Just kidding
But in all seriousness, this will be the Autumn of Ambient. We’re mostly finished with an Ambient/ Downtempo soundbank for the Nord Lead 3, and we’ll be working on Ambient and Downtempo banks for our other synths like the JP8080, Prophet Rev2, and others this autumn, so you all have access to more chill sounds this winter.
Stay tuned!
Clinical. Cold. Thin. These comments tend to commonly pop up in reviews and comments about the now-20-year-old 24-voice Nord Lead 3 virtual analog polysynth by Swedish keyboard company Clavia. Frequently overlooked for its younger sibling the Nord Lead 2 (and the later 2X), the NL3 is a synth that garners criticism for not sounding analog enough and having weak factory presets, yet also receives high praise for other aspects of its sound and design that race ahead of its competitors. It’s a synth that folks seem to either love or hate.
So is the NL3 still worthit in the 2020s? Should you get one?
Let’s have a look.
At first glance, the NL3 looks fairly simple and minimalist, with on 2 oscillators to generate sound. But digging a little further into the panel, one will find not merely the usual analog-style Sawtooth, Pulse, and Triangle waveforms, but also Sine, Noise, and Dual Sine oscillators that open up sound design possibilities far beyond the typical early 2000s VA.
In fact, it’s the Sine and Dual Sine oscillators that transform the NL3 from a typical VA. When engaged, the NL3 can become a 4 operator FM synth, with the push of a few buttons. So for DX style pianos, clangorous bells, hollow slap house basses, or ripping dubstep wobbles, this synth opens up a world of possibility with very little tweaking. It has in fact, one of the easiest FM implementations of any hardware synth on the market. And you can use any of the waveforms for FM, which provides many opportunities to make new and never-before-heard sounds.
The standard waveforms are what you’d expect, and the detune and pitch controls are easy to use and sound sweet. As far as how they sound, some say they sound thinner or less aggressive than the NL2’s, but we find that it sounds like a midpoint between the Prophet Rev2 and the Blofeld, with a bit more leaning toward the Rev2. They don’t sound Analog in the Moog sense with heavy low-mid saturation (although there are settings built into the synth to make it sound more analog), but they do have that bright slightly fizzy (but not brassy) analog quality of the Sequential synths - making the NL3 perfect for plucks, leads, and midrange basses, as well as huge pads.
Manipulating the pulse width is pleasant and yields very nice crisp sounds, and the Noise generator can lend a little nice extra air to a sound when the OSC MIX is dialed in right.
The OSC MOD section is where a lot of the fun happens. each of the settings will send you down fun rabbit holes of Frequency Modulation, Distortion Modulation, Ring Modulation, Differential Frequency Modulation, Distortion, Filter Frequency Modulation, and experiment with them on different oscillators. Anything from 80’s FM bells to filthy riddim snarls can be managed here, as well as crazy atonal pads and effects.
Sporting the 3 basic Filter types, plus 3 additional ones (one of which is a 12 dB Distortion filter), with 3 different filter slopes, Filter 1 is more or less what you’re expect from a VA synth of the era. Tight, clean, and has a Resonance that can make for nice and squelchy sounds, but doesn’t quite self resonate (although you can get nearly there in Classic mode, which is a filter intended to emulate the Moog Ladder Filter).
What’s truly unusual about the NL3’s filters is the secondary Multi Filter. It essentially acts like a series of comb and multi-pass filters that combine different curves, and can yield some exciting sounds and effects with a little tweaking.
The standard filters can be a little steppy during sweeps, but compared to the JP8000 that came out a few years earlier, it’s much smoother, and has the added bonus of not adding any weird artifacts to the sound, so you can make super tight warm plucks and bouncy basses with ease.
Analog purists may be disappointed at the lack of full self-oscillation at high resonance settings, but for most dance music producers, it’s not that crucial of a feature.
There’s really not too much to say here. The ADSR envelopes are typical of any VA, and behave similarly to any other.
Now we get into some fun. A decent number of parameters can be modified by the 2 onboard LFOs, and besides the standard free-running lfo speed, they can also be clock synced, and any of the timing and amount parameters can be linked to the modwheel, so you can do on-the-fly sound manipulation.
Each LFO modifies slightly different parameters though, so you’ll need to be choosy about what you modify, and how.
