C4 (Nord Electro 2 73). You can, however, also set the split
point manually by pressing S
gram.
HIFT + the desired key. A manually set split point can be saved with the pro-
U
PPERAND LOWER
Press the corresponding button to “highlight” the settings for the respective Manual. Each Manual can
have its own drawbar, chorus/vibrato (on/off) and Octave Shift settings. If you don’t use the Split function,
or use an additional MIDI keyboard (see below), you will only be able to play the Upper Manual from the
internal keyboard. Note that the Percussion effect can only be used for the Upper Manual in any situation.
U
SINGANADDITIONAL
“L
OWER MANUAL” MIDI
KEYBOARD
As a special feature of Nord Electro
2 you can connect a second keyboard via MIDI In to use as a Lower
Manual keyboard. This way you
can play the internal keyboard as
the Upper Manual and the additional MIDI keyboard as the Lower
Manual. Since the organ has full
polyphony you’ll have this also
when using an additional Lower
Manual MIDI keyboard! Do like this to set up the Nord Electro 2 for use with a second keyboard:
1. Connect the additional MIDI keyboard’s MIDI Out to the Nord Electro 2’s MIDI I
N.
2. Select a MIDI channel on the external keyboard.
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NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x5. Panel reference: The Organ section
3. Select the same MIDI channel on the Nord Electro 2
by first pressing S
CH) buttons and then scroll with the U
N
AVIGATOR buttons.
Note: The MIDI channel set for reception of the additional MIDI keyboard should be different from
the “public” MIDI Channel (see “MIDI Ch” on
page 34). If the MIDI CH and LOWER CH are the
same, playing the additional keyboard would produce a layered sound of the Upper Manual and Lower Manual sounds together. This is normally not
what you want.
HIFT + PROGRAM 2 (LOWER
P/DOWN
4. Press any button (except for the S
HIFT, STOREor UP/DOWNbuttons) to exit.
SWELLCONTROL (FROMEXPRESSIONPEDAL)
Swell is the characteristic B-3 volume function that you control from the B-3’s pedal. Swell is not only a
volume control - it also changes the character of the sound in a special way. To use Swell control on the
Nord Electro 2, simply plug in a standard resistive expression pedal to the C
ONTROL PEDAL input on the
rear panel (see “Connecting pedals” on page 9).
Note that the expression pedal will only control Swell on Organ sounds - not the volume on Piano
sounds. Also, if you use Wah-Wah as modulation effect (see “Wah-Wah 1&2” on page 30), the expression pedal will instead control the Wah-Wah effect and not Swell.
ROTARY SPEAKER
The Rotary Speaker simulation in Nord Electro 2 can be found in the Effects section.
The reason for this is that you can use it also for Piano sounds. The Rotary Speaker
simulation is really something above the ordinary. It’s not only simulating the rotating speaker and drum but also the built-in amplifier of the original Leslie 122 speaker.
Activate or deactivate the Rotary Speaker simulation by pressing the O
Switch between fast and slow rotor speeds by pressing the F
AST button. To stop the
rotors (but not disabling the Rotary Speaker simulation), press the S
When you press the S
had when you first pressed S
TOP button again the rotors will accelerate to the speed they
TOP.
N button.
TOP button.
R
OTORSPEEDCONTROLFROMPEDAL
By plugging in a sustain pedal in the ROTOR SPEED PEDALinput you can control the speed selection from
a pedal. It’s also possible to use a sustain pedal connected to the S
USTAIN PEDAL input to control the speed
selection. Please refer to “Config” on page 36 for information on how to set up Nord Electro 2 for operation
with sustain/switch pedals.
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5. Panel reference: The Organ sectionNORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x
KEYCLICKCONTROL
On an original B-3 organ, the key click produced by the
random contact bounces is actually an artifact. This artifact later became quite desirable an effect amongst musicians. In the Nord Electro 2 you can select the amount of
key click that should be present in the organ sounds. The
key click level is global for all organ sounds in the Nord
Electro 2.
1. Hold down S
twice. The D
HIFT and press the PROGRAM 8 button
ISPLAY reads ‘C.8’ where ‘C’ stands for
‘Click’ and ‘8’ for the current click level.
2. Select key click level by scrolling with the U
D
OWN NAVIGATOR buttons. ‘C.0’ means minimum
key click level and ‘C.9’ maximum level.
3. Press any button (except for the S
HIFT, STORE or UP/DOWN buttons) to exit.
OUTPUTROUTING (HARDPAN)
If you want to process your sound using external effects,
it can be convenient to route Organ and Piano sounds to
separate outputs of the Nord Electro 2. Note that the
Output routing is not saved, so you will have to
reconfigure after power off.
1. Hold down S
three times. The D
stands for ‘Hard pan’ and ‘0’ that both Organ and
Piano sounds are routed to L
O
UT without separation.
HIFT and press the PROGRAM 8 button
ISPLAY reads ‘H.0’ where ‘H’
EFT OUTand RIGHT
P/
2. Select ‘separate outputs’ by pressing the U
GATOR
button so the DISPLAY reads ‘H.1’. ‘H.1’
means that Organ sounds will be output only through the L
the R
IGHT OUT. Note that any stereo effect you apply to a sound internally will be in mono in
‘H.1’ mode.
3. Press any button (except for the S
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P NAVI-
EFT OUT and Piano sounds only through
HIFT, STOREor UP/DOWNbuttons) to exit.
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NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x5. Panel reference: The Piano section
THE PIANOSECTION
The Piano section of Nord Electro 2 comprises a selection of electromechanical pianos. Nord Electro 2 features a unique multi-sample playback, catching every nuance from soft to hard key strokes. Each piano instrument was carefully multisampled in a vast amount of velocity levels. That’s one of the reasons they all sound
and feel so authentic. As an extra bonus we also included an acoustic grand piano
(concert model) - in stereo! Nord Electro 2 comes from factory with the following
piano instruments:
• Mega Clavinet D6 (Clav) including all the possible filter and pick-up combina-
tions of the original Clavinet D6. 60 + 4 different Clavinet sounds out of a single instrument!
• Wurlitzer 200A (Wur)
• Rhodes Mk I Stage Piano SeventyThree (Rhod1). It was built in May 1978 and
was adjusted to “deep timbre adjustment”. The so called volume adjustment is
set to ‘Low’. These settings gives the piano a warm sound with a rich fundamental
• Clavia Electric Grand Model G (El.Grand). The ‘Model G’ is a custom modified 1934 Gärbstedt acous-
tic grand piano fitted with CP-80 pick-ups. The Model G produces a very rich and “punchy” rock piano
sound that sounds great across the entire note range
• A Malmsjö acoustic grand piano, sampled and played back in stereo (Ac.Grand)
• Rhodes Mk I SeventyThree Suitcase (Rhod2). It was built in January 1975. We have fine tuned the
mechanics and adjusted the tines according to the “ideal timbre adjustment”. The so called volume
adjustment is set to ‘Close’. These settings gives the piano a sound with a lot of “bite”
TYPE
Press the TYPE button to select a piano instrument. On the Nord Electro 2 front
panel are printed names of the piano instruments loaded from factory. Since all piano samples are stored in Flash memory you can easily add and/or replace the
stored piano instruments with new ones (see “Downloading Piano instruments via
USB” on page 40). You can download any piano sound to any of the six locations,
i.e. you are not restricted to the configuration printed on the panel. For example,
you could have six different Rhodes sounds (when available) in your Electro 2 at
the same time if you like.
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5. Panel reference: The Piano sectionNORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x
PRESENCE
The Presence section features a parametric EQ with frequency and amount controls. Use it if you’d like to amplify or attenuate frequency bands of the piano instruments. Activate and deactivate the Presence function by pressing the O
button and set the frequency to be amplified or attenuated with the F
With the A
MOUNT knob you set the amplification/attenuation in dB.
N
REQ knob.
Note that the Clavinet D6 instrument that comes with OS V2.0 makes use
of the Presence effect in a different way (se below).
PRESENCEWITHTHE MEGA CLAVINETSOUND
The Mega Clavinet (Clav) sound in the V2.0 factory library makes use of the Presence section in a different way than the other piano sounds. On an original Clavinet
D6 you can select different pick-up and filter combinations by pressing a number
of rocker switches. This functionality is very faithfully simulated in the Nord Electro 2 V2.0. It means that from the Mega Clavinet instrument in the Electro 2 you
can get all the 60 different Clavinet D6 sounds plus an additional 4 by selecting
different pick-up and filter combinations! This is how it works:
The F
REQ knob works as a filter selector with which you can select one of the 15
(sounding) combinations of the ‘Brilliant’, ‘Treble’, ‘Medium’ and ‘Soft’ filters of
the original D6. The filter combinations are described in the figure below.
By turning the FREQ knob you select one of 15 Clavinet D6 filter combinations plus an additional Bypass variation. The filter
combination number is briefly shown in the DISPLAY as you turn the FREQ knob.
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NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x5. Panel reference: The Piano section
A Clavinet D6 has two separate pick-ups, one on the “neck” and one on the “bridge”. By selecting either
one pick-up or both in different combinations you can alter the character of the sound quite drastically. On
the Mega Clavinet sound, the A
MOUNT knob works as the pick-up selector according to the figure below
By turning the AMOUNT knob you select one of the four Clavinet D6
pick-up configurations. The pick-up configuration number is briefly
shown in the DISPLAY as you turn the AMOUNT knob.
