NORD STAGE 2
Posted on Tue 08 March 2011 in entries
Much of the recent NAMM 2011 piano-emulation talk has been dominated by the monster that is the Korg Kronos. However, another product that certainly deserves some recognition in this area is the new Nord Stage 2 keyboard synthesiser. Here I will attempt to give you a bit of information on what the Stage 2 is all about....
NORD STAGE 2 – AWARD WINNING
The Stage 2 packs all of Nord’s award-winning Organ, Piano and Synthesiser state-of-the-art technologies into one amazing unit. If you have ever used a Nord product before, you will be familiar with the quality that they are renowned for, and the Stage 2 is no different – in fact, it improves on the old Stage series, offering a fantasticly user-friendly interface, a choice of premium keybeds, and a massive range of immediate controls, making it perfect for professional live performances.
The Nord Stage 2 is set for release in 3 models. The 88 and 76 key versions will feature professional fully weighted Hammer Action keyboards, and a smaller 73 note version is set to use a semi-weighted waterfall keyboard (useful for people who like sliding their fingers over the keys in a crazy jazz fashion!) Apart from the keyboard types (which incidentally are ALL individually tested and tuned by Nord themselves), and the number of accessories available to each, all models have identical features. And on this note it may also be worth mentioning that all Nord Stage 2's are hand-built in Stockholm, Sweden, so you can be sure that what you are getting is nothing less than a product of exceptional quality.
NORD STAGE 2 – USER FRIENDLY LAYOUT
The layout of the Nord Stage 2 is designed with the live performer in mind. The front panel has a wealth of important user controls, each labeled for quick recognition, and the Nord Stage 2 has very few deep menus to navigate through. That’s not to say that it’s not a detailed piece of kit though – just all the important controls are right there in front of you and immediately accessible!
As I mentioned earlier, the Nord Stage 2 has three sound generating sections for Piano, Organ, and Synthesiser, and each section is given it’s own dedicated place on the front panel, along with sections for effects, general processing, and an external section for using the Nord Stage 2 as a master keyboard. This ensures that all related controls are clearly visually grouped together, and a number of LEDs help communicate the state of the keyboard and its various controls back to the user – especially useful when you are playing in a dark venue!
NORD STAGE 2 – PIANO SECTION
The 60 voice Piano section of the Nord Stage 2 employs unbelievably detailed sampling techniques to capture every nuance and all the natural character of the source instrument. One of the most impressive features of the Nord Stage 2 is the intelligent String Resonance, which reproduces the sound of the piano strings resonating at their fundamental or harmonic frequencies when other strings are played. You may or may not be familiar with the science behind this, but to give you a basic idea of what is going on, piano strings on notes that are held will be excited by other notes that are being played if they share harmonic similarities, resulting in a slight ringing sound and subtle change of sonic character. This is especialy useful when playing large chords, and will go a long way to making your performances sound much more natural.
To further add to the natural sound, the Nord Stage 2 also features dynamic pedal noise and release samples, so you get subtle little clicks (or not so subtle clicks if you really whack the pedal!) if you decide to use the optional Nord Triple Pedal. This little touch models the dampers stopping and releasing the strings within an acoustic piano.
In addition to all this, the Nord Stage 2 also features a selectable Piano Release function that when activated gives you a slightly longer release, which is a welcome addition if you play legato. This feature models adjusting the damper tension in acoustic or electromechanical instruments.
The piano section on the Nord Stage 2 features a selection of acoustic Grand and Upright pianos, along with a load of vintage electric pianos, and even includes a new Steinway piano. When using Clavinet sounds, the Nord Stage 2 gives you the option to select between four rocker positions so that you can customise the clavinet sound to you needs. And another fantastic piece of news is that the Nord Stage 2 is fully compatible with the Nord Piano Library. This is a free online library supplied by Nord that is continuously being updated with upgrades to existing pianos and brand new pianos, meaning that if you feel you are falling behind with the original library of piano sounds, just go online and download some more! I think that Nord’s description of ‘future-proof’ describes it pretty well!
