The project begins

Ok, here it is, my first venture into the world of blogging!

I have a great topic to share with you - the design and construction of a dual manual Nord Electro.

To get a reasonably realistic Hammond organ experience you really need an extra keyboard to trigger the sounds of the lower manual. The lower manual is typically used for kicking left hand bass lines and playing accompaniement whilst the top manual is for solos and accents. It is possible to achieve this on one kayboard by using a split point and two zones but it is very restrictive.

Furthermore my plan is to build a Hammond B3 style mahogany cabinet so that it really looks and feels the part!

I have a Fatar/Studiologic SL-161 controller keyboard which I will use for the lower manual although I have been tempted to upgrade to the new Doepfer D3m organ controller keyboard.

Here is a picture of the first mockup so I can make some initial measurements.