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9. History: The story behind the Electro 2 instruments

NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.0x

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The first electromechanical piano we took a close look at for sampling for the Nord Electro 2 was the 
Rhodes. Since the first Rhodes piano saw the light of day during World War II, numerous different mod-
els have been launched, most of them with basically the same characteristic sound but with improved me-
chanical design. But -- and this is important -- a Rhodes electric piano can be adjusted to create different 
timbres. In acknowledgment of that fact, we simply had to choose several typical Rhodes sounds to be 
sampled for the Nord Electro 2.

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The designer of the Rhodes Electric piano was Harold Rhodes. Harold had a background as piano teacher 
during the 1930s, when he ran a successful piano school. He also was an architectural engineering student 
and earned a scholarship to the University of Southern California’s School of Architecture. Harold 
planned on minoring in music at USC, but he was drafted for the War and joined the Army Air Corps. 

He had enrolled in a flight instructors' course, but the Army 
closed the school one day before he was to begin his training. 
Harold started teaching his Army friends piano lessons and 
was spotted by a surgeon who enjoyed his talent for piano in-
structions. The doctor asked Harold to help rehabilitate 
wounded soldiers with a piano method he had developed (see 
note). As no pianos were available that were small and light 
enough to fit on the lap of someone in the bed, he designed 
and built instruments out of recycled aeroplane parts and self-
made keyboards. His therapeutic project was a success and the 
War department started to manufacture the piano, which was 
called the "Xylette."

Note: The basic idea with Harold Rhodes Piano school was to 
learn to build your own piano, understand the principles and 
then learn to play it. In later days he went back into teaching and 
led a teaching program for inner-city kids in LA. He was later 
honoured with a special commendation by the Los Angeles county 
for his works.

After the war, Harold started his own business and pursued his idea of making a compact, lightweight 
piano. In 1946 he released the Pre-Piano, an inexpensive three-octave instrument with a tone somewhat 
like a toy piano. It was primarily aimed for home and educational market, but it failed in the marketplace 
because of poor manufacturing. Shortly thereafter, Harold invented the "tine," or asymmetric tuning 
fork, which he later used to make a 72-key instrument built inside a cabinet that looked like a baby grand 
piano. 

Harold Rhodes’ patent from 1949 for the 
small acoustic piano called the “Xylette”.

Summary of Contents for NORD ELECTRO 2

Page 1: ...al al Sof Sof Sof Sof Software V tware V tware V tware V tware Version 2 0x ersion 2 0x ersion 2 0x ersion 2 0x ersion 2 0x b b b b b y C l a y C l a y C l a y C l a y C l a v i a D M I A B v i a D M...

Page 2: ...pr sence d instructions importantes pour le fonctionnement et l entretien service dans le livret d instructions accompagnant l appareil Instructions pertaining to a risk of fire electric shock or inju...

Page 3: ...Nord Electro 2 block diagram Nord Electro 2 block diagram 11 11 11 11 3 3 3 3 Getting started Getting started Getting started Getting started 12 12 12 12 Selecting Programs Selecting Programs Selecti...

Page 4: ...MIDI Downloading Programs via MIDI Downloading Programs via MIDI 18 18 18 18 5 5 5 5 Panel reference Panel reference Panel reference Panel reference 19 19 19 19 The Organ section The Organ section The...

Page 5: ...functions MIDI functions 40 40 40 40 About the MIDI implementation About the MIDI implementation About the MIDI implementation About the MIDI implementation 40 40 40 40 Note On Off 40 Pitch Bend 40 Co...

Page 6: ...story behind the Electro 2 instruments The story behind the Electro 2 instruments 48 48 48 48 What is an electromechanical instrument 48 How does an electromechanical pick up work 48 The Electro 2 org...

Page 7: ...e multi sample playback catching every nuance from soft to hard key strokes Nord Electro comes right out of the box with these five electric piano sounds stored in Flash memory As an extra bonus we al...

Page 8: ...what words or sentences are hyperlinked in this manual these words are written in magenta C C C CL L L LA A A AV V V VI I I IA A A A O O O ON N N N T T T TH H H HE E E E I I I IN N N NT T T TE E E ER...

Page 9: ...right of the MASTER LEVEL knob are two buttons the NAVIGATOR buttons These are used to select Program Banks A F and various system functions To the right of the NAVIGATOR buttons is the DISPLAY It s u...

