Nord Lead 1 Performance Video Demos by David Hobson

Published on Jun 13, 2014 David Hobson

YouTube channel moved. I'll update this post when the videos have been migrated. Until then see this post for one.

Note this is a playlist of all of David Hobson's videos starting with "Nord Lead 1 Performance - God Speed - David Hobson 6/04/2014", the latest Nord Lead 1 video. There appears to be 11 total Nord Lead 1 videos with some other synth videos mixed in. Skip through the player as you like.

The following is the video description for "Nord Lead 1 Performance - God Speed - David Hobson 6/04/2014"

"Hello, this song "God Speed" is a demonstration / performance of the type of sounds you can get out of the "Great" Clavia Nord Lead 1. Please "show more" for more info. I hope you have a good subwoofer. I have set this performance to a "video."

The Nord Lead 1 is a fantastic sounding synthesizer with great potential. All you need is a good sound that you know well, and familiarity with this synthesizer's parameters.

This "video" is called "God Speeds" instead of "God Speed" because I believe that God Speeds" to rescue His saints. This was an impromptu performance which I set to a type of video using a certain media player's "visualizer."

I utilized effects in my Digital Audio Workstation of choice, Reaper. The effects I used were of my own making with the exception of the Waves L1 Ultra Maximizer.

If you need polish to your recording look no further than the Waves L1 Ultra Maximizer, it is selling cheap I believe, maybe less now. It has been replaced by the L2, L3, L9...whatever...but the L1 was a standard in many important studios for some time.

If you already own a Nord Lead 1, then you know how good it sounds even without all of that effect saturation. It is different than the Nords that followed it. The man who designed the Nord 1 moved on to work for Rebirth in 1997, I believe it was...And for some reason Clavia did not use the same DSP design. I know this because I called Clavia when I worked for Sam Ash Music, and they told me all of this. I had purchased a Nord Lead when it first came out and noticed that the Nord Lead 2 (when it arrived) sounded different. Believe it or not.

I made a simple example of what the Nord is capable of, but with the appropriate use of modulation, velocity and creativity the Nord is capable of so much more. If you purchase one make sure to get one with the voice expansion...and buy a PCMCIA card.

I will upload more videos of the Nord Lead in action, perhaps scrolling through a few of my own presets.

Oh, and one more thing:
The "Unison" feature on the Nord...well, I believe I have figured out what it is doing to create a "wider" stereo field. If you record your Nord in stereo and set up a simple saw patch, just one oscillator, tuned as low as it will go, you will notice your level indicators rise left to right as each saw cycle repeats. that is my story and I am sticking to it."