From EamonnF@earthlink.net Wed Dec 04 20:52:32 2002
Subject:Re: My take on the Nord Electro

Thanks for taking the time to write that review. I'd like to comment on some
of your points:

Eric Lawson wrote:

>
> While the keyboard action is optimal for the organ portion of the
> instrument, it is not quite as good on the EP and clav sounds. It is
> hard to get the full gamut of velocity response from the Electro
> keyboard. It works fine for rehearsal and some parts of a gig, but
> for the most part, I find myself MIDI'ing my RD600 to the Electro and
> using it to control the Electro's EP and clav sounds. The main
> problem is there is only one global velocity curve on the Electro and
> no way to edit this. I would hope that a future software upgrade
> would fix this issue.

I find this to be most of a problem with the rhodes and acoustic piano
sounds. The action for wurly and clav sits ok for me. With rhodes I have to
dig in too much to get it to bark and the dynamics are just too extreme. With
acoustic - back off just a bit and it sounds like I've stopped playing. I can
see why you'd play them with your RD600. I hope Nord can address this.

>
> The keyboard action is quite nice as a controller – I've been using
> it with my Nord Lead and those analog sounds come alive when played
> by the Electro's 73 note semi-weighted keys. One problem is that the
> Electro is very rudimentary when it comes to MIDI controller
> functions. There are no zones, patch assignments or other niceties
> that appear on some instruments designed to be MIDI master
> controllers.

Midi is terribly basic. It doesn't have to be master controller specs but it
would be very handy to have some more options - especcially since it is not
multitimbral.

>
> ORGAN SOUND
>

The organ rocks!

>
> There are two knobs to control the filtering and pickup positioning
> like the controls on the real Hohner clav. These are authentic and
> compelling, however, it is easy to create a clav sound that is too
> treble happy and quite thin. I've noticed that the clav sound can
> get thin really quickly. One of my favorite sounds has the filtering
> turned off and uses the phaser and auto wah FX. Very funky.

I haven't had any problems getting the clav sounds I wanted and I've gotten
compliments from people I respect on it.

>
> The acoustic piano sound is barely worth mentioning. I would not gig
> with it. Clavia needs to rectify this with a better sound. Even the
> Korg M1's piano sound would be better than this.

I actually gig with it - and yes - it does suck! I'm waiting - this would be
the single best improvement Nord could make in version 3 IMO.

> I love the FX on the Nord.
>

Yeah - they are very cool.

>
> The other buttons/knobs are grouped in the middle of
> the keyboard and are a bit hard to find quickly, in addition to being
> small.
>

Yeah - there's nothing like groping around in the dark on stage trying to
find the damn autowah. One problem I've found is that when I get into it I
can accidently hit an effect or the leslie sim on - which sounds totally
horrible on an acoustic piano playing blues or N.O. piano!

>
> Also, let me comment on the Nord's lack of hidden pages of
> parameters.

That's one of the things I couldn't deal with about the Korg. Too many
choices drive me crazy. Just give me something that sounds decent straight
away.

>
> LOOK AND FEEL

I love it and think it looks cool under lights. However, when it's my only
axe I feel like I'm a member of Kraftwerk - which can be embarrasing on a
blues gig! I like the way it looks sitting on top of a B3...

>
> What I really miss is the authenticity of a Hammond clone that tries
> to look like the original with the curved end bells and simulated
> wood grain.

I don't miss that. But if I had a choice I would rather be pulling out
drawbars.

> WISH LIST
> Make this instrument multi-timbral! I want to be able play organ
> from the Electro keyboard and trigger EP sounds via MIDI at the same
> time!

If this was possible - it would be a huge bonus for me. Thanks again for the
cool review. I hope Nord are listening...

Cheers,
Eamonn