The configurations are these:
C.b: Only the "bridge" pick-up; a bright sound.
C.A: Only the "neck" pick-up; a warm, less bright sound.
d.A: Both pick-ups on but 180 degrees out of phase; the fundamental
is almost cancelled and the sound becomes pretty thin
d.b: Both pick-ups on and in phase; a very full sound
OUTPUTROUTING (HARDPAN)
If you want to process your sound using external effects,
it can be convenient to route Organ and Piano sounds to
separate outputs of the Nord Electro 2. Note that the
Output routing is not saved, so you will have to
reconfigure after power off.
1. Hold down S
three times. The D
stands for ‘Hard pan’ and ‘0’ that both Organ and
Piano sounds are routed to L
O
UT without separation.
2. Select ‘separate outputs’ by pressing the U
GATOR
means that Organ sounds will be output only
through the L
through the R
mono in ‘H.1’ mode.
3. Press any button (except for the S
HIFT and press the PROGRAM 8 button
ISPLAY reads ‘H.0’ where ‘H’
EFT OUTand RIGHT
P NAVI-
button so the DISPLAY reads ‘H.1’. ‘H.1’
EFT OUT and Piano sounds only
IGHT OUT. Note that any stereo effect you apply to a sound internally will be in
HIFT, STOREor UP/DOWNbuttons) to exit.
VELOCITY SENSITIVITYFORTHE PIANOS
Some of the piano instruments sampled for the Nord Electro 2 have very wide dynamic ranges by nature
and naturally we wanted to capture this as accurately as possible. Therefore, it could be perceived that it
is a little hard to reach the most extreme levels when playing the Nord Electro 2 piano sounds with the
default keyboard Velocity Sensitivity setting. This is because the dynamic response curves have been very
carefully adjusted to match each original instrument's response characteristics. In other words, Clavia's in-
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5. Panel reference: The Effects sectionNORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x
tention was that when you play a Rhodes sound, for example, it should almost feel like you are playing a
Rhodes piano. However, If you want the piano sounds to respond more easily to keyboard velocity, you can
set this in the Config menu. The Velocity Sensitivity setting is global for all Pianos in the Electro 2.
1. Hold S
HIFT and press the PROGRAM 8 (CONFIG)
button four times. The D
ISPLAY reads ‘U.0’
(Velocity Sensitivity).
2. Change the Velocity Sensitivity between ‘U.0’
(least sensitive) and ‘U.9’ (most sensitive) with the
U
P/DOWN NAVIGATORbuttons.
3. Press any button (except for the S
U
P/DOWNbuttons) to exit.
HIFT, STOREor
THE EFFECTSSECTION
The Effects section of Nord Electro 2 can be used for processing both Organ and Piano sounds. It’s fully
programmable and you can configure your effects separately for each Program. The Effects section consists
of five sub groups:
• Modulations. Offers six different types of modulations: Ring Modulation, Auto-Panning, Tremolo
Wah-Wah 1&2 and Auto-Wah.
• Effects. Offers three types of vintage style effects with two variations each: Phaser 1&2, Flanger 1&2
and Chorus 1&2.
• Overdrive. Simulates an overdriven tube amplifier.
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NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x5. Panel reference: The Effects section
• Rotary Speaker. Simulates a Leslie rotary speaker including its built-in amplifier
• Treble & Bass EQ. Offers treble and bass amplification/attenuation
In addition to the five sub groups there is also the O
UTPUT LEVEL control for adjusting the output level
of each of the Programs separately.
MODULATIONS
The Modulations section offers six different types of modulation. You activate and deactivate the Modulations section by pressing the O
R
INGMOD
Stands for Ring Modulation and is a type of modulation where two signals are multiplied with each other. The result is an inharmonic “bell like” sound. Herbie Hancock
used this effect a lot in the ‘70s. In the Nord Electro 2 the Piano or Organ signal is
multiplied with an additional sinewave.
N button.
With the RATE knob you set the basic
pitch of the additional sinewave.
With the AMOUNT knob you control the
level of ring modulation.
Set the sinewave pitch with the R
P
AN
ATE knob and the amount of ring modulation with the AMOUNT knob.
The Pan is an auto panning modulation that smoothly pans the signal between the Left and Right outputs.
The filled curve indicates maximum AMOUNT value and the dashed
curves indicate lower AMOUNT values. The signal smoothly pans between the Left and Right outputs as indicated in the figure.
You can control the rate and amount of panning with the RATE and AMOUNT knobs.
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5. Panel reference: The Effects sectionNORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x
TREMOLO
Tremolo modulation is basically an automatic volume control that continuously varies the output signal
volume. Tremolo is a commonly used modulation, especially on the Wurlitzer electric pianos.
The filled curve indicates maximum AMOUNT value and the dashed curves
indicate lower AMOUNT values. At zero AMOUNT value the output level
is constantly at maximum level (the straight dashed line).
Use the R
is at maximum level at zero A
W
AH-WAH 1&2
ATE and AMOUNT knobs to control the Tremolo rate and depth. Note that the output volume
MOUNT setting.
The Wah-Wah modulation is often used for electric guitars to get that characteristic “talking guitar”
sound. Wah-Wah can also be extremely useful on electric piano sounds. Try out the Clavinet sound with
Wah-Wah modulation and you’ll understand. Basically, the Wah-Wah modulation is a lowpass type of
filter that can be swept across the frequency range. During the sweep, the filter’s characteristics also changes.
For the Wah-Wah1 modulation you control the “pedal position” with the R
quency sweep range with the A
with the R
ATE knob and the total frequency sweep range with the AMOUNT knob.
Note: If you use an expression pedal connected to the C
MOUNT knob. For the Wah-Wah2 modulation you control the LFO rate
ONTROL PEDAL INPUT you can control the
ATE knob and the total fre-
filter sweep and thus the Wah-Wah1 effect from the pedal. Also note that if you’re already using
an expression pedal for Organ Swell control (see “Swell control (from expression pedal)” on
page 23), the Wah-Wah function takes precedence and automatically disables the Swell control.
A
UTO-WAH
Auto-Wah is a variation of the Wah-Wah modulation described above. The difference is that here you control the filter sweep range, and thus the Wah-Wah effect, from the signal’s amplitude envelope. For the
Auto-Wah modulation you control the attack time with the R
A
MOUNT knob.
ATE knob and the sensitivity with the
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NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x5. Panel reference: The Effects section
EFFECTS
Nord Electro 2 offers six types of vintage style effects to add that extra flavour to your
sounds. Activate or deactivate the Effects section by pressing the O
P
HASER 1&2
The phaser effect is a very characteristic “sweep” effect and is frequently used in all
sorts of music. You control the rate of the phase shift with the R
phase shift amount with the A
F
LANGER 1&2
MOUNT knob.
The flanger effect is another type of very characteristic “sweep” effect. It’s quite similar to the phaser effect but has a little different characteristics. You set the flanging
rate with the R
C
HORUS 1&2
ATE knob and the amount with the AMOUNT knob.
The Chorus effect simulates the appearance of several slightly detuned signals. You
set the rate for the chorus effect with the R
A
MOUNT knob. Note that the Chorus2 effect is in stereo.
ATE knob and the amount with the
N button.
ATE knob and the
OVERDRIVE
The Overdrive effect is a simulation of an overdriven tube amplifier. It’s very useful
both on Organ and Piano sounds. Activate or deactivate the Overdrive effect with the
O
N button and set the overdrive amount with the AMOUNT knob.
ROTARY SPEAKER
The Rotary Speaker simulation in Nord Electro 2 is really something above the ordinary. It’s not only simulating the rotating speaker and drum but also the built-in amplifier of the original Leslie speaker.
Activate or deactivate the Rotary Speaker simulation by pressing the O
Switch between fast and slow rotor speeds by pressing the F
rotors, press the S
- it only stops the rotors). When you press the S
TOP button (this does not deactivate the Rotary Speaker simulation
TOP button again the rotors will ac-
celerate to the speed they had when you first pressed S
AST button. To stop the
TOP.
N button.
R
OTORSPEEDCONTROLFROMPEDAL
By plugging in a sustain pedal in the ROTOR SPEED PEDALinput you can control the speed selection from
a pedal. It’s also possible to use a sustain pedal connected to the S
USTAIN PEDAL input to control the speed
selection. Please refer to “Config” on page 36 for information on how to set up Nord Electro 2 for operation
with sustain/switch pedals.
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5. Panel reference: The left panel sectionNORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x
OUTPUT LEVEL
The OUTPUT LEVEL knob controls the individual output volume for each Program.
It’s fully programmable for each Program and sends/receives MIDI CC# 7 (Main
Volume).
Note: The Output Level is always active even if no other sub groups of the Effects section are active.
TREBLE & BASS
The last group of the effects section is a 2-band equalizer which features controls for
bass and treble. Activate or deactivate the equalizer by pressing the O
just the treble and bass with the corresponding K
are fully programmable for each Program.
NOBS. The bass and treble settings
N button. Ad-
THELEFTPANELSECTION
The left panel section features controls for Program
handling, system functions, MIDI functions etc.
There, you’ll also find the Octave Shift and Transpose functions.
MASTER LEVEL
The MASTER LEVEL knob controls the output level
from the two O
put. The M
receive any MIDI CC# but is used to control the
entire instrument’s output level. (For info on how
to control the level(s) of the individual sounds and via
MIDI, please refer to “Output Level” on page 32).
