NORD STAGE 4 officially announced for February 16th 2023

[Al_DeKlein]

After watching a few more videos on the NS4 (particularly the one done in the Nord factory showing the "top 10 new things"), it does look like a very cool piece of gear and it follows the Nord playbook that they've used for all of their instruments going back to the '90s. It would take a good amount of time to dig deep into all those new features and configure a NS4 for my gigs, though it would be fun to do it.

As I did with the transition from NS2 to NS3, I'll wait a bit.

[Rusty Mike]

I'll go out on a limb and suggest that a radical new Stage would have dumped the organ entirely, and put all the development into the synth features and piano memory.

If I was going to come up with a new config (which, to my mind, should be an addition, not a replacement for the Stage series), I'd go with an organ+synth combo (offered in SW action only). There are lots of people with hammer action pianos who want a board above for synth+organ (typically played from non-hammer actions), and there aren't really any boards that are just knobby VA synth + organ. Hammond SK Pro is close (it has pianos, but they're minimal), the limitation there is that the knobby synth is for mono synth sounds only. But a SW organ+knobby synth doesn't preclude your idea, which could be a hammer-action piano+knobby synth.

I've mentioned this many times in the past. A Nord-oriented killer tier 2 keyboard.

[Gambold]

...Like I said earlier - people who are into synths aren't usually playing a lot of organs at their gigs. I don't think anyone touched the B3 in all those videos on nordstage4.com. I didn't watch all of them...if I'm wrong let me know.

At about 1:50 in the J3PO video on the Nord Keyboards site is a solo synth accompanied by a B3 - it's a nice combination.

[Al_DeKlein]

If I was going to come up with a new config (which, to my mind, should be an addition, not a replacement for the Stage series), I'd go with an organ+synth combo (offered in SW action only).

Great idea. One approach would be to clone the Stage 4 organ and synth sections so folks could share presets with Stage 4 owners, but a full Wave 2 with organ could also be developed to allow sharing of presets across platforms.

[hernjov1]

I have to agree with spider on guitar players spending major bucks on pedal boards FX! My guitarist has 3 to 4 grand in his! Lol
Hey Nord folks, I guess if I hadn't purchased my NS3C in 2018 when it was a total hit as a Flagship keyboard, and had a older board then it... I probably would have looked into buying the Stage 4! That would still have to be after I see what all the functions do watching many YouTube hands on videos of it! I could be wrong, but I'll bet the cure for the song mode being taken away for one has all ready been some better way added to the 8 buttons with live mode etc! Problem with some of us is the fact that most of us put mega hours into learning & setting up these boards, & get in a comfort zone playing them, and that goes without saying, but I just did! Lol
Can't wait to see some more detailed videos of it's funtions in the near future!

[Rusty Mike]

After watching a few more videos on the NS4 (particularly the one done in the Nord factory showing the "top 10 new things"), it does look like a very cool piece of gear and it follows the Nord playbook that they've used for all of their instruments going back to the '90s. It would take a good amount of time to dig deep into all those new features and configure a NS4 for my gigs, though it would be fun to do it.

As I did with the transition from NS2 to NS3, I'll wait a bit.

I watched the video as well, albeit a bit reluctantly, as I'm not a fan of Jack's delivery style. Fortunately his narrative was kept to a minimum. I can certainly see the appeal to the right crowd. The effects section is a massive upgrade which allows you to pretty much ditch your pedals.

IF I was still doing the kind of music that needs this level of depth (which I'm not) and IF I was willing to lug the extra weight (which I'm most certainly not), a Stage 4 Compact with a weighted lower controller keyboard would be a killer rig.

I no longer need a Stage, so I'm very curious to see what trickles down to the next Electro.

[cphollis]

...Like I said earlier - people who are into synths aren't usually playing a lot of organs at their gigs. I don't think anyone touched the B3 in all those videos on nordstage4.com. I didn't watch all of them...if I'm wrong let me know.

At about 1:50 in the J3PO video on the Nord Keyboards site is a solo synth accompanied by a B3 - it's a nice combination.

I do a *lot* of layered organ+synth sounds. After all, the organ was the very first synthesizer!

EDIT: it's also very easy to do on the Stage, less so with a dedicated synthesizer.

[M1tsos]

After i watch and hear the video with jack and staffan .. i end up on the conclusion that the stage 4 targeting serious and extremely advanced keybordists who want to be able to write and record all the music for a movie or who want to go in a piano bar pub for a live gig. Who want to be in a rock band .. in a jazz band in a pop or country band..

Targeting people who can do all in 1 instrument with really good sound samples ap ep organs synths etc..

Price is much.. this will make it not a top seller or something huge for sure.. if it was 1000 less it could get many people to buy it..

But right now at 5100 euros only sound light rental company’s like my will buy it and real proffesional top keyboard players that work with big names.. the average keyboard or piano players will search for used nord stage 2ex-3 or will buy piano 5 grand or electro 6

As for the memory i wish it had a bit more for the piano library.

Keybed action i would like to know if it has exactly the same with piano 5 88..

[ajstan]

I'm in the group that sees the NS4 as an interesting upgrade that isn't necessary for me at this time, but I'm wondering what I would do if I had to replace my NS3s if they were stolen or damaged beyond repair. Cost aside, the only non-starter for me would be the lack of Song Mode, upon which I heavily rely, with many of my Songs having multiple programs and needing to set up different setlists for each gig.

Could "Layer Scene 2" capabilities be the solution?

How much is known about the "Layer Scene 2" functionality? Is it just a switch to activate/deactivate panels, or can each of the 7 panels be different in Scene 2 than Scene 1? If it's the latter, then each NS4 Program is essentially a Song with two Programs within it. I'm pretty sure that I can work with that, since almost all of the time I need 3 or more programs for a song, it's because I need an additional synth part.

[cphollis]

The demo from Anderton's showed that exact functionality for the Layer Scene 2 feature, e.g. punching in a synth. I don't know all the details, though.