This 'unofficial' Forum is dedicated to the Clavia Nord Keyboards, including the Nord Stage, Nord Electro and Nord Piano. Discuss any issues around Nord's keyboards, share your favorite patches, samples, and music. We are not affiliated with Clavia!
I think that if it is a perfect TB/TR clone this will be a hit for sure.
"The drums of the future come from the past" is quite a big clue of what the instrument is focussed on. I will personally be a bit sad if it it is just a clone of other instruments. Anyway I already have a Roland MC303 (which I rarely use) and I recently found a decent used Boss DR-880 on ebay which I am starting to learn and have a decent editable drum synth element on my Novation KS5 which I am experimenting with so I am not sure I will be keen to part with more cash for additional drum hardware at the moment but it will be interesting to see how Nord interpret market demand.
For sure if it is a decent instrument (as I would only expect from Nord) then they will sell many units, although they will have a tough time competing with the high volume producers and will need to offer something unique to separate them from the crowd (and justify the likley premium price).
This said, if Nord want to send me over a unit to carry out a long-term test then I will be only too happy to oblige.
Last edited by Lyonart on 31 Jul 2012, 12:25, edited 2 times in total.
Geoff Lyon - Keyboards includes - Tinpig
Gear - Nord Stage 2 HA88, Nord Drum 3P, Modal 002, Arturia Matrixbrute, Moog Sub37, Waldorf Blofeld, Arturia Drumbrute, Roland XP-30, Novation KS5, Soundcraft Ui24r., FX - 2 x Eventide H9, Oto Bam, Strymon Volante.
As a reply to jazzystu - I think on group the new organ is aimed is the gospel guys.
They play the drawbars as much as they play the keys. Constantly changing sounds to go with the current mood of the song.
The Hammond is so expressive when used this way.
Jimmy Smith in all his greatness explored the jazz side of the instrument where you can more easily get by with the buttons and some presets.
This is in no way to put down the greatness of Jimmys playing and all other that play jazz on the organ (I try that as well).
It is just different ways to use the same great instrument.
I use my C2 for gospel playing and it was not until i build my own set of add on midi drawbars (using ex L100 parts) that i could use the full potential of the C2 from a sound perspective.
I use my C1 without the add on drawbars when I play for a choir in Stockholm (i live in Gothenburg) but even though i know my numbers it still is not as fast and as intuitive as having the physical drawbars.
I think the Nord guys realized what the needs of the Gospel market is.
And am sure you will get preset buttons on the new C2 as well.
/ Regards Frederick Somerville.
Last edited by flmc59 on 31 Jul 2012, 12:25, edited 2 times in total.
I wonder how big the gospel market is. I haven't played a Nord with pedals, but I got quite used to the Hammond. I imagine it would be weird playing something else as it would probably be different in a "I'm not risking £5k" kind of way.
The best development for me over the hammond was being able to change between 2 drawbar settings with the control pedal and if necessary, do it on the other "preset". This is a real development as I don't have a hand to spare. I wasn't good enough to cut it one handed!
Nord are about making money. They have to pay the staff and pay to stay on top. I'm not sure Hammond Clones is the best idea. It's a pretty saturated market with some serious purists and some of the competition is very very good. KeyB2 or whatever it's called. If I was to buy an organ which didn't load organ samples, I'd go for the KeyB. It's better!
I would probably buy a Nord Clavinet if they came up with one though. If you have played a proper clavinet, you will know that no keyboard comes close to the action and response. If nord did one I would buy it (I imagine most would go for an electro though). The original is a total and utter pain to use/fix and even when you have it sorted, it hums and gets feedback, etc.
There are lots and lots and lots of keyboard players/pianists who want the classic sounds without having to break the bank and drag huge amounts of kit around. This is me and this is a lot of you. They made the very wise step into analogue synths as the market was huge and then took it a step further into classic kit "workstations". I'm thinking that from a business point of view, this is probably as far as they can go whilst making a profit and being the market leader.
The drum machine is an arcane piece of kit that only a few people will want. I wonder if it will justify the research/tooling costs.
I'd say their sole staple is taking the lightweight or not-so-lightweight aggregates of classic instruments to an ever more complex, detailed and playable level. Sort of like a stage, but better.
They are getting there with the stage.
If they made a 2 manual stage 88HA + 61 unweighted with all the functions of the C2, Wave and Stage they would very much be in business as everyone would want one.
I imagine they cleaned up with the Lead, then went on to make a fortune on the Stages and Electos and the future lies with a synth and a workstation. This is what the great majority want.
