Nord

In 1983 founder Hans Nordelius created the Digital Percussion Plate 1 – the first drum pad allowing for dynamic playing using sampled sounds. The DPP1 was an instant success and soon thereafter the brand name ddrum was introduced. The innovative ddrum pads featured real heads and hoops and gained huge popularity – many people still regard them as the best digital drum triggering system around!

In 1995 Clavia released its first synthesizer, the Nord Lead. Its unique take on emulation of analog synthesis, combining a distinctive sound with an intuitive user interface made it an instant classic. Magnus Kjellander joined Clavia in -96 and brought with him a new approach to the company in terms of software design. The Nord Modular, released in 1997 was the first digital modular synthesizer, possibly the most flexible, innovative synthesizer that has ever been on the market Nord Lead Anniversary. In 2001 the first Nord Electro was released, introducing stunning emulations of classic vintage electro-mechanical instruments with a level of portability generally not associated with the original instruments…

The Nord Stage surfaced in 2005, combining many of Clavia’s new areas of expertise in one – acoustic and electric piano sounds, organ emulations, effects and even a synthesizer! The Nord C1 Combo Organ saw the light in 2005, incorporating our 2nd generation tone wheel modeling, rotating speaker simulation, dual manuals and surprisingly lightweight (15kg). Nord Wave took the Nord Lead-concept to a new level in 2007 with its capability to use any audio file as an oscillator source in a virtual analog environment, combined with the compact, user friendly interface of a Nord product. In 2008 we released the Nord Electro 3 and the exclusively licensed sounds from the Mellotron and Chamberlin. The Electro 3 became one of the most successful products we’ve ever made. In 2010 the streamlined Nord Piano was introduced, a lightweight stage piano that featured advanced String Resonance and the unique Nord Triple Pedal with pedal noise.

We let the Nord Stage 2 out of the bag at NAMM 2011, sporting a new synth section sample playback support, more memory, the C2 organ simulation and the Nord Piano Pedal Noise. Nord Stage 2 raised the bar for how a Stage piano should sound and behave. 2012 was an adventurous year for us, with the launch of the Nord C2D, our first organ with physical draw bars as well as the virtual analog drum synthesizer Nord Drum. On top of that we also released the Nord Electro 4 family with the acclaimed Nord C2D tone wheel simulation and introduced the Nord Piano 2 that allowed splitting and layering sounds from the Nord Sample Library.

In 2013 we released the brand new Nord Lead 4, with added effects, Impulse Morphs and advanced synchronizing abilities. We also introduced the Nord Drum 2 featuring 6 channels, advanced new waveforms and support for the ultra compact Nord Pad! 2014 started off with the release of the exciting new Nord Lead A1 with a refreshing new approach to sound creation thanks to the smart Oscillator Shortcuts and simplified user interface. We’ve come a long way from the little basement workshop we started out in back in 1983 – a journey fueled by curiosity, persistence, dedication and love for music!

THE NORD FACTORY

The Nord factory is located in the creative area of Stockholm called SoFo, in the district of Södermalm. It occupies three stories of an old industrial brick building close to the major music shop district and is brimming with creativity. All our instruments are built by hand in our Stockholm Factory - this is how we do it! Our R&D team can spawn a completely new instrument from an informal discussion; members of the production crew then add their talent and improvements that have made many successful products even better. As there's only a short walk between production and development, we can communicate very fast and easy. This helps us correct production problems early on, even as early as during the prototype process. The production crew collaborates with a few, carefully chosen contractors that deliver high quality components to the Nord factory. Whenever possible, we use Swedish suppliers. This gives us a better control over the end result of every manufactured instrument.

The logistics of the production line is like a carefully crafted piece of art. Months ahead the crew knows exactly what products will be assembled and shipped on e.g. a particular Tuesday. Furthermore they also could tell you what was delivered 18 months ago!

Our Quality Control starts at the very first production station. As soon as two parts are assembled together, they are given an identity, which will follow this particular instrument for all of its life. Everything we need to know about a certain unit is entered automatically into a database. This ensures that we can track down any issue that presents itself during the lifespan of any given product.

Each and every unit is thoroughly tested before it is shipped out to our worldwide distribution network. The heat test that we run for 48 hours will invariably reveal if there's any internal component not performing as expected. Every key, knob and button is then operated several times in our custom made Quality Control testing rigs before a unit is considered ready to ship. The Nord keyboards are assembled by hand by a very dedicated and skilful crew. There are many smiles and happy faces at the factory in a relaxed but focused atmosphere. Most of our staff are active musicians. We definitely do have a stellar material for a great company band.

www.nordkeyboards.com