NAVIGATORBUTTONS
The UP and DOWN NAVIGATOR buttons are used
for selecting Program Banks (A-F) and also for selecting system related functions (see “System func-
tions” on page 33).
UT jacks and the HEADPHONES out-
ASTER LEVEL knob does not send or
DISPLAY
The DISPLAY is mainly used for displaying Program Banks and Program numbers. It also displays system
related functions described in the ‘System functions’ paragraph below.
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NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x5. Panel reference: System functions
STORE
The red STORE button is used for storing Programs and Drawbar presets and also for executing various
system related operations.
PROGRAMBUTTONS
The PROGRAM buttons 1-8 are used for selecting Programs from the internal memory and also for accessing the different system functions described below.
OCTAVE SHIFT
The two OCTAVE SHIFTbuttons to the bottom left on the front panel can
be used to transpose the notes two octaves up or down (if the selected instrument supports this). A flashing O
octaves note shift.
Note: Due to the actual key range of the original Piano instruments,
some sounds cannot be octave shifted up and/or down. For organ sounds, the Octave Shift will
only generate notes that are within the 73-key note range of Nord Electro 2 73. This means that
using Octave Shift for Organ sounds in Nord Electro 2 73 won’t produce any sound in the lowest
or highest octave.
CTAVE SHIFT LED indicates +/- 2
THE SHIFTBUTTON
To the right of the OCTAVE SHIFT buttons is the SHIFTbutton. It’s used to access various kinds
of system functions etc.
SYSTEMFUNCTIONS
To access the system functions, press and hold SHIFT and
press the corresponding P
make in the system parameters are automatically stored
in Nord Electro 2, with some exceptions: ‘MIDI Local
Off’, ‘Master Tune’, ‘Transpose’ and ‘Output routing
(Hard pan)’ are not stored.
ROGRAM button. All changes you
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5. Panel reference: System functionsNORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x
MIDI CH
Press the SHIFT + PROGRAM 1 (MIDI CH) buttons to enter
the MIDI Channel function. Here you set the MIDI Channel
for the Nord Electro 2 to send and respond to. Select MIDI
Channel with the U
button (except for the S
to exit.
Range: 1-16, -- (off)
Note: If the MIDI CH and LOWER CH (see below) are
set to the same number, incoming MIDI notes will produce a layered sound of the Upper Manual and Lower
Manual sounds together. This is normally not what you
want, so keep the channels separated from each other.
P/DOWN NAVIGATOR buttons. Press any
HIFT, STOREor UP/DOWNbuttons)
LOWER CH
Press the SHIFT + PROGRAM 2 (LOWER CH) buttons to
enter the Lower MIDI Channel function. Here you set the
MIDI channel for the Lower Manual of Nord Electro 2 Organ section to respond to. Select Lower MIDI Channel with
the U
P/DOWN NAVIGATOR buttons. Press any button (ex-
cept for the S
“Using an additional “Lower Manual” MIDI keyboard” on
page 22 for more details on how to use an external “Lower
Manual” MIDI keyboard.
Range: 1-16, -- (off)
HIFT, STOREor U P/DOWNbuttons) to exit. See
Note: If the LOWER CH and MIDI CH (see above) are
set to the same number, incoming MIDI notes will produce a layered sound of the Upper Manual and Lower
Manual sounds together. This is normally not what you want, so keep the channels separated from
each other.
LOCAL
Press the SHIFT + PROGRAM 3 (LOCAL) buttons to enter
the MIDI Local on/off function. Here you set whether the
Nord Electro 2 keyboard and front panel controls should
control internal Programs or only send MIDI. Local On is the
normal “play mode”. In Local Off mode, the front panel and
keyboard actions are transmitted via MIDI only and does not
control the internal sound(s) at all. (The MIDI In works as
usual, though.)
Local Off should be used when you use a sequencer to record
and play back from Nord Electro 2. When using a sequencer,
you connect the MIDI Out of Nord Electro 2 to the sequencer’s MIDI In. Then, from the sequencer’s MIDI Out back to
the Nord Electro 2’s MIDI In. Since the sequencer echoes
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NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x5. Panel reference: System functions
back incoming MIDI data, Nord Electro 2 will respond normally to your playing and knob tweaking via
the MIDI “loop”. If you use Local On in the sequencer setup described above, you will get double-notes
when you play: from the keyboard internally and via the MIDI “loop”. This is not what you want. Therefore, always use Local Off together with sequencers.
Select Local On or Local Off with the U
S
HIFT, STOREor UP/DOWNbuttons) to exit. Note that ‘Local Off’ is not saved, so you will have to
P/DOWN NAVIGATOR buttons. Press any button (except for the
reconfigure after power off.
TUNE
The Master Tune function is global for all sounds in Nord
Electro 2, i.e. changing it will affect all Programs. Press the
S
HIFT + PROGRAM 4 (TUNE) buttons to enter the Master
Tune function.
1. Change the master tune, in cents, with the U
N
AVIGATORbuttons. ‘0’ is normal 440Hz tuning. The
P/DOWN
range is +/- 1 semitone in steps of 1 cent (hundreds of a
semitone).
2. Press any button (except for the S
D
OWNbuttons) to exit.
HIFT, STOREor UP/
MEM LOCK
Press the SHIFT + PROGRAM 5 (MEM LOCK) buttons to
enter the Memory Lock function. Here you can choose to
memory protect all Programs of the internal memory. Select
Memory Protect ‘On’ or ‘OF’ with the U
TOR
buttons. Press any button (except for the SHIFT, STORE
or U
P/DOWNbuttons) to exit.
P/DOWN NAVIGA-
Note! When Nord Electro 2 is shipped from factory,
Memory Lock is set to ‘On’. To be able to store Programs
(and receive MIDI Sysex dumps), set Memory Lock to
‘OF’.
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5. Panel reference: System functionsNORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x
TRANSPOSE
The Transpose function is global for all sounds in Nord Electro 2, i.e. changing it will affect all Programs. Press S
P
ROGRAM 6 (TRANSPOSE) buttons. The DISPLAY reads ‘0’.
Press the U
P/DOWN NAVIGATORbuttons to transpose the
sounds up or down in semitone steps. The range is +/- 6 semitones in steps of 1 semitone. Notes sent to MIDI O
also transposed. Press any button (except for the S
S
TOREor UP/DOWNbuttons) to exit. Note that the Trans-
pose setting is not saved, so you will have to reconfigure
after power off.
Note: Due to the actual key range of the original Piano
instruments, the lowest keys may not produce any
sound when the instrument is transposed down. The
same goes for the highest keys when the instrument is transposed up. For organ sounds, the
Transpose function will only generate notes that are within the 73-key note range of Nord Electro
2 73, i.e. F1-F7. This means that using the Transpose function for Organ sounds in Nord Electro
2 73 will cause the lowest or highest notes of the keyboard to be silent.
HIFT +
UT are
HIFT,
PED. POL
Press the SHIFT + PROGRAM 7 (PED.POL) buttons to set up
the Sustain Pedal and Rotor Speed Pedal polarity. Change
pedal polarity between ‘OP’ (Open) (open when pressed) and
‘CL’ (Closed) (closed when pressed) with the U
N
AVIGATORbuttons. Press any button (except for the
S
HIFT, STOREor UP/DOWNbuttons) to exit.
P/DOWN
Nord Electro 2 sends and receives Sustain Pedal messages as
MIDI CC# 64 and Rotor Speed Pedal messages as MIDI
CC#82.
CONFIG
Press the SHIFT + PROGRAM 8 (CONFIG) buttons once to
enter the Pedal Configuration function. Here you select how
you want to configure the S
two options:
1. If you’re using a single sustain pedal in the S
P
EDALinput you may want to use it for sustain with
Piano sounds and as a Rotor Speed switch with Organ
sounds. In this case, select ‘P.t’ (Pedal toggle) with the
U
P/DOWN NAVIGATOR buttons. Press any button
(except for the S
HIFT, STOREor UP/DOWNbuttons) to
exit.
USTAIN PEDALinput. There are
USTAIN
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NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x5. Panel reference: System functions
2. If you’re using two separate sustain pedals: one in the Sustain Pedal Input and one in the Rotor Speed
Input you probably want to use the sustain pedal in the S
Organ sounds. In this case, select ‘P.S’ (Pedal Sustain) with the U
by pressing any button (except for the S
HIFT button).
USTAIN PEDALinputfor sustain also with
P/DOWN NAVIGATOR buttons. Exit
Note: It’s possible to use this configuration also if you’re only using a single sustain pedal in
the Sustain Pedal input. In that case you’ll have to control the Rotor Speed from the front
panel.
Nord Electro 2 sends and receives Sustain Pedal messages as MIDI (CC# 64). Note! If you have selected
‘P.t’, Rotor Speed selection is sent from the sustain pedal as MIDI CC#82 - not CC#64!
KEYCLICKCONTROL
On an original B-3 organ, the key click produced by the
random contact bounces is actually an artifact. This artifact later became quite desirable an effect amongst musicians. In the Nord Electro 2 you can select the amount of
key click that should be present in the organ sounds. The
key click level is global for all organ sounds in the Nord
Electro 2.
1. Hold down S
twice. The D
HIFT and press the PROGRAM 8 button
ISPLAY reads ‘C.8’ where ‘C’ stands for
‘Click’ and ‘8’ for the current click level.
2. Select key click level by scrolling with the U
D
OWN NAVIGATOR buttons. ‘C.0’ means minimum
P/
key click level and ‘C.9’ maximum level.
