Hey All,
Been a bit since I've posted, but I'm finally getting around to preparing my Rhodes for some recording.
As my screen name would indicate, my primary instrument is drums, so when my band rehearses at my house, my keyboard player, Alex, plays my Rhodes through my '65 reissue Twin Reverb. I currently run the piano through a Cry Baby Wah and MXR Stereo Tremolo. I heard that guys like Herbie and Chick would often leave the Wah in the full 'on' position (all the way forward and down). I tried it out and dig this sound; it gives the piano a nice gritty "honk". If I'm not actually "working" the wah, I leave it in this position, and Alex doesn't really use the wah much, if at all.
Problem is, it seems to be impossible to get a consistent signal level across the keyboard. With the Wah fully engaged, the low to mid ranges sound awesome (to my ears), but the higher range is incredibly harsh and the signal is much hotter than the rest.
Now, since the Rhodes is usually played with the Wah on, I figured it would make sense to make adjustments to the pickups with the Wah on. Probably a poor assumption, but I went with it for now, and conducted a cursory voicing... I tamed the upper register and got a fairly decent balance, but now when I turn the Wah off, the upper range is almost non-existent. I guess I have to choose whether to play the wah or not, because I can't seem to get the piano set up to work for both situations.
Some questions I have:
- Should I voice without the Wah pedal?
- Should I voice using the amp? (And if so, should I set the EQ the way I like to hear the piano (highs are almost on "zero") or flat?
- Should I make adjustments while recording into the computer?
I have to find a happy medium between the amp sound and the recorded sound, but it's most important that I get the dynamics right for recording. I hope not to use a hardware compressor, but I might have to. Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Best,
Chris
In my recent experience I found good results voicing/tuning straight off the harp. I have a wah that I use with it that sounds great.
Check the wah you are using.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SHOP-SPECIAL-GAGAN-keyboard-wah-clavinet-wah-special-modded-crybaby-/121652934917?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c53147905
I got this one and it works with all vintage gear. He will install a gain control for no extra charge if you ask.
You've got a good understanding here, that with the wah engaged it of course affects the overall EQ.
My suggestion is that the piano would be set up correctly without effects, and you compensate for the EQ on the back end. Because the wah is an effect, you can compensate with another effect to balance it out. Reason being, is that the time may come where you want to use additional effects with the wah, or turn the wah off entirely, and you're left with a piano that won't sound good. It may be a simple adjustment in the treble of the amp or use of a graphic EQ pedal, which is a variable that can quickly be changed - changing the tone back on a Rhodes manually takes considerably more time.
Just food for thought
I would also voice the Rhodes without the wah. As others said you can compensate with eq or by modding the wah. I added a pot to my crybaby so I can make the "full on" position less agressive.
Thanks, guys. As it turns out, the treble adjustment on my amp makes enough of a difference for now (I was keeping it on zero when using the wah). If I'm not using the wah, I can just turn the treble up a few notches and it sounds pretty good. When I get some more time, I'll need to tweak everything so the recording levels are balanced. Thanks again!
Best,
Chris