Clavia Nord Stage 4 73

The Clavia Nord Stage 4 73 is the fourth generation of the Swedish manufacturer's versatile stage keyboard – with its 73 keys, this model is slightly more compact than the largest 88-key Stage 4. The many upgrades in the fourth generation include an entirely new hammer action keybed, which now features unique triple sensor technology. At the same time, Clavia has remodelled the Stage 4's user interface so extensively that users will now find a volume fader for every layer, as well as sensitive physical drawbars in the organ section. On top of that, the organ, piano, and synthesizer sections have all been kitted out with a whole host of new sounds, with the latter section based on the Clavia Nord Wave 2. What all this means in practice is that it's both even easier now to manipulate the authentic and flexible sounds of the Clavia Nord Stage 4 73, and artists can do this live on stage with such confidence that every show is sure to be a success.

When working with the Clavia Nord Stage 4's piano section, musicians can now layer two sounds independently, with the synthesizer section allowing for three simultaneous layers. The range of effects can also be applied to the layers individually (with the exception of organ layers A and B), which makes the sounds even more varied and customisable. Creative performers can use the powerful and effective Morph Assign function – a set of switches that assigns morph functions to a variety of different physical controllers, including the mod wheel – to modify multiple parameters at once. To make the segues as seamless as possible, it's best to hold the currently active notes while altering the sounds, which ensures fluid, less choppy live performances in particular. And for soft transitions between the notes at split points, there's a great option to divide the keybed into four separate key zones with freely assignable split crossfades.

The sounds of the Clavia Nord Stage 4 73 are divided across three independent sections. Alongside acoustic grand and upright pianos, tine- and reed-based electric pianos, and clavinet and harpsichord sounds, the piano section also includes a category of digital electric piano sounds. On grand and upright pianos, the “String Resonance” function simulates the sympathetic vibration of unstruck strings, which makes the sound more alive. The organ section reproduces the B3, Vox and Farfisa models and also includes two pipe organ models, each with its own tonal character. The synthesizer section offers analog and digital waveforms as well as FM algorithms and samples. The manufacturer provides free sound libraries on its website for expanding the piano and synthesizer sections. The Nord Sample Editor 4 software for Windows and Mac also lets producers turn their own samples into playable instruments.

The Clavia Nord Stage 4 73's central programming section is appealingly accessible and easy to use, with global options activated and sound programmes selected via the central OLED screen. There's another display dedicated entirely to the synth section, used for selecting waveforms, samples, and filters. For all its complex functionality, there's no chance of feeling confused when using the Stage 4 – the six sections are clearly delineated visually, in Clavia's trademark red, black, and grey. The new drawbars in the organ section and the full complement of volume faders are all equipped with LED strips, meaning that all the important parameters can be read at a glance on even the darkest stages. And any ambitious musician who wants still more control over the parameters of Clavia Nord's flagship instrument has plenty of options, starting with adding the new versions of Clavia Nord's pedals to their setup, which have been updated to match the Stage 4 itself: The Nord Triple Pedal 2, or TP2, and the sustain pedal SP2. The Stage 4 ships with the SP1 as standard.