Clavia Nord Modular

well, here you can act in a lot of ways: just download thousands of patches from the net, listen to them, maybe change something in some sound with the editor and just load them into the unit; or the extreme opposite option: create a sound completely from the beginning, chaining together an oscillaor, an envelope etc etc etc, ....too much to mention....
it can also be a bit confusionary
i'll use now about 15% of the potentiality of the beast, and think i won't ever dicover all the sound souces it can create, so i don't give avote to this cathegory: it's a future synth.

4 parts, 4 sep outs, 4 voices expandable.
a killer: you just can create exacly what you want
the sequencer is WIKED,a s the effects and the vocoders...
this thing it's a monster

the sounds are to die for; you can create from extreme noise to the best pads and leads i've ever listened; this unit is PERFECT for industrial (remember that NIN, all people under Warp abuse of this beast).
anyway, you recognize that it's a nord....it has that tipical fm edge when you work a bit ona sound.
this synth screams AUTECHRE, AFX, NIN each time you switch it on, even if it's the first time and you use all presets.
the only thing that can make someone a bit disappointed: this synth, even if it can recreates really all old analogues (best of all the Arp and Moogs, it's incredible!), has an hard character, absolutely hard, so, maybe, someone (difficult) could be more satisfied with, for example,a Supernova if he/she wants to make trance....
i do hard break, hardtekno, warp style things, xperimental and noise;
it's perfect for me, and i see it's used by everyone, from rock bands to masters of electronica.

i depend on it, yes!
i need this hard edge on my synths sounds, i love it to death, even if i know perfectly it's easier any other synth with the fucking arpeggiator button in front of you

you have to wait a bit, but after you'll get what you need.
never had to get repared....

i suggest this unit, absolutely.
i raved a lot on a Korg MS2000R, and i like it a lot, but i needed this, so i sold the korg and got the nord.
it has everything i need, ...i had also a thought of taking also a Micromodular....guys this things makes addiction
the main factor is the base of sound: this one can generate THOSE sounds i'm crazy for, that are Warp like ones, old thing revisited to modern, FM touch, pure techno as pure electro as pure long dreamy pads...
so, as always, it's personal taste, but for me it's the most powerful thing ever created on earth, and i don't work for clavia,...this unit is fucking expensive!!!

I have the latest version, 3.03 i think. Once you get a handle on loading patches before you can use them, this keyboard is very cool.
The presets are ok, once again they do not show you the true power of the synth. I think the only keyboard i did buy that the presets ruled was the access virus b. I mean sure the presets arent important, especially for the modular, but they should make some cool ones, its not like you can make your own sounds in the store.
Editing is very easy, once you understand modular synthesis, the editor is very helpful and easy to use. just wish my screen was bigger. The manual, is huge, i also have the wizoo book. Man i hate manuals.

Polyphony as you know depends on the dsp power used for each patch, just as the patch storage does as well. The keyboard action to me feels kinda cheap, kinda like the access virus indigo, i wish the nord mod was built asw ell as that was. The knobs on the mod, are tighter than a catholic girl "before" prom night. The buttons do feel kinda "tyco" or "kenner" or "mattel". But as long as you dont mistreat you stuff should be ok. new voice exp. blah blah, midi yeh it has it. On board sequencer, well it has many old style step sequencers, that are very cool. one key music masterpieces.

Hmm the piano sound doesnt sound like a piano....doh! oh yeh this keyboard was made for you to make your own non realistic sounds. which it is unstoppable. good pads, basses, almost blew my speakers out. every sound you can think of or not think of.
id say this keyboard works with most styles, especially when you use it creatively. No effects, save a delay and distortion, and you should get a outboard reverb...blah. yeh it reacts to my playing, when i push c5 it plays c5, and so on. i think it has velocity ..seems like it.

Yeh i could use it for a show, i would use a backup if i could afford one, then .... i would have two modulars mwuahahahahahaha (evil villain laugh)

Clavia rules, very cool company, im very confident they will help me out if i need it, you know hook me up with chicks, bail me out of jail.

