nord Electro 3 User Manual

User Manual

Nord Electro 3

OS Version 1.x

Part No. 50316 Copyright Clavia DMI AB 2009
Print Edition 1.1

The lightning ash with the arrowhead symbol within an
equilateral triangle is intended to al ert the user to the
presence of uninsulated voltage within the products
enclosure that may be of sufcient magnitude to constitute

a risk of electric shock to persons.

Le symbole éclair avec le point de èche 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
sufsante 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.

Instructions pertaining to a risk of re, electric shock or injury to persons.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

SAVE THESE INSTRUCTIONS

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.

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
amplier 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 ow 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 qualied 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 qualied service personnel.

12. To completely disconnect the apparatus from the mains,
remove the mains plug.

13. Ensure possible protective earthing connections of other
equipment when the apparatus is connected to multimedia
systems.

13. Where the Mains plug is used as the disconnect device, the
disconnect device shall remain readily operable.

Trademarks: The Nord logo is a registred trademark of Clavia DMI AB. All other trade­marks mentioned in this publication are the properties of their respective holders.
Specications and appearances are subject to change without notice.

Copyright by Clavia DMI AB, 2008

 | 3

1Introduction

Thank you! .................... 4

About this manual............. 4

Disclaimer ..................... 4

Presets, OS & int. memory ... 4

Factory presets ................ 4

Restori ng the factor y presets ........ 4

OS upgrades ..................4

2Overview and Connections

Knobs & buttons .............. 5

Knobs .......................... 5

Selector buttons .................. 5

On/Of f buttons ................... 5

Shift b utton ...................... 5

Drawbars........................ 5

3Connections

Audio connections............. 6

Headphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Left Ou t and Right O ut ............. 6

Monitor In ....................... 6

USB Connection.................. 6

MIDI Connections.............. 6

MIDI Out ........................ 6

MIDI In .......................... 6

Pedal Connections............. 7

Sustai n Pedal .................... 7

Rotor Peda l ...................... 7

Control Pe dal .................... 7

4Getting Started

About the programs ........... 8

Select a program .............. 8

Edit a program ................ 8

Storing a program............. 8

The Live buffer ................ 9

Octave Shift ................... 9

Adding effects ................. 9

Let’s try the w ah effec t ............. 9

Activate a n amplifie r emulatio n ....... 9

Selecting a piano or a sample 9

Using the Organ...............10

The Rotar y effect ..............10

5Nord Electro 3 Reference

Master le vel knob .................11

Organ section .................11

Organ Mo del butto n ...............11

The B3 model ....................11

The VX m odel ....................11

The Far f model ...................11

Rotar y Speed ....................12

Vibrato/Chorus ...................12

Percussion ......................12

Preset/Split ......................12

Using an a dditiona l MIDI keyboa rd....12

The draw bars ....................13

Organ Pre sets ...................13

Store your ow n organ preset.........13

Piano section ..................13

Clavine t sound ...................13

Pick-up ty pe .....................13

Pick-up Type De scription ...........13

Clav EQ .........................14

Samp Env .......................14

Piano Type.......................14

Mono...........................14

Model ..........................14

Program section ..............14

Up/Down b uttons .................14

Display..........................14

Store/Sto re Org. Prese t ............14

Prog A - Prog B ...................15

Live ............................15

Instrum ent sele ctors ...............15

Shift............................15

Octave Shift......................15

Effects .........................15

EQ .............................15

Effect 1 .........................15

Effect 2 .........................16

Speaker/Comp ...................16

Reverb..........................16

Gain............................16

6The Menus

System Menu ..................17

Memor y Protect – On, Off ...........17

Output R outing ...................17

Transpose .......................17

Fine Tune........................17

Sustai n Pedal Polar ity ..............17

Sustai n Pedal Confi guration .........17

Rotor Peda l Polarit y ...............17

Rotor Peda l Mode .................17

Ctrl Ped al Type ...................17

Ctrl Ped al Mode ..................18

Organ Trig Mo de ..................18

Drawba r Speed ...................18

MIDI Menu.....................18

MIDI Cha nnel.....................18

Lower Channel ...................18

Local Co ntrol.....................18

Control C hange (CC) M ode..........18

Program C hange Mod e.............18

MIDI Spl it Mode...................18

Send CC (Co ntrol Change mes sages) 18

Dump One.......................18

Dump All ........................18

Sound Menu ...................18

Treble Horn S peed ................18

Treble Horn Ac celerat ion............18

Bass Rotor S peed .................19

Bass Rotor A ccelera tion ............19

Perc. Fast De cay..................19

Perc. Slow D ecay .................19

Perc. Norm L evel..................19

Perc. Sof t Level ...................19

Tonewheel M ode..................19

Perc Draw bar 9 Cance l.............19

Key Click Le vel ...................19

7Nord Electro 3 Manager

System re quireme nts .............20

Overview ..................... 20

The Toolbar ..................... 20

The Tabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Partit ion Memor y Indicator ..........21

