Nord Electro

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Nord Electro is a line of portable keyboards from Clavia in Sweden. It digitally recreates electro-mechanical sounds like electric pianos and electronic organs, but in a lightweight, travel-friendly package. It combines piano samples with an organ engine, and it can add effects such as reverb, delay, overdrive, and a rotary speaker to any sound. Some models also include physical drawbars to control the organ sound.

What it is like to play: Early Nord Electro keyboards used a simple setup that could play one main sound at a time, though you could connect another keyboard via MIDI for an extra organ manual. Later models added more sound sources and the option to layer or split sounds across the keyboard.

A quick look at the models and evolution:
- 2001: The original Nord Electro offered Hammond B3 organ emulation and several piano/keyboard samples (Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Clavinet, and grand piano), in 61- or 73-key versions and a rack unit.
- 2002: Nord Electro 2 with updated software and the same hardware layout.
- 2009: Nord Electro 3 added Farfisa and Vox organ emulations, better B3, more effects, and compatibility with the Nord Sample Library.
- 2011: Nord Electro 3 HP introduced a 73-key hammer-action keyboard.
- 2012: Nord Electro 4D replaced digital organ drawbars with physical sliders; 61-key. Later the Electro 4 HP and 4 SW offered 73-key options.
- 2015: Nord Electro 5 came in two 5D models (61 or 73 keys) and a 5 HP model with 73 hammer-action keys.
- 2018: Nord Electro 6 introduced three-part multi-timbrality and a “Dual Organ” mode for quick organ-split setups. It comes in 6D 61, 6D 73, and 6 HP 73 versions.

Today, the Electro line is known for its red color, classic organ and electric piano sounds, and the ability to mix multiple sound sources (two on Electro 5, three on Electro 6) with various effects.