If it were lost or stolen id go postal, then id buy another. Ive been playing for 8 yrs. I also own a kawai k5000s, yamaha a3000v2, waldorf xtk, and i have a S.E. omega 8 coming soon.
I love the power of this machine, i hate that its red so people who know nord will steal it at a show.
Compared to a novation the nord is red and small, and the novation is blue. hehe you cant compare them, very different beasts. Overall killer machine, my drunken review wont help, play with one.

The MIDI interface to the computer for the editor can sometimes be a bit of a pain.

A wonderful synth! I wish Clavia would develop more modules!

using the rack version 3.03. it's a real modular synth so it's as easy and as hard as you want to make it. the interface design is flat out gorgeous - even if you just want to download the over 6000 presets available on line and tweak around with them - you'll end up patching your own synths inside of a month. it's totally addictive and once you start down the path 'prewired' synths start to seem like a rip-off.

polyphony depends on the DSP power required per patch. if it sounds confusing - it isn't really. the lower the DSP per patch (depending on number and type of modules used) the higher the polyphony. they also make an expansion board that increases polyphony (not dsp availablity - people never seem to understand this) built in effects? oh yeah. i've used this thing as distortion box / compressor for bass - a vocoder for samples and vocals - and a mangler for everything else. if you run out of ideas for this box - it's your fault.

midi on the pc works flawlessly - i use the midi in/out on my soundblaster for the editor and an AMT-8 for the rest. i've heard the mac users complain about OMS but that's more of a computer issue than a nord issue.

i was going to buy a nord lead 2 which i'd heard and loved, and then someone told me that the modular has a patch called nord lead 2. so it doesn't take a genius to figure out that for the same price as a nl2 - everything else in this box is gravy. so instead of the nord lead - i now have a minimoog, an arp2600, a DX7, a TB303, an MS20....(insert list of every vintage synth here) plus all the audio in effects you can think of (phaser, chorus, flanger, vocoder) there's not really much of delay due to the lack of memory but you can fake it really well - ditto for reverb but believe me, you'll want to hook this thing up to a sweet external reverb unit.

the filters are definitely on the bright side and people have mentioned that it has that classic nord sound i.e. very clean and a little cold. i personally like it and find that i can dirty it up with stomp boxes and software to my hearts content.

built like a tank - solid metal, knobs have great feel (a little tight) never used the keyboard version but the rack sits right in front of my pc keyboard for easy access. never gigged with it but i would.

never dealt with them but the news groups are unbelievably helpful. join the wizoo nord modular mailing list if you're thinking of buying one. they'll convince you.

i'd get it again immediately. no question. in fact, i'd like to get a micro modular just for the office.

Version 3.03 for Macintosh. Once you sort out the MIDI interfacing using OMS (mildly hard) the software editing is slick and ergonomic very very easy. As you build your virtual synth the sounds (or noises if like me you are experimenting in unknown territory) are playable as you edit. easy. You can assign most of the virtual parameters such as oscillator frequencies or filter cutoffs to one of the 18 front panel knobs with 1 mouse click and there you have instant hands on real time tweaking, easy.
You have to have some idea of what you are trying to achieve, (hard). With infinite possibilities some discipline is needed and this machine requires you have to have some background knowledge about synthesis - mildly hard, however this is more a comment about the nature of doing modular synthesis - the machine itself makes it as easy as could be imaginened.

Others have commented on polyphony etc. 2 octave keyboard is adequate for doodling and means this machine can be squeezed into a rack case for live use although I use my Kawai K5000s as controller if I want to be more expressive.
What is so distinctive and unique about this machine is the way you construct your synth using the PC/Mac editor and with the 100 plus virtual modules which range from oscillators through to vocoders and filters, LFO's and effects. However whilst the editing is virtual this is a hardware unit with onboard DSPs so once you have created your peculiar arrangement of modules via the PC/Mac you just save it in the synth and away you go. Tweaking of parameters is possible without the editor but involves menu surfing via buttons and the 2 line LCD display . Having said this the parameters that you have assigned to the 18 realtime control knobs are instantly adjustable and great for gratuitous experimentation. These knobs are also MIDi assignable though this is not automatic and requires you setup this facility. Because the modules are software new sound modules should be easy to add so the system is open ended. There are 4 slots (so 4 part multi-timbrality) and a patch can be assigned to each slot. Slots can recieve MIDI on seperate channels. Apparently 9x99 patches can be stored. It is a matter of a couple of mouse clicks to transfer patches from the editor into the hardware so you can store 1000s of patches in your PC/Mac and load whatever you need for the occasion into the beastie for live use. Speaking of live use you can recreate architectures of your favourite mostly analogue synths and have them in a 19' rackmount sized keyboard weighing just a few kilos.
Audio inputs mean you can treat sound from other devices through the virtual matrix so in a sense the CNM is an effects unit. For example lately I have been trying out routing sample based sounds from my sampler through the modules and give them far more 'treatment" than the sampler could alone.
So the strength of the unit is in original sound creation and manipulation, rather than multitimbrality and use as the hub of a studio.