Right-Clicking ....................21

Upload..........................21

Download .......................21

Rename.........................21

Delete ..........................21

File Formats......................21

The Quick Tour ................21

Transfer pia nos ...................21

Deleti ng a piano ..................21

Downlo ad a new piano .............21

Upload f rom the Nord El ectro 3 ..... 22

Upload a p artitio n from the Ele ctro 3 . 22

Downlo ad a complete b ank ........ 22

Organi ze the progra m partiti on...... 22

NE3 Manager reference ...... 23

Too lba r ........................ 23

Sound Up ...................... 23

Sound Dow n.................... 23

Rename........................ 2 3

Delete ......................... 2 3

Bank Up ....................... 23

Bank Dow n ..................... 23

Backup ........................ 23

Restore ........................ 23

Menus ........................ 23

File............................ 23

Sound Up load (Ctrl+U ) ............ 23

Sound Dow nload (Ctrl +D) ..........24

Bank Upl oad (Ctrl +S hift+U) .........24

Bank Dow nload (Ctr l +Shift+D) .......24

Backup (C trl +B) ..................24

Restore (C trl +R) ..................24

Clean De leted Space ..............24

Format..........................24

Exit (C trl +Q) .....................24

Edit ............................24

Rename ( Ctrl +N)..................24

Delete ..........................24

Select A ll (Ctrl +A) .................24

Invert S electio n ...................24

View............................24

Free Locat ions (Ctrl +F ).............24

Help............................24

About ..........................24

Tabs ...........................24

Loc - Locat ion ................... 25

Name.......................... 25

Size ........................... 25

Ver – Version N umber ............. 25

Right-Click...................... 25

Upload......................... 25

Download ...................... 25

Rename........................ 25

Delete ......................... 25

Footer Are a..................... 25

Partit ion Memor y Indicator ......... 25

Cancel B utton ................... 25

Progres s Bars ................... 25

Messa ge/Text Are a............... 25

Updates a nd piano sa mples ........ 25

8Nord Sample Editor

Nord Sample Editor........... 26

Non-destructive editing............ 26

System Requirements............. 26

Getting Started............... 26

Project, s ample me mory .......... 26

WYDIWYH...................... 26

Working o ffline .................. 26

Sample, Zone ................... 26

Sample Instrument ............... 26

Sample editing, ..................27

Gener ate, upload, dow nload.........27

Installation ....................27

Install ation of the US B driver .........27

Install , Windows PC ...............27

Install , Mac OSX ..................27

The Quick Tour .............. 28

First Li ght ...................... 28

Download Sample Instruments...... 28

Upload Sample Instruments . . . . . . . . 28

Create a new S ample Ins trument ....28

Adding Au dio files ................ 2 9

Single Sample Per File Assign....... 30

Editing ......................... 30

Looping.........................31

Gener ate a Sample In strument ......31

Menu Reference .............. 32

File Men u....................... 32

Edit Men u ...................... 33

Instrum ent Menu ................. 33

Settin gs Menu ................... 33

Manage r Menu ..................3 3

Help Men u...................... 33

Tab Reference ................ 33

Common a rea ................... 33

Audio File/Assign Tab ........ 34

Single S ample Per Fi le Assign ......35

Multi Sa mple Per Fil e Assign .......3 5

Manual S ample As sign ............ 35

Sample Loop/Stop Tab .......3 6

Long Loop .......................37

Short L oop ......................37

No Loop ........................37

Sample Start Tab............. 38

Sample Alt Star t Tab ......... 3 8

Instrument Tab ............... 38

Sample G ain grid ................ 38

Keyboar d Gain grap h ............. 39

Detune......................... 39

Sample Zone.................... 39

Auto Map....................... 39

Play Mode ...................... 3 9

Samp Preset Tab .............4 0

Manager tab.................. 40

Manage r Toolbar .................4 0

File Types an d Names ..............41

9MIDI functions

About th e MIDI impl ementati on ..... 42

Keyboar d velocit y ................ 42

Program change ................. 42

MIDI Sys ex (System Exc lusive) ...... 42

Nord Electro 3with a seq. ... 42

Connections .................... 42

Local On /Off .................... 42

MIDI Cha nnel.................... 42

Program C hange................. 42

Controllers...................... 42

Control lers and “ch asing” .......... 42

Program & Controller dumps. 43

Sendin g program du mps .......... 4 3

Sendin g MIDI Contr oller dum ps ..... 4 3

Recei ve MIDI SysE x dumps ........ 43

MIDI Con troller lis t................ 4 3

MIDI imp lementat ion char t ......... 4 4

10Index

Index .......................... 45

Nord Electro 3 User Manual

Thank you!

