Trademarks: The Nord logo is a trademark of Clavia DMI AB. All other trademarks mentioned in this publication are the properties of their respective holders. Specifications and appearances are subject to change without notice.
Preset I & II ..................20 organ section ....................8 drawbar Live (compact model) ...............20 Piano section Swell pedal ....................8 .....................20 nord Piano Library .....................8 rotary Speaker ....................20 String resonance ....................8 nord triple Pedal ....................8 Pedal noise ....................9 PIAno ....................21 Piano and clav EQ ....................9 on/off, Level and Zone Select .................21...
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4 | nord StAGE 3 uSEr MAnuAL oS V1.X Song Mode LFo Amt ......................37 .....................28 Vel / Mod Env ....................37 Song Edit ......................28 the Envelopes Storing a song ....................28 ....................37 Storing edited programs ..................28 Mod Envelope ....................37 Panel buttons A & B Attack ......................37...
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Extern......................48 Bank MSB ....................55 controlling outboard gear with the Extern section .....49 Bank LSB ....................55 controlling the nord Stage 3 from an external device .....49 Program number ..................55 dual KB ......................49 7 - control change Settings A/B ..............55 Panel MIdI control ...................50 ctrl (control) ....................55...
Four keyboard zones, with user adjustable split widths allowing sounds to smoothly cross-fade over split points. there are three nord Stage 3 models: nord Stage 3 88 with a fully oS uPGrAdES weighted hammer action keybed (A-c), nord Stage 3 HP76 with a lightweight hammer action keybed (E-G), nord Stage 3 compact...
1. IntroductIon a free download from our website. the nord Stage 3 is compatible with the continuously expanding nord Piano Library and the nord Sample Library. When new sounds become available, these can be download for free from the Sound Libraries section of our website.
PrograM SYNtH eXterN eFFeCtS the Nord Stage 3 is designed to be a highly flexible, musically expres- PIaNo SeCtIoN sive and easy-to-use instrument. let’s have a look at some of its key features: the Nord Stage 3 Piano section, with its 2 gB of internal memory, delivers a stunning range of piano and keyboard sounds.
PrograM SeCtIoN Classic amplifier simulations, a versatile eQ and powerful, resonant a program on the Nord Stage 3 contains settings for all sound engines filters are available in the Amp Sim/EQ section, and a punchy Com- and effects. the center area of the instrument - the Program section - pressor with an extra tight “fast mode”...
Connect the Nord Stage 3 power cord to the unit and a mains power supply, connect the sustain pedal and a set of headphones or a sound system. Make sure to turn on the Nord Stage 3 first, before the sound system. Please be careful with the output volume.
EXIT the list view. or a group of functions such as effects and have a Note that changing any parameter on the Nord Stage 3 panel causes an led close to them to indicate the on/off status and asterisk (*) to appear next to the current program number in the display.
If live Mode is active and you decide to store the settings permanently When the Nord Stage 3 is shipped from factory its memory is protected as a program in one of the Program banks, you can do so using the to prevent accidental overwriting of original programs.
3. gettINg Started | 13 corresponding to the 3symbol in the display, to instead show the Split Position settings. Set the Middle split point to C4 using the dial. Make sure that the other two split points (Low and High) are set to “off”, accessed by press- ing the Program 1 and 3 buttons respectively.
Sub3 and Fund) by pressing the corresponding lower drawbar buttons, or by actually pulling the drawbars if using the Nord Stage 3 Compact model. Press and hold the WHEEL button in the Morph assign group, above the Program area dial.
Now let’s instead set up a string pad sound based on a sample, loaded from the Sample Preset bank. let’s have a look at some of the features of the Stage 3 Synthesizer, be- ginning with how to set up a sound using Classic, “analog” waveforms.