Page 10: ...of two sub sections the instrument Type section and the Presence section With the TYPE button you select the Piano instrument to use and with the Presence parameters you can add parametric equalizati...

Page 11: ...ou choose the option to route Organ sounds and Piano sounds to a separate output each see Out put routing hard pan on page 37 the RIGHT OUT is for the Piano sound and the LEFT OUT for the Organ sound...

Page 12: ...Sustain pedal connected to the SUSTAIN PEDAL input to control sustain for Piano sounds and Rotary Speaker speed selection for organ sounds see page 14 for details on how to configure this For more de...

Page 13: ...signal routings The 2 sign printed next to some filled lines indicates that the signal is can be in stereo The circles with a sign inside indicates that any input stereo signals will be summarized int...

Page 14: ...by pressing one of the eight PROGRAM but tons 1 to 8 O O O OC C C CT T T TA A A AV V V VE E E E S S S SH H H HI I I IF F F FT T T T The two OCTAVE SHIFT buttons to the bottom left on the front panel...

Page 15: ...ctro 2 73 will cause the lowest or highest notes of the keyboard to be silent U U U US S S SI I I IN N N NG G G G A A A A S S S SU U U US S S ST T T TA A A AI I I IN N N N P P P PE E E ED D D DA A A A...

Page 16: ...W W WI I I IT T T TC C C CH H H H P P P PE E E ED D D DA A A AL L L L A foot switch connected to the ROTOR SPEED input can be used to switch between Slow and Fast rotor speed for the Rotary Speaker e...

Page 17: ...1 if it isn t already selected 4 Press any button except for the SHIFT STORE or UP DOWN buttons to exit For information on how to set up Nord Electro 2 for use with an external sequencer see Using No...

Page 18: ...2 as MIDI Sysex files To indicate that a Program has been edited changed from the stored version a dot is shown to the right of the Program number in the DISPLAY T T T TH H H HE E E E K K K KN N N NO...

Page 19: ...RI I I IG G G GI I I IN N N NA A A AL L L L P P P PR R R RO O O OG G G GR R R RA A A AM M M M If you have edited a Program and want to revert to the stored original just press the corresponding PRO G...

Page 20: ...ns 2 Press STORE again to store your Program The DISPLAY shows the selected memory location and stops flashing D D D DE E E EL L L LE E E ET T T TI I I IN N N NG G G G P P P PR R R RO O O OG G G GR R...

Page 21: ...ound for example Full polyphony An extremely accurate digital model of the original chorus and vibrato scanner Modeling of the individual random contact bounces for each partial Modeling of the unique...

Page 22: ...below each DRAWBAR LED CHAIN have a history Orig inally the B 3 was created to mimic a church organ The num bers on the B 3 s drawbars re ferred to pipe sizes on a church organ That s why it for exam...

Page 23: ...enerator that controls either the 2nd or 3rd partial The en velope opens up for a short moment in the beginning of the sound when you press the key s The Percussion effect can be set to control either...

Page 24: ...on the keyboard is between the keys E4 and F4 Nord Electro 2 61 and between the keys B3 and C4 Nord Electro 2 73 This is indicated on the front panel with a gray triangle pointing between the keys U U...

Page 25: ...olume on Piano sounds Also if you use Wah Wah as modulation effect see Wah Wah 1 2 on page 29 the ex pression pedal will instead control the Wah Wah effect and not Swell R R R RO O O OT T T TA A A AR...

Page 26: ...except for the SHIFT STORE or UP DOWN buttons to exit O O O OU U U UT T T TP P P PU U U UT T T T R R R RO O O OU U U UT T T TI I I IN N N NG G G G H H H HA A A AR R R RD D D D P P P PA A A AN N N N I...

Page 27: ...piano a warm sound with a rich fundamental Clavia Electric Grand Model G El Grand The Model G is a custom modified 1934 G rbstedt acoustic grand piano fitted with CP 80 pick ups The Model G produces...

Page 28: ...S S SO O O OU U U UN N N ND D D D The Mega Clavinet Clav sound in the V2 0 factory library makes use of the Presence section in a different way than the other piano sounds On an original Clavinet D6...

