Clavia Digital Musical Instruments (Clavia DMI AB) is a Swedish manufacturer of
virtual analog synthesizers, virtual
electromechanical
In engineering, electromechanics combines processes and procedures drawn from electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Electromechanics focuses on the interaction of electrical and mechanical systems as a whole and how the two systems ...
pianos and
stage piano
A stage piano is an electronic musical instrument designed for use in live performances on stage or in a studio, as well as for music recording in jazz and popular music. While stage pianos share some of the same features as digital pianos des ...
s, founded in
Stockholm, Sweden in 1983 by Hans Nordelius and Mikael Carlsson. Since 1995, Clavia's keyboards have been branded ''Nord''.
Company history
Digital drums
In 1983, Hans Nordelius and Mikael Carlsson began to work in the
basement of a home located in the southern
suburbs of Stockholm, creating the world's first dedicated digital drum for the commercial market, called the 'Digital Percussion Plate 1'.
[
] In 1984 an improved version that could play four sounds from an EPROM was released under the '
ddrum
ddrum is an American based Swedish company, currently a division of Armadillo Enterprises, Inc. that manufactures acoustic drum sets, electronic drum sets, and Electronic Triggers.
Ddrum was originally a brand of Clavia, makers of the Nord ...
' name with the now signature red coloring. The same year a drum system was released with several sound modules in a rack, each with its own EPROM. The pads used to trigger the sounds were unusual for the time, since they used real drum heads, whereas other electronic drum kits of the time used rubber pads. This, together with a separate trigger for the snare drum's rim, made for a more realistic playing experience.
[
] The ddrum brand and products were sold in 2005 to their US distributor Armadillo who continues to manufacture drum products under the name.
[
]
Nord keyboards
In 1995, Clavia released the
Nord Lead
The Nord Lead is a series of virtual analog subtractive synthesizers, manufactured by Clavia.
Released in 1994, the original Nord Lead was the digital synthesizer that made the term ''virtual analog synthesis'' popular. The now widely accepted ...
. Called "a magic piece of electronics" by
Sound on Sound
''Sound on Sound'' is an independently owned monthly music technology magazine published by SOS Publications Group, based in Cambridge, United Kingdom. The magazine includes product tests of electronic musical performance and recording devices, ...
[
] it popularized the
virtual analog type of synthesis. In 1997 the Nord Lead 2 was released, with many improvements, including increasing polyphony from 4 to 16 notes.
[
] The Nord Lead 3 was released in 2001, with a reworked sound engine, better D/A converters and monophonic aftertouch. The most striking aspect of the Nord Lead 3 was that all the sound editing knobs had been replaced with infinite rotary knobs, where the value of the parameter was indicated by a
LED 'collar' around the knob.
[
] The rotary knobs, LED collars and keyboard with aftertouch made the Nord Lead 3 an "absolute delight"
[
] but because of its higher price, the Nord Lead 2 remained in demand. And as some of the parts of the Nord Lead 3 were getting harder to source, Clavia released an updated version of the Nord Lead 2, called the Nord Lead 2x, with faster processors, better D/A converters and an upgraded polyphony to 20 voices.
The Nord Lead 3 was discontinued in 2007, but the Nord Lead 2x remains in production.
In 1997 Clavia released the
Nord Modular
The Nord Modular series is a line of synthesizers produced by Clavia, a Swedish digital synthesizer manufacturer. The Nord Modular series, in common with their sister range the Nord Lead series, are analogue modelling synthesizers, producing sou ...
, a virtual analog
modular synthesizer.
Called a "landmark in synthesis"
[
] it allowed you to essentially build your own virtual analog synthesizer. It too was later upgraded with the 2004 release of the Nord Modular G2, that gave it the same endless rotary knobs as the Nord Lead 3 and a larger keyboard with aftertouch.
[
]
In 2001 the
Nord Electro
The Nord Electro is a series of electronic keyboards, developed in Sweden by Clavia, that digitally emulate electro-mechanical keyboards, such as electric pianos and electronic organs, while designed to be highly portable.
Features
The origina ...
was released. It was designed to emulate the classical
electromechanical
In engineering, electromechanics combines processes and procedures drawn from electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Electromechanics focuses on the interaction of electrical and mechanical systems as a whole and how the two systems ...
keyboards like the
Hammond organ, the
Rhodes Stage 73, the
Wurlitzer electric piano
The Wurlitzer electronic piano is an electric piano manufactured and marketed by Wurlitzer from the mid-1950s to mid-1980s. Sound is generated by striking a metal reed with a hammer, which induces an electric current in a pickup. It is concept ...
and the
Hohner
Hohner Musikinstrumente GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of musical instruments, founded in 1857 by Matthias Hohner (1833–1902). The roots of the Hohner firm are in Trossingen, Baden-Württemberg. Since its foundation, and though known ...
Clavinet. The pianos are
samples but the organs are modeled using a "digital simulation".
[
]
Im 2005, Clavia produced the Nord Stage, combining the organ and piano functions of the Electro with some of the synth functionality of the Lead, while adding other piano functionality and a version with 88 weighted keys.
[
]
In October 2007 Clavia released the
Nord Wave, which adds sample-player functionality to the virtual analog engine of the Nord Lead series
[
] and in March 2012 Clavia released the
Nord Drum, a virtual analog drum synthesizer.
