Roland vs. Rhodes: That Sound

[Rhythmicons]

Alot of software has tried to emulate the sound that we know and love so well. Roland of corse had the rights for the longest time, How close do you think they came?

THe Answer
"Nothing comes close to the sound of a Rhodes" not accepted  :lol:  . THat is understood.

How close did they come though and of what models? Which was the best represented?  What model Roland managed to do it?

Respectfully,
Rhythmicons

[The Real MC]

NONE of the Roland models came close to approximating a real rhodes.

They only bought the trademark for marketing purposes with zero intention of respecting the history it represents.

"Roland Rhodes" don't get no respect around here, for good reason.

[Swatkins]

The Real MC has got it pretty much correct.
These days, I think the best Rhodes sounds are coming from Clavia and Yamaha products.
From Roland, the only respectable board I've seen in a while is the V Combo, that has a dedicated VK-style organ section as well as electric piano and synth, sort of a alterna-Nord Stage.
Here's a demo of a passable Rhodes sound:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeOyOjMKMYA

[keysandslots]

My Yamaha S90 has some very impressive Rhodes sounds.  In fact, the "Early 70s" patch (or something like that) sounds very close to the early 70s Rhodes sitting under it.

Don't get an S90 'though.  Some of the sounds are really great, and the keyboard action is also very nice, but having sampled vibrato on most of the orchestral patches is really stupid.

Randy

[pianotuner steveo]

I have to agree about Yamaha being the closest I've ever heard to the real thing also.My inexpensive P-85 sounds so much like a stage piano,it even amazes me sometimes.Of course I cant go inside and tweak things......
I have another Yamaha keyboard that has the closest Wurlitzer sound I've ever tried also.

[Swatkins]

Yeah, I was going to pinpoint the S90 as having a particularly nice Rhodes sound.  It's the same as the Motif, but the board doesn't have the fancy multi-track sequencing stuff.
And even the P series (like pianotuner steveo mentioned) is totally solid when paired with a decent amp and some tremolo.

Interesting, how the original poster was asking about Roland products.  Though they did own the Rhodes name, the sounds on the Fantom/Juno-D/etc. can't really touch Yamaha's stuff.

Electric piano modeling was never Roland's forte, anyway.  I love Roland for their classic SYNTHS!

[pianotuner steveo]

I forgot to mention that my old Roland EP7 (great string sound and decent acoustic piano) had just about THE WORST Rhodes sound ever. And they OWNED the name then.....

[Rhythmicons]

Very interesting comments.

See Im not particularly a keyboardist. I play synths, have  Rhodes but the piano isn't my instrument of choise.

So I posted this because I know that the Roland RD500 has a pretty decent but very lacking Rhodes sound. There are probably several different variations on it in the memory. THe highs were too tinny.

My partner wanted to use the ROland to lay down the rhodes part because he was too lazy to move the recording console to where the REAL RHODES was.  I was like, "Dude theres no way in hell im going to record this fake Rhodes when I have a real rhodes in the other room and thats all there is to it!" HAHAH  I think that executive decision was a no brainer.


Im really not familliar with Yamaha stuff so I woudn't know.  I know that I really respect the quality of the Fantom sounds though.

I just wondered what some real Rhodes purists thought about Roland's version of Rhodes lolol.


I see you guys highly reccomend it lolol.  :lol:

Man I thought for a second I was going to get shot.  I guess Roland Rhodes touches a few nerves here lololol.

Respectfully,
Rhythmicons

[MikeMalone]

My Motif has a patch called "sweetness" that is just about the best phased Rhodes emulation you will EVER hear! I owned a Fantom for 3 years and none of the electric pianos compared. Yamaha is definitely the best...

[geyster]

I should mention that I own a Yamaha DX7 IIFD and I managed to program a Rhodes patch that I find very very close to the real thing (and I ain't talking about this 80's DX "Tines" fake and ugly Rhodes sound heard on all Whitney Houston's discography!! )

I also tried the latest MOTIF XS serie and the Rhodes patches are very impressive wow!!

[Michael]

Guess I'm in the minority here, when I say "I really really like my Roland workstation."  

For one, I'm not happy with any digitally cloned Rhodes.  Nonetheless, I am satisfied with "one" rhodes patch, and that's really all I need. (The patch is called (125 "Jazz Rhodes") Yes, I've played the Yamahas / Nords / Kurzweils / and all of the Korgs, and I simply can't say any of them can actually kick my XV-88 to the curb.  

Then again Kurzweils piano patches don't really grab me by the balls either.  (I think it's rather transparent) To each his own, I guess.