There are loads of LFO waveform types which is nice, but sadly it does not have a Sine wave type, so you can’t get as smooth of a curve as you might like for certain classes of sounds. But the smooth random and other waveforms are great for chaotic psychedelic textures.
An interesting note is that Pan will modulate the stereo position of the entire sound on patches that are Mono/ not in Unison. When Unison Stack is turned on and some detune is applied, the Pan will modulate the sound semi-randomly on a Per-Voice and Per-Note basis, creating wide, spread out stereo movement that doesn’t feel overly Binaural-y. It’s great for large unison pads when you want to expand the stereo field further. When using LFO modulation on a pluck or other non-Unison sound, the patch will behave more like on other synths, with the sound bouncing back and forth across the stereo field evenly.
This section is rather limited. A very basic AD envelope lets you modulate a handful of standard parameters. It’s helpful for making nice plucky pitchy sounds and for some clever pulse width modulation effects. Those are mainly what we use it for.
In general, the Nord Lead 3 doesn’t really have any effects, per se. The Distortion Filter, and the DIST in the OSC MOD sections sort of quality as effects, and they are quite nice for adding saturation and crunchy distortion for basses and acid and dubstep sounds. Pairing the distortion with the FM yields some fantastic ripping growls and snarls that put Massive and Serum to the test.
Many folks discounted the NL3 when it first came out because of its lack of onboard FX, when competitors like the Virus, SuperNova, Q, and even the JP8080 had good onboard effects. By comparison, the NL3 is super bare bones.
Within our studio however, we have found it to be highly capable, and we have no trouble envisioning how it will sound in a song, because we have our NL3 routed into a Virus TI2, and so as we design and review sounds for songs, we can switch on some reverb, delay, phaser, chorus, or whatever else we want, and have a clear idea of how the sound will fit in the final mix (we do of course, record Dry once we have everything set the way we like on the NL).
And finally, we come to the Unison section. This is one of the features the NL3 is best known for, and for good reason. It adds an extra 4 voices on top of the base sound, for a total of 5 voices, which spread over the stereo field as you increase the detune. And the best part? It doesn’t impact polyphony.
So you can make huge pads and unison leads and still have 24 voices to work with!
The Mono, Glide, and other sections are fairly standard as with other VAs, so there’s not much to tell there. The tight filters and bright cutting oscillators do mean that gliding leads and leads with some pitch mods have a lot of energy in them, which is nice.
It’s worth mentioning that just below this section lurks the Performance and some extra modulation controls - the Performances let you load up different patches into each section for quick recall, or even play multiple sounds at once (or stack the same patch 2-4 times!) and achieve huge monster sounds that still have loads of polyphony to play around with.
So for you Trance producers, you could effectively make a window-shattering 4 layer multi-octave SuperSaw Pad, or layer a couple leads and plucks together and not have to worry about note timing issues between each layer while recording parts.
And the stone Modwheel can be linked to any parameter, and to multiple parameters at once, giving you almost Blofeld-like sound manipulation capabilities.
The wooden thumb-operated pitch bend gizmo is a pretty neat touch. It’s very unique, and in some ways even more useful than the standard pitch wheel on other synths.
Some of you may be wondering how the Arpeggiator sounds, and it’s nice. I will admit I rarely ever use the built-in arps on hardware synths, but this one sounds nice, and there’s submenu options for tweaking it further, but I must confess I haven’t really fussed with them (as I do most of my arranging ITB).
So, at the end of all things, is the Nord Lead 3 still worthit? There are certainly other VAs and digital synths out there with more FX, more voices, and more bells and whistles, some for less money.
However.
The NL3 has hands on controls unrivaled by anything except a handful of analog mono synths.
It has unison capabilities that are superior to most of its competitors.
It balances the cleanness of VA/ digital with the fatness of analog for a bright sound that isn’t overwhelming.
As a keyboard (which is what we have), its keybed feels great, and it’s a joy to design sounds on the fly with. So if you have ambitions of bringing a live Trance/ Psytrance/Dubstep act to the world stages, pairing the NL3 with some outboard FX units would take this synth to a whole new level and make it the centerpiece of your live rig (plus, it looks super cool on stage, too).
Still worthit today?
Totally.