We’d first like to thank you for purchasing the Nord Electro 3. Our
goal when we developed the Nord Electro instruments was to create
the best emulations of traditional electromechanical keyboard
instruments on the market, and to make these instruments compact
and lightweight. With the Electro 3 we have taken our commitment a
step further, by upgrading the organ, the piano and the effects sections
and also by introducing the ability to use sampled instruments from the
Nord Sample Library in the Nord Electro 3.

This allows us to e.g. include some of the fabulous
Mellotron sounds in the factory sound bank. Each
and every piano and sample in the Nord Electro 3
can be replaced by you, using the free Nord Electro
3 Sound Manager application. New pianos and other
sounds are found on the enclosed Nord DVD and on
the www.nordkeyboards.com web site.

No compromises, just a good selection of outstanding, classic key­board sounds with true feel, from a natural keyboard response to the
authentic sound quality – that is what we have been pursuing during
the development. To make a great tool you have to put all the focus on
a few things and that is exactly what we tried to achieve. We hope that
you will have as much fun owning and using the instrument, as we had
developing it.

About this manual

You are probably very eager to start using your new instrument, and
we sure don’t want to keep you from having fun. We will try to cover all
the essential aspects on how to use the Electro 3 in the very first few
pages of this manual. After that follows the reference section where all
the functions are explained in detail.

Disclaimer

All trademarks and brand names mentioned in this manual are the
property of their respective owner’s and are not affiliated or associated
with Clavia. These trademarks and brand names are only mentioned to
describe the types of sounds reproduced by Nord Electro 3.

Factory presets, OS and internal
memory

The operating system, programs and pianos and samples in Nord
Electro 3 are stored in a Flash memory. A Flash memory keeps the
data also when the power is turned 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, pianos and samples and
programs to your Nord Electro 3 from a computer. The Nord Electro 3
features a USB port for quick and easy download of new piano and/or
instrument samples.

The internal sound memory of Nord Electro 3 consists of 128 pro­grams, numbered 1A, 1B, 2A. 2B ~ 64B. In addition there is the Live
buffer memory, which will continuously store any changes as they are
made, and remember these settings after the power is turned off.

Factory presets

All of the 128 factory Programs of Nord Electro 3 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
using the Electro Manager application.

Restoring the factory presets

The factory Programs are available as Electro Manager files for
download at the Nord web site at www.nordkeyboards.com or on the
included Nord DVD.

OS upgrades

The latest OS version for Nord Electro 3 is available
for download at www.nordkeyboards.com

1

Introduction

4 | NordElEctro3UsErMaNUalosv1.X

The front panel of the Nord Electro 3 has four main areas, Organ,
Piano, Program and Effects. We’ll familiarize ourselves briefly with

the panel here and describe the functions in detail in the following
chapters.

On the left part of the panel is the Master Level knob, the organ
model selector and the Rotary Speed section. The Master level
controls the entire instruments output level at the two output jacks and
the headphone output. This control is not programmable, that particular
functionality is instead available in the effects section with the Gain
control.

The Organ section is lit and active when the Organ selector in the
Program area is activated.

Moving towards the middle of the panel, the Piano section behaves
just as the organ. The controls are lit when the Piano selector is active.

The Program section contain the parameters and functions that are
used to select and store programs, to set the System, MIDI and Sound
functions and to select the instrument to be used with the Organ or
Piano selectors. We’ll describe the functions in this area in greater detail
starting at page 14.

The Effect section contains the functions of the effects. Please refer
to page 15 for more information.

The functions and settings of the System, MIDI and Sound menus are
conveniently printed to the right on the panel.

Knobs & buttons

Knobs

The knobs control the continuously variable pa­rameters in the Nord Electro 3.

A parameter value can be totally different from the knob’s physical M
position when you load a Program. As soon as you start turning
the knob, the value will ‘snap’ to the knob’s physical position.

Selector buttons

Selector buttons are used to activate one setting
in an array. Selector buttons have a set of round
or triangular LEDs to indicate the current setting.
Press the button several times to cycle through the
possible options.

Holding Shift and pressing a selector button (with the exception 
of the Type button) will cycle through the settings in a counter
clockwise fashion.

On/Off buttons

On/Off buttons are used for activating a parameter
or a group of parameters such as effects.

Shift button

Some buttons have a secondary function, which
will be available if you hold down Shift while
pressing the button. The name of the secondary
function is printed below the button. Shift is also
used together with the Up/Down buttons when
you want to change a setting in the System, MIDI
or Sound menus.

Drawbars

The nine drawbars of Nord Elec­tro 3 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.

2

Overview and Connections

 2ovErviEwaNdcoNNEctioNs | 5

Audio connections

Headphones

This is where you connect a ¼" stereo connector from a pair of head­phones.

Left Out and Right Out

The left and right line level outputs from the Nord Electro 3 are unbal­anced. Use ¼" connectors to connect the Nord Electro 3 to an amplifier
or recording equipment.

The Nord Electro 3 is a stereo instrument, with separate signal paths for
the left and right audio channels. To properly experience the Electro 3,
use both outputs in a stereo operation.