Page 29: ...ton three times The DISPLAY reads H 0 where H stands for Hard pan and 0 that both Organ and Piano sounds are routed to LEFT OUT and RIGHT OUT without separation 2 Select separate outputs by pressing...

Page 30: ...sists of five sub groups Modulations Offers six different types of modulations Ring Modulation Auto Panning Tremolo Wah Wah 1 2 and Auto Wah Effects Offers three types of vintage style effects with t...

Page 31: ...RE E E EM M M MO O O OL L L LO O O O Tremolo modulation is basically an automatic volume control that continuously varies the output signal volume Tremolo is a commonly used modulation especially on...

Page 32: ...he filter sweep range and thus the Wah Wah effect from the signal s amplitude envelope For the Auto Wah modulation you control the attack time with the RATE knob and the sensitivity with the AMOUNT kn...

Page 33: ...es not deactivate the Rotary Speaker simula tion it only stops the rotors When you press the STOP button again the rotors will accelerate to the speed they had when you first pressed STOP R R R RO O O...

Page 34: ...EL knob does not send or re ceive any MIDI CC but is used to control the entire instrument s output level For info on how to control the level s of the individual sounds and via MIDI please refer to O...

Page 35: ...FT buttons is the SHIFT button It s used to access various kinds of system functions etc S S S SY Y Y YS S S ST T T TE E E EM M M M F F F FU U U UN N N NC C C CT T T TI I I IO O O ON N N NS S S S To a...

Page 36: ...whether the Nord Electro 2 keyboard and front panel controls should control internal Programs or only send MIDI Local On is the normal play mode In Local Off mode the front panel and keyboard actions...

Page 37: ...Programs and receive MIDI Sysex dumps set Memory Lock to OF T T T TR R R RA A A AN N N NS S S SP P P PO O O OS S S SE E E E The Transpose function is global for all sounds in Nord Electro 2 i e changi...

Page 38: ...the SUSTAIN PEDAL input you may want to use it for sustain with Piano sounds and as a Rotor Speed switch with Organ sounds In this case select P t Pedal toggle with the UP DOWN NAVIGATOR buttons Pres...

Page 39: ...except for the SHIFT STORE or UP DOWN buttons to exit O O O OU U U UT T T TP P P PU U U UT T T T R R R RO O O OU U U UT T T TI I I IN N N NG G G G H H H HA A A AR R R RD D D D P P P PA A A AN N N N If...

Page 40: ...will be applied to another available Piano instru ment A A A A W W W WO O O OR R R RD D D D A A A AB B B BO O O OU U U UT T T T MIDI C MIDI C MIDI C MIDI CO O O ON N N NT T T TR R R RO O O OL L L LL...

Page 41: ...back up your sounds regularly on a computer or on a hard ware sequencer that can record and play back MIDI Sysex data For information on how to back up Pro grams please refer to Dump on page 38 R R R...

Page 42: ...s is transmit ted and received as Controller 11 Expression If you have a sustain pedal connected to the SUSTAIN PEDAL INPUT this is transmitted and received as Controller 64 Sustain Pedal If you have...

Page 43: ...If needed set the sequencer up to record and play back on the desired MIDI Channel 4 Activate recording and play the Nord Electro 2 P P P PR R R RO O O OG G G GR R R RA A A AM M M M C C C CH H H HA A...

Page 44: ...ing the UP DOWN NAVIGATOR buttons Pr flashing in the DISPLAY means single Program Dump Al means All Programs Dump and Ct means MIDI Controllers Dump If you re about to dump a single Program or MIDI Co...

Page 45: ...ored in the Nord Electro 2 If the dump contained only a single Program Pr it will be temporarily placed in the currently selected Program memory location You will then have to store the Program manual...

Page 46: ...g on the number of states of the parameter For example the MODULATIONS selector can have 6 different positions and are therefore divided into 6 equally large sections between the values 0 and 127 Nord...

Page 47: ...arameters Piano Type 12 Piano Sub Type 44 Presence On Off 102 Presence Frequency 30 Presence Amount 31 Effects section parameters Modulations Type 103 Modulations Rate 104 Modulations Amount 105 Modul...

Page 48: ...Controller 11 If a sustain pedal is used in the SUSTAIN PEDAL INPUT and configured to be used for Sustain it s transmitted as Controller 64 Damper Pedal If a sustain pedal is used in the ROTOR SPEED I...

