rhodes

Fender Rhodes

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Again not an instrument that requires much introduction. This emulation is

the DX-7 voiced synth providing a few electric piano effects. The design is

a Mark-1 Stage-73 that the author has, and the emulation is reasonable if not

exceptional. The Rhodes has always been widely used, Pink Floyd on 'Money',

The Doors on 'Riders on the Storm', Carlos Santana on 'She's not There',

everybody else in the 60's.

The Rhodes piano generated its sound using a full piano action keyboard where

each hammer would hit a 'tine', or metal rod. Next to each rod was a pickup

coil as found on a guitar, and these would be linked together into the output.

The length of each tine defined its frequency and it was tunable using a tight

coiled spring that could be moved along the length of the tine to adjust its

moment. The first one was built mostly out of aircraft parts to amuse injured

pilots during the second world war. The Rhodes company was eventually sold to

Fender and lead to several different versions, the Mark-2 probably being the

most widely acclaimed for its slightly warmer sound.

There is not much to explain regarding functionality. The emulator has a volume

and bass control, and one switch that reveals the memory buttons and algorithm

selector.

The Rhodes would improve with the addition of small amounts of either reverb

or chorus, potentially to be implemented in a future release.

The Rhodes Bass was cobbled together largely for a presentation on Bristol.

It existed and was used be Manzarek when playing with The Doors in

Whiskey-a-GoGo; the owner specified that whilst the music was great they

needed somebody playing the bass. Rather than audition for the part Manzarek

went out and bought a Rhodes Bass and used it for the next couple of years.