The System functions allow you to separate the pianos/samples and
the organ sounds in the left and right outputs. Read more about this
functionality on page 17.

General guide on audio connections:

• Make all the connections before you turn on the power to your amplier.

• Turn on the power to your amplier last.

• Turn off the power to your amplier rst.

Playing at a high volume level can result in hearing impairments E
such as permanent hearing loss.

Monitor In

Use this to connect and monitor a signal from an
mp3 or a CD player at the Nord Electro 3’s head­phone output. This allows you to e.g. rehearse with
the Electro 3 to pre-recorded music.

Signals connected to this input will not be processed with the M
Electro 3’s effects or appear at the Electro 3’s left and right output
jacks.

USB Connection

The USB connection is used for the Nord Electro to communicate with
a personal computer in order to update the OS or to add or replace
any of the piano and/or sampled sounds. The computer can run the
Nord Electro Manager application, or be used to transfer the operating
system if the unit needs to be updated.

Computers running Microsoft Windows operating systems need M
a driver for the USB connection to work. The driver can be found
on the enclosed Nord DVD, or at the www.nordkeyboards.com
website.

MIDI Connections

MIDI Out

MIDI connection used for sending keyboard and panel generated MIDI
data from the Nord Electro 3 to other equipment such as sound mod­ules or computers.

MIDI In

MIDI connection used to receive MIDI data to the Nord Electro 3 from
other equipment such as keyboards or computers.

3

Connections

6 | NordElEctro3UsErMaNUalosv1.X

Pedal Connections

The Nord Electro 3 has three pedal inputs; one for a sustain pedal, one
for a rotor speed control pedal and one for a control pedal (an expres­sion type pedal, which can be used to control various parameters).

Sustain Pedal

¼" connector for a switch type pedal. When a connected pedal is
operated, the notes you play will be sustained.

Rotor Pedal

¼" connector for a switch type pedal. When a connected pedal is
operated, the rotary speed will change.

Two types of pedal polarities can be used with these inputs; you M
select the one that applies to each pedal, in the System menu
which is described on page 17.

It is possible to use only one pedal connected to the sustain pedal 
input to control sustain for piano sounds and rotary speed selection
for organ sounds (see page 17 for details on how to configure this).

Control Pedal

¼" stereo connector for a pedal of the potentiometer type (also known
as expression pedals). A connected pedal can be used as a swell pedal
for the organs, a volume pedal for pianos and samples and also as a
controller for two of the effects: the P-wah and the ring modulator (RM).

When connecting an expression pedal to the Control Pedal input, you
should use a stereo cable with a Tip-Ring-Sleeve connector. Please
note that the pedal must have a stereo output jack. The resistance
range of a control pedal should be 10 or 50 kOhm. To simplify setup,
the most common pedal models (Roland, Yamaha, Ernie Ball and Fa­tar) are pre-configured in the Nord Electro 3, and you simply select the
type of pedal which you want to use in the System menu. The System
Menu is described on page 17.

 3coNNEctioNs | 7

About the programs

Complete sound settings are stored in the Program memory of the
Nord Electro 3. This memory area has 128 locations that are numbered
1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, etc up to 64B. Every program can be edited and
replaced as you wish. A complete set of the factory programs are avail­able on the Nord DVD and on our website.

Select a program

Press the Up or Down button repeatedly until you’ve selected the
desired program number. The program will be loaded immediately.

Press the Prog A or Prog B buttons to quickly switch between the
program number A or program number B. Press Shift and Up/Down
to scroll continuously in the program bank.

Edit a program

Editing a program is just as easy as grabbing a knob and change a set­ting, or press a button to select a different setting. The knob’s physical
position isn’t always as the stored setting in the program that is active,
but as soon as you start turning a knob, the parameter will snap to the
knob’s position.

When you have edited a program, a dot will appear in the lower right
display corner next to the program number. This will alert you to the
fact that the program has been edited but not yet saved. If you select a
new program without saving, any edits you have made will be lost and
the program will have its original settings the next time you select it.

Storing a program

If you are happy with an edit that you have
made, you should probably save or Store the
program.

Press the

1 Store button.

The program number LEDs starts flashing.

There is a Memory Protect function that is set to On when the M
Electro 3 leaves the Nord Factory. This has to be turned Off in the
System Menu before you can save a program.

Press

2 Shift + System and use the Up/Down buttons to select

the Memory Protect Option – this is the very first option in the
System menu. Set the memory protection to Off by pressing and
holding Shift and the Up or Down buttons. Exit the System menu
by pressing the Prog A / System button again.

The setting of the memory protection will be remembered even if M
the Electro 3 is turned off.

Select a new location where you want to store the program.

3

Use the Up/Down buttons and the Prog A and Prog B buttons to
navigate to a new program location if you do not want to overwrite the
original program.

Press the

4 Store button a second time to confirm your choice.

The edited program has now replaced the previous one in the location
you specified.

