Nord Electro 3 Review

Jul 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Nick Peck

           
 

TONS OF CLASSIC KEYBOARDS IN A LIGHTWEIGHT PACKAGE

FIG. 1: The Nord Electro 3 is much lighter and more dependable than the vintage keyboards it replaces onstage. It looks similar to previous generations of the Electro, but some new surprises are hiding inside.

The Electro 3 is the next generation of Nord's electromechanical vintage keyboard-emulation instruments. The Electro 3 looks similar to the two previous incarnations of Electros, but according to Nord, it is completely redesigned internally. It is now an amalgamation of its own lineage, along with the best elements of other Nord keyboards, packaged in a simple-to-use, performance-oriented, monotimbral keyboard (see Fig. 1). The Electro 3 comes in two sizes: 61 keys ($1,899) and 73 keys ($2,199).

Bonus Material

Bonus Material: Portability, Amp Simulations

Video: Features of Nord Keyboards

EM published my review of the original Electro in June 2002 (available at http://emusician.com/elecinstruments/emusic_clavia_nord_electro); this review will concentrate on new features and improvements. The Electro 3 has eight times as much RAM as the original — 256MB total — which means much more room for long piano samples. About 180 MB of that RAM is reserved for pianos, electric pianos and Clavinets, which now include all the piano libraries that were designed for the Nord Stage. About 80 MB is reserved for samples, which include sample libraries from the Nord Wave and user samples.

The Electro 3 is just as wonderfully lightweight and portable as its predecessors, and the semiweighted keyboard action is still superb for electric piano and organ playing. The audio and data connections are the same as on the Electro 2 (see the online specifications table), except for the addition of an ⅛-inch stereo input that passes audio unprocessed to the headphone outputs. This addition makes it easy and convenient to practice along with a portable MP3 player.

New and Improved

The Electro 3's integration of the Nord Stage's acoustic piano library is a massive improvement over the original Electro's thin acoustic piano. Any piano in the Stage's library can be downloaded and placed in the Electro for free. The Electro comes loaded with a couple close-miked Yamaha and Steinway grand pianos, but I replaced them with Nord's 50MB, ambient-miked, velocity-layered Steinway D. That sound is eminently playable, quite realistic and as good as one could ask for in a sampled acoustic piano. The Electro's semiweighted keyboard is not the best match for an acoustic piano simulation, but it is perfectly acceptable for the occasional piano tune on the gig.

The Electro 3's electric pianos sound just great, too, as they have in earlier Electros (see Web Clips 1, 2, 3 and 4). However, with so much RAM now available, I'd love to see a larger variety of electric piano and clavinet samples — perhaps a Wurlitzer 140B, a Clavinet E7 and a Hohner Pianet, as well.

The organ system is derived from Nord's C1 double-manual organ keyboard. To my ear, it is a significant upgrade from the first Electro's organ model (see Web Clip 5). Small details such as key click have been improved, and the overdrive effect works beautifully, allowing you to dial in enough grit to suit your taste. The rotary-speaker simulation is very good — better than the Hammond XK-3 digital organ's, in my opinion, but still no match for a real Leslie speaker. The simulation now includes a Stop mode to emulate the single-speed Leslie speakers preferred by many jazz musicians. Farfisa and Vox organ models supplement the thick, meaty Hammond tonewheel sound with thinner, transistorized classic organ sounds.

Sample Library and Editor

FIG. 2 You can add user-created samples to the Electro 3 with the included Nord Sample Editor.

The Electro 3 delivers a subset of the Nord Wave's sample-playback capabilities, but it does not have the Wave's synthesis features. You can download the entire Nord Sample Library — available free of charge from Nord's Website — into the Electro 3. Plenty of Mellotron sounds are available, which will be of particular delight to the vintage keyboardist. Many of the most famous Mellotron sounds come loaded in the Electro 3's factory bank, including the well-known 3 Violins, boy's choir and, of course, the Mellotron flute (see Web Clips 6, 7 and 8). Additional samples available from the site include a large variety of acoustic strings, winds, brass, tuned percussion, accordion, guitars, pipe organs and synthesizers.