3. Press any button (except for the S
HIFT, STORE or UP/DOWN buttons) to exit.
OUTPUTROUTING (HARDPAN)
If you want to process your sound using external effects, it can
be convenient to route Organ and Piano sounds to separate
outputs of the Nord Electro 2. Note that the Output routing
is not saved, so you will have to reconfigure after power
off.
1. Hold down S
times. The D
‘Hard pan’ and ‘0’ that both Organ and Piano sounds are
routed to L
HIFT and press the PROGRAM 8 button three
ISPLAY reads ‘H.0’ where ‘H’ stands for
EFT OUTand RIGHT OUT without separation.
2. Select ‘separate outputs’ by pressing the U
button so the D
ISPLAY reads ‘H.1’. ‘H.1’ means that
Organ sounds will be output only through the L
O
UT. Note that any stereo effect you apply to a sound internally will be in mono in ‘H.1’ mode.
3. Press any button (except for the S
HIFT, STOREor UP/DOWNbuttons) to exit.
P NAVIGATOR
EFT OUT and Piano sounds only through the RIGHT
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5. Panel reference: System functionsNORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x
VELOCITY SENSITIVITYFORTHE PIANOS
Some of the piano instruments sampled for the Nord Electro 2 have very wide dynamic ranges by nature
and naturally we wanted to capture this as accurately as possible. Therefore, it could be perceived that it
is a little hard to reach the most extreme levels when playing the Nord Electro 2 piano sounds with the
default keyboard Velocity Sensitivity setting. This is because the dynamic response curves have been very
carefully adjusted to match each original instrument's response characteristics. In other words, Clavia's intention was that when you play a Rhodes sound, for example, it should almost feel like you are playing a
Rhodes piano. However, If you want the piano sounds to respond more easily to keyboard velocity, you can
set this in the Config menu. The Velocity Sensitivity setting is global for all Pianos in the Electro 2.
1. Hold S
HIFT and press the PROGRAM 8 (CONFIG)
button four times. The D
ISPLAY reads ‘U.0’
(Velocity Sensitivity).
2. Change the Velocity Sensitivity between ‘U.0’
(least sensitive) and ‘U.9’ (most sensitive) with the
U
P/DOWN NAVIGATORbuttons.
3. Press any button (except for the S
U
P/DOWNbuttons) to exit.
HIFT, STOREor
DUMP
Press the SHIFT + LEFT OCTAVE SHIFT(DUMP) buttons to
enter the Dump menu. Here you can perform a MIDI Sysex
dump of the currently selected Program or of all Programs of
the internal memory. You can also perform a dump of all
MIDI Controllers for the selected Program. Select the type of
dump to perform by pressing the U
buttons. ‘Pr’ in the D
ISPLAY means a single Program dump,
‘AL’ means All Programs dump and ‘Ct’ means dump all
MIDI Controllers of the currently selected Program. The selected dump type will flash in the D
perform a MIDI Sysex dump of a single Program or of the
MIDI Controllers of a Program, select it by choosing Program Bank with the U
P/DOWN NAVIGATOR buttons and
Program by pressing the corresponding P
you’re about to send all Programs (‘AL’) it doesn’t matter
which Program is selected. Press the S
the dump to the MIDI O
UT of Nord Electro 2. The Display
will stop flashing once the dump has been sent.
P/DOWN NAVIGATOR
ISPLAY. If you want to
ROGRAM button. If
TORE button to send
Note: For Organ Sysex, the complete settings for the sound will be dumped as MIDI Sysex. For
Piano sounds, all parameters will be sent but NOT the actual instrument samples. Therefore,
when dumping back a Piano sound, make sure the actual instrument samples are already loaded
in the Nord Electro 2. Otherwise the parameters in the Sysex message will be applied to another
available Piano instrument.
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NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x5. Panel reference: System functions
A WORDABOUT MIDI CONTROLLERDUMP
Consider a situation where you record a Controller message, e.g. a Drawbar opening, in the middle of your
sequencer song. Then you “rewind” the sequencer to a position before the recorded Drawbar opening. The
problem is that the Nord Electro 2’s Drawbar will remain opened, although it really should be as it was
before you recorded the opening. To solve such problems, several sequencers include a function called
“Controller Chasing”, which keeps track of Controller changes and tries to adjust the settings on the instrument according to the current position in the sequencer song.
However, in our example this wouldn’t help much, because the Drawbar opening was the first Controller
message recorded in the song. The sequencer has no information about the Drawbar setting before the recorded change, and therefore cannot “chase” the settings properly. To solve this, you could record a “snapshot” of all Controller settings of the Nord Electro 2 Program(s) at the beginning of your sequencer song.
In these situations you can use the ‘dump all MIDI Controllers’ function.
PANIC
If notes should hang or the Electro 2 should behave strange in a MIDI setup, for example, all you need to do is hold down the S
press the R
internal All Notes Off, and reset certain parameters to their default values.
IGHT OCTAVE SHIFT (PANIC) buttons. This will execute an
HIFT button and
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6. Factory Presets and OS: Internal memoryNORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x
6. FACTORY PRESETSAND OS
INTERNALMEMORY
The Operating System, Programs and Piano samples in Nord Electro 2 are stored in a so-called Flash memory. A Flash memory keeps the data also when the power is shut off. Another big advantage is that you
can replace data in the Flash memory at any time. This means that you will be able to download OS upgrades and Programs to your Nord Electro 2 from a computer or sequencer without needing to replace or
add any new hardware. Nord Electro 2 also features a USB port for quick and easy download of new Piano
instrument samples.
The internal sound memory of Nord Electro 2 consists of 6 Banks (A-F) holding 8 Programs each for a
total of 48 Programs.
FACTORYPRESETS
All factory Programs of Nord Electro 2 can be replaced. To make sure you don’t accidentally overwrite
Programs you want to keep, it’s a good idea to back up your sounds regularly on a computer or on a hardware sequencer that can record and play back MIDI Sysex. data. For information on how to back up Programs please refer to “Dump” on page 38.
RESTORINGTHEFACTORYPRESETS
The factory Programs will be available as a MIDI Sysex file for download at the Clavia web site at
http://www.clavia.se. Please refer to “Receive MIDI Sysex Dumps” on page 44 for information on how to
restore the factory presets.
DOWNLOADING PIANOINSTRUMENTSVIA USB
This function is supported in the V2.0 Nord Electro 2 operating system when you use the special Electro
Tool USB dump application. With the Electro Tool you will be able to download and add/replace/erase
piano sounds in the Flash memory of the Nord Electro 2. Please visit http://www.clavia.se/nordelectro/software.htm to download the Electro Tool USB dump application for Mac (OS X/OS 9) and PC (Windows)
- free of charge!
OS UPGRADES
The latest OS version for Nord Electro 2 will be available for download at http://www.clavia.se.
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NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x7. MIDI functions: About the MIDI implementation
7. MIDI FUNCTIONS
ABOUTTHE MIDI IMPLEMENTATION
The following MIDI messages can be transmitted and received from Nord Electro 2:
NOTE ON/OFF
• Note On and Note Off messages are of course transmitted when you play the keyboard. If you use the
O
CTAVE SHIFT function (see “Octave Shift” on page 33), you can transpose the Nord Electro 2 key-
board ± 2 octaves (if the selected instrument supports this).
• Notes can be received over the entire MIDI Note range. However, due to the actual note range of the
controlled instrument type, there will be silent notes when exceeding their ranges.
PITCH BEND
• Pitch Bend messages are neither transmitted nor recognized by the Nord Electro 2.
CONTROLLERS
• If you have an Control/Expression pedal connected to the CONTROL PEDAL INPUT, this is transmitted
and received as Controller 11 (Expression).
• If you have a sustain pedal connected to the S
Controller 64 (Sustain Pedal).
• If you have a sustain pedal connected to the R
Controller 82.
• All other controls (knobs and buttons) on the front panel (except M
and received as Control Change messages. This can be used to record your actions on the front panel
into a MIDI sequencer. For a full list of which parameters correspond to which Controller number, see
the MIDI implementation chapter on page 45.
USTAIN PEDAL INPUT, this is transmitted and received as
OTOR SPEED INPUT, this is transmitted and received as
ASTER LEVEL), are also transmitted
KEYBOARD VELOCITY
Nord Electro 2 can transmit and receive Keyboard Velocity messages. Note that incoming Keyboard Velocity data is ignored when in Organ mode. Organ sounds will always be played back at nominal
level regardless of incoming MIDI Velocity data.
PROGRAM CHANGE
When you select a Program, a Program Change message is transmitted via MIDI on the selected MIDI
Channel. If a Program Change message is received on the selected MIDI Channel, Nord Electro 2 will
change Program accordingly. The 48 Program locations send and respond to Program Change values 047 where 0 is Program A1 and 47 is Program F8.
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7. MIDI functions: Using Nord Electro 2 with a sequencerNORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x
MIDI SYSEX (SYSTEM EXCLUSIVE)
Single Programs or all Programs can be transmitted and received as a System Exclusive dump (see “Dump”
on page 38.).
USING NORD ELECTRO 2 WITHASEQUENCER
CONNECTIONS
1. Connect the MIDI Out on the Nord Electro 2 to the MIDI In on your sequencer.
2. Connect the MIDI Out from your sequencer to the MIDI In on the Nord Electro 2.
LOCAL ON/OFF
If your sequencer “echoes” all received MIDI signals via its MIDI output(s), the Nord Electro 2 should be
set to Local Off. This is important because otherwise you will get “double-notes”; from the internal keyboard and via the MIDI loop. See “Local” on page 34.