To cancel the procedure, press the Shift button before you press M
Store the second time.

With Memory Protect set to Off, a double tap on the Store button M
will store a Program in its original location.

4

Getting Started

Let’s take a few minutes to get familiar with the Electro 3. The user interface is designed to be as intuitive as possible, and to perform as well as you
do in a live situation. We hope that you soon will feel confident in using it, and by following this short chapter, we will go through most of the functions.

8 | NordElEctro3UsErMaNUalosv1.X

The Live buffer

The special Live buffer can be described
as a “live program memory”. If you activate
the Live button, all changes to the panel set­tings you make will be continuously saved. If
you switch the power off, or select another
program, the settings are still stored in the
Live memory, so when you power up next
time (or return to the Live memory) all set­tings will be exactly as they were when you left them.

If the Live memory is selected and you decide you wish to store the
settings permanently as a program you can do so using the stan­dard methods (see above). You can also store programs into the Live
memory location, in which case the program settings will replace the
current Live memory settings.

Octave Shift

Press either of the Octave Shift buttons to
shift the pitch up or down in whole octaves
within the instrument’s note range. Each
instrument has a finite note range, read more
about this on page 15.

Adding effects

Select a program, e.g. number 1A 1
which is a Grand Piano with a hint of
reverb.

Turn on

2 Effect 2 (the On LED should

be lit) and press repeatedly on the
Effect 2 selector.

The effect options are indicated with the
selector LEDs and changes in a cyclical,
clockwise fashion for each time the selec­tor is pressed.

Some of the effects have three options that
indicate the depth of the effect. Flang 1 is
the shallowest version, Flang 2 is a more
pronounced effect and when both Flang 1
and Flang 2 LEDs are lit, you have selected
the most dramatic tremolo effect.

Turn the

3 effect rate knob.

This changes the rate of the active effect.

Hold

4 Shift and press repeatedly on the effect selector.

This allows you to reverse through the effect selections.

Turn

5 off the effect.

If you now continue to press on the effect selector after the effect is
turned off, the effect setting will change even though the effect is not
active.

This method can be used to select a certain effect setting while 
playing, without affecting the sound until you actually activate the
effect.

Let’s try the wah effect

Turn on 1 Effect 1 and activate the A-Wa.

The A-Wa is a dynamic Wah-wah effect. It will affect the sound de­pending on the volume of the signal.

Play a few notes with varying velocity while turning the

2 Effect 1

knob.

The P-Wa is a manual Wah-wah effect that can be controlled 
manually by turning the knob while playing or by using a control
pedal connected to the Control Pedal input on the rear panel.

Activate an amplier emulation

Press the 1 Speaker/Comp button to activate the Amp emulation.

The Speaker/Comp LED will be lit.

Press repeatedly on the selector to cycle through the various options.

2

The knob controls the drive for the three amps and the rotary simulator,
and the amount when the compressor is selected.

Selecting a piano or a sample

Make sure that the 1 Piano instrument selector is active.

Press repeatedly on the

2 Piano Type selector to cycle through the

six types.

Select the

3 Grand and press the

Model button.

This allows you to select the various
Grand’s within this particular type.

Press the

4 Type selector again until

the Samp Lib is activated.

Use the Model selector to select one
of the samples that are included in the
Electro 3 from the factory.

Press the

5 Samp Env button repeat-

edly.

This will cycle through the four options for
the sample’s attack and velocity settings.

Press and hold

6 Shift and the Samp

Env button.

This allows you to select one of the four
available release time settings.

This button doubles as the Clavinet M
EQ selector, when the Clavinet type
is active.

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Using the Organ

Press the 1 Organ instrument selector.

This activates the Organ section.

Press the

2 Organ Model selector

repeatedly to cycle through the three
organs – the B3, Vox and Farfisa emula­tions.

The settings for the three organ sounds are
made using the digital drawbars. The Farfisa
uses these in a switch mode, with only two
settings for each.

Make a setting with the drawbars and

3

then press the Preset/Split button.

This activates the second preset, which allows you to keep two dif­ferent settings for an organ sound available from the panel at any
time. The settings of both Presets 1 and 2 are stored in the Electro 3’s
program memory.

Press and hold

4 Shift and the Preset/Split button.

This activates the organ split mode. The keyboard will be split at C4.
The lower half will use the Preset 1/Lo setting; the upper half will use
the Preset 2/Up setting.

If you press and hold both the Shift and the Preset/Split buttons 
for a couple of seconds, the Split LED will begin to flash and you
can press a key on the keyboard to set a new split point as long
as these buttons are held down. The key you press will be the first
upper manual key.

The Rotary effect

The rotary effect adds some great sonic
drama to the organs, but can of course be
used with any other sound as well. The Elec­tro 3 rotary has three available speeds: fast,
slow and stop. Stop does not disengage
the effect; it only stops the rotating speakers

Make sure that the

1 Speaker/Comp

effect is activated and select the Rotary
by pressing the effect selector.