I think that everything else they come up with will be a flash in the pan, like so many of the synth sounds they keep bringing out.
99% of people (beyond home pianists) want something to do the main classic staples without the price tag, the soldering, the can I find an ECC82A tube?, the noise, restringing, re-tipping, etc. People just want the sound and to be able to play it. The romance and "cool" of a classic instrument are less appealing given the new, brilliant emulations which allow you to just play it.
I imagine 99% of Nord owners looking at their website are thinking.
"That's irrelevant to me" and "That's nice, but I wouldn't have one. mine is close enough"
A businessperson might say "What the hell are you doing?"
Last edited by jazzystu on 31 Jul 2012, 12:25, edited 2 times in total.
If the new Nord Drum is what I think it is then I would suggest that Nord are looking at competing with the likes of Elektron (another Swedish company) who have taken the drum machine and sampleplayback capabilites to a whole new level.....
Last edited by Lyonart on 31 Jul 2012, 12:25, edited 2 times in total.
Geoff Lyon - Keyboards includes - Tinpig
Gear - Nord Stage 2 HA88, Nord Drum 3P, Modal 002, Arturia Matrixbrute, Moog Sub37, Waldorf Blofeld, Arturia Drumbrute, Roland XP-30, Novation KS5, Soundcraft Ui24r., FX - 2 x Eventide H9, Oto Bam, Strymon Volante.
jazzystu wrote:If you look at some of the Roland digital drums, they did this a while ago, IIRC.
How will the Nord be better, apart from being red and costing double?
The drum machine market is already competitive and Nord will have to offer something pretty ground-breaking to justify its likely premium price-tag.
One problem Nord have to face is that because it is a low volume producer, it's associated costs per unit are higher hence the higher price tag for its products compared to other instruments manufactured in the far east using cheaper labour. However, there are design benefits to Nord, particulalry in the useability area which make people prepared to pay that bit extra.
I am sure Nord have done their market research and would not wish to bring forward a product which no-one will buy as the company would not exist otherwise.
Whilst I am not in the market for a drum machine, a good hardware sequencer that I could hook up to the Stage 2 Extern section would be pretty useful.
Last edited by Lyonart on 31 Jul 2012, 12:25, edited 2 times in total.
Geoff Lyon - Keyboards includes - Tinpig
Gear - Nord Stage 2 HA88, Nord Drum 3P, Modal 002, Arturia Matrixbrute, Moog Sub37, Waldorf Blofeld, Arturia Drumbrute, Roland XP-30, Novation KS5, Soundcraft Ui24r., FX - 2 x Eventide H9, Oto Bam, Strymon Volante.
It’s hard to say what they are going to present for digital drums market but it’s clear Clavia is trying to come up with more competitive Hammond clone product. Nord C1 and C2 used to be very attractive for those who needed 2 manuals and cared more about rig weight then fashion appearance. Since Hammond came up with the SK2 that also lightweight, same price as C2 but has additional sounds and kind of real drawbars Nord might noticed significant drop of C2 sale. They had to change something. They found very good point to bit their competitors. Neither of the Hammond clones under 20Kg has 5 sets of drawbars. Nord made it! They even changed the policy as they never did physical drawbars (which is really strange to me). It's already clear that they added 5 sets of physical drawbars. They most probably should add additional sounds (must be the same set as on NE3). Nord C2D is going to be unique product on the market due to full set of drawbars, light weight, ability to play other sounds then B3 and portability. It will probably be a bit more expensive then C2 to let Nord distributors to sell the C2s from stocks. I expect it to be about 3500 USD in USA (C2 costs about 3000USD). I'm sure it still should get popular due to its' unique set of features.
They may come up with Nord Electro 4 (or 3EX) pretty soon featuring C2 organ model, physical drawbars and capability to play organ and piano section in the same time. That would be very logical as Hammond SK1 can do that and many people who need that kind of multi-tembrality, physical drawbars and happy with 61 key choose Hammond even it's more expensive. If Clavia makes that product about 2500 USD it would be more popular then Hammond as it would provide 73 key over 61 offered by Hammond.
One of the Clavia benefits is the size of that company. Since they are pretty small they react very efficiently. That lets them survive while they have to compete with such monsters as Yamaha, Korg, Roland etc. Of course their management is very smart as well. Good luck Clavia!
Last edited by whitenoise on 31 Jul 2012, 12:25, edited 2 times in total.