16 | Nord Stage 3 USer MaNUal oS v1.X MaSter CloCK tHe arPeggIator Now that we have an arpeggio going, let’s try the Master Clock feature to synchronize the arpeggio and to bring in an effect as well. as a final exercise, let’s create a sound using the Synth section and its arpeggiator.
DraWBarS anD BUTTOnS On/OFF, LEVEL anD ZOnE SELECT The drawbars on the nord Stage 3 88 and 76 key versions are repre- The Organ section is turned On or Off by pressing its ON/OFF button. sented by buttons and LED chain graphs. The 73 key Compact version The morphable LEVEL encoder controls the sound output level of the uses “real”...
18 | nOrD STagE 3 USEr ManUaL OS V1.X SELECTIng an Organ MODEL Use the ORGAN MODEL selector button to select your preferred Organ Three different types of choruses (C1 - C3) and three different types of model. The Pipe1 and Pipe2 settings are indicated by the upper and vibratos (V1 - V3) are available.
LEDs 1-4 are lit up for a deactivated voice. On the nord Stage 3 Compact model, pulling the drawbars more The seven drawbars to the left control the level of each partial. Each par- than half way out will activate the register.
“Heavy”, with different rates for each mode. There are several types of Swell is a characteristic organ feature, controlled from a continuous vibrato and choruses available for the Farf model on the nord Stage 3, pedal. Swell is not only a volume control - for the B3 it also changes which are activated using the ON button in the Vibrato section.
The Piano section is turned on or off by pressing its ON/OFF button. The morphable LEVEL encoder controls the sound output level of the Piano. The Pianos in the nord Stage 3 are organized into six types. Each type can contain several instrument models. new piano sounds can be Press ZONE SELECT (on/off) with SHIFT, to assign the Piano to any of downloaded from the www.nordkeyboards.com website and added to...
This functionality is faithfully an overview of how they differ in functionality: simulated by the nord Stage 3, which means that all original Clavinet D6 pickup selections are available. PiCK-UP TYPE DESCRiPTion Stereo sampled Clav Model A: only the “neck”...
SoFT PEDaL The left pedal on the nord Triple Pedal is the soft pedal, also known as the Una Corda. When it is pressed down, all played notes will be slightly lower in volume and also have a slightly more...
Clavinet is equipped with 4 additional rocker switches, which control the onboard EQ. Most of these settings combinations are available on the nord Stage 3. Use the PIANO/CLAV button to select your preferred combination of the filter settings.
6. Program | 25 Program set to the desired start position before pressing down the morph assign The PROGRAM section provides access to performance functions such as recalling and storing programs, access to the Song and Live button. The display will show the start and stop values, as the morph is being set up.
The master Clock allows you to synchronize the arpeggiator, the Synth PaNIC LFo, the Delay and Effects 1 rate in the Nord Stage 3. Not only can these be made to run in sync with each other; different subdivisions Hold SHIFT and press the Transpose button to execute an internal “all can be set for all synced components, allowing for some great rhythmic Notes off”...
6. Program | 27 KEYBoarD SPLIT SETTINgS KEYBoarD ZoNES EDITor after a split has been activated, use the ZONE SELECT buttons (accessed Thee KB ZONES editor allows for a clear overview and easy set-up of with SHIFT) beneath each instrument’s (or the Extern’s) value Dial to as- keyboard zones and how sound engines are assigned to them.
28 | NorD STagE 3 USEr maNUaL oS v1.X When the Nord Stage 3 is shipped from factory its memory is SoNg moDE protected, to avoid accidental overwriting of programs. To be able to store Programs, The Memory Protect parameter needs to be set to “Off”...
Source to organ for all effects. KB Split is turned on, with organ from the Stage 3 keyboard while in Dual KB mode. This feature is very a to the left and organ B to the right of the split point. all other sound handy in live situations, where a secondary keyboard can be used as a engines are deactivated.
To understand the GRAM dial adjusts the levels of all sound engines, across both panels, by internal architecture of the Nord Stage 3, keep the following in mind: an equal amount. • For each panel, settings for all three sound engines, all effects, and the orgaNIZE Extern section are independent.
