Nord Stage

Digital keyboard manufactured by Clavia

The Nord Stage is a digital keyboard or stage piano, manufactured by Clavia Digital Music Instruments of Stockholm, Sweden. There have been six editions of the instrument: the original Nord Stage in 2005, the Nord Stage EX in 2008, the Nord Stage 2 in 2011, the Nord Stage 2 EX in 2015, the Nord Stage 3 in 2017, and the Nord Stage 4 in 2023. The Nord Stage follows the success of earlier keyboard instruments from Clavia, and contains similar emulations of vintage electromechanical keyboards such as the Hammond Organ and electric pianos as found on the Nord Electro 2, with additional functionality including a weighted piano like keyboard on certain models, a synthesizer section based on the Nord Lead, a more versatile organ section and extended effects processing. The Nord Stage is multitimbral, which means it can play more than one sound at once, either by splitting the internal keyboard or connecting an external MIDI controller. The Nord Stage 2 and 3 also have the ability to play samples, allowing it to reproduce the functionality of a Mellotron or Chamberlin. Individual samples can be downloaded from Clavia's website, and a community has developed that provides new instruments and sounds.

The Nord Stage is divided into three sound groups: the Organ section, the Piano section, and the Synthesizer section. Each section can be played independently or simultaneously, divided into specific key ranges (splitting), and blended with independent volume controls.

The Piano section uses samples of acoustic and electromechanical pianos. The Stage's in built memory allow multiple sample sets to be installed. While additional sampled piano sets are available as free downloads from Clavia's website, the Stage ships with Yamaha C7 and Steinway Concert Model D grand pianos, Svenska Pianofabriken and Yamaha M5J upright pianos, Yamaha CP80 Electric grand piano, Rhodes Piano, Wurlitzer Electronic Piano, and Hohner Clavinet samples. The Clav EQ buttons allow users to adjust the sound of the Clavinet. Acoustic Piano sounds are stereo samples, which can be switched manually to "Mono Mode", and can be played at 40 note polyphony; Electric Piano samples are mono and can be played with 60 note polyphony. Amongst the samples included as standard with the Nord Stage 2 and 3 are those for the Mellotron and Chamberlin tape based keyboards, which have been exclusively licensed to Clavia. Users can also create their own samples and load them into the Stage using the tools supplied.

The External section, unlike the others, does not directly generate sound. Instead, it allows users to control other gear connected via MIDI. Common parameters such as zone, channel, and volume are controllable from the Stage. overdrive, and expands the Electro's 2 band EQ to 3 band. Piano, Organ, and Synth sections can be independently routed through these groups. Two Master Effects are included – a simple compressor, and a five algorithm reverb.

Sounds can be stored as Programs, which include the instrument source, effects types, and settings. There are 400 storage locations – 4 banks with 100 programs in each – all of which can be overwritten with user programs. There are 300 independent storage locations for Synth patches. The Nord Stage is multitimbral – each of the Piano, Organ, and Synth sections can sound independently. There are two Panels – A and B – each of which provides a separate configuration of the three sections within a single Program. Panels can be played independently, with one of the panels being controlled via an external MIDI keyboard controller, or they can be layered together, allowing for a maximum of 6 part multitimbral. Most of the buttons and knobs on the Stage, such as volume, instrument selection, drawbar levels (for organ) or filter controls (for synthesizer) can also be adjusted by the external keyboard.

The Nord Stage includes a spring mounted wooden pitch stick, and a ceramic mod wheel, similar to the Nord Lead and Nord Modular synthesizers. The connectors at the back of the Stage allow the connection of a sustain pedal, a swell pedal for organ, a footswitch to select the rotary speaker emulation speed, and a control pedal to modify effects such as wah wah. A set of screw in legs are an available option for the 88 and 76 note models and a custom designed soft case is also available from Clavia. A third party company, Ocean Beach Digital, has manufactured a set of MIDI controlled drawbars for the Nord Stage, for users who prefer to use real drawbars instead of the buttons provided as standard.

The Nord Stage 2 received a Platinum award from Future Music magazine (who described it as "A huge upgrade, cementing its status as the most authentic stage piano/organ/synth available"), and won the 2011 MIA Award for best hardware, and the 2011 MIPA Award for best Stage Piano. Derek Sherinian, already well known for using Nord keyboards, started using the Nord Stage 2 in 2011. Other notable musicians who have used the Nord Stage include Little Feat's Bill Payne, Scott Kinsey, The Ark's Jens Andersson (who played a Nord Stage 2 on the band's final tour), Bryan Ferry and Elbow. Sound on Sound criticised the pitch stick on the Nord Stage, noting its range is permanently fixed to two semitones and cannot be adjusted. Reviewing the Stage 2, Keyboard Magazine criticised the lack of MIDI thru and said "even with dedicated controls for most functions, it can be difficult to grasp at first. The few hardware buttons for changing programs are shared with Live settings." However, they also stated the acoustic pianos sounded "beautiful". Reviewing the Stage 3, Sound on Sound found it a significant upgrade from previous models, though still raised concerns about the high price tag.