Page 49: ...on Transmitted Recognized Remarks Basic Default Channel Channel 1 16 1 16 1 16 1 16 Default Mode Messages Altered Mode 3 Mode 3 Note Number True Voice 29 101 29 101 29 101 Velocity Note ON Note OFF O...

Page 50: ...can be a spinning tone wheel or the vibrations of a reed string or tine H H H HO O O OW W W W D D D DO O O OE E E ES S S S A A A AN N N N E E E EL L L LE E E EC C C CT T T TR R R RO O O OM M M ME E E...

Page 51: ...most popular version of all Hammonds produced Between their release in 1954 and 1974 when they went out of production nearly 275 000 B 3 and C 3 organs were built The C 3 is identical to the B 3 excep...

Page 52: ...ts sound thanks to the integration of the newly de veloped chorus and tremolo features as well as the introduction of the Percussion feature and reverbera tion All this combined made musicians do a va...

Page 53: ...positions are called Fast and Slow This is the inside of the famous Vibrato and Chorus scanner It was designed by John Hanert Hammond s 1 engineer Hanert was the designer of many pat ented components...

Page 54: ...ecause he thought he could make his own speaker system However he wasn t satisfied with the organ sound coming from his first fixed speaker design because the sound was too static He wanted to create...

Page 55: ...40 watt tube amplifier The 122 also features two rotation speeds The slow speed which creates a chorus effect is known as chorale and the faster speed was named tremolo Switching between these two spe...

Page 56: ...flight instructors course but the Army closed the school one day before he was to begin his training Harold started teaching his Army friends piano lessons and was spotted by a surgeon who enjoyed hi...

Page 57: ...ideas and every year he improved the piano mechanically After five years the time came for a new model It was called the Fender Rhodes Mark 1 Stage piano While it featured several hardware improvemen...

Page 58: ...we have chosen We adjusted these pianos to create the different famous Rhodes timbres that have been popular during the electric piano era It s important to know the basic adjustments you can make to...

Page 59: ...January 1975 We fine tuned the mechanics and adjusted the tines according to the ideal timbre adjustment The volume adjustment was set to close 3 Rhodes 3 additional sound Rhodes Stage Piano 73 Mark I...

Page 60: ...h parts comprise the tines The black part mounted on one of the upper tuning forks helps alleviate unwanted harmonics This shows quite well the tuning fork design with the tines This model features pl...

Page 61: ...t Miessner s concept garnered lots of interest from piano manufactures around the country His ideas reached the big jukebox and organ company Wurlitzer where someone re alized the invention had great...

Page 62: ...e a huge success and was produced until 1982 The Wurlitzer sampled by Clavia s is a model 200A Unfortunately there is no record of the year it was built On a Wurlitzer 200A you have a Volume con trol...

Page 63: ...uilding the Pianet series Zacharias also worked on another project As he was very interested in early keyboard music he investigated the clavichord to see if he could make an electric version This wor...

Page 64: ...ed in the Nord Electro 2 The four fixed filters are designated Brilliant high fre quency Treble high mid Medium mid low and Soft bass The Pick up settings are a combination of the two pick ups in the...

Page 65: ...C C C CL L L LA A A AV V V VI I I IN N N NE E E ET T T T D6 D6 D6 D6 http www clavinet com H H H HA A A AM M M MM M M MO O O ON N N ND D D D T T T TO O O ON N N NE E E E W W W WH H H HE E E EE E E EL...

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Page 67: ...smission and reception 40 copy Programs 18 D D D D delete Programs 18 Display 7 32 download Programs via MIDI 18 Drawbar 20 presets 20 store your own 21 user presets 21 Dump Programs Controllers 38 E...

Page 68: ...ex reception of Program and Program Banks 43 using an external lower manual keyboard 22 MIDI Ch 33 Modulations 29 N N N N Navigator buttons 7 32 Note On Off MIDI transmission and reception 40 O O O O...

Page 69: ...Slow Organ Percussion 21 Soft Organ Percussion 21 Split Lower Upper Manuals 22 Stop Rotary Speaker 31 Store button 7 32 store Programs 17 sustain pedal connecting 9 settings 13 swell 23 pedal using 14...

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