MIDI CHANNEL
1. Set up Nord Electro 2 so that it transmits/receives on the desired MIDI channel. See “MIDI Ch” on
page 34 for details on how to set up the MIDI channel.
2. Select the desired Program.
3. If needed, set the sequencer up to record and play back on the desired MIDI Channel.
4. Activate recording and play the Nord Electro 2.
PROGRAM CHANGE
To record a Program Change message, activate recording in the sequencer and simply select a new Bank
(A-F) and Program (1-8) by using the U
48 Program locations send and respond to Program Change values 0-47 where 0 is Program A1 and 47 is
Program F8.
P/DOWN NAVIGATOR buttons and the PROGRAM buttons. The
CONTROLLERS
When you record knob movements and button presses, make sure that the sequencer “echoes” the changes
back on the correct MIDI Channel, or your changes won’t have any effect.
SOMENOTESABOUT CONTROLLERSAND “CHASING”
Consider a situation where you record a Controller message, e.g. a Drawbar opening, in the middle of your
sequencer song. Then you “rewind” the sequencer to a position before the recorded Drawbar opening. The
problem is that the Nord Electro 2’s Drawbar will remain opened, although it really should be as it was
before you recorded the opening. To solve such problems, several sequencers include a function called
“Controller Chasing”, which keeps track of Controller changes and tries to adjust the settings on the instrument according to the current position in the sequencer song.
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NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x7. MIDI functions: Program and Controller dumps
However, in our example this wouldn’t help much, because the Drawbar opening was the first Controller
message recorded in the song. The sequencer has no information about the Drawbar setting before the recorded change, and therefore cannot “chase” the settings properly. To solve this, you could record a “snapshot” of all Controller settings of the Nord Electro 2 Program(s) at the beginning of your sequencer song.
This can be done by using the ‘MIDI Controllers Dump’ function described below.
PROGRAMAND CONTROLLERDUMPS
To dump Program Sysex or MIDI Controllers via MIDI, to another Nord Electro 2 or for recording the
data into another MIDI device, do like this:
1. Connect a cable from MIDI O
UT on the Nord Electro 2 to MIDI In on the receiving device.
2. Set up the receiving device so that it accepts MIDI Sysex and MIDI Controller data.
3. Press the S
HIFT + LEFT OCTAVE SHIFTbuttons to enter
the Dump menu. Select what to dump by pressing the
U
P/DOWN NAVIGATORbuttons. ‘Pr’ flashing in the DIS-
PLAY
means ‘single Program Dump’, ‘Al’ means ‘All Pro-
grams Dump’ and ‘Ct’ means ‘MIDI Controllers Dump’.
If you’re about to dump a single Program or MIDI Controllers for a Program, select the Program by choosing
Program Bank with the U
and Program by pressing the corresponding P
P/DOWN NAVIGATOR buttons
ROGRAM
button.
4. If needed, set the receiving MIDI device to “recording
mode”.
5. Press the S
O
UT of Nord Electro 2. The Display will stop flashing
TORE button to send the dump to the MIDI
once the dump has been sent.
Note: For Sysex dumps of Organ sounds, the complete settings for the sound will be dumped as
MIDI Sysex. For Piano sounds, all parameters will be sent but NOT the actual instrument samples.
Therefore, when dumping back a Piano Sysex, make sure the actual instrument sound is already
loaded in the Nord Electro 2. Otherwise the parameters in the Sysex message will be applied to
another available Piano instrument. However, the Nord Electro 2 works in an intelligent way regarding substituting Piano sounds.Let’s say you dumped a Program Sysex based on the Rhod1
sound and then erased the Rhod1 sound. When you load the Program Sysex back to the Electro
2, it will apply another available Rhodes sound, the Rhod2 or Rhod3, for example. If no Rhodes
sound is available, another piano sound will be applied.
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7. MIDI functions: Program and Controller dumpsNORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x
RECEIVE MIDI SYSEX DUMPS
To receive a MIDI Sysex Dump, do like this:
1. Connect a cable from the MIDI Out on the transmitting device to MIDI I
2. Initiate the transmission on the transmitting device.
If the dump contained all Programs (AL), it will replace all Programs currently stored in the Nord Electro
2. If the dump contained only a single Program (Pr), it will be temporarily placed in the currently selected
Program memory location. You will then have to store the Program manually to a memory location using
the Store function (see “Storing a Program” on page 17).
Note: For Organ sounds, the complete settings for the sound will be received with the MIDI Sysex
file. For Piano sounds, all parameters will be received but not the actual instrument samples.
Therefore, when receiving a Piano MIDI Sysex file, make sure the instrument samples are already
present in the Nord Electro 2. Otherwise the parameters of the Sysex file will be applied to another
available Piano instrument.
N on the Nord Electro 2.
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NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x8. MIDI implementation: MIDI Controller list
8. MIDI IMPLEMENTATION
MIDI CONTROLLERLIST
The following is a list of the MIDI Controller numbers used for all KNOBS and BUTTONS on the front
panel. All parameters use the entire control range 0-127. For B
range is divided into equally big “sections” depending on the number of states of the parameter. For example, the M
large sections between the values 0 and 127.
Nord Electro 2 ParameterMIDI Controller #MIDI Controller Name
“Play Control” parameters:
Octave Shift Upper Manual (Organ)27
Octave Shift Lower Manual (Organ)28
ODULATIONS selector can have 6 different “positions” and are therefore divided into 6 equally
Model: Clavia Nord Electro 2 OS V2.0xDate: 2002-06-11
FunctionTransmittedRecognizedRemarks
BasicDefault
ChannelChannel
Default
ModeMessages
Altered
Note
NumberTrue Voice
VelocityNote ON
Note OFF
Aftertouch Key
Channel
Pitch Bend✕✕
Control ChangeOO See “MIDI Controller list” on
Program
ChangeTrue #
System ExclusiveOOSee the MIDI Implementation
System: Song Pos
: Song Sel
Common: Tune
1 – 16
1 – 16
Mode 3
✕
***********
29 – 101
***********
O v = 1 – 127OO v = 1 – 127
✕
✕
O 0 – 47O 0 – 47
✕
✕
✕
1 – 16
1 – 16
Mode 3
✕
29 – 101
29 – 101
O
✕
✕
✕
✕
✕
Incoming Velocity data ignored
in Organ mode.
page 45.
section.
Page 48
System: Clock
Real Time: Commands✕ ✕
Aux: Local ON/OFF
Mes- : All Notes Off
sages : Active Sense
: Reset
Notes
Mode 1: OMNI ON, POLYMode 2: OMNI ON, MONOO: Y es
Mode 3: OMNI OFF, POLYMode 4: OMNI OFF, MONO✕: No
✕
✕
✕
✕
✕
✕
✕
✕
✕
✕
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NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x9. History: The story behind the Electro 2 instruments
9. HISTORY
THESTORYBEHINDTHE ELECTRO 2 INSTRUMENTS
The Nord Electro 2 is a stage keyboard focused on vintage instrument sounds -- specifically, sounds from
popular electromechanical keyboards produced from the '50s to the '70s. These instruments are no longer
in production, but they continue to play a remarkably important role in music today. In this chapter, we
will focus on these instruments. For those of you who aren't familiar with these instruments, we will give
you a description of the principals of each instrument and its basic design theory, as well as short histories
of the instruments. For all of you interested in digging even deeper into these instruments, we will recommend some nice literature to read further about them (see the end of this chapter).
WHATISAN ‘ELECTROMECHANICAL’ INSTRUMENT?
One in which some sort of electric pick-up system, either electromagnetic or electrostatic, detects and amplifies certain mechanical movements. The source of these movements can be a spinning tone wheel or the
vibrations of a reed, string, or tine.
HOWDOESANELECTROMECHANICALPICK-UPWORK?
The pick-up system in a Rhodes electric piano is electromagnetic. When you play a note on a Rhodes, a
metallic tine vibrates and changes the magnetic field around a coil that picks up the vibration. These vibrations are slightly amplified to create a musical tone.
The Hohner Clavinet has real strings inside. The vibrations of each string are picked up by an electromagnetic pick-up similar to the magnetic pick-ups of an electric guitar.
An electromagnetic pick-up system is also used in tone wheel Hammond organs such as the famous B-3.
A tone wheel is a rotating disc with notches around its edge. Positioned as close as possible to each of the
96 tone wheels in a B-3 is a magnetic pick-up. Every time a notch passes the pick-up, a change will occur
in the magnetic field, which will induce a small voltage in the pick-up. The number of notches in the wheel
and its rotation speed determine the pitch of the tone produced.
Wurlitzer electric pianos uses an electrostatic pick-up system. A DC voltage is applied between vibrating
reeds and a metal plate placed near the end of the reed. As the reed vibrates, it varies the capacitance between the metal plate and the reed. These changes will generate an electrical signal - the tone (see the schematic figure to the right).
