Clavia Nord C2 Keyboard

You can always spot a Nord keyboard a mile away from the rest of the crowd because of its distinctive red color — making it stand out from the sea of grayish-colored digital pianos and synthesizers.

Today is  no exception with the launch of the Clavia Nord C2 keyboard. This is somewhat of a departure from the normal keyboards that Nord produces. Unlike its predecessor keyboards, this one is a combination of  modern organ, retro-organ sounds (remeber Farfisa) and pipe organ sounds all combined into a dual keyboard digital piano.

It has some similarties with the Hammond organ but really looks like a cross between a Hammond organ in a church organ because of the 27 note pedal unit which resembles the pipe organ pedals of real pipe organs.

[...Get More Opinions...] The biggest feature on the Nord C2 keyboard is the substantial number of pipe organ, retro and modern organ sounds. Unlike many organ keyboards that use virtual synthesis, the Clavia Nord C2 uses actual sampled organ sounds from pipe organs, retro organ keyboards and bygone but popular B3 organ.

In some respects the C2 actually looks like the C1 but it is an upgrade from the C1 overall. The first defaults sound that you hear from this keyboard when you fire it up is a somewhat of a simulated Hammond drawbar sound and the 2nd default sound is the pipe organ which has a very distinctive pipe organ sounds.

the C2 features a drawbar system composed of vertical led lights. If you’ve read my review of the Nord Electro 3 there you will find that I have described the drawbars so common to the Hammond organ.  Essentially, the led lights are situated vertically and the intensity of the sound is determined by the number of leds that are illuminated, giving the appearance of a drawbar.

The organ features over set of 126 programmed sounds that are available at the touch of a button.

Playing this keyboard is fairly easy which typically amounts to setting one of the keyboards 126 preset sounds and then selecting the output type. All you have to do is select the organ sound you like such as the B3, Farfisa, or pipe organ and then select the output which can be the rotary peaker for the Hammond B3 sound or another output that is appropriate to the selected instrument.

Several audio functions can be assigned to each of the 126 preset sounds. A 3-band EQ helps to accentuate any of the 126 presets operating independantly of the speaker output.

Buffer memory allows you to adjust some of the program sounds to your liking. The Clavia Nord C2 comes bundled with a soft carrying case as well as a keyboard stand. In addition, you can use a standard generic pedal such as a sustain pedal with this keyboard or you can also buy the additional 27 note pedal unit which resembles that of a pipe organ pedal set.