Where we were, where we are.
Fender Rhodes Comparison
Great sounding synthesis. I still like the real thing.
On the Fender Rhodes the mid to highest range is what the keyboard player used in our band. I never heard the low octave being played. Low notes were too loose for the amps back then, it sounded like a different instrument for the first 16 or so notes. But, mid to high notes sparkled. Not until the DX7 came out was there a sound more in demand.
What I found interesting is that he only used two soft synths for his comparisons. I think there are better sounding Rhodes soft synths like the ones in Kontakt and FM8 to name a couple. YMMV.
Oh yeah, and you should hear the Rhodes in my Kurzweil or a Kronos. Jeff Lorber does most of his Rhodes sounds from his Motif and it sounds great.
In the modern world of recording many times a synth Rhodes develops it's own following and is actually preferred over the sound of a real one.
It's like digital organs. I hear those all the time now on the radio. They don't sound close to a real B3 but obviously the producer or player doesn't care about that. Most studios have B3's but somebody made a conscious decision to use a Roland or Korg digital instead because they've been around so long that they're accepted as their own sound.
Bob
Most listeners these days have never heard the original. I will drop dead the first time I hear a Piano recital played on a digital piano of any kind. They just don't cut the mustard. Never will. The B3 is not a real organ that is a synthesizer of the first degree, remember the real thing is a pipe organ. Can't pull off a B3 sound without the rotating speaker too. That pair is easier to synthesize than replicate a full pipe organ with bass pedals, into say a piccolo rank of pipes, and a rank of 3-7 foot wooden square bass pipes.
Funny you mentioned that DGA. You are are correct a Hammond organ is the original synth designed to emulate a pipe organ. Laurens Hammond got his start in the 30's by setting up his first organ in some big facility that had a real pipe organ built in. His organ had a whole bunch of big tone cabinets to match the volume. Then he closed the stage curtain and had an audience of audio pros and organists try to tell the difference as a player went back and forth. Most could not and that's how Hammond started.
Later Don Leslie developed the rotating speaker and Laurens absolutely hated it to the point he forbade his dealers to carry them.
In the modern world nobody cares about the pipe organ sound from a B3, it's all about rock, blues, jazz and of course a Leslie.
Every keyboard I've had for the last 15 years had to have the best clonewheel emulation available at the time. Now I have a Hammond SK1.
Bob