Synth section is turned On or Off by press- ing its ON/OFF button. the morphable LEVEL the Synth section of the nord Stage 3 is designed to be a versatile and encoder controls the sound output level of the easy-to-use stage synthesizer - but most of all it is aimed at providing Synth section.
Pulse 10, ESaw and ESquare. the table below shows all waveforms and OSCILLAtORS how they behave when using the Shape Oscillator Configuration. the nord Stage 3 synthesizer engine features smart oscillator configu- Shape Mode rations utilizing one or two oscillators. Start with an oscillator waveform...
Samples are selected with the OSC1/WAVEFORM dial. F-Wave waveforms are modified using a spectral shaping process. the sample memory in the Stage 3 can hold up to 480 Megabytes of S-Wave waveforms and Samples have no Shape configuration. sample files in the nord Sample Library format, can be replaced as needed.
0 to 48. MIX BELL When a nord Stage 3 program is stored, its Synth settings are stored together with all other panel settings – but it is also possible to select A special “bell oscillator” can be mixed with Oscillator 1, using the Mix and store Synth sounds separately from programs.
Samp: A bank of sample presets are generated automatically, based on FILtER SECtIOn the sample content currently in your nord Stage 3. Pressing the Samp soft button (Program 1 button) shows all these presets. When loading a sample from a preset, Filter and Amp Envelope parameters are auto- matically set to values appropriate for that particular sample.
36 | nORD StAgE 3 USER MAnUAL OS V1.X FILtER FREQUEnCy the M filter is a four pole, 24 dB/octave, resonating low-pass filter. the character of the filter resonance is one detail that makes it stand out, the morphable filter FREQ knob is used for setting the leaving more of the low end of the signal than on a traditional 24 dB/ octave low pass filter.
7. Synth | 37 the diagrams below illustrate the relationship between keyboard posi- thE EnVELOPES tion and cut-off frequency at the 1:1 and 2/3 settings: the envelopes are used to “shape the sound” over time, from when you 1:1 Tracking gain first play a key, to after it has been released.
MSt CLK Press Shift and turn the RATE dial to sync the rate of the LFO to the nord Stage 3 master clock. When the LFO is synchronized to the Master Clock, the Rate knob will be used to set the arpeg- gio’s subdivison of the tempo of the Master Clock.
UnISOn the Stage 3 synthesizer oscillator has a number of “hidden”, slightly detuned, oscillators which can added to the basic sound for those fat, classic synthesizer sounds. note that using Unison does not reduce the polyphony! A UNISON setting of 1, 2 or 3 equals a classic dual oscillator de-tuning effect with an increasing amount of de-tune between the oscillators.
ARPEggIAtOR MAStER CLOCK Press SHIFT and turn the Arpeggiator RATE knob to sync the arpeggio with the nord Stage 3 Master Clock. When the Arpeggio is synchronized to the Master Clock, the Rate knob will be used to set the arpeggio’s subdivision of the tempo of the Master Clock.
MIDI Volume, Program Change and Continuous Con- troller messages. the associated parameter button is the Extern section is activated in the same way as the nord Stage 3 used for selecting the parameter(s) to transmit. sound engines are, by pressing its ON/OFF button.
EFFECT 1 section offers six different types of modulation effects. Use its selector button to switch between the available modulation effects. the effects on the Nord stage 3 are all available on a per-panel basis. this means there are two instances of each effects unit, which each can turning MST CLK (shift + Rate) synchronizes the Effect 1 Rate with the have its own settings, for every program.
Tapping will never result in a pitch change of current repeats, even used with electric piano sounds. the digital models for the phasers of if Analog mode is activated. the Nord stage 3 are inspired by classic units such as the Bi Phase and the small stone.
