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Note the video above is from 2014, but hasn't been featured on the site before. They are all custom sounds.
via this auction
"Patching a modular synthesizer can stimulate your musical creativity. On the other hand, retracing specific patch points through dozens of cables can boggle the mind, and reproducing a patch after you've moved lots of cables is nearly impossible.
In 1997, Clavia introduced the Nord Modular to uniquely address these issues. It combines hardware with a software editor to digitally transform the modular synthesizer experience. The Nord Modular Keyboard's hardware portion consists of a 25-note velocity-sensing keyboard with 18 user-assignable knobs and four independent voice channels for multi-timbral sound, and it sounds incredible!
The Nord Modular's editor software allows you to configure your own synthesizers on a Macintosh or Windows computer - complete with a bevy of module types and virtual cables for conducting audio, control, logic, and slave signals among modules - and download them via MIDI (not USB) to the hardware unit. As long as you don't need to add new modules or reconfigure cable routings, the synth doesn't require an attached computer and can function as a stand-alone electronic instrument. Among the available modules are multiple types of oscillators, envelope generators, filters, EQs, LFOs, step sequencers, waveshapers, audio and logic processors, control modifiers, and mixers. You can design complex patches without hitting the DSP ceiling, the supply of patch cords is essentially endless, and available synthesis types include subtractive, additive, FM, AM, and ring modulation.
List prices in 1998: $2,795 for the Nord Modular Keyboard and $799 for the optional voice-doubling expander board, which this unit has (attached power cord for U.S. AC). It's also running the latest V3.03 OS.
Included in the deal are both a cushy softshell carrying bag and a footswitch. All have belonged to me since 2003 and have never been subjected to cigarette smoke. There are no dings or scratches in the Nord Modular's case and the synth is in perfect working condition. Also included is the original manual and CD-ROM with Macintosh and Windows editors, but you can find updated editor software for both platforms online."