No not at all realistic if by that is meant sounding like piano, harp, french horn, tuba. This is a synthetic sound source. If I want more "realism" in the conventional sense I have got pleasing results by feeding sampled sounds through the device to get the sample based attacks for instance. Overall intrinsic sounds are broadly in analogue territory as distinct from say Sand S or FM. I cant really comment on how close to the "real thing" a moog or ARP2600 recreation is for example, but I have compared my virtual juno 106 to my own and have to report that its pretty close missing only the dirty noisy bits, Because you can moduate just about anything with anything else the sounds step outside the boundaries imposed by the architecture of non-modular synths. You can do say "additive synthesis" by using multi oscillators through a mixer however the CNM is not set up say like the Kawai K5ooos to control 128 bands of harmonics.

In terms of sound the modular doesnt quite have that sparkling clear ethereal metallic sound quality of the Kawai K5000S or the delicacy of a Waldorf XT in my humble opinion, so whilst it sounds great I don,t feel it is "outstanding" hence the "9" rating. However, I would give a "10" for expressiveness in the sense that you can express yourself a lot through this instrument in the mind boggling variety of sounds you can create. The fun lies in the lack of boundaries of this machine within the limits of processing power and good taste (or bad taste if you are that way inclined) You can reshape a given sound in a larger variety of ways than on a non modular setup so the scope for expression is as much about how you build your virtual synths and the sounds you put through the CNM as much as any intrinsic quality of the instrument inself.

The software and synth work fine, no glithches so far in 4 months of daily use. However I do have occasional gltches with the MIDI interfacing and OMS more than anything when this happens my Mac cant see the CNM. I use it live just disconnect it from the Mac first!

Never had to deal with the company. Support over the web is great with user forums and 1000s of patches online and various books written on how to program the beastie.

If it were lost or stolen I would replace it if I could afford it again. What I love about this machine is that it such an education more than just an instrument. By building up your own synths switching modules and routings around, testing the sounds as you go you get a deeper understanding for how sounds are created and how they are percieved I know this is true of any synth but with this synth the satisfaction is deep. I can hear what each component does to the sound as I add it. So its a sort of virtual electronics kit which happens to generate sounds as well. If you get satisfaction out of creating (or trying to in my case) raw sounds from scratch you will have a lot of fun with this machine. This quality has a downside in that I sometimes go off on tangents of sonic exploration as an end in itself. Some of these patches end up being used musically so I guess by keeping my palette of sounds fresh this thing helps me to make music.
I compared this at the time I was buying it with the Waldorf XT which sounded great and was very intuitive to program, but the scientist in the white lab coat in me won out and the virtual electronics tool kit aspect of the CNM tipped the balance.
I have been following mostly electronic dance music for some 15 years now "hip-hop, house, techno", but have only discovered the joy of making it in the last three years. I also own a number of conventional synths representative of different types of synthesis such as a FM DX100 and a Kawai K5000S as well as an expanded Roland JV1080 for my "conventional" sounds.
If you arent into programming there are tons of patches on the net but in that case maybe you should just borrow a CNM from time to time and sample it.

Well, using a Nord Modular is no trivial task. Why? Because it's incredibly complex. Why? It's a modular synthesizer. This mainly means that you BUILD your own synthesizer. You need to know how sound generation works. If you don't, programming this synthesizer will be daunting. But since you program it via a computer program (PC or Mac) doing this is a breeze. SO you need to understand what you are doing, but then it is a breeze!