[
] and the
Nord C1 Organ, a dual manual instrument containing the organ section from the Nord Electro 3, to which an emulation of a baroque pipe organ was added in 2009.
[
]
The
Nord Piano was released in 2010, which contained the piano section from the Nord Electro 3 with an 88 key hammer action keyboard.
[
]
Clavia has continued to update each of these models, and in 2021 the Nord range included the Nord Stage 3, the Nord Piano 5, the Nord Grand, the Nord Electro 6, the Nord Lead 4, the Nord Lead A1 and the Nord Wave 2.
[
]
Products
*
Nord Lead A1 - Performance synthesizer
*
Nord Wave 2 - Performance synthesizer
*
Nord Electro 6 - Virtual
electromechanical
In engineering, electromechanics combines processes and procedures drawn from electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Electromechanics focuses on the interaction of electrical and mechanical systems as a whole and how the two systems ...
keyboard instrument
*
Nord Grand - Stage piano
*
Nord Piano 5 - Stage piano
*
Nord Stage 3 - Stage keyboard
*
Nord Piano Monitor - Monitor boxes
*
Nord C2D - Dual Manual Virtual Combo Organ
*
Nord Pedal Keys 27 - MIDI organ pedalboard
*
Nord Drum 3P - Modelling percussion synthesizer
File:Clavia Nord C2D Combo Organ (rear angled).jpg , Nord C2D Combo Organ
File:NSDrawbuttons.jpg, Nord Stage 2 Draw-buttons
File:NSSynthPanel.jpg, Nord Stage 2 Synth panel
Discontinued products
Discontinued products list:
*
Ddrum
ddrum is an American based Swedish company, currently a division of Armadillo Enterprises, Inc. that manufactures acoustic drum sets, electronic drum sets, and Electronic Triggers.
Ddrum was originally a brand of Clavia, makers of the Nord ...
series by Clavia - sold in 2005
*
Nord Piano - Stage piano
*
Nord Piano 2 - Stage piano
*
Nord Piano 3 - Stage piano
*
Nord Piano 4 - Stage piano
*
Nord C1 - Dual Manual Virtual Combo Organ
*
Nord Drum Virtual analog drum synthesizer
*
Nord Electro
The Nord Electro is a series of electronic keyboards, developed in Sweden by Clavia, that digitally emulate electro-mechanical keyboards, such as electric pianos and electronic organs, while designed to be highly portable.
Features
The origina ...
- Virtual
electromechanical
In engineering, electromechanics combines processes and procedures drawn from electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Electromechanics focuses on the interaction of electrical and mechanical systems as a whole and how the two systems ...
keyboard instrument
*
Nord Electro Rack - Virtual electromechanical MIDI module
*
Nord Electro 2 - Virtual electromechanical keyboard instrument
*
Nord Electro Rack 2 - Virtual electromechanical MIDI module
*
Nord Electro 3 - Virtual electromechanical keyboard instrument
*
Nord Wave - Performance Synthesizer & Sampler
*
Nord Lead
The Nord Lead is a series of virtual analog subtractive synthesizers, manufactured by Clavia.
Released in 1994, the original Nord Lead was the digital synthesizer that made the term ''virtual analog synthesis'' popular. The now widely accepted ...
(1995) - Virtual analog synthesizer
*
Nord Lead Rack (1995) - Virtual analog synthesizer
*
Nord Lead 2 (1997) - Virtual analog synthesizer
*
Nord Lead 2X - Virtual analog synthesizer
*
Nord Lead 3 - Virtual analog synthesizer
*
Nord Lead 4 - Performance synthesizer
*
Nord Rack - Virtual analog MIDI module
*
Nord Rack 2 - Virtual analog MIDI module
*
Nord Rack 2X - Virtual analog MIDI module
*
Nord Rack 3 - Virtual analog MIDI module
*
Nord Stage
The Nord Stage is a digital keyboard or stage piano, manufactured by Clavia Digital Music Instruments of Stockholm, Sweden. There have been five editions of the instrument: the original Nord Stage in 2005, the Nord Stage EX in 2008, the Nord ...
- Stage keyboard
*
Nord Stage EX - Stage keyboard
*
Nord Stage 2 - Stage keyboard
*
Nord Stage 2EX - Stage keyboard
*
Nord Modular
The Nord Modular series is a line of synthesizers produced by Clavia, a Swedish digital synthesizer manufacturer. The Nord Modular series, in common with their sister range the Nord Lead series, are analogue modelling synthesizers, producing sou ...
- Software-based semi-modular synthesizer
*
Nord Modular G2 - Software-based semi-modular synthesizer
*
Nord Modular G2x - Software-based semi-modular synthesizer
*
Nord Micro Modular - Software-based semi-modular synthesizer
*
Nord Drum - Modelling percussion synthesizer
*
Nord Drum 2 - Modelling percussion synthesizer
File:Nord Modular G2 modwheel.jpg , Pitch stick & wheel
(Nord Modular G2)
File:Clavia Nord Lead 3 knobs.jpg , Nord Lead 3
File:Nord Stage played (closeup).jpg, Nord Stage 88
File:Clavia Nord Piano 88 - Pimp your piano.jpg , Nord Piano 88
References
External links
Official Clavia website
{{Clavia
Manufacturing companies based in Stockholm
Synthesizer manufacturing companies of Sweden
Musical instrument manufacturing companies of Sweden
Manufacturing companies established in 1983
1983 establishments in Sweden