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Rhodes piano by jekky
History
Rhodes Pre-Piano
Rhodes PianoBass
Fender Rhodes 73 Suitecase (Silver Top)
The Army Air Corps piano was invented during World War II by Harold Rhodes (1910-2001) in an effort to create a piano that injured soldiers could play while lying in a hospital bed. Rhodes built the first model in 1942, a 29-note keyboard using aluminum tubing from a B-17, ultimately known as the Army Air Corps lap model piano. The success that followed led to an interest to develop this into a commercial product after the war. The Rhodes piano evolved from its successor, the electrified post-war Rhodes Pre-piano over the 1946 to 1950s timeframe, to an initial design launched as the Rhodes PianoBass in 1959.
Where in a conventional piano each key causes a hammer to strike a set of three strings, in a Rhodes piano each hammer strikes a single metal tine instead. The result is a unique, fat sound with a bellish attack and good sustain.
Fender buyout
Fender Rhodes Mk I 88 Stage
Rhodes Mk I 88 Suitecase
Rhodes Mk II 73 Stage
Leo Fender of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, then called the Fender Electric Instrument Company, entered a joint venture with Harold Rhodes in 1959, and they produced the instruments for six years. As a result, Rhodes instruments were called Fender Rhodes for 15 years.
The first Fender Rhodes product was the Piano Bass in 1959, and no other models were mass-produced until after the CBS takeover of Fender. During January 1965 CBS bought the Fender company for 13 million dollars, and shortly afterwards the 73 and 61 key Fender Rhodes Electric Piano went into production. The ’60s also saw the Fender Rhodes Celeste, the Student/Instructor models and systems as well as the very rare Domestic models. In 1970 the more portable Mk I Stage model was added to the range as well as the two 88 note Stage and Suitcase models, and in 1974 the brand name was changed from “Fender Rhodes” to just “Rhodes”. The Rhodes went through continuous internal improvements: the hammers became all plastic, the pedestals changed shape (and were bare for a short while, with felt was on the underside of the hammer), the pickups were altered, and the tine structure modified to endure more wear. The Mk II model was introduced in late 1979.
Also manufactured for a brief period was the Rhodes Mk III EK-10 which had analog oscillators and filters alongside the existing electromechanical elements. The overall effect was that of a Rhodes piano and a synthesizer being played simultaneously. Compared with the new polyphonic synthesizers being marketed at the same time it was limited in scope and sound, and very few units were sold.
The final classic Rhodes was the Mk V, introduced in 1984, and thought to be the ultimate Rhodes instrument[who?]. Among other improvements, it had a lighter body and all new action with an improved cam, increasing the hammerstroke by 23%. Due to the competition from digital and polyphonic synthesizers and the introduction of MIDI, production of Rhodes instruments was stopped later that year (1984).
Models
The first model produced by Fender-Rhodes was the 32-note PianoBass in 1959. This was followed by the Fender Rhodes Electric Piano (1965), FenderRhodes Electric Piano Mk I (1970) and Rhodes Electric Piano Mk II (1979) which was continuously improved and developed, but housed in about the same construction.
From 1970, both the Mk I Stage and Suitcase models were available in 73- and 88-note versions. The Suitcase included a built in pre-amp with the famous Stereo-Vibrato, plus a cabinet with stereo amplifier and speakers. Starting in 1980, a 54-key version was also produced. In 1984, the last year of production, the Rhodes Mk V was released, but only 2000 were produced.
A new Rhodes Mark 7 was introduced at NAMM 2007 and MusikMesse 2007, featuring the same electromechanical design as the original instrument, but with a new futuristic look and number of improvements.
Sound-producing mechanism
Tuning forks of Fender Rhodes Mk I
The Rhodes piano’s tone-generating principles are derived from the concept of an asymmetrical tuning fork, with a stiff wire (called a “tine”), struck by a felt-tipped (neoprene rubber-tipped after 1970) hammer, acting as one side of the tuning fork, and a counterbalancing resonating tone bar above the tine acting as the other side. This tone generator kit’s vibrations are then picked up by an electromagnetic pickup (one for each tine), and amplified. The pickups’ output is fed to an amplifier, which can be adjusted to produce the desired volume.
The sound produced has a bell-like character not unlike a vibraphone, celesta or glockenspiel. Because the instrument produces sound electrically, the signal can be processed to yield many different timbral colors. Often the signal is processed through a stereo low-frequency pan oscillation (which was called Vibrato on the Rhodes front panel) effects unit, which pans the signal back and forth between right and left channels. It is this “rounded” or chiming sound that is called the classic Rhodes sound, which can be heard on, for example, many of Stevie Wonder’s or Herbie Hancock’s songs. This “chiming sound” is, as an example, used in the Radiohead song “Subterranean Homesick Alien” from the album OK Computer. The preamp with vibrato was included on the original FenderRhodes Electric Pianos and after 1970 (with stereo panning) on the “suitcase” models; the “stage” models lack the preamp and the amplified speaker cabinet.
During the 1980s a set of Rhodes modifications done by a company called “Dyno My Piano” became popular, inspired by one particular and very famous rental piano in L.A., the E-Rhodes, which can be heard on many records from that time. The modifications made the sound brighter, harder, and more bell-like, bringing out more of the attack in the Rhodes sound and making cut through a mix like a grand piano. For instance, when notes are played forcefully, the sound becomes less sweet, as nonlinear distortion creates a characteristic “growling” or “snarling”, called “bark” by pianists. Skilled players can contrast the sweet and rough sounds to create an extremely expressive performance. This sound was emulated by the Yamaha DX7 with a patch that was enormously popular during the 80′s (see DX7 Rhodes).
See also
DX7 Rhodes
Electric piano
Wurlitzer electric piano
References
^ a b c d e f “Harold Rhodes, 89, Inventor of an Electronic Piano”. The New York Times, Jon Pareles, January 4, 2001. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/04/arts/harold-rhodes-89-inventor-of-an-electronic-piano.html?scp=1&sq=fender%20rhodes&st=cse.
^ a b c d e f g h i “MUSIC; A 70′s Castoff Returns to the Bandstand”. The New York Times, David R. Adler, July 22, 2001. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/22/arts/music-a-70-s-castoff-returns-to-the-bandstand.html?scp=4&sq=fender%20rhodes&st=cse.
^ “Catching Up: Dngelo rown Sugar”. The Wall Street Journal, Jim Fusilli, July 3, 2009. http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2009/07/03/catching-up-dangelos-brown-sugar/?KEYWORDS=fender+rhodes.
^ “Instruments: Turning On Students”. Time Magazine, Nov 1, 1968. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,839594,00.html.
^ “Rhodes Reborn Just In Time For Winter NAMM ’07″. Gearwire.com, January 08, 2007. http://www.gearwire.com/rhodes-returns.html.
^ “Rhodes Mark 7″. Rhodes Music Corporation. http://www.rhodespiano.com/. Retrieved 2009-04-13.
External links
Rhodes Music Corporation – The new Mark 7 manufacturer’s website.
The Rhodes Supersite The dedicated website since 1996.
Categories: Electric and electronic keyboard instruments | Piano | Musical instrument manufacturing companies | Piano manufacturing companies | Former CBS Corporation subsidiariesHidden categories: All articles with specifically-marked weasel-worded phrases | Articles with specifically-marked weasel-worded phrases from February 2010
About the Author
I am Mp3 Player Manufacturers writer, reports some information about arcade fruit machine, n64 racing games.
Fender Rhodes Piano Groovin’