The Rhodes pick-up systemThe B-3 pick-up systemThe Wurlitzer pick-up system
pick-uptine
pick-up
rotating tone wheel
reed
metal plate
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9. History: The story behind the Electro 2 instrumentsNORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x
THE ELECTRO 2 ORGANSECTION
The organ chosen for the task to be simulated was a
Hammond A-100. Except for its cabinet and the inclusion of a built-in sound system, the A-100 works the
same as Hammond's almighty rock 'n' roll organ, the famous B-3. The Hammond organ was originally designed to be an alternative for churches instead of large
acoustic pipe organs. In the '30s, there was a growing
demand for more compact organs that sounded similar
to pipe organs because small churches couldn't afford or
didn't have the space to install a big pipe organ. The
Hammond organ was designed with drawbars for
sculpting the harmonic content of the organ sound.
They function much like stops on a pipe organ. This was
the standard, and so it became (see figure to the bottom
right of this page).
T
HE HAMMOND ORGAN COMPANYSTORY
Has any other keyboard instrument created as much interest as the Hammond organ? The model emulated by
the Nord Electro 2 is the B-3, the most popular version
of all Hammonds produced. Between their release in
1954 and 1974 when they went out of production, nearly 275,000 B-3 and C-3 organs were built. (The C-3 is
identical to the B-3 except for its cabinet design; Hammond didn't keep separate records for the two models.)
No other electric keyboard in the world has exceeded
that number -- so far.
It started in the early 1930s, when inventor Laurens
Hammond was looking for different applications
for a 60-cycle motor he had designed for his clock
factory. An earlier inventor named Thaddeus Cahill
had, at the beginning of the 20th century, made an
electromechanical instrument called the Telharmonium, which later caught the attention of Hammond. Although he wasn't a musician, Hammond
was attracted by the idea to build a genuine electric
musical instrument. Hammond had a degree in
mechanical engineering and had developed great
skill in mechanical design. In his lab, Hammond
and his assistants designed and built an electromechanical organ based on Cahill's principles. The basic components of the organ were tone wheels and
electromagnetic pick-ups, and the instrument is acknowledged as being of excellent mechanical design for its time.
This is the Hammond A-100 organ that is simulated by
the Nord Electro 2. The A-100 is electrically similar to
the B-3 and C-3 organs, but it features a different cabinet
and has a built-in amplifier, speakers, and spring reverb.
This particular unit left the factory on June 2, 1965. The
A-100 was taken out of production four months later.
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NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x9. History: The story behind the Electro 2 instruments
Hammond filed a patent for the tone wheel organ in 1934, and one
year later he introduced the first Hammond organ, the Model A. In the
patent, Hammond catalogues the numerous objects that contribute to
the complete design. He lists 29 different features. Among them you
can find, for example, feature number 17, which states: "To provide an
instrument of the type which is relatively light in weight and is portable." Wonder what roadies around the world have to say about that!
This patent is the backbone of the whole organ line made by Hammond until 1974. The Model A was very expensive at the time, yet the
sales were impressive. The company grew steadily and, over time, new
models were released. Laurens Hammond was correct from the start to
have focused his market for the instrument on churches. He saw a great
potential there in sales, and many organ models had cabinets designed
to fit the various religious services. Despite all-new models, they had
more or less the same tone-wheel concept, but with different styles of
cabinets, pedal board, speaker configuration, and amplification. Hammond and his team continued to experiment with different ways to
deepen the sound, adding effects such as tremolo and chorus.
The first page of the patent for the tone
wheel organ filed by Laurens Hammond in 1934.
In 1954, Hammond introduced the B-3 model to the market. It became the best seller of all Hammond
organs. One of the secrets to the B-3's success was its sound, thanks to the integration of the newly developed chorus and tremolo features, as well as the introduction of the Percussion feature and reverberation.
All this combined made musicians do a vast amount of new and exciting sounds to play with at the time.
The B-3 is still a very popular instrument and still in use around the world.
Here you can see the knob for selecting the A-100 organ's Vibrato and Chorus
effects. There are six different positions. All of these effects are simulated in the
Nord Electro 2. The rocker tabs control the Vibrato/Chorus on/off status for the
upper (Swell) and lower (Great) manuals. The tab far to the left is a overall
volume switch for the whole organ. This particular function is not exactly implemented in the Nord Electro 2. Instead, there's a Master level knob.
On the right-hand side of the A-100, there are the Percussion tabs. These are
all simulated in the Nord Electro 2. The Percussion feature is a single-trigger/
non-legato effect. Enabling the Percussion on/off switch disarms the 1' drawbar
on the A-100. In the Electro 2, the 1' tone will still be available if desired. The
idea with this effect was to add an attack transient to the tone of the organ.
There was the choice to add an octave
above the fundamental (8') -- named the "second" harmonic -- or the octave and a fifth above -- named the "third" harmonic. The
Slow/Fast tab defines the release envelope of the percussion effect. This is a great feature that was released in 1954, letting the player
give an extra little edge to the solo parts he or she is playing.
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9. History: The story behind the Electro 2 instrumentsNORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x
-
On the left-hand side of both manuals, Hammond tone wheel organs have one
octave of reverse-colored keys. These don't trigger notes; instead, they call up
preset drawbar settings. All tone wheel Hammonds have double manuals.
What you see here isn't an original component on a Hammond organ; it's an
add-on. It's the controller switch for the Leslie rotating speaker cabinet. Slow
rotation speed is called Chorale, and fast speed is called Tremolo. In the Nord
Electro 2, the Leslie speaker effect is simulated with this kind of controller. Its
positions are called Fast and Slow.
This is the inside of the famous Vibrato
and Chorus scanner. It was designed by
John Hanert, Hammond's #1 engineer.
Hanert was the designer of many patented
components in Hammond tone wheel organs. The scanner was attached to the
drive shaft that all of the tone wheels were
fit upon, just behind the main motor.
The main motor
The vibrato/chorus scanner
The tone wheel
assembly box
The spring reverb
The tube amplifier for
the speakers
The drawbars
The speakers
The matching transformer
The tube amplifier for
the organ
The start motor
A close-up view of the main 60Hz motor. The vibrato scanner is mounted on
the left side.
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This is the inside of the drawbars. Underneath, you can vaguely see some of the
coils for the magnetic pick-ups.
A close-up picture of the speaker tube am
plifiers.
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NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x9. History: The story behind the Electro 2 instruments
Here is a picture of the inside of the Hammond tone wheel box. It's the basic design that
elevated Hammond to the top of the organ manufacturer mountain. Each note on the Hammond corresponds to a tone wheel. Every tone wheel has it own pick-up comprising a magnet with a coil. The pitch of the sine wave generated by a tone wheel is determined by the
number of notches on the edge of the wheel and the wheel's rotation speed. Every time a
notch in the wheel passes the magnetic field, it induces a voltage in the coil. The more
notches and the faster they pass, the higher the pitch.
Laurens Hammond retired at age 65 in 1960 and passed away in 1973. One year after his death, the factory
stopped making tone wheel organs. From then on, the only organs that were produced had electric circuits
-- but that's another story.
T
HE LESLIESPEAKER
The rotating speaker effect in the Nord Electro 2 is a digital emulation of the Leslie 122 speaker cabinet. Leslie cabinets are
stand-alone devices. Their preliminary design was to amplify
and add modulation effects -- i.e., chorus and tremolo -- to the
sound generated by an electric organ such as those made by the
Hammond Organ Company.
What's the story behind this famous accessory to the Hammond
organ? It goes back to 1937, when musician and inventor Don
Leslie bought a Hammond Model A. Don was interested in
finding a musical instrument that could sound like a pipe organ,
and he decided to buy the Hammond because he figured it
sounded close enough. To save money, he chose not to invest in
an accompanying Hammond tone cabinet because he thought
he could make his own speaker system.
However, he wasn't satisfied with the organ sound coming from
his first fixed-speaker design because the sound was too static.
He wanted to create some kind of motion in the organ sound,
much like the way the sound of a pipe organ moves around a big
church because the pipes themselves are spread out across many
large ranks - collections of pipes - that cover the frequency range
across an organ console's keyboard manuals and pedal board.
For several years, Don experimented with various combinations
of speaker configurations and rotating components, and in 1940
he completed his first version of the rotating-speaker concept.
Leslie 122 rotating-speaker cabinet.
A close-up view of the nice woodwork on a Leslie
122 speaker cabinet.
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He filed a patent application in 1940. Don Leslie met with Hammond representatives that
same year and gave them the opportunity to
buy his invention, but they refused. Instead, he
started his own company and launched the
product into the market under the name "Vibratone." In 1946 the name was modified to
"Leslie Vibratone". Finally, in 1949, The name
“Vibratone” was dropped and the models
where named only “Leslie” after its inventor.
Over the years, Don Leslie improved the design and introduced
a vast number of different models. In 1963, he began shipping
the Leslie 122 cabinet and it became the most popular model.
The basic principle behind the Leslie 122 is the incorporation of
two rotating objects. One is a spinning drum with a deflector
mounted beneath a downward-facing 15" speaker for bass frequencies -- those below 800Hz. Higher up inside the 122 is a
compression horn-driver attached to a rotating dual-bell horn
assembly for mid range and treble frequencies. One of these
horns is actually sealed; it's only there to serve as a counterbalance. Therefore, you only hear higher frequencies emanating
from the open-ended bell. The sound is amplified by a 40-watt
tube amplifier. The 122 also features two rotation speeds: The
slow speed, which creates a chorus effect, is known as "chorale,"
and the faster speed was named "tremolo." Switching between
these two speeds at musically appropriate times creates a wonderful -- and even emotional -- effect.
The patent for the
“Apparatus for imposing vibrato on
sound” filed by Don
Leslie in 1940.