Hear it in action:
If you've been feeling like VSTs aren't quite cutting it for achieving the sounds you want for your Trance productions, or just want a slightly different sound than everyone else, here's a list of the 10 best desktop synths for the genre. This list contains mixed Virtual Analog, Digital, and Analog synths. The ranking is in no particular order, but you can listen to the soundset samples of each by various studios, to decide which sound suits your tracks the best.
The original Trance synth (along with its sibling, the JP8000). Made famous for its signature SuperSaw sound, it first came to prominence following the release of Rank 1’s iconic classic “Airwave”. Subsequently used by nearly every major Trance artist for pads, leads, and occasionally, basses. Nearly all the controls are laid out on the front panel, making this a very easy to use, friendly synth for the novice hardware user.
Polyphony - 10 voices
Oscillators - 2 Roland Analog Modeling DSP oscillators: Saw, Square (PWM), Triangle (PWM), Super Saw (7 de-tuned Saws), Triangle Mod, Feedback OSC
Filter - Resonant 12/24dB/oct low/band/hi pass, 12-band formant filter bank
Effects - 3 onboard effects: Delay; Multi-FX including Chorus, Flanger, Distortion and Tone control
Memory - 384 preset and 128 user patches; 192 preset and 64 user performance
Arpeg/Seq - Onboard Arpeggiator and real-time Phrase Sequencing (RPS) capability
Keyboard - None
Control - MIDI (2 parts)
Another legendary Trance synth, as much an icon of the genre as the JP80x0. The TI series expanded on the older Virus models with improved DSPs, higher polyphony, added effects, more complex routing options, and more effects. Useful for virtually any genre, and can be used to produce almost 100% of a track, it’s a true studio workhorse. And with an abundance of knobs and front panel controls, it’s easy to use and fun to sculpt sounds with. The TI2 boasts an additional 25% processing power over the first TI, making it extremely useful for long, complex pads, and sounds no other hardware synth can achieve.
Polyphony - Over 90 voices
Multitimbral - 16 parts
Oscillators - 3 osc + subosc + noise, FM, Sync
Waveforms - Sine / pulse / saw / hypersaw / wavetable / granular / formant
Filter - dual LP/HP/BP/BR with envelopes and addtional multi-pole analog emulations (includes Minimoog 4-pole emulation)
LFO - 3 LFOs, multiple options plus mod matrix 18 slots
Envelope - Amp / Filter / 'LFO as envelope' option
Sequencer - none onboard
Arpeggiator - Up / Down / Random / Chord / Multiple additions, editable in software to any variation
Effects - Reverbs, Delays, EQs with Q and freq control, Tape Delays, Distortions (multiple), Phasers, Flangers, Chorus, Analog EQs, Vocoder.
Memory - 128 patches in each of 30 banks plus USB storage / Librarian with additional free patchbanks provided regularly by Access
Control - MIDI, USB, 16-part multitimbral in Multi or sequencer modes
Another amazing VA full of character. It’s a classic you hear in abundance in DuMonde and Ace Da Brain records, and its unique Waldorf Sound makes it distinct from the Virus and JP synths most commonly used, and its polyphony and tone make it great for bright pads, sharp leads, and punchy basses.
Polyphony - 16 to 32 voices
Oscillators - 3 per voice (sawtooth, triangle, sine, PWM, new oscillator algorithms, waves and a noise generator)
Memory - 300 single programs, 100 multi programs
Filter - 2 12dB/24dB Filters (Low pass, band pass, hi pass, notch, comb, ring mod and more; FM and distortion)
VCA - 4 envelopes (ADSR with loop and one shot function, bipolar)
Arpeg/Seq - Arpeggiator: Many user patterns (accents, timing, swing, glide, chords and more); Sequencer: 100 user patterns; 32 steps per pattern, polyphonic
Control - MIDI (16 parts), CV
The 3rd iteration of the Virus series. Where the TI series has HyperSaws, and higher polyphony, this has (according to users) a slightly fatter and heavier low end, making it ideal for basses, and thick pads demanding more low frequency content. It was commonly used in Psytrance between 2002-2005, and you can hear it in the basslines and acid squelches of the genre during that period.
Polyphony - 32 voices
Oscillators - 3 Osc per voice plus 1 Sub-Osc: Sawtooth, variable pulse, sine, triangle, oscillator sync. 5 FM Modes: 64 digital FM spectral waveforms.
