Stage-73 V successfully transports past technologies to the present-day desktop. It’s the sound of the Sixties, the sound of the Seventies... the sound of today, the sound of tomorrow. This can now be anyone’s sound on stages and in studios anywhere in the world, working both as a standalone instrument on Mac OS X and Windows and as a plug-in in all major formats inside any DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) with easy MIDI-learn functionality for hands-on control of many of its parameters and automation support for considerable creative control (in plug-in mode). Naturally, Native Instruments’ new NKS® (NATIVE KONTROL STANDARD) — allowing advanced integration with third-party software instruments — is in its DNA.
Do you want to sound like The Beatles (‘Get Back’) or Stevie Wonder (‘You Are The Sunshine Of My Life’)? Or simply sound like yourself? Stage-73 V physically models those indispensable instruments that made a million love songs sound lovelier by emulating electromechanical characteristics of the tine-based electric pianos designed by Harold Rhodes. Rods or metal bars generated a tone which was captured by a pickup and fed into an amplified speaker. Sounds that were warmer, richer, and fuller than their only serious contemporary competitor, the Wurlitzer, flowed forth. Electronic reverb, chorus, phase shifter, or delay modifications allowed artists to create even more distinctive sounds that could be readily identified on record and on the radio. ‘Riders On The Storm’ stormed the charts as a direct result, opening many musical doors for The Doors, for example.
A keyboard classic had been born, brilliantly making its musical mark on the pop, soul, and jazz genres with which it quickly found favour. A keyboard classic which would become fit for Arturia’s Analog Classics family of virtual instruments that recreate hard-to-source synthesizers and classic keyboards, having survived the digital onslaught of a certain early-Eighties-era Japanese synthesizer that (temporarily) took the music-making world by storm.
Stage-73 V saw Arturia analysing the physical and mechanical properties of both the Stage and Suitcase versions of the still-sought-after instrument in question. Everything was modelled — from the resonance of the tines to the way that the composition of the hammers affects the tone. The electrical characteristics of every version of every component — from pickups to preamps — was faithfully recreated using original schematics. Arturia constantly compared its results with physical units it had close at hand to make adjustments accordingly. An IR (Impulse Response) recording of the spring reverb of the Deluxe Reverb amplifier popularly paired with those electric pianos makes for a thrilling end result!
Recreating an instrument in software gave Arturia an opportunity to add a number of more advanced features fit for truly 21st Century usage. Ultimately, Stage-73 V delivers on all counts, offering superb-sounding Stage and Suitcase simulations at the flip of a (virtual) switch. Instant access to tone-shaping features that were once ‘under the hood’ and usually maintained by trained technicians come courtesy of a resizable (Retina/4K-compatible) GUI (Graphical User Interface) that’s as easy on the eye as it is to use. Users can also access several simulated stomp-box effects units with variable routing order.
On the face of it, then, Stage-73 V really rocks, ready to be literally taken to anywhere anyone wants to take their music. Follow in the fine footsteps of the pop, soul, and jazz greats of yesteryear through to today. Follow your bliss!
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