Inside a Leslie 122. Each rotor has its own motor.
A 40-watt tube amplifier drives the speaker components.
Don Leslie, who turned 91 in 2002,
estimates that around 200,000
original Leslie 122 cabinets were
built in total. Laurens Hammond
himself never liked the Leslie cabinet and refused to have anything to
do with this product. Instead, he
tried to manufacture other solutions hoping he would make the Leslie obsolete, but he never
succeeded. The Leslie speaker was
an instant success. Pairing a Leslie
with a Hammond organ proved the
perfect match, and this combination became a "must have" for
many Hammond organ players.
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The treble horns in a Leslie 122. One horn
is a dummy to give the right a balance during rotation. Only the horn rotates; the horn
driver remains stationary. At the mouth of
the horn is diffuser cone which widens the
dispersion to give a "more musically pleasing
tone".
The bass drum. The deflector inside the
drum isn't visible. A thin cloth covers the
round drum. The Leslie 122's 15" speaker
doesn't rotate. It remains stationary while
the drum spins.
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NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x9. History: The story behind the Electro 2 instruments
THE ELECTRO 2 PIANOSECTION
The first electromechanical piano we took a close look at for sampling for the Nord Electro 2 was the
Rhodes. Since the first Rhodes piano saw the light of day during World War II, numerous different models
have been launched, most of them with basically the same characteristic sound but with improved mechanical design. But -- and this is important -- a Rhodes electric piano can be adjusted to create different timbres. In acknowledgment of that fact, we simply had to choose several typical Rhodes sounds to be sampled
for the Nord Electro 2.
T
HEGENIUSOF HAROLD RHODES
The designer of the Rhodes Electric piano was Harold Rhodes. Harold had a background as piano teacher
during the 1930s, when he ran a successful piano school. He also was an architectural engineering student
and earned a scholarship to the University of Southern California’s School of Architecture. Harold planned
on minoring in music at USC, but he was drafted for the War and joined the Army Air Corps.
He had enrolled in a flight instructors' course, but the Army
closed the school one day before he was to begin his training.
Harold started teaching his Army friends piano lessons and
was spotted by a surgeon who enjoyed his talent for piano instructions. The doctor asked Harold to help rehabilitate
wounded soldiers with a piano method he had developed (see
note). As no pianos were available that were small and light
enough to fit on the lap of someone in the bed, he designed and
built instruments out of recycled aeroplane parts and selfmade keyboards. His therapeutic project was a success and the
War department started to manufacture the piano, which was
called the "Xylette."
Note: The basic idea with Harold Rhodes Piano school was to learn
to build your own piano, understand the principles and then learn to
play it. In later days he went back into teaching and led a teaching
program for inner-city kids in LA. He was later honoured with a special commendation by the Los Angeles county for his works.
After the war, Harold started his own business and pursued his
idea of making a compact, lightweight piano. In 1946 he released the Pre-Piano, an inexpensive three-octave instrument with a tone somewhat like a toy piano. It was primarily aimed for home and educational
market, but it failed in the marketplace because of poor manufacturing. Shortly thereafter, Harold invented the "tine," or asymmetric tuning fork, which he later used to make a 72-key instrument built inside a
cabinet that looked like a baby grand piano.
Harold Rhodes’ patent from 1949 for the
small acoustic piano called the “Xylette”.
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9. History: The story behind the Electro 2 instrumentsNORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x
A
t
In 1959, Harold met a man named Leo Fender and they
decided to do something together. Leo had developed
the Fender Stratocaster electric guitar and had a great
knowledge of amplifying strings. Together these two
gentlemen could develop a great electric piano. Unfortunately, it seems they couldn't cooperate in the way
Harold wanted because Leo didn't like the sound of the
treble tines. As a result, between 1959 and 1965, they
released only one model, a 32-note bass version called
Piano Bass. Nevertheless, during this period Harold
continued to develop his ideas further and constructed
an 88-note electronic piano.
A Rhodes Suitcase 73 Mark I. The Suitcase models feature
In January 1965, the large corporation CBS bought the
Fender Company and, as a result, Harold Rhodes finally
got the opportunity to put his newly designed instrument into serious production. The model is called the Fender Rhodes Suitcase 73, where the "73" stands
for the number of keys on the piano. This model had a built-in pre-amp, amplifier, and speakers. Although
Leo Fender was no longer a part of the company, CBS decided to use both of the gentlemen's names in
conjunction with the product, supposedly for marketing reasons. Fender was a big name at the time - and
still is. Interestingly enough, Fender actually joined the company later on again for a period of time, and
it seems Harold and Leo together developed a new tone generator for the Fender Rhodes electric piano. As
a result, they filed a joint patent on August 4, 1970.
built-in speakers facing the audience.
The Fender Rhodes Suitcase 73 was a hit on the market. Harold continued to refine his ideas, and every
year he improved the piano mechanically. After five years, the time came for a new model. It was called
the Fender Rhodes Mark 1 Stage piano. While it featured several hardware improvements, this instrument
lacked the built-in amplifier and speakers of the Suitcase model. The target group was, of course, touring
bands who demanded a more lightweight keyboard. While the Mark 1 Stage piano had only a line-level
output and a Bass EQ knob, the Suitcase model sported a "Vibrato" knob for controlling the stereo effect
that Harold had developed. In truth, "Vibrato" wasn't the correct word, as the effect was really tremolo -an amplitude modulation effect.
From 1970 to 1979, CBS released two electric pianos: the
Mark I and the flat-topped Mark II. It was during this period that CBS decided to drop "Fender" from the logo and
use only the Rhodes name. In 1980, the Rhodes 54 hit the
market, yet another attempt to fill the needs of touring musicians in search of a more compact and lightweight keyboard. The last Rhodes developed during the CBS era was
the Mark III, which contained a built-in two-voice synthesizer(!). It was not a success. In 1983, Rhodes was sold to
William Schultz and Harold designed the Rhodes Mark V
with the help of Steve Woodyard. Harold himself considered the Mark V the ultimate electric piano. It took Harold
25 years to get to this point. Something like 5,000 units of
the Mark V had been built and, two years after its launch,
Rhodes Stage Piano Mark II. The top was cut down
o make a flat top, perfectly amenable to supporting an-
other keyboard.
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NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x9. History: The story behind the Electro 2 instruments
the factory closed down. After this there were no more electromechanical Rhodes developed for the market.
Harold Rhodes died on December 17, 2000.
T
HE RHODESSOUNDSINTHE NORD ELECTRO 2
It's no easy task to capture the whole character of the Rhodes electric piano. There are numerous ways to
adjust the instrument to get different sounds that were typical for the Rhodes. In an interview with Dominic Milano in a 1977 issue of Keyboard magazine, Harold himself pointed out, "The quality of the sound
is what you make it. A lot of musicians don't know that. They just play their piano and say, 'Gee, it doesn't
sound like Joe's.' They don't know that they can alter their piano so it will sound like Joe's." This is what
we did with the different Rhodes models we have chosen. We adjusted these pianos to create the different
famous Rhodes timbres that have been popular during the electric-piano era.
It's important to know the basic adjustments you can make to a Rhodes piano. The major and most important adjustments are to the instrument's timbre and volume. The timbre adjustment requires positioning the tines vertically in relation to their associated pick-ups. The timbre of each note changes between
pure fundamental (deep) and pure overtones (shallow). Another adjustment of the tines concerns their distance from the pick-ups. This adjustment, described in the Rhodes manual as a volume adjustment, doesn't
only change the volume; it also changes the harmonics of the tone. Pulling the tine away from the pick-up
a bit and playing at a low volume makes the sound a bit softer. Pushing the tine in close creates richer
harmonics and a better "bite" in the tone (see the picture below).
pick-uptine
DEEP
(PURE FUNDAMENTAL)
LOW
(SOFTER SOUND)
IDEAL
(MORE OVERTONE)
IDEALCLOSE
(RICH HARMONICS
SHALLOW
(PURE OVERTONE)
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9. History: The story behind the Electro 2 instrumentsNORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x
Here are the Rhodes electric pianos Clavia has sampled for the Nord Electro 2:
1. Rhodes 1 (V2.0 Factory Sound): Rhodes Stage Piano
73 Mark 1, built in May 1978 and adjusted to ‘deep’
timbre. The so-called volume adjustment was set to
‘low’.
2. Rhodes 2 (V2.0 Factory Sound): Rhodes Suitcase 73
Mark I, built in January 1975. We fine-tuned the
mechanics and adjusted the tines according to the
‘ideal’ timbre adjustment. The volume adjustment was
set to ‘close’.
3. Rhodes 3 (additional sound): Rhodes Stage Piano 73
Mark II, built in April 1981 and adjusted to ‘shallow’
timbre. Remember this sound? It became famous
thanks to the great Chick Corea. The volume adjustment is set to ‘close’.
Given our research, we couldn't help but wonder whatever happen with the Mark IV. As far as we can tell,
the Mark IV was on the design table, but for some reason it never went into production. Instead, the Mark
V came out.
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NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x9. History: The story behind the Electro 2 instruments
As shown here, Rhodes electric pianos had a different key-mechanism design than what
was used in Wurlitzer electric pianos. The Rhodes mechanism was of simpler construction.
The Rhodes Mark II is very similar in design to the Mark I. The differences include
an improved mechanical design, plastic hammers with neoprene rubber instead of felt.
The keys were made of plastic and metal; previously, wood was used.
