Clavia Nord Electro 7 HP stage keyboard

General

With the Nord Electro, it is now time for the seventh generation. It has taken a while, and the community might have expected to get it a year earlier. But: patience is rewarded! The Electro 7 HP is a fact, this model also has 73 keyboard keys, and so it is quite handy for transport. After all, you have fewer keys than a full 88-key keyboard - so less weight - and in terms of width, it will probably still fit in the back seat of the car. It's just one of the reasons why Nord is a fixture in many a band, you really do see its distinctive red colour everywhere.

Clavia Nord Electro 7 HP - the highlights

The familiarity won't just come from knowing the colour (it will certainly play a part for new buyers), but the sound should of course leave an impression too. That always goes down well with this brand; it's a keyboard you love to play and listen to. Meanwhile, the organ section has been expanded to include everything that's in the Nord Organ 3. In terms of synths, you find a section that has also been expanded: you play with FM, samples and virtual analogue. That FM synthesis is of course very useful for E.pianos. Effects are there too, and here you even get them per section, as well as a spring reverb and two new amp models. Physically, you get a slightly modernised control panel, with a nice new colour screen in the middle!

Why a Clavia Nord Electro?

At its core, 'tis a comprehensive stage keyboard, as it is with other Nord keyboards (Nord Piano, Nord Stage). So that means you get all the sounds relevant to a keyboardist in a band: organs, pianos, e-pianos and some synths. You'll also get some non-keyboard sounds with the extensive range of samples. But guitars and the like are, of course, hijacked by a real guitarist. So the main bulk of an Electro is really about the keyboard sounds. Those sounds, unsurprisingly, are top-notch. The big red reputation really didn't just come to Nord. Like previous editions, and like the toppers of other brands, there are a lot of controls, spread over several sections. This is also what you want as a keyboardist: hands-on operation, no fussing with menus, instant results. Not that there is nothing to be found in menus, you can edit plenty, but the quick and relevant changes you do directly with your fingertips. The keyboard is a piano keyboard, with Kawai's Triple Sensor Hammer Action keybed. So very suitable for real pianists!