The features are virtually everything! You build your synth yourself, and have loads of modules to choose from. Oscillators with ringmodulation, sync and FM, filters, amplifiers, multipliers, compressors, expanders. You can make a subtractive synth, or an additative, or an FM or anything inbetween. And it's also a multi-effects box! You can use a 3-band compresor patch to use it as a mastering processor, or maybe construct an autowah? It has two ananlog inputs, so you can use it as a stereo effects processor (or two mono processors). Oh, yes, it has a vocoder too! The flexibility and possibilities are simply endless.

It has 4 to 32 voices at one time, depending on how much processing power you use, and you can double that with an expansion. It is multitimbral with up to four simultaneous sounds.

This is simply the most versatile piece of equipment I have ever seen or heard of. It doesn't deserve a 10 rating, is deserves 15. :)

The only thing the Nord Modular doesn't do is things that require a lot of internal memory, like sampling, reverbs, delays, pitch shift and other "digital" type of sound effects. So as you realize, you will be hardpressed to get realistic sounds out of it. But any analog-type of sound is possible to get, and it sounds great too. The keyboard is velocity sensitive, and you can assign aftertouch or any other controller to exactly anything you like!

I have never had any problems, and the steel casing feels very sturdy. Clavia has made stuff for a long time and is known to make realiable stuff.

I've talked to them, and visited them. Really nice guys, and very friendly. But I haven't had any problems, so I can't answer for the customer support...

This is the best piece of equipment I have, and I love everything about it. There are of course room for improvements, and I'm sure Clavia is thinking up new modules to include in future softwares,
but there is so far nothing I have wanted to do that I haven't been able to do. The greatest limitation is that you only have two analog inputs. With four simultaneous voices, you would be able to use eight of them. But if I would ever need more analog inputs, I'll buy a Micro Modular, which is basically a quarter of a modular, i.e. only one sound at a time.

I never worked with a modular synth before so I decided the nord modular is a nice small package. currently using version 3.0 of the os the presets are very useful and out of the box you can make music. the best part though is the editing software, basically its like having a lego building block set for sound. very easy to visualize what you want to do and its fun to tinker with the different modules. This is the ultimate classroom synth I recommend this to schools teaching synthesis. great manual and excellent resources on the net.

minimum poly is 4 but its not hard to get 8 or 12 voices. it has chorus and phaser, distortion and clipping,wavewrapping. no delay or reverb. but I dont miss it I have a dedicated hardware anyhow for that function. for about 300 dollars you can double the voices. they keyboard is a single octave with velo no aftertouch but I like the fact that its 1 octave since I can carry my nord and a laptop and have a powerful package for sound. the modular is really meant to be used with a midi controller and the keyboard is a bonus but I find my self using it it alot. if your into classic sequences this keyboard has it all. tons of modules to create all kinds of instruments the only limitation is your mind

the nord modular has some shitty grand piano sounds, very unrealistic piano :) seriously buy a piano if you want piano sounds for 999 you can get a real true upright piano. if you want sounds that are out of this world then the nord modular is it. I have heard sounds come out of that synth that cannot be described only heard to believed. I honestly believe any real studio should atleast have 1 nord modular. Excellent for movie scoring and electronic and experimental music. the sounds on they unit cannot be duplicated elsewhere trust me I have lots of stuff in our studio and everyone is amazed by this synth

Excellent construction, steel and laquer paint. remember the 1950's studebaker or other classic cars. the paint on this keyboard is amazing, it is hefty and feels hand crafted (are they???) this is the volvo of keyboards.

excellent support, I get quick replys to my email from the actual developers of the keyboard. they take pride in keeping the synth up to date with software features and excellent user resources. who everthought you can get newer versions of software with more functionality for free. imagine buying logic audio 4.0 and getting the new versions for free as opposed to (paying for upgrades)
Clavia in my opinion sets the standards for other keyboard companies and I will sure keep buying thier products

Im going to purchase another one, its that useful its been almost 2 years of working with this product and I use it on a day to day basis with my other studio equipment. It has been an asset to my scoring and basically there is no competition to it. Get one if you can there are thousands of presets so you can use it right out of the box and then when you are ready to create your own you can.