The drive knob now controls the overdrive of
the rotary amplifier.

Press the

2 Slow/Stop button in the

Rotary Speed section to the left on the
panel, to cycle between the Fast and
Slow speeds of the rotary.

The rotors will speed up and slow down, producing a nice swirly effect
without the negative side effects that e.g. alcohol intake might induce.

Press the

3 Stop mode button to activate this one-speed mode.

The Stop Mode LED will be lit.

Press repeatedly on the

4 Slow/Stop button to cycle between

Fast and Stop.

The rotary will now emulate the functionality of an early, one speed
original rotary speaker that had only the fast and the stopped rotary
speed options.

If you connect a foot switch to the rotor pedal input, you can 
control the rotary speed with this pedal.

This finishes our little tour; we hope that you now have the initial knowledge on how to operate most of the functions on the panel.
The following chapter is the reference section, with the chapter on the Nord Electro Manager application after that, on page 20.

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Master level knob

This control sets the overall output level of
the Electro 3, at the line and the headphone
outputs. This is not a programmable control.
If you want to program an output level for a
particular program, this can be achieved with
the Gain control.

Organ section

The Organ section in the Nord Electro 3 features
emulations of three classic organ models; a Ham­mond B3 (B3 model), a Vox Continental II (Vx model)
and a Farfisa Compact DeLuxe (Farf model).

Organ Model button

You select which organ model to use, with
the Organ Model button.

The B3 model

This model is a digital simulation of the classic mechanical tone wheel
organ. This simulation utilizes innovative and advanced methods to
capture every nuance of the original sound, for example:

An extremely accurate digital model of the original chorus and vibrato •
scanner.

Modeling of the individual random contact bounces for each harmonic.•

Modeling of the unique frequency characteristics of the built-in pre-•
amplifier which forms the “body” of the sound.

Simulation of the energy robbing in the tone wheel architecture that •
creates the typical “compressed” sound.

Authentic tuning of the tone wheels according to the original design•

Extremely fast keyboard response.•

Full polyphony.•

Each drawbar represents a partial with a fixed harmonic interval relating
to the played note. Note that the Sub3 drawbar is a 5th above the
fundamental harmonic although, in most situations it is perceived as
sounding below the fundamental harmonic.

Do not forget to try out the four tonewheel modes that are avail- 
able in the Sound menu. These will dramatically change the sound
of the B3 model from squeaky clean to a battered, old work horse.

The VX model

The original instrument is probably the most famous of all the tran­sistor-based combo organs that emerged in the early 60’s. Transistor
technology made it possible to manufacture much more compact and
portable organ instruments. Compared to the mighty sound of tone­wheel based organs, transistor organs generally sounded reedier and
weaker, but this one had a distinctive, timeless sound and is recreated
faithfully in the Nord Electro 3.

The labels used for the VX model drawbars are printed on the row
directly above the drawbar led’s. For basic drawbar operation, please
refer to “The Drawbars” on page 13. The drawbars on the Electro 3’s
VX emulation control the level of each available partial, in the same
fashion as on a dual manual original Continental. The upper manual
uses the 16, 8, 4, II and III registers and the lower manual uses the 8,
4, 2 and IV registers. Each register represents a fixed harmonic interval,
or groups of intervals (the II, III and IV) in a relationship to the played
note.

The two rightmost drawbars control the sum of all partials in the form
of a filtered, soft and dark sounding signal (the sine icon), and an un­filtered signal with a bright and intense sound (the triangular icon).

If these drawbars are both fully set to the lowest level, the organ M
will produce no sound.

The Farf model

This typical “buzzy” sound of this vintage instrument is one of the most
distinct and easily recognizable organ sounds ever created, yet it is ac­tually possible to get quite a wide range of sounds out of the instrument.

The labels used for the Farf model drawbars are printed on the upper
row above the drawbars. The drawbars act as on/off switches, or
“Register selectors” when the Farf model is selected.

5

Nord Electro 3 Reference

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The drawbar LEDs 5-8 are lit up for an activated voice, and drawbar
LEDs 1-4 are lit up for a deactivated voice. The illustration below shows
the registers.

Rotary Speed

The rotary speaker speed
is controlled with the rotary
speed buttons or with an
external pedal connected
to the rotor pedal input on
the rear panel.

Press the Slow/Stop button to change the
rotation from Slow to Fast and vice versa.

To stop the rotors, press the Stop Mode
button to activate the Stop Mode and then the Slow/Stop button (this
does not deactivate the Rotary Speaker simulation - it only stops the
rotors). When you press the Slow/Stop button again the rotors will
accelerate to the Fast speed setting. This functionality mimics the
behavior of an early, one speed original rotary speaker.

A connected pedal can be set to change the speeds only when it is
held down or to function like a switch, changing the speed every time
you press it. This functionality is set in the System menu, read more on
this on page 17.

The actual rotary simulation is activated at the Effects section, with M
the Speaker/Comp selector.

