Swedish synth maker Clavia's first stab at a Hammond emulation was featured on the Nord Electro 61 keyboard, which I reviewed in the December 2001 issue of SOS. I was very complimentary about its organ mode but, due to some serious errors in the implementation of its electromechanical pianos, I described my time with it as "an emotional rollercoaster". So when I read that Clavia were designing a new keyboard based on the Electro, throwing away the pianos but further refining the organ model, I was rather excited. When I heard that the resulting instrument was to have dual 61-key manuals and include emulations of the Vox Continental and Farfisa Compact Duo (which, perhaps for copyright reasons, Clavia refer to as the Electric-V and Electric-F models) I was very excited.

The C1 arrived in a padded and wheeled soft case. This is a chargeable option, but it's nice nonetheless. Removing the organ gave me a pleasant shock: it's lighter than many modern workstations. I had prepared a heavy-duty double-X stand for it, but it was apparent that this would not be necessary. The C1 will be a doddle to transport and set up for live use.

The back of the C1 is not complex by modern standards, but you have to watch what you're doing. For example, there are three MIDI sockets, but these are not In/Out/Thru, they're In, Out and a dedicated omni-mode MIDI In for bass pedals, the input from which is channelised and directed to the MIDI Out if required.

Alongside the MIDI sockets, a USB connector is available for upgrading the OS, should it be necessary. Since the review unit had an early version (v1.02), I upgraded it to the latest (v1.12) by downloading the application, connecting my Mac to the C1, running the program, and waiting about 20 seconds for it to do its thing. The procedure was faultless, and PC owners should also have no difficulty, although they will require a driver (available on the company's web site) to enable Windows to 'find new hardware'.

There are three control pedal inputs: a TRS (stereo quarter-inch) socket for a swell pedal, a switch input for controlling the speed of the rotary speaker effect, and a sustain pedal input (which is not as odd as it seems, given that you can use the C1 as a MIDI controller).

Finally, we come to the outputs. These include a headphone output and the main stereo outputs, which can also be used as independent outputs for the Hammond emulation (left) and the Vox and Farfisa emulations (right). When you consider how you might amplify and/or mix these organs, this makes a great deal of sense. Next comes an 11-pin Leslie connector. I suspect that the C1 would sound stunning through a real rotary speaker, but I have six-pin Leslies in my studio, so this will have to remain speculation. Finally, there's a high-level (14V) output for a Leslie preamplifier. This also uses a quarter-inch socket, so you must be careful not to connect it to standard line-level inputs.

Like the Electro, the C1 has no physical drawbars, and uses pairs of buttons to increase or decrease the contribution from each footage. It's a more useable system than it sounds, but if your Hammond performances rely on 'playing' the drawbars, you may find that the C1 is not for you, and that one of the other,...