Clavia Nord Lead

Clavia Nord Lead Image

One of the most incredible new synths available. It re-defines analog synthesis in a modern synth. Using Virtual Sound Modeling technology the intricate nuances and character of analog synth sounds are beautifully recreated on this amazingly flexible synth.

First of all, it can sound like them all, an ARP 2600 or a Minimoog or a Roland Jupiter. This synth is polyphonic and multitimbral, it has a very flexible filter, LFO and Envelope control, portamento/legato, a great arpeggiator and analog-like dedicated knobs for quick and easy synthesizing!

Everything is MIDI'd up and controllable, there's a great pitch bender and a 'morphing' feature. A performance mode allows certain parameters to be stored with a sound such as unison or poly modes, legato and portamento. It is available as a Keyboard, a Rackmount module and as Virtual PC Software.

Clavia Nord Rack Image

This synth is currently in use by lots of artists including Ken Ishii, The Crystal Method, Fatboy Slim, Cirrus, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, Deftones, Mouse on Mars, Maroon 5, Dr. Dre, Laurent Garnier, ATB, The Prodigy, Autechre, Astral Projection, Boom Boom Satellites, Fluke, Front Line Assembly, KMFDM and Underworld.

44 Visitor comments
Cron Plaza Majestic
December 26, 2008 @ 3:59 pm
"mk2 - thinner and weaker , more features......
mk thinner and weaker still ! ......more features"



More features yes..... but weaker???check your ears dude,they all have the same sound chips,and sound identical the output convertors maybe sound cleaner but soundwise patches on the Nord 1 sound the same on the Nord 2x,and you can dump mk1 patches directly from the MK1 into the 2X,
supermel74
October 9, 2008 @ 9:50 pm
I have the rack version. The build quality is superb, like something you would find on a construction site. The interface is really straight forward. The sound is awesome, possibly my favorite virtual analog. The drawbar organ emulation is a good feature too, probably a precursor to the Nord Electro?
tixxican
October 6, 2008 @ 7:26 pm
I should have had my head examined when I chose a Korg Z1 over a Nord Lead as my 1st synth. I am not an expert, but the Nord is so much more fun (believe me, I've had both). "Virtual Analogue" on the the Korg is...wrong! The Nord is a lovely machine...and the right way!
The Korg tries to emulate the "real" sounds you are given, where are are you to go from them...it's just wierd!
jack
September 22, 2008 @ 12:13 pm
There was only one nord lead and it was the mk1.......

mk2 - thinner and weaker , more features......
mk thinner and weaker still ! ......more features.

The mk1 at times sounds like a demented 12bit machine and just has a kick to its sounds that the mk2 couldnt match.I tried all 3 and kept the mk1 .Serioulsy , clavia lost bthe plot with the nord lead as the # perfected ' the code.
 
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VSE Rating

Excellent

User Rating

Rated 4.12 (685 Votes)

  • Demos & Media
  • YouTube Thumbnail
    Video 1
    - Nord Lead 1 - Epic Trance Demo (Keys Magazine 3/95)

    Audio Clip 1 - All kinds of impressive basslines, pads and sounds from this excellent synthesizer.

    Manual - SRead or download the complete and original owner's manual (in PDF format).

  • Specifications
  • Polyphony - 4 to 12 voices, 4 part Multitimbral
  • Oscillators - 2 VSM oscillators (triangle, sawtooth, pulse) and noise
  • LFO - 2 LFO's (triangle, sawtooth, random) control OSC 1 or 2, filter, pulse-width, ADSR envelope
  • Filter - 12 dB/oct 2-pole lowpass, 24dB/oct 4-pole lowpass / bandpass / highpass (both with cutoff, resonance, env amount, env velocity, key tracking, ADSR envelope)
  • VCA - ADSR envelope and Amplifier Gain control
  • Keyboard - 48 velocity sensitive keys
  • Memory - 59 preset programs, 40 user, 100 performances
  • Control - MIDI, and all knobs and controls are MIDI!
  • Date Produced - 1995

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