9. EffEcts | 45 fILtERs the filters in the delay FILTER section are great tools for shaping the delay sound, especially when large feedback amounts are used. Each consecutive Delay tap is fed through the filter, resulting in a progressively more processed sound. With the LP setting, all delay taps are passed through a Low Pass filter which reduces high fre- quency content in the delay feedback signal.
46 | NORD stAGE 3 UsER MANUAL Os V1.X AMP MODEL the three different amplifier/speaker simulations are selected with the selector button in the Amp Model section: Amp Model Description A simulation of a Roland Jazz chorus speaker cabinet, powered by a tube amp.
A sustain pedal or a foot switch that is connected to the Rotor pedal input can control the rotor speed. On the Nord stage 3 Compact model, the optional Nord Half Moon switch can be used for switching Rotary speed in an even more traditional fashion. Read more about rotor control on page 53.
MIdI USINg MIdI the Nord Stage 3 is designed to be as flexible as possible when it comes to its MIdI capabilities. It can be used as a master keyboard to control other hardware units or software sound sources, or as two independent panels to be played/controlled by outboard gear such as a sequencer. If you like, you can even do both these things at the same time.
If it is, set Global to another channel. activate the extern Section and assign it to the desired keyboard zone(s). Play within the zone defined for extern a on the Nord Stage 3 and you should hear your external device.
MIdI SeQUeNCer Here is how to record a Stage 3 performance just as you would play it from the unit - with all the pedal actions, morphing and other things to a MIdI sequencer. this is best achieved by using the global MIdI channel.
PrograM CHaNge Start the recording on the sequencer. In the MIdI Menu, you can select if the Nord Stage 3 should send and/ or receive program Change messages on the global channel that affects the MIdI output on the global channel will not care about any splits; it its internal programs.
Program 1-4 buttons - are used for focusing a particular setting. 3 - FiNe TUNe Fine Tune can be used to fine tune the pitch of the Nord stage 3 in finer increments. Range: +/- 50 Cents (+/- half a semitone). Default value is “0”...
This setting allows you to add some gain to the output of the pedal. This the ROTOR PEDAL input on the Nord stage 3. rotor Hold means that the can be used if an attached pedal does not reach the maximum level or rotor speed is fast for as long as the pedal is down and reverts back setting.
This determines the acceleration and retardation time of the rotary speaker woofer rotor. CC (CoNTrol CHaNGe) This allows you to set if you want your Nord stage 3 to transmit and/or Range: Low, Normal (default), High receive Midi Controller Messages or not on the Global channel.
Global mode the extern Midi a & B channels will be the same for all programs. if Program is selected, the extern Midi a 7 - CoNTrol CHaNGe seTTiNGs a/B & B channel settings will be saved with each Nord stage 3 program. Range: Global, Program (default) CTrl (CoNTrol)
3 owner, which allows for accessing, altering and backing up content Windows XP, Windows vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10. within the various memory areas on the Nord Stage 3. these are some of the common tasks performed through the Nord Sound Manager: Nord USB driver version v3.0 or later required for Windows.
USB COnneCTiOn General guide on audio connections: Before turning on your amplifier, The USB port is used for connecting the nord Stage 3 to a computer. make all audio connections. Always turn on the amplifier last, and when The connection can be used for transferring Midi, for OS updates and shutting down, always turn off your amplifier or active speakers first.
58 | nORd STAGe 3 USeR MAnUAL OS v1.x Appendix: Midi COnTROLLeR LiST nord Stage 3 parameter Midi CC # nord Stage 3 parameter Midi CC # nord Stage 3 parameter Midi CC # Bank Select MSB piano Model Synth LFO Wave...
Cet appareil numérique de la classe B - est conforme à la norme NMB-003 du Canada. DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY Compliance Information Statement Model Name: Nord Stage 3 88, Nord Stage 3 HP76, Nord Stage 3 Compact Type of Equipment: Digital Organ and piano Responsible Party: Clavia DMI AB Address: P.O.
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