LFO - 3 LFOs with 68 waveforms
Filter - 2 independent resonant filters; lowpass, hipass, bandpass, band reject, parallel, split & 2 serial modes with up to 36dB/voice (6-poles), overdrive/saturation.
VCA - 2 ADSTR envelopes
ModMatrix - 6 Sources, 9 Destinations
Effects - 98 simultaneous effects: 16 Phasers, 16 Choruses, 16 Distortions, 16 Ring Modulators, 16 Parametric EQs, Delay, 32-Band Vocoder, Surround Sound.
Memory - 1024 programs (256 User / 768 ROM / 128 Multi)
Control - MIDI (16 multitimbral parts)
When it comes to Trance, Analog Monosynths rarely take center stage. The lack of polyphony, and the tone drift can make using them difficult, and when they have Mono out instead of Stereo out, that makes using them for wide leads nearly impossible.
That said, the Slim Phatty, being compact AND the last synthesizer the founder Bob Moog designed, has that classic, magic Moog sound, and its true analog oscillators and filters make it fantastic for super fat, intense basses with just enough unpredictability to make it endlessly useful for unique, distinctive basses that cut through in a mix and add more character than any sterile vst or sample. Almost no one in the Trance world is using them, either, which gives you an extra reason to pick one up.
Polyphony - Monophonic
Multitimbral - No
Oscillators - 2 VCOs, both 16', 8', 4', 2'
Waveforms - Continuously variable: triangle through saw and square to narrow pulse.
LFO - LFO with triangle, square, sawtooth, ramp
Modulation - Mod Source: LFO, Filt. EGR or Sample and Hold, and Osc. 2 or Noise. Mod Destination: Pitch, Osc. 2, Filter, Wave.
Filter - 1 Low Pass VCF: 24dB/Oct Moog Ladder with overload and ADSR.
Envelope - 1 Volume amp with ASDR
Effects - None
Sequencer - None
Arpeggiator - Up, down, ordered. MIDI-syncable
Keyboard - None
Memory - 100 presets, all can be overwritten by user
Control - MIDI In/Out/Thru; USB; and CV: Pitch CV In (1 V/Oct) Filter CV In Volume CV In Keyboard Gate In
Weight - 5.75 Lbs (2.6 kg)
Another underutilized legend. The XT was Waldorf’s wavetable synth, in a Halloween color scheme (for some reason), and when it came to evolving sounds, cutting leads, and exciting soundscapes, it was king. While not as well-known or used as its cousin the Q, it was an excellent synth, and makes a worthy addition to any studio.
Polyphony - 10 voice (expandable to 30)
Oscillators - 2 oscillators per voice of DSP wavetable synthesis; 1 Ring Mod; 1 Noise Source
Memory - 256 internal patches, 64 external card
Filter - 6/12/24 LP/HP, FM Filter, Sin (x)-LP, Dbl LP/HP, 24/12 BP, Band Stop, Waveshaper
VCA - 1 VCA, VCA ADSR, 1 Free Envelope
LFO - 2 LFO's, sine, tri, square, random, S&H
Effects - Chorus, Flanger 1 & 2, Autowah BP, Autowah LP, Overdrive, Delay, Amp Mod
Keyboard - none
Arpeg/Seq - 16 steps, 128 patterns
Control - MIDI (8-parts)
An icon of Trance, the Nord Lead 2X (and the 2) really stands alone. The unique Nord Sound made it a feature in countless tunes throughout the 90s and early 2000s, featuring in tracks by San Van Doorn and Protonica, and other Nord synths appeared in E-Type’s, Armin van Buuren’s, The Thrillseekers, and numerous other big artist’s songs.
