Vintage Synth Explorer

Clavia • Nord Micro Modular

The Nord Micro Modular is a somewhat stripped down version of the massive Nord Modular system. Like the Nord Modular, a PC computer is used to virtually patch, tweak, edit and design your synth patches in a modular fashion. However the stand-alone keyboard interface has been replaced here by the very small four-knobbed Micro Modular interface. The software is the exactly the same as the original however the controller itself which houses DSP power is considerably less than that of the original - reducing this units polyphony from 32 to 4 voices or less and multitimbrality has been stripped away. Software version 2.1 adds many new features including a Ring Modulator, 14-Band FilterBank, Vocal Filter, FM Sine wave, Digitizer (bare-bones sampling) and many more tricks.

After you've created a patch using the software you can load it into one of 99 memories within the controller. It can then be used live or in a MIDI studio as a synth module. The simplified controller has a volume knob and 3 other knobs that can be assigned editable parameters. Limited as this might appear, you still get one of the biggest and most powerful modular synthesizer emulator programs in the world. The Micro Modular System is a fraction the cost of the Nord Modular and would be a powerful complement to any serious musicians arsenal. Be sure to get the latest OS version which is v3.03. It's been used by Autechre, u-ziQ, Speedy J, Kid606, Somatic Responses, Heretik, and Ixy.

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Brillman

Posted 159 days ago

This is my absolute favourite synth so far and have owned many! The possibilities are endless and this is part of the magic and danger (i´m addicted). The idea of a hybrid synth consisting of both software and hardware was a revolutionary in 1998 and still seems unsurpassed in 2010? The sequencer & logic modules make for some very versatile, original and weird sounds...

Perry

Posted 243 days ago

Love this synth but I hate the editor in 0SX. Gonna get 0S9 on me old mac just to run the editor.

Dusan

Posted 584 days ago

incredible little beast. I got it for 350$ and after two years messing with it I still have an endless planes to discover. this review here helped me to buy this little fella. thanks!

Egad

Posted 659 days ago

I have one of these, love it that much I bought the full modular. Best to use it with Nomad editor, much more powerful than the Clavia one although you need that as well for turning midi clock on and off etc.

Contrary to popular belief, Clavia's editor does run on Intel Macs under Mac OSX 10.5, it's just a beta version but it's fine especially with the Nomad editor.

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