NORD STAGE 2 – ORGAN SECTION
The Nord Stage 2 incorporates a number of astounding organ models taken from their top of the range C2 dual manual organ. It uses an organ model based on the analysis of signals from each of the 91 spinning discs inside several original instruments. Nord claim that many people consider the Stage 2 to give the most accurate organ emulations ever, and state that whilst building the organ engine, the team made an effort to ensure that they understood exactly how all the components within the various instruments interacted together. This no doubt contributed to the extremely natural sounds that the Stage 2 produces, as the Nord team could then model the components of each organ within the keyboard’s virtual circuitry, so that sounds evolve naturally within a performance even without using the panels control settings. The organ section within the Stage 2 even faithfully reproduces foldback and energy robbing characteristics! Plus, the Nord Stage 2 lets you switch between 3 tone wheel modes, allowing you to use either a clean, factory spec’d instrument, or a ‘worn and battered workhorse with many years of touring’. Your selection will obviously alter how the organ sounds, so you can customise each organ to the needs of the specific project.
For all you organ geeks, the Nord Stage 2 features extremely detailed emulations of the Vox Continental and the Farfisa Compact! How exciting is that! (Yes, I’ve never heard of them either, but I’m sure that there is someone out there who will be shaking with anticipation at this news!) For those of us that aren’t hardcore organaholics, these instruments were apparently massively famous in the 1960’s!
In addition to the organs, the Nord Stage 2 features the very latest rotary speaker simulation, incorporating the natural acoustic variations that occur as a physical rotating speaker spreads the sound around a room. This is just one of many features that gives the Nord Stage 2 such a realistic sound.
For me, not being a particular organ enthusiast, or indeed an expert, the coolest thing about the organ section is the number of bright LED’s that appear in the panel! The ‘Draw Buttons’ and LED bar graphs are there to model an organs mechanical drawbars in a new futuristic way! The LED bar graphs give you a simple indication of the position of each drawbar, which is useful when changing presets, or making drawbar adjustments for yourself. And finally, when using organ sounds with the Nord Stage 2, the keybed is programmed to respond at it’s highest trigger position (so you don’t have to press the keys as far down to trigger output). This happens ONLY when using organ sounds, and allows you to play in an authentic, fast manner. It’s little added touches like this that make the Stage 2 such an impressive piece of kit.
NORD STAGE 2 – SYNTH SECTION
The third, final, and most improved sound engine within the Stage 2 is the Synth section. I find it extremely useful how the Stage 2 is split up in this manner. Most synths will just feature one set of controls for ‘the synthesiser’ that is capable of producing a whole variety of sounds (including piano and organ sounds), but having separate sets of controls for specific important instruments along with a dedicated synth section makes the Nord Stage 2 much more appealing.
The Nord Stage 2 features a powerful new synth engine, which was built from the concepts of the Nord Wave, and includes a single oscillator version of this popular synth. This engine is extremely flexible, capable of analogue synthesis, FM synthesis, Wavetable synthesis, and is also compatible with the Nord Sample Library. This is an important feature for two reasons. Firstly, the Nord Sample Library gives the user access to a massive range of free pristine sounds (including Mellotron and Chamberlin samples). And secondly, and equally as exciting, this compatibility also means that you can use the included Nord Sample Editor (for Mac and PC) to load your own sample instrument maps (using your own sounds), meaning that the Nord Stage 2 can be as flexible as you desire!
The Nord Stage 2’s synth engine features classic analogue synthesis with dual saw, hard sync and pulse wave modulation, three-operator FM synthesis with 32 different modulation frequencies, Wavetable synthesis with 62 waveforms and Sample based synthesis, so you have a lot to play about with, and with this type of flexibility you should be able to create virtually any sound you can think of! The Nord Stage 2 also features a new multimode filter with 12 and 24dB low pass, high pass, band pass, and notch modes. To add to the Nord Stage 2’s sound-shaping capabilities, it’s synth section also features a number of other standard parameters such as an amplitude envelope, modulation envelope, an LFO, and Unison control for really beefing up your sounds.
Last but not least, the synthesiser also features a brand new arpeggiator, which can be easily synced to the Stage 2’s Master Clock for perfect timing with other elements of the unit, including its effects. The arpeggiator is brilliant for adding complex movements to chords and so on, and can often be used to fuel inspiration when you are having a creative block!
NORD STAGE 2 – EASY TO USE
The Stage 2 is all geared towards live performance, so even the programming section is quick and easy to grasp. As I have already mentioned, this ease of use starts with the way Nord have split the Piano, Organ and Synth sections into separate areas. This allows each section to house the important controls for the specific sound generator, meaning there is no need for deep menus or complicated screens to program your instruments.
