From chazzp@yahoo.com Wed Sep 18 20:35:40 2002
Subject:Re: nord electro question

--- In CloneWheel@y..., Eamonn Flynn wrote
> Thank you all so much for your feedback and info about the electro.
I found it
> really helpful.
> Well, I found a local store that stocked it and went and tried one
today. It IS
> a little red funk machine. I may just have to buy one. Here were my
impressions:
>
> Cons: (Hopefully not stirring up the drawbar controversy again -
sorry Bruce!):
> I think the LED's suck. I found myself having to use two hands at
times to get
> the sound I wanted. I couldn't change sounds quick enough. Maybe
practice would
> make perfect. But the drawbars are kinda sacred to me. Why mess
with perfection?
> (I know: $)
> Other aspects of the interface threw me. I found it a little
awkward to flick
> percussion settings and change 'leslie' speed. And a big one: I was
by no means
> taken by the action of the keyboard. For whatever reason I found
myself sounding
> sloppy - or at least sloppier than usual! Any one else find this?
For the record
> I spend most of my time playing real hammonds or else synth style
VK7 keys.
> Ironically enough I didn't find the Nord 'waterfall' keys very
hammond like. I
> came home, turned on the hammond and found it way easier to play.
HOWEVER, it
> always takes me a while before I feel at home behind any new
keyboard and this
> might all just be interface transition anxiety syndrome!
>
> Now for the pros: This thing sounds great. The wurly is massive in
my opinion.
> The clav is also excellent. Rhodes: great. Acoustic piano: horrible
but possibly
> usable if you know what i mean! I think I'd often end up using my
Kurzweil
> Micropiano with it. Fast leslie sound: excellent. I loved the sound
of the high
> drawbars particularily with fast leslie. Way better than the VK7 I
sometimes gig
> with in that respect. However 888 on stopped leslie with the perc.
tabs down
> didn't groove well for me. Nor did 808 for comping, sustaining
which i use a lot
> - though the C3 chorus is pretty good. All the 8s with fast leslie
sounded
> wonderful. I didn't like 8888 slow leslie (I don't think it's great
on the VK7
> either). In fact I wasn't thrilled with the slow leslie at all. For
my playing
> I'd really hesitate to use this thing for any 'jazz organ' type
gigs or for more
> subtle sonic stuff. But for sweaty blues gigs, funk, gospel
flavour, r 'n' b
> etc (which is most of my work) it's pretty perfect and i love the
idea of
> showing up with a little red keyboard and an amp.
>
> In conclusion I may just be sold on this - I have to mull it over a
bit. If I do
> buy it I'll have to sell my Voce V5 and Roland A30 so if anyone is
interested in
> these (good condition) please contact me offlist.
>
> Cheers and thanks again for the feedback. Of course real organ
players don't eat
> quiche.
>
> Eamonn

I'm curious about the action issue. How quick did you find it for
organ playing? For instance, I own an XK2 and find I have real
problems doing fast two-finger single note trills on it as compared
to my B3. I tried a CX3 recently and was pretty impressed by how it
could handle this sort of chop. How does the Electro fit in the
spectrum? Can't find one here to demo btw.