Vibrato/Chorus

The Vibrato/Chorus sec­tion mimics the behavior of
the original organs, which
means that these parameters
functionality depends on
which model is active. Select
the desired vibrato or chorus type by repeatedly pressing the Mode
button. The Vibrato/Chorus section is common for both the upper and
lower presets, if the split function is active..

B3 – The original tonewheel organ’s vibrato and chorus 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, a phase modulated signal is added to the original signal.
Three different types of choruses (C1- C3) and three different types of
vibratos (V1-V3) are available.

VX - There is only one type of vibrato available for the VX model, which
is activated using the ON button in the Vibrato section.

Farf - This model has two basic vibrato modes; “Light” and “Heavy”,
with two different rates for each mode.

Percussion

The Percussion effect adds extra
attack to the B3 sound by having
a single envelope generator con­trolling either the 2nd or the 3rd
harmonic. The envelope “opens
up” for a short moment in the
beginning of the sound when you press the key(s). The percussion will
only affect the upper manual if the Split function is active.

The Percussion is a single-triggered non-legato effect. It 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.

The percussion effect is activated and deactivated by pressing the
On button. The Soft/Fast button toggles between normal or soft
percussion levels and fast or slow decay times, providing four available
combinations. The Third button toggles between using the 2nd or 3rd
partial as the source for the percussion effect. The percussion decay
times (and levels) can be fine-tuned for Fast and Slow mode individu­ally. Please refer to “The Sound Menu” on page 18 for details.

With the original instrument, you could not use the percussion M
effect and 9th drawbar simultaneously. However with the Nord
Electro 3 you have a choice. You can use the percussion and 9th
drawbar together or chose to mimic the original organ behavior by
turning off the 9th drawbar whenever the percussion is activated.
Read more on the Perc Drawbar setting in the Sound menu on
page 18.

Preset/Split

Use the 1/Lo and 2/Up buttons to store
and recall two separate settings for the organ
section.

Press the Shift and the Split button to
divide the Nord Electro 3 keyboard into
two sections, the Lower Manual and Upper Manual sections. By
default, the split point on the keyboard is between the keys B3 and C4.
You can, however, also set the split point manually by holding Shift +
pressing Split, the split LED starts to flash, then while still holding the
buttons press the desired key. A set split point is saved as part of the
parameters in a program.

Using an additional MIDI keyboard in a dual
manual fashion

You can connect an additional MIDI keyboard to the Electro 3 to use
the organ in a dual manual fashion, with the external keyboard operat­ing as the lower manual.

Connect the external MIDI keyboard’s MIDI out to the Electro 3’s

1

MIDI in.

Set the MIDI channel of the external keyboard to the channel that 2
is set in the MIDI menu, the Lower Channel setting.

The default Lower MIDI channel in the Electro 3 is 2.

Select the

3 MIDI Split option in the MIDI Menu and set this to On.

Read more on how to change settings in the MIDI Menu on page 18.

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On the Electro 3, press and hold Shift and the Split button.4

This will activate the organ split mode, but since MIDI Split is set to On,
the Electro 3’s keyboard will only play the upper part without being split.

Press the Preset/Split button to cycle between the 1/Lo and the

5

2/Up settings.

Adjust the drawbars for the lower, external keyboard when the 1/Lo
LED is lit and for the Electro 3’s keyboard when the 2/Up LED is lit.

The drawbars

The drawbars of the Nord Electro 3 are represented by buttons and
LED graphs. This gives you a big advantage: when you change the
program, the correct drawbar settings are recalled immediately and
shown by the LEDs.

The drawbars of Nord Electro 3 behave similar to their mechanical
counterparts, i.e. with the B3 and VX models you “pull out” and “push
in” the drawbars using the Drawbar buttons. The buttons are special in
the way that they auto-increment/decrement the drawbar value when
held. If you hold a Drawbar button the corresponding drawbar value will
continue to change (within its range) until you release the button. The
speed of the automatic change can be set in the System menu, read
more about this on page 17.

While holding a Drawbar button, you can press its sibling button to 
momentarily auto-increment/decrement in the opposite direction.

Organ Presets

The Drawbar buttons can be used to access
17 different organ presets plus a Random
setting (RND) for each of the three organ
models. These presets contain the drawbar
settings, the vibrato/chorus and the percus­sion parameters.

Press Shift + the corresponding Drawbar button to select one of these
presets. The Random function will generate a new random preset every
time you activate it.

Store your own organ preset

Here is how to store your own organ preset:

Use the upper drawbar and lower drawbar buttons, and the

1

vibrato/chorus and percussion sections to create the organ setting
you want to store.

Press and hold Shift and the Store/Store Org. Preset button. 2

The display will flash O. pr.

Setect a desired location to store by pressing one of the Organ 3
Preset buttons.

The display will show the selected preset number.

Confirm your intentions by pressing Store once more.

