Rhodes solo from 'Sly'

[tomogradymusic]

.. I had a stab at it this afternoon, and this was the best take of a few even though there are still lots of errors and bad timing - anyway, I hope you enjoy it!
Cheers,
Tom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEoLlSerMbU

[Miguel Tuna]

Uh yeah!

[pianotuner steveo]

Awesome!

[sledge-mk1]

Beautiful! Absolutely love your playing style and your choices of tracks, I've also checked out your other vids and enjoyed them immensely.

I'm new here and just got my first Rhodes last week, a 73 MK1 from '76 with a Suitcase stereo preamp fitted. I absolutely love her sound already, but I'm looking to "wooden it up" a bit. Perhaps a bit closer to what is traditionally seen as the "early 70's" Fender Rhodes sound, checking out all sorts of different speakers and effect pedals that might work. Currently I just run it direct to mixer/studio monitors, with a touch of tube distortion in between.

Your Rhodes-sound has a lot of that thick/cozy/wooden character I really like. Out of curiosity, have you processed it in any way or is it just the sound you get straight out of the Suitcase speaker?

[Edit: I should've underlined mine is a stage model, without the suitcase cabinet. So just the preamp from the suitcase version added to it]

[tomogradymusic]

Beautiful! Absolutely love your playing style and your choices of tracks, I've also checked out your other vids and enjoyed them immensely.

I'm new here and just got my first Rhodes last week, a 73 MK1 from '76 with a Suitcase stereo preamp fitted. I absolutely love her sound already, but I'm looking to "wooden it up" a bit. Perhaps a bit closer to what is traditionally seen as the "early 70's" Fender Rhodes sound, checking out all sorts of different speakers and effect pedals that might work. Currently I just run it direct to mixer/studio monitors, with a touch of tube distortion in between.

Your Rhodes-sound has a lot of that thick/cozy/wooden character I really like. Out of curiosity, have you processed it in any way or is it just the sound you get straight out of the Suitcase speaker?

[Edit: I should've underlined mine is a stage model, without the suitcase cabinet. So just the preamp from the suitcase version added to it]

Hi there,
Thanks for the post, I'm glad you enjoyed the videos! I thought I'd answer your questions about my Rhodes - I record it direct from the amp outputs straight into Logic through an Apogee Duet. A tiny bit of reverb in Logic but otherwise nothing - no eq, no effects, it's all the instrument itself. The sound is beautiful but I think that mainly comes from voicing it well and really playing into the keys (if you noticed the video shaking, that was because I was really giving it some and the vibrations were affecting my laptop even through a record-filled Expedit! I think that's why I also got tired and messed up a few of the later runs in the solo.) The inner sleeves of Herbie's later 70's recordings (e.g. Direct Step) have diagrams that show that his Rhodes was recorded directly. I'm aiming for the Rhodes sound on 'Come Running To Me' and 'No Means Yes' because it's sublimely smooth but still has bite when Herbie really plays hard! I hope that helps - playing style and the instrument itself should be the prime focuses I think, in terms of achieving any specific sound.
All the best,
Tom

[sledge-mk1]

Thanks Tom! Very useful info here..

I guess the most important thing to improve on is my actual playing, other than that I'm quite happy with the sound my Rhodes has/the way its voiced. I've made music for a long time and have a decent pair of ears, but my actual keyboard skills are low, so it's just practice, practice, practice for me..

Also the sound I get thru my studio monitors is perhaps a bit too clean/perfect for what I'd consider my ideal Rhodes sound, I might get a power amp and a pair of large vintage speakers later, to get a little bit of 'randomness' and warmth in there.

[pcmancini]

Very nice.  Your playing and the recording are great.  How do you mount your Clav on top of the Rhodes and keep it steady and level?

If it is a product please post a link and if it is a custom build photos would be VERY much appreciated.

Thanks so much for sharing!

Paul