As added live performance features, the Nord Stage 2 features their patented Pitch Stick and Modulation Wheel, which are ergonomically designed for the live performer, and a Morph Grouping feature, which allows you to assign sound and effects parameters to physical controllers.
It is also quick and easy to split the Nord Stage 2 into separate parts. In fact, it has been especially designed so that you can split it into 3 sections, and it uses LEDs to indicate to the user where split points occur. It is also possible to set a second ‘panel’ up on the Nord, meaning you can have more layers, or up to 6 splits!
NORD STAGE 2 – USE THE STAGE 2 AS A MASTER KEYBOARD
Using the Nord Stage 2 as a master keyboard to control external devices is also a breeze, with the dedicated Extern section featured on the front panel. It is therefore extremely easy to seamlessly integrate any connected MIDI gear with the Stage 2, with all zones, splits and layers handled perfectly as if the external equipment were part of the Stage 2. It’s also simple to save all settings together with a Program, meaning advanced settings can easily be recalled in real-time during a performance. The Extern section can even be used to transmit Bank Select and Program Change messages to external units!
NORD STAGE 2 – EFFECT SECTION
As you would expect with such a high-end product, the Nord Stage 2 also comes with a huge range of effects, and each of the three instrument sections can be routed individually through the Stage 2’s built-in effect units. As with most things on the Nord Stage 2, activating and deactivating effects as well as routing them can all be achieved by pressing dedicated buttons on the front panel, in this case at the bottom of the Effects section.
It is often desirable to sync effects with other elements of a performance (e.g. LFO, other effects, master tempo, etc.) so the new Master Clock function of the Nord Stage 2 is a welcome addition. With the press of a button and the turn of a dial, it is simple to assign the effect rate to a range of note values. In fact, Nord give a nice little example of how this function could be used on their website: ‘make the delay do quarter note triplets of what the arpeggiator is playing, while the LFO gently sweeps the filter up and down in half notes, all perfectly interlocked.’ And, if you are working with a host application or another piece of equipment transmitting timing data, then the Stage 2’s Master Clock can also be controlled by an external MIDI Clock!
The Nord Stage 2 features an impressive range of effects, each divided into relevant sections. The ‘Effect 1’ section offers Tremolo, two Wahs, an Auto-Wah, Ring Modulator and AutoPan. The ‘Effect 2’ section features two Phasers, two Choruses, and a Flanger and new Vibe effect that are modeled from classic analogue stomp boxes. The ‘Delay’ section…well, I reckon you can guess what type of effects that offers! The Nord Stage 2 also contains an ‘Amp Simulation/Equaliser’ section, giving an effect that combines a 3-band equaliser with a fantastic sounding amplifier and speaker cabinet modeler. This section is especially useful to give your electric piano sounds some extra character, and the Stage 2 offers simulations of a Twin Reverb, a Jazz Chorus 120 and a Wurlitzer speaker. Of course, you don’t have to use any amp modeling at all if you don’t want, and it you decide not to the Stage 2 simply provides a standard 3-band equaliser with sweepable overdrive.
Finally, at the end of the signal chain the Nord Stage 2 features a Master Effects section with Compressor and a Reverb. These important effects will help to mix your sounds more naturally within your project or performance. The Reverb effect features 6 different virtual space settings, whilst the compressor allows you to tighten up you overall mix.
NORD STAGE 2 – SUMMARY
It’s official, the Nord Stage 2 is a brilliant piece of gear to own, especially if you are a live performer. In fact, off the top of my head I can’t think of anything I’ve come across that beats the Stage 2 when it comes to ease and functionality for live use. Trust me when I say that the sounds that this thing is capable of producing are truly breathtaking, and the way that the controls are laid out, along with it's variety of parameters makes it hard to rival. If you have used ever used a Nord keyboard before, you can expect more of the same stuff from the Stage 2, but with a few more features.
And I know I have banged on about how brilliant this instrument is for live performance, but that doesn’t mean I don’t rate it as a piece of studio equipment… far from it actually! The fact that the Stage 2 is geared towards live performance just means that it is simpler to use in any environment, and after all, the most important thing about a piece of studio kit is the sound… and the Stage 2 certainly does not disappoint...