Introduction; Thank You; Features; Synthesizer - Clavia Nord Lead 4R User Manual


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Introduction

Thank you!

First we would like to thank you for purchasing the Nord Lead 4 . The
Nord Lead 4 is built on Clavia's legacy of making virtual analog syn-
thesizers for almost 20 years and we hope you will have as much fun
owning the instrument as we had developing it .
To us, details are everything - and an intuitive user interface is just as
important as the actual sound . We are musicians ourselves, and know
by experience how frustrating it can be to have to wade through menus
and page-plus buttons to change a setting .
That is why we have a physical button or knob for every sound related
parameter on the Nord Lead 4 front panel . We also know the impor-
tance of building our instruments as light as possible - sometimes it is a
long walk to that gig .

Features

The Nord Lead 4 is a virtual analog synthesizer with an extensive set of
functions which allow you to shape the sound in a variety of ways . The
Lead 4 is multitimbral; its four independent slots make it possible to
layer up to four sounds on top of each other .

Synthesizer

In an classic analog style synthesizer environment, each of the
Nord Lead 4's four slots consist of 2 oscillators, 2 LFOs, 1 modulation
envelope, 1 amplifier envelope and a multi-type filter section with an
envelope as well . There is an extensive effects section comprised of
six different FX units, and a selectable delay/reverb at the end of the
signal path .
• Oscillator 1 can produce analog style waveforms and wavetables .
The traditional analog waveforms (Pulse, Triangle, Saw and Sine) can
operate in oscillator sync-mode . The Osc 1 Mod section allows the
routing of Oscillator 2's pitch to modulate Oscillator 1's pitch - Linear
Frequency Modulation .
• Oscillator 2 can produce analog style waveforms and noise . The
color and resonance of the noise can be adjusted . The pitch of the
second oscillator can be shifted +/- 60 semitones .
• The LFOs have a wide array of modulation destinations and several
waveforms . The cycle of an LFO can be restarted by keyboard trig-
gers and/or by pressing an Impulse Morph button .
• The Modulation Envelope has a wide array of modulation destina-
tions and can function either as an attack/decay or as an attack/
release envelope . It can be triggered by either the keyboard, or an
Impulse Morph button .
• The filter section has envelope and velocity controls and the filter fre-
quency can be set to track the keyboard . The filter has no fewer than
seven different characteristics: Low Pass 12 dB slope, Low Pass 24
dB slope . Low Pass 48 dB slope, Band Pass, High Pass and two
emulations of classic vintage analog filters, the Ladder M and the
Ladder TB filters . The filter has a drive control which allows the addi-
tion of some distortion to the signal in the actual filter .
• The arpeggiator, the LFOs and the delay can be synchronized to
the Master Clock with individual divisions to create great rhythmic
soundscapes .

Continuous Morph

The Morph function lets you control defined ranges of several param-
eters in a program using the modulation wheel and velocity . This allows
you to produce radical changes in a sound .

Impulse Morphs

The Impulse Morph buttons take real-time, instant sound manipulation
and creativity to the next level .

Slots

The Slots make it easy to stack up to four sounds in layers or to create
split keyboard performances .

Effects

Each program can be processed with the radical FX section and the
delay or the reverb .

Programs

There are 396 program locations in the Nord Lead 4 . All of these can
be used to store your own programs .

Performances

Combinations of four separate programs with interlocking master clock
synchronization, with layer, split an/or MIDI control configurations can
be stored in the 100 Performance memories .

Nord Sound Manager

The Nord Sound Manager is a free application to use with the Nord
Lead 4, as a librarian utility for the programs and performances .
The Nord Sound Manager is compatible with computers running Win-
dows XP, Windows 7 and 8 or Windows Vista, and Macintosh's with
Mac OSX 10 .4 or later .

2 models - keyboard and tabletop

The Nord Lead 4 comes as a 49-key velocity sensitive keyboard with
a modulation wheel and wooden pitch stick, or as a tabletop unit - the
Nord Lead 4R . It has 4 line level outputs, 1 headphone output, MIDI IN
& OUT, a USB port with MIDI capabilities and inputs for a sustain pedal
and a control pedal .
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