News travels fast -- NAMM is still few weeks away, yet we already know that Clavia Nord will announce its Nord Piano at the show. Since the cat's out of the bag, we might as well tell you a bit about it.

The Nord Piano is a lightweight (under 30 pounds) dedicated stage piano with 88 keys and a weighted hammer action. The user panel offers quick access to sound settings and adjustable parameters, and a number of memory locations are provided in a bank / program configuration.

At a glance, the Nord Piano includes six selectable categories of pianos (Grand, Upright, EP Tines, EP Reeds, Clavinet, and Harpsichord); a full effects section controlled by the Effect 1 Rate knob and the Drive knob; and accessories (piano pedal and power cord) and optional add-ons (legs, soft case, and music stand).

The piano comes with replaceable sounds from the Nord Piano library, all of which are stored in a Flash memory with a 512 MB capacity. You can replace every piano with something else and still keep the original sounds intact in the memory, even when the unit is turned off.

According to the manufacturer, the Nord Piano Speaker faithfully reproduces the overdrive response of different amplifier / cabinet combinations and gives your sound an authentic feel. Just select the desired speaker model and use the Drive knob to add tube amplifier distortion to your piano sound on the spot.

Pricing and availability will be announced when the Nord Piano is officially introduced next year. For more information, visit nordkeyboards.com.