Polyphony - 20 Voices
Oscillators - 2 VSM oscillators: sine, triangle, sawtooth, pulse and noise
LFO - 2 LFO's (triangle, sawtooth, random) control OSC 1 or 2, filter, pulse-width, ADSR envelope
Filter - 12 dB/oct 2-pole lowpass, 24dB/oct 4-pole lowpass / bandpass / highpass (both with cutoff, resonance, env amount, env velocity, key tracking, ADSR envelope)
VCA - ADSR envelope and Amplifier Gain control
Keyboard - 49 keys (velocity sensitive)
Memory - 99 patches (59 preset, 40 user), 99 performances, 10 drum kits
Control - MIDI (4 parts), and all knobs and controls are MIDI
Perhaps one of the rare synths deserving of the title Most Obscure Modern Classic. Well-beloved in sound designer circles, it’s a descendent of the Waldorf Q, Micro Q, XT, and Microwave series (and includes a number of their wavetables and filters), it is easily one of the most versatile synths on the market. What it lacks in user-friendliness and front panel accessibility, it makes up for in creating clean, fat plucks, basses, evolving pads and soundscapes, and gnarly basses. Users can upload their own wavetables into the synth, and with 25 voices of polyphony (not fixed, though), it works well in Trance. And hardly anyone in the Trance world is using it, so it’s perfect for creating sounds no one else is making.
Polyphony - 25 voices maximum (Poly, Mono, Dual or Unison modes)
Multitimbral - 16 parts
Sampler - 44.1kHz mono with 60 Mb RAM
Oscillators - 3 oscillators per voice (128' to 1/2') plus noise, frequency modulation, ring modulation
Waveforms - All Q Oscillator models: sine, saw, triangle, square with PWM; 68 digital 16-bit wavetables from Microwave II/XT/XTK
LFO - 3 LFOs per voice with square, sine, saw, triangle, S&H, random with delay and fade in/out
Modulation - Modulation Matrix with 16 Slots, freely programmable
Filter - 2 independent Multi Mode Filters per voice: Low pass, High pass, Band pass, Notch, Comb; 12 or 24 dB/oct modes
Envelope - 4 Envelopes per voice, ADSR, AD1S1D2S2R, One Shot, Loopable
Effects - 2 Effect units with Chorus, Flanger, Phaser, Overdrive, Decimator, Delay, Reverb
Vocoder - None
Sequencer - None
Arpeggiator - Programmable, 16 steps, Up, Down, Alt Up, Alt Down, Random
Memory - 1,024 sounds, 128 multi sets
Control - MIDI IN (plus OUT on Keyboard), USB
Another piece of Trance history, the Supernova is one of those synths you hear everywhere, but might not immediately recognize. It’s versatile, flexible, and lacks a singular character just enough that when you use it, people in the know won’t groan and go “Guuh, they used a _”. You CAN hear it in tracks by ATB, and Ace Da Brain.
Polyphony - SuperNova: 20 voices, expandable to 32
SuperNova II: 24-, 36-, 48-voice models plus additional 12- or 24-voice expansion boards
Oscillators - 3 (sqaure, saw, variable width pulse) and noise
LFO - 2 with control of VCA, VCF & pitch; saw, square, tri, sample/hold
Filter - Hi/Low/Band pass, 12/18/24 dB/oct ranges, resonant self-oscillating filter with overdrive
Effects - Distortion, reverb, chorus, flange, phaser, delay, pan, tremolo, 2-band EQ, comb filtering
Memory - 512 expandable to 1,024 patches; 256 performances
Control - MIDI (8 parts)
Another classic, that you can’t pass up. It sounds different from other Nords, which you may or may not like, but it has higher polyphony and an expanded oscillator section relative to the others, which makes it even more useful for fat leads and wide pads.
Polyphony - 24 voices
Oscillators - 2 oscillator groups each with Six waveforms: sine, saw, triangle, square (pulse with width modulation), noise, synced noise, dual sine; 2- and 4-op FM and differential FM; osc-sync; ring-modulation; variable unison.
LFO - 2 per voice, syncable to MIDI. Triangle, saw, square, smooth and stepped random, and triple-peak sine waveforms. Seperate vibrato effect.
Filter - 2 multi-mode filters (series or parallel). Lowpass, Bandpass, Highpass, LP-HP, LP-LP and Classic mode. 1-, 2-, or 4-pole.
VCA - ADSR envelopes for amplitude and filter; Amplifier Gain control
Memory - 1,024 patches, 256 performances
Control - MIDI IN/OUT/THRU (4-parts)
Date Produced - 2001
Dawnchaser is a Pacific Northwest-based electronic music producer, mountaineer, documenter of all things adventure, mountain, and travel-related, and manager of Kulshan Recordings. If he’s not in the studio writing music about adventures, he’s out on one.