What's up guys AB here from B&H.
Today we’re taking a look finally, at Nord's new Electro 6 synthesizer.
There are actually 3 models.
We were lucky enough to get the 6D 73.
Which has a 73 key, semi-weighted waterfall key bed with physical drawbars that are used
for the organ section.
There is also a 61 key version which is pretty much identical to this one.
But, it has fewer keys.
And lastly, the 6 HP which is another 73 key version which has a hammer-action style keybed.
and digital drawbars for the organ section.
But under the hood, you're looking at the same keyboard.
It's kind of cool because, Nord’s taken the best of their electro-mechanical sounds
and their acoustic sounds and combine them into one form factor.
You really have no limitations with regard to sound possibilities.
These are multi timbral or multi “tambral”.
You say timbre, I say tambre.
That means you can layer all 3 sound engines at once.
Whether you're dealing with organ and piano or piano and sample synth.
Or, all three together.
You can get some really cool sounds and some great combinations You're not limited to just one.
But I think It might be helpful to take a look at the keyboard from above, so you can
kind of see how Nord laid everything out from left to right.
So, why don't we do that first.
Starting with the organ section, we’ve got 6 models to choose from.
Farfisa, The Vox Continental, B3 which of course everybody knows.
Pipe 1 which is an organ that has fewer harmonics than other organs.
Pipe 2 which is an emulation of church organs which means that the pipes are really metal.
So, you got that really metallic sound.
A B3 Bass which is just more and enhanced bass features for your B3 organ.
You also have a rotary control, which emulates a rotary speaker.
You can choose from fast to slow.
And it just more control over the sound coming out of the keyboard.
You have an octave up and down of course.
There's a keyboard zone.
I'm going to get to that later because all three sections have keyboard zones.
We’ve got Bravado effects, chorus effects, percussion which gives you a soft or fast
choice in terms of how you attacked the transient.
And we have the drawbars which obviously affect the organs depending on which model you use.
Next, we have the piano section, which is really a combination of sounds from Nord’s
very popular and always growing piano library.
Anything from EPs (electric pianos) to digital pianos, to grand pianos, uprights, layered
pianos which are really more like 80’s sound.
You can find that in this section.
You also have an equalizer dedicated to the piano section so if you want a slightly brighter
sound more of a mid-range sound.
Notch in some low, you have a little bit of flexibility in terms of that kind of control.
The next section we get to is the program section.
This is kind of heart of the keyboard.
This is where you can select your sounds, you can store sounds, you can go into live
mode which allows you to play and tweak sounds.
It will remember those sounds.
Anything you really need to do in terms of deep-diving and all the nitty-gritty editing
stuff, would really happen in this section.
Next, we come to the sample sentence in which in my opinion is one of the coolest part of
this keyboard.
Nord is provided you with 512 megabytes of space for internal samples.
It comes with some preloaded samples.
But you can use Nord Keyboard Manager and the software that comes with the keyboard
to create your own samples offsite on your computer.
And then download them here and save them as templates.
Last but certainly not least, we have the effects section.
Which can be assigned to any of the 3 sound engines.
Tremolo, pan, wah, ring modulation, delay, chorus and drive.
Are just some of the algorithms including the section.
You really have a lot of options when it comes to processing your sound to your liking.
There is a speaker and compression section, featuring authentic JC, twin and small speaker
simulations with adjustable drive.
Plus, a separate tube drive simulation and a compressor.
The Reverb effects have their own dedicated panel.
Providing you with hall, stage and room emulations.
And a wet-dry knob to dial and just the right amount.
There's even a bright mode that accentuates the high-frequency content.
Underneath the reverb you’ll notice there is a panic button.
It has nothing to do with reverb itself.
But, in the event that you need to terminate all currently sounding notes.
Even those being produced by MIDI, you would hit this button.
On the back of the keyboard, we have some very useful connections.
In addition to the headphones jack, we have individual left and right output jacks, a
control pedal jack and monitor in jack, a midi in/out jack, Sustain pedal jack and the
USB port.
Last, we have the rotor pedal jack.
Which is where the optional Nord half-moon switch is attached.
Let's talk about some of the new features on the Nord Electro 6.
One of the most useful ones being: seamless transition.
Every keyboard should have this.
That simply means is that when you're playing particular sound and you switch to a different
sound there is a very seamless transition to the new sound.
So, it doesn't abruptly cut off the previous sound.
For example, if I play this chord--B3 organ.
I can switch the sound to something called anthem layer and as soon as I take my hands
off and play again, it’ll play the new sound.
The other cool thing is, If I play the chord and then I switch the sound to anthem layer.
If I keep the cord down to start playing with my other hand, it plays the new sound.
And as soon as I let go of the original cord and play again, now they're both playing the
new sound.
Unless you actually sort-of lead into a different piece while maintaining the previous sound
just for a nice, seamless transition.
Very quickly I want to talk about the keyboard split function.
Nord has made this really cool and very easy to use.
Each sound engine can be assigned to either the lower part of the keyboard, the upper
part of the keyboard, or both if you like.
What I really like is Nord has placed predetermined LEDs which kind of let you visually see where
one sound might be contained versus another.
So, for example, with a piano sound I can assign it to the lower keyboard like I have—right?
But, assign this led to show me that be on that light there will be no piano sound.
This is a really cool visual thing supposed to be on a dark stage.
So, I know that if I play from here once I get to this C, there is no piano sound and
I'm free to assign other sounds there or extend the piano if I like.
It's a simple change by just holding down the keyboard split, turning the dial now,
this piano sound can go up to this E. But not beyond.
Really simple.
Pretty intuitive and gives you a lot of flexibility.
Related to the keyboard split function is a new function called split width.
Typically, on keyboards, when you're splitting the keyboard in half transitioning from sound
to sound.
It's the jump to the next sound is very abrupt.
So, you immediately hit the next sound and that's the new sound.
With this with function, you can dial in how gradual you want that transition to be.
Like on most keyboards with the default setting of this keyboard.
When you go from sound to sound it's an immediate change.
That's the original sound and that’s the new sound.
If that's what you're looking for that is not a problem.
But, suppose you wanted a gradual transition if you choose small you can see that you still
hear the original sound, but it starts to sort of transition into the new sound that's
about 6 semitones.
And if you choose the only other option which is a large you can start a little bit lower
and you’ll hear this a bit better.
So, now you have this sound blending in the middle but as you get to the extreme outsides
they’re very distinct.
Before we wrap up, I want to talk really quickly about what comes in the box with the Electro 6.
Important information about software updates and stickers.
Which are always cool.
And this 2 DVD Nord Library set.
Which has tons of sounds that you can put into your computer and transfer to your keyboard
and really increase the library of sounds that you have.
Lastly the Nord Electro manual.
Why am I talking about a manual?
Because most companies don't provide a paper manual with gear like this.
And I'm a guy who really likes to have a manual on hand.
Especially for those times when you don't have internet access and you can't figure
out a certain function.
A well-written manual such as this is really handy.
The other thing is, Nord did a great job by laying out the manual in the same order the
keyboard is laid out.
What I mean by that is that organ, piano, program, sample synth effects.
Those sections are all in order from left to right.
It’s easy to find your way around there's not a whole lot of extra information you don't
need.
But, it's really a well-written manual and I like the fact that they include that with this Keyboard.
Well guys
that's it for the Nord Electro 6, If you want more information, check out bhphoto.com and
don't forget to subscribe.
I’m AB thanks for watching.