I am using OS 3.03. I've had the modular for about 2 weeks and the more I explore it the more I am completely blown away-I think I will be selling some synths that I thought i would never sell, this thing has made them seem practically useless ! The presets are excellent with some of the most novel sounds and sequences I have ever heard- as well as the classics- it is all here- . The PC editor is like rebirth on steroids and, unlike rebirth- you will probably spend years learning from the modular. Let this be your master. The computer editor makes editing the patches a breeze- in fact the whole approach to editing and programming is through the pc. The manual is superb- explains everything- it is a very large and dense spiral bound manual with great printing. like any machine, as you learn to use the mod it will get less and less intimidating but it is very imposing at first- don't be afraid. It's only as complex as you want it to be.

Polyphony varies depending on the dsp allocations but you basically have 4 completely independent "slots", routable to one of 4 outputs, that allow user defined "patches" each having a variable # of voices. It has expansion that cost about 500$, that will double the polyphony. The synth is packed with features that would take too long to detail here suffice to say it has everything except sampling, reverb and delays. The kybd version appears to have velocity sensitive keys and they're great. The onboard sequencer modules are very flexible- midi in and out and pc in out. You can have a synth drum rhythm in one slot- the bassline sequenced in another slot, use another slot for routing effects from any input- like your sampler and use the last slot to improvise. this is just an example the possibilities are virtually endless.

Absoultely prstine sound quality when removed from the pc. When hooked to the pc i get some noise associated with the computer- its minor. When you remove it from the pc though the thing is fat, punchy deep, liquidy everything analog is- but better- what can I say to convince you this thing has any other synth beat hands down. Suffice to say this thing has killed my craving for any other synth and I am in the process of selling all my old analog "crap" for the expansion and a micromodular!! I am sold 100% and the only reason I am giving this review is so that the people who created this thing get filthy rich! they deserve it- this is the greatest thing since the minimoog-it will innovate music as we know it! it is the closest thing to "god" that i can think of. BUY it buy it buy it buy it buy it!!!

ULTRA RELIABLE UNLIKE ANALOG IT WILL STAY IN TUNE and clavia will fix it for you since there is no lack of parts.

I never had to deal with this small Swedish company but I hear its the best- user downloadable OS revisions are regulaly posted to their website and they offer thousands of patches which will keep you snowed in for years- I am serious!

This is one of the best pieces of gear I've ever owned- I love it- and would buy it again if It were somehow destroyed- the only thing it needs are a few sliders ala roland jp80-80.

Just a quick addendum to my previous posting: recently, after working with the Modular for extended periods, I've noted that many sounds have a slightly metalic edge when "fading out". Also, if you're after FAT analog emulation, this one's not really the ticket - I managed to get some nice strings out of it, but the real analog fat is missing. If you want a virtual analog for fatness, try the Yamaha AN1-X or the Novation (Super)Nova.

For experimental sounds, this thing is still untouched in HARDWARE (some software really beats it at the modular game). Currently I'm creating models of acoustic instruments - that is, I'm modelling acoustic instruments using the Modular, itself a model of an analog, modular synth.... These sounds are produced by a resonator and a 'tube' (a delay of between 4 and 16ms works great); at the moment I'm using noise to feed the 'feedback-circuit', because the modular won't create sound from feedback unless you're feeding some signal in (probably a treshold 'problem').

Freaky stuff.

Using the last version before 3.0 arrives (2.01 I think). The software-interface is the best ever.

Amazing features, even for a (virtual) modular synthesizer. Would-be-nice-though: self-resonating filters, amp+speaker simulators, build in (modular) reverb, delay and pitch-shifter (would require a seperate CPU though).

This is for experimental music and any analog/fm sounds. Makes very aggresive bass-sounds for dnb and techno, strings (with fat chorussing) and fat analog drums, although I haven't found a way to get really TIGHT kickdrums - dunno why, some small internal delays. Something like the Jomox XBase 09 walks all over it for hard-edged drums. The vocal-filter and quantiser modules are particular favorites

Sure.

Incredible software-updates. Quick response to e-mail.

Would buy it again - nothing else in it's league, not even the new modulars (although I'd buy them as well!). Had it for about a year now. What I DON'T LIKE: its output is, well, noise, maybe even VERY noisy. Haven't noticed noise-levels like this before on digital synths. For really clean recordings you're going to need a good noise-gate.