4

This procedure may be aborted by pressing any button (except Store
or one of the preset buttons) on the panel.

Organ presets can be managed using the Nord Electro Manager, M
read more about this on page 20.

Piano section

The Piano section of
the Nord Electro 3 is
divided into six different
types; each type can
contain several instru-

ment models. You can
freely add new piano instruments and
samples via USB using the Nord Electro
3 Manager utility (see “Nord Electro 3
Manager” on page 20).

Right out of the box, Nord Electro 3 fea­tures a fine collection of carefully selected
acoustic and electromechanical pianos,
harpsichords and sampled instruments.
A lot of effort was put in to ensure that
the response and sound of the sampled
instruments matches every nuance of the
real article. Each piano instrument has
been multi sampled in a vast amount of
velocity levels. That’s one reason why they
all sound and feel so authentic.

The Piano section also includes the ability to use samples from the
Nord Sample Library, like e.g. the Mellotron sounds that have been
licensed by Clavia.

Clavinet sound

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 3, which means that
you get all the possible original Clavinet D6 sound variations (plus an
additional four) by selecting different pick-up and filter combinations.
Here’s how it works:

Pick-up type

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.
When the Clavinet is selected in the Nord Electro 3, you use the Model
button in the Piano Select section to select one of the four pick-up
variations:

Pick-up Type Description

Clav Model 1 (CA) Only the “neck” pick-up; a warmer, less bright
sound.

Clav Model 2 (CB) Only the “bridge” pick-up; a bright sound.
Clav Model 3 (DA) Both pick-ups on and in phase; a very full sound.
Clav Model 4 (DB) Both pick-ups 180 degrees out of phase; the

fundamental is almost cancelled out and the sound becomes thin.

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Clav EQ

The two Clav EQ buttons works as filter selectors. By selecting different
combinations of the Brilliant/Treble and Medium/Soft filter indicators
you can reproduce all 15 possible filter variations, exactly like on the
original D6. Use the Shift button together with the Clav EQ button to
access the Med and Soft settings.

Samp Env

When the Samp Lib type is active, the Samp Env LEDs and button can
be used to set a desired velocity response and attack and release time
behavior that affects the playback of the samples.

When none of the Attack LEDs are lit, the sample playback is not
affected by any additional attack from the Electro 3 and it does not
respond to keyboard velocity.
Slow At – select this when you want to play the samples with a slower
attack.
Vel Dyn - select this when you want to control the volume and the
timbre of the samples with velocity from the keyboard.
When both LEDs are lit, both the slow attack and the velocity option
are active.

Press and hold the Shift button and operate the Samp Env button to
set the desired release times.
When none of the Release LEDs are lit, the sample playback is not af­fected by any additional release.

Rel 1: Short release
Rel 2: Medium release
Rel 1&2: Long release

Piano Type

Use the Type selector to choose which piano sound
you want to use. Each type may consist of several
models; press repeatedly on the model selector to
cycle through the models within a selected type.

Category Description

Grand Acoustic and electric grand pianos

Upright Upright pianos

E Piano Electric Pianos

Wurl Wurlitzer electric pianos

Clav/Hps Clavinets and Harpsichords

Samp Lib Samples

Mono

If you press Shift + Mono when a stereo instrument is selected, the
stereo samples will be played back in mono instead.

Model

Press repeatedly on the model selector to cycle through the available
models within a selected type.

The type of a piano has been set by the lemmings at the Nord M
factory. You cannot move a piano from one type to another.

Program section

The Program section is
where you select the pro­gram, where the Store
functions are activated
and where you enter the
system, MIDI and sound
menus.

Up/Down buttons

The Up/Down buttons
to the left of the display
have several functions in
the Nord Electro 3. Press
repeatedly to select one
of the 128 programs; the
number and sub-letter
of the program will be
presented in the display.
Press Shift together
with Up/Down to scroll
through every location
(1A, 1B, 2A etc).

If you have activated any
of the three menus, the System, MIDI or Sound menu, these buttons
are then used to select a function, and together with the Shift button to
change the value of a selected function. Read more about the menus
on page 17.

Display

The LED display will show the active program number. If you edit a
program, a dot will appear next to the program number, at the bottom
right of the display.

If you have activated any of the three menus, the System, MIDI or
Sound menu, the setting for each menu item is shown with the LEDs.

Store/Store Org. Preset

The red Store button is used when storing Programs and Organ
Presets.

Press the Store button once and the current program number will

1

start to flash.

Select the desired location with the Up/Down buttons and press

2

Store again to confirm your intentions and to store the current set­tings to the selected location.

Press any button to abort the store procedure. 3

Press Shift + Store. 4

The display will flash O. pr.

Select a desired location to store by pressing one of the Organ

5

Preset buttons.

The display will show the selected preset number.

Confirm your intentions by pressing Store once more.

6

This procedure may be aborted by pressing the Shift button.

In order to be able to store settings the Memory Protection must M
be turned off. Read more about this on page 17.

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