9. History: The story behind the Electro 2 instruments
NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.0x
Page 56
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It's no easy task to capture the whole character of the Rhodes electric piano. There are numerous ways to
adjust the instrument to get different sounds that were typical for the Rhodes. In an interview with Do-
minic Milano in a 1977 issue of Keyboard magazine, Harold himself pointed out, "The quality of the
sound is what you make it. A lot of musicians don't know that. They just play their piano and say, 'Gee,
it doesn't sound like Joe's.' They don't know that they can alter their piano so it will sound like Joe's."
This is what we did with the different Rhodes models we have chosen. We adjusted these pianos to create
the different famous Rhodes timbres that have been popular during the electric-piano era.
It's important to know the basic adjustments you can make to a Rhodes piano. The major and most im-
portant adjustments are to the instrument's timbre and volume. The timbre adjustment requires posi-
tioning the tines vertically in relation to their associated pick-ups. The timbre of each note changes
between pure fundamental (deep) and pure overtones (shallow). Another adjustment of the tines con-
cerns their distance from the pick-ups. This adjustment, described in the Rhodes manual as a volume ad-
justment, doesn't only change the volume; it also changes the harmonics of the tone. Pulling the tine away
from the pick-up a bit and playing at a low volume makes the sound a bit softer. Pushing the tine in close
creates richer harmonics and a better "bite" in the tone (see the picture below).
Volume adjustment:
Timbre adjustment:
pick-up
tine
DEEP
(PURE FUNDAMENTAL)
IDEAL
(MORE OVERTONE)
SHALLOW
(PURE OVERTONE)
LOW
(SOFTER SOUND)
IDEAL
CLOSE
(RICH HARMONICS
