There are plenty of capable and free VSTi Rhodes pianos out there, quite a few of them also feature the Stereo Tremelo as found only in the Suitcase Models or the 80s-era Stage Piano w/"Janus" extensions.

http://www.bing.com/search?FORM=SOLTDF&q=rhodes+piano+free+vsti

The one thing for the noob to understand is that there is not one definitive "Rhodes" sound, there are many.

For one thing, the company changed the sound of the things over the years, with what I would term, "eras" to the sound. For example, the old original Rhodes that Ray Charles made famous has a completely different sound and flavor than the later redesigned model, and this occurred about every five years or so as the model line developed. On top of that, there are the various Custom Rhodes modifications that became very popular starting around the mid to late 70s, such as the old "Dyno-My-Rhodes" conversion that featured a user movable harp, or perhaps the more popular Studio conversions that featured the replacement of the original rubber-tipped hammers with hardwood hammers made from woods such as Rosewood.

It is important to find the Rhodes Sound that fits the genre and era if you really want to do it right.

One of my favorite plugins for the 70s era Rhodes Pianos - and it also can do some of the famous Wurlitzer Electric Reed pianos as well, is called "Mr. Ray" - an older one as VSTi's go, but easy to use and the sound is correct.

http://www.vst4you.com/pages/vst%20instruments/mr_ray.html

But don't let that deter you from auditioning some of the others as well.


--Mac

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