Swedish company Clavia have shown their first version of a virtual "modular" synthesizer in 1997 - hence, by today's standards, one might consider it a "classic" instrument. Well, the novelty tag is long gone, but the Nord Modular's concept (namely combining a stand-alone sound-generating hardware and an editing software that runs on a personal computer) has remained unique to this day and has been recently updated by the official introduction of new hard- and software in the shape of the Nord Modular G2.

Of course, there's a couple of comparable systems around - think of German company Creamware, who offer their Scope-offshoot Noah, comprising a rack-size synthesizer hardware and control software for the PC. Some other companies like Native Instruments or Arturia have taken a different route and developed their software-only modular synthesizers (Reaktor and Moog Modular, respectively). Both solutions rely on the host computer's processor for sound-generating purposes, which means they require a powerful computer to work properly.

Clavia, on the other hand, use a hardware instrument that can be used without a computer in sight. The editing software is needed only for creating new synthesizer patches or altering existing ones. To achieve this, the Nord Modular is linked to the computer via MIDI (original Modular) or USB (Modular G2). The sounds are produced exclusively by digital signal processors on the Modular hardware, so once the editing is done, you can use the instrument just like any other standalone-synthesizer, even more so, as Clavia's Modular hardware allows for extensive real-time control. So it's a bit of a "back to the analogue days" feeling, definitely an advantage for musicians who defy using computers in live environments.

Contrary to so-called "native" solutions that rely on a standard computer's processor for editing and sound production, the host computer to run Clavia's editor software does not have to be a powerful machine: a 133-MHz-CPU will do for the original Nord Modular editor, a 400-MHz-CPU for the G2 version. Clearly, this is not of much importance today considering the average computing power of current PCs, but it is a sign that Clavia's programmers take pride in creating a highly efficient editing software without any unnecessary gimmicks.
 
> Nord Modular in use