| Clavia DMI AB | |
| Type: | Private |
| Industry: | Synthesizers |
| Foundation: | in Stockholm, Sweden |
| Products: |
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Clavia Digital Musical Instruments is a Swedish manufacturer of virtual analog synthesizers, virtual electromechanical pianos and stage pianos, founded in Stockholm, Sweden in1983 by sv|Hans Nordelius and sv|Mikael Carlsson. Since1995, Clavia's keyboards have been branded Nord.
In 1983, sv|Hans Nordelius and sv|Mikael Carlsson began to work in the basement of a home located in the southern suburbs ofStockholm, creating the world's first dedicated digital drum for the commercial market, called the "Digital Percussion Plate1".[1] In1984 an improved version that could play four sounds from an EPROM was released under the "ddrum" name with the now-signature red coloring. The same year a drum system was released with several sound modules in a rack, each with its own EPROM. The pads used to trigger the sounds were unusual for the time, since they used real drum heads, whereas other electronic drum kits of the time used rubber pads. This, together with a separate trigger for the snare drum's rim, made for a more realistic playing experience. The ddrum brand and products were sold in2005 to their USdistributor, Armadillo Enterprises, who continues to manufacture drum products under the name.[2]
In 1995, Clavia released the Nord Lead. Called "a magic piece of electronics" by Sound on Sound,[3] it popularized the virtual analog type of synthesis. In1997 the Nord Lead2 was released, with many improvements, including increasing polyphony from 4to 16notes.[4] The Nord Lead3 was released in2001, with a reworked sound engine, better s and monophonic aftertouch. The most striking aspect of the Nord Lead3 was that the sound editing knobs had been replaced with infinite rotary knobs, where the value of the parameter was indicated by an LED"collar" around the knob.[5] The rotary knobs, LEDcollars and keyboard with aftertouch made the Nord Lead3 an "absolute delight",[6] but because of the higher price, the Nord Lead2 remained in demand. And as some of the parts of the Nord Lead3 were getting harder to source, Clavia released an updated version of the Nord Lead2, called the Nord Lead2x, with faster processors, better and an upgraded polyphony to 20voices. The Nord Lead3 was discontinued in2007, but the Nord Lead2x remains in production.
In 1997 Clavia released the Nord Modular, a virtual analog modular synthesizer. Called a "landmark in synthesis" by Paul Nagle in Sound On Sound,[7] it allowed the user to build their own virtual analog synthesizer. It too was later upgraded with the 2004 release of the Nord ModularG2, that gave it the same endless rotary knobs as the Nord Lead3 and a larger keyboard with aftertouch.[8]
In 2001 the Nord Electro was released. It was designed to emulate the classical electromechanical keyboards like the Hammond organ, the Rhodes Stage73, the Wurlitzer electric piano and the de|Hohner|cat=no Clavinet. The pianos are sampled, but the organs are modeled using a "digital simulation".[9]
In 2005, Clavia produced the Nord Stage, combining the organ and piano functions of the Electro with some of the synth functionality of the Lead, while adding other piano functionality and a version with .[10]
In October 2007 Clavia released the Nord Wave, which adds sample-player functionality to the virtual analog engine of the Nord Lead series[11] and in March2012 Clavia released the Nord Drum, a virtual analog drum synthesizer.[12] and the Nord C1Organ, a dual manual instrument containing the organ section from the Nord Electro3, to which an emulation of a Baroque pipe organ was added in2009.[13]
The Nord Piano was released in2010, which contained the piano section from the Nord Electro3 with an 88-key hammer-action keyboard.[14]
Clavia has continued to update each of these models, and in2025 the Nord range included the Nord Stage4, the Nord Piano5, the Nord Grand2, the Nord Electro6, the Nord LeadA1 and the Nord Wave2.[15]
Discontinued products list:
