Rhodes Chroma Demo, Part 1
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- čas přidán 6. 04. 2009
- Here's the first of a four part series demonstrating the Rhodes Chroma, arguably the greatest polyphonic analog synthesizer of all time. The video was shot with the help of Mike Thompson, who's doing the majority of the playing in this demo. One of the channels on the Chroma is not working, so what you're hearing is 7 out of its 8 voices. The Chroma Expander shown is not currently functioning (we'll get to it someday though).
I acquired this Rhodes Chroma on trade in non-working condition with the hope I could one day get it up and running. I had the power supply replaced and purchased the CC+ upgrade available through RhodesChroma.com. After that, I had three voices working. With a little troubleshooting and swapping around of voice cards I was able to get four voices. Mike was super motivated to hear the Chroma in its full glory (which we've yet to do, mind you). With his help and determination, we figured out that the Chroma had four dead voice cards and one bad channel. We're still trying to figure out what to do about that. In the meantime, I acquired the Chroma Expander, which is non-functional but had good working voice cards. So we pulled some cards from the Expander to make our 7 voice Chroma, which is demonstrated in the video.
Check out www.formusiciansonly.com/blog to see pictures of our vintage keyboard studio. - Hudba
I absolutely love the personality of this synthesizer. so many great sounds.
That Mellotron Flutes patch was unspected and brilliant.
Just love the Chroma - my favorite analog... owned 3 over the years, sadly without one at the moment! Well done for putting this up
Vieleicht, nein sehr wahrscheinlich der bestklingende Synthesizer aller Zeiten 🎉❤
Ugh, this thing sounds too good. Some of the most beautiful keyboard sounds I've ever heard.
I have loved Rhodes keyboards, as well as Arp forever. Hearing the tones you're producing on this is beautiful! 3:51 is my dream tone. Great upload!
@fsol13 It pains me more! I was working for them! One of my favorite jobs ever! Stayed after hours in their showroom studio frequently. Never got to hear the Chroma. It was bought by Fender/Rogers/Rhodes/Squiers at their R&D shop in Woburn, MA which I went to visit once, hoping for a new job. All I remember there was the prototype ARP Electronic Piano in a fancy miniature grand piano cabinet. Alan Pearlman, Phil Dodds, Mark Smith and 1 or 2 other ARP R&D guys were all that worked there.
Thanks for putting this up, as most have never heard this excellent synth.
such warmth in this board .... so many motion steps making up a poly sound .... so nice to own one of these
Great job!!
Beautiful sounds, indeed!
That thing is magical. Thank you for posting!
Amazing warm sounds..!
I've been madly in love with the Chroma ever since I "rediscovered" it some time ago. I'd gladly give away all I have just to own a fully functional Chroma. Fantastic machine! :)
its the greatest thing i have ever seen!!!!!
beautiful
A fantastic instrument for a fantastic demo, thanks for that ;)
Sounds great!
Thanks for the demo. I like the subtle chaos of this synth. Back in the day this was the synth that I coveted more than any other. In retrospect, it's better that I didn't get it. I would not have been a good steward.
beautiful sound
You deserve this synthesizer :)
Beautiful
2:48 omg, best ep sound ever.
Wow! I'm in awe
I allways loved that synthesizer. Starship used it live on stage in the 80s and it´s sound was pretty well.
Some nice key sounds, the traditional organ sounds nice, electric piano and synth nice, very versatile keyboard.
Fantásticum!
@plungerdrum - Thumbs up, but Pearlman is 86 years old as of 2011! He did accept an award though from Craig Anderton last year at AES though, and gave his stamp of approval to the TimewARP 2600, the only soft synth he has given his approval to.
sounds amazin
this is dope. I'd love to make some r&b or rock with this synth.
Beautiful...no more, no less.
I had the ARP 16-Voice piano, which was a kind of preset Chroma, before the Chroma came out. The sounds were quite good. Nice portable piano.
paulj0557: Chroma is technically an ARP synthesiser under the logo of Rhodes.
Gabor Gyongyosi Arp Quadra
+JedoubleKI Regarding the synth's size, that's pretty much due to the expander module on top. It doubles the available number of voices, for a total of 32 single-oscillator voices or 16 dual-oscillator voices.