A Rhodes electric piano shown under-the-hood. The basic patent in the Rhodes comprised the tine, or metallic asymmetric tuning fork, which made the actual tone. The
upper metal parts are the legs of the tuning forks; the underneath parts comprise the
tines. The black part mounted on one of the upper tuning forks helps alleviate unwanted
harmonics.
This shows quite well the tuning-fork design with the tines. This model features plastic
hammers with neoprene tips. The dampers are underneath the tines. Note the springs
attached to each tine. Moving them tuned the note. The coils are the white things to the
left in the figure. The photo also shows the solution for tuning lower notes when the leg
of the tuning fork needs to be curved to get the right balance and tone (top of picture).
Here is another viewing angle that illustrates the action of a Rhodes electric piano's
mechanics. The lower note has been hit and the damper is now muting the decay. A
secondary note is going to be hit. You also can see the magnet tip. In this case, the piano
has been adjusted to "deep" timbre. You can see that the tine is set a bit above the center
of the magnet tip.
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THE WURLITZER EP
The next instrument to be sampled for the Nord Electro
2 is the Wurlitzer electric piano model 200. What became the Wurlitzer electric piano was originally designed by Benjamin Franklin Miessner, born in 1890.
An American inventor who became involved with innovations in radio during his early years, Miessner designed
an electro-acoustic instrument pick-up in 1921. A company called Amperage manufactured it for guitars in
1928. After selling his radio patents to RCA in 1930,
Miessner set up a laboratory to develop his ideas on electrifying musical instruments with the goal of creating
small, affordable electric pianos for educational use. He
experimented with ways of amplifying the strings in an
acoustic piano that lacked a sound board, and he filed a
patent for this design in 1931. Miessner continued to develop his theories and give the piano a more powerful
tone. He began incorporating metal reeds in place of
strings because the reed timbre and the decay of their vibrations sounded superior to the muddy quality of the
soundboardless strings.
A Wurlitzer 200A electric piano -- the most popular
Wurlitzers model ever built. If you compare a Wurlitzer
with a Rhodes, you find the Wurlitzer a little more compact. The Wurlitzer came with 64-note range A to C.
At this point Miessner's concept garnered lots of interest from piano manufactures around the country. His ideas reached the big
jukebox and organ company, Wurlitzer, where someone realized
the invention had great potential. Wurlitzer bought the patent
and the rights to make this instrument and immediately started
the development of an electric piano. They wanted to produce an
electric piano similar to the Rhodes, but with a more piano-like
action and sound. The basic design incorporated felt-dressed
hammers similar to those in an acoustic piano to stroke the metallic reeds. The vibrations from the stroke on the reeds produced
a big, fat, rich tone, which was sensed by the electro-static pick
ups, amplified and routed to the built-in speakers on the front of
the piano. In the patent text from 1959, which Miessner had
originally filed in 1950 with Wurlitzer as the assignee, you can
understand his intentions and design goals. He wanted to built a
compact, lightweight instrument with a real piano action. It was
also important that the piano sound like an acoustic piano. Miessner declared that his invention would solve the tuning problems
associated with acoustic pianos.
The patent for an ‘Electronic Piano’ filed by
Benjamin Franklin Miessner in 1950.
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The first electric piano released by Wurlitzer was the model
100, which came to the market in 1954. It was an instant success. The Wurlitzer Company realized the instrument's potential in music education and offered many special educational
models. Miessner's basic design was the backbone of the product, but one problem remained: It was very difficult to keep a
100-series electric piano in tune, and this problem definitely
needed to be solved.
The tuning artifact that plagued early Wurlitzer electric pianos wasn't solved until the release of the 200 series in 1968. The
Wurlitzer 200 was constructed better mechanically and is the
model most known on the rock scene. It became a huge success
and was produced until 1982.
The Wurlitzer sampled by Clavia's is a model 200A. Unfortunately, there is no record of the year it was
built.
On a Wurlitzer 200A, you have a Volume control
and a Tremolo knob. The Wurly has an internal
amplifier and two built-in speakers.
A peekaboo look inside a Wurly 200A. The Wurly has its own built-in pre- amplifier and two speakers facing the player.
The metal reeds in a Wurly. Here you can see the electrostatic design where two metal
plates are connected via a capacitor and a load resistor. When the reed vibrates, a
voltage applied across a load resistor will produce a signal that generates a musical
tone. This tone is fed through the internal amplification to the instrument's line output. Note the dampers that reside above the reeds. On the high-pitched notes, there's
no need for dampers.
From this angle, you can see the piano-style mechanics with felt-covered hammers
that Wurlitzer electric pianos featured.
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9. History: The story behind the Electro 2 instrumentsNORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x
A
THE HOHNER CLAVINET
The Clavinet is another story. It's based on strings and guitar
pick-ups. Ernst Zacharias designed the Clavinet during the
mid-'60s and filed his patent in 1966.
Previously, Zacharias had designed an instrument called the
Cembalet -- a keyboard that used accordion reeds as the tone
source. This instrument was very popular at the time and was
in production for ten years. Hohner released the Pianet L -- an
electrified metal-reed piano -- in 1962. In 1977, the company
introduced another version called the Pianet T, which was the
cheapest, most popular, and final model of the Pianet series.
While designing and building the Pianet series, Zacharias also
worked on another project. As he was very interested in early
keyboard music, he investigated the clavichord to see if he
could make an electric version. This work finally resulted in the
Hohner Clavinet I. It was primarily designed as a home instrument for playing baroque or classic music. Of course later history proved that this instrument instead had a huge impact on
the rock/funk keyboard player.
Hohner Clavinet D6. The sound of this instrument was made famous thanks to the fabulous Stevie
Wonder song "Superstition".
The mechanics of the Clavinet is similar to what happens in an
electric guitar, and offers a distinct powerful attack. Thanks to
the keys is in direct applied to the hitting the string fast rhythm
patterns. Unfortunately, the first Clavinets were difficult to
play in high-volume situations because of major feedback problems.
The front page of Ernst Zacharias’ patent for
‘String Instruments Having a Keyboard filed
in 1966.
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NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x9. History: The story behind the Electro 2 instruments
f
ll
d
t
r
l
e
s
k
Hohner unleashed the Clavinet C in 1968. This version features a slimmer design and better served the
live keyboard player on stage. Its sales shot rockethigh. In 1971, the Clavinet D6 was launched. It became the most popular model. The D6 sported 15
different filter settings, four different microphone
settings, and a mute function to dampen the strings.
An improved internal string-dampening feature also
reduced the acoustic feedback problem.
The last of the Clavinets -- the E7 -- appeared in
1977. It was especially designed to be taken on the
road by rock bands. The E7's insides were the same
as the D6, with the addition of a special filter to reduce interference from light dimmers and other electric equipment used on stage. Unfortunately, this
filter proved detrimental to the Clavinet's higher frequencies, which was a serious drawback for the
sound quality.
At that point, polyphonic synthesizers began appearing on the market and the Clavinet was no longer
popular. Its production ended in 1980.
Hohner's Clavinet D6 has a pre-amplifier featuring four di
ferent filters that can be fixed to 16 different settings as we
as four pick-up variations. In total, there are 64 different
sound combinations -- which are all simulated in the Nor
Electro 2.
The four fixed filters are designated Brilliant (high-frequency), Treble (high-mid), Medium (mid-low), and Soft
(bass). The Pick-up settings are a combination of the two
pick-ups in the Clavinet. With the B and C buttons activa
ed, the Bridge pick-up is chosen -- which provides a warme
sound. When the A and C buttons are activated, the signa
is fed through the Neck pick-up, giving a brighter sound. Th
combination A and D activates both microphones, making th
sound is more full-bodied. Finally, with the B and D button
activated, the signal gets routed through the Bridge and Nec
pick-ups set out of phase, resulting in a thinner sound with
less fundamental. The knob is the volume controller.
Under the Clavinet's hood. In the front, you'll notice the damping mechanism after the
Neck pick-up. Beneath the keys under the strings, you can see the Bridge pick-up. The
strings are mounted on a metal body that's fastened into the wood cabinet.
This is the lowest key on a Clavinet D6. The green material is yarn, which serves to
dampen and avoid feedback. The little round detail under the key is the tangent with
the rubber tip that hits the string. Underneath the string is an anvil. The Clavinet
strings are more plucked than struck.
Directly from the front. The hammers are mounted beneath the keys. Each hammer has
a rubber tip that hits a string. Each tangent has a corresponding anvil beneath the
string. When the tangent hits a string, the string will vibrate. The screws serve to tune
the strings.
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9. History: The story behind the Electro 2 instrumentsNORD ELECTRO 2 V2.2x
BOOKSUGGESTIONS
The A-Z of Analogue Synthesisers Part One: A-M (Revised) & Part Two: N-Z, by Peter Forrest (Susurreal,
Star House, Sandford, Crediton, Devon EX17 4LR, England; +44-1-363-774627;
pforrest@mail.eclipse.co.uk; also available from Keyfax, www.keyfax.com)
The Hammond Organ: Beauty in the B, by Mark Vail (2002, 2nd edition; ISBN 0-87930-705-6)
Keyfax: 2, 4, and The Omnibus Edition, by Julian Colbeck (Keyfax, 505 River St., Santa Cruz, CA 95060;
831-460-0172; www.keyfax.com)
Vintage Synthesizers, by Mark Vail (2000, 2nd edition; ISBN 0-87930-603-3; Backbeat Books,
www.backbeatbooks.com)