@LeonardRockstein No a customised Moog55,the Modular III C series was used on the "Well Tempered Clavier".
Cool. I'm sure I read somewhere that even Mr Moog himself said that it had brilliant playability, but seen as I'm not a keyboard player that doesn't mean anything to me lol. I just know that the Prophet 5 is capable of making some incredible sounds - I'm a big fan of Level 42 and the Prophet is their main synth. Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post though, it's nice to have a proffesional opinion :)
Joe Zawinul had one in his rig for awhile. I think he replaced it with the Prophet T-8 which he had always thereafter
It still can pull out some classic "ARP" sounds!!!
There's 2 'wheels' on the left of the keyboard (visible at the very beginning of the video). I think they're like the Oberheim OBX/OB-8 style controllers in appearance.
This was also originally designed by ARP (which you can kinda tell by the orange "CHROMA" lettering), but they went out of business before completing it and Fender/Rhodes picked up what was left of the company.
This demo is very good but doesn't scratch the surface of what a Chroma can truly do. The Chroma has a massive sound in person that CZcams video's can't convey. Many people think programming the Chroma is difficult but that isn't the case. The Chroma can easily achieve CS-80 and Jupiter 8 style sounds and the Chroma keyboard feels great and is very expressive. It is built like a tank too!
Indeed. I just got my chroma fully working after buying it on ebay 3 years ago. The sound is huge and mind blowing... and really does feel great to play. The capabilities are pretty vast, too bad that there aren't more videos with line input to camera to get a better idea of the sound
Well, since you have one... I'd be ever so grateful!
The piano patches are really interesting.
No, A Clockwork Orange was 1971. The Chroma debuted in 1982. That soundtrack, BTW, was by Wendy Carlos.
nice clean arp sound. was one of the last synths arp made. but if you wanna good synth of that dept try the PPG wave.
Best analog instrument I've heard. Why is it so large?
What a great sound, and many compliments also for the simulated mellotron flute....Chroma and CS80 can go shoulder to shoulder although I prefer the interface of the Japanese one....
Nice demo. The bass sequence starting at 6:34 sounds just like (at least the german version of) the first Karate Tiger movie soundtrack.
@christianclough the MoogModular-55 was used to score that film.
Surprised ... It has some clean retro sounds.
Joe, if you decide to keep it, be prepared to spend some money. Once you replace the power supply and get it running, there may be other problems. And if you take the trouble to get all that sorted out, you'll definitely want the CC+ upgrade.
I had the same dilemma, but I'm a grandiose and shameless gear glutton with absolutely no sense of moderation or restraint... so it didn't take much to convince myself to go all out in keeping it...
Its amazing what sound improvements have been done to the synthesizers if you hear this old machines
The mellotron patch at 1:27 is really nice.
Yes, it's amazing
Totally... I was like WAIT!
Hey Mike, I guess I worked on it after this a few years wasn't it? Hope you're well there.
I forget whether it was the Chroma or the Prophet-T8 that boasted that its keyboard action was so good that New England Digital used it for the Synclavier. I think both of them were praised for their feel.
It was the prophet t8 :)
very good and analog instrument! great and fat sound!
Fender also built a great sounding combo organ in the 1960's, but it was released near the end that market. This is ARP though.
2:49, 5:17, 6:09, 6:20
훌륭합니다.
this organ is great... mellotron sounds coming out of it, also reminds me of tangerine dreams sounds and stevie wonder :-)
I keep hearing that, but I have two Quadras that have never had any such problem. And one was a gigging instrument. The Chroma is a slightly newer instrument, so I would expect it to be at least as reliable.
I didn't realize the Chroma could do such good electric piano sounds. Back when the Chroma came out - I dreamed of having one.
I read somewhere that the brassy synth on Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark" was a Chroma. Another source said it was a CS-80. Does anybody know what's true?
@JedoubleKI I think it's a stack of 2 units.
I am not sure how close they were, electronically. The model I had had the a similar case and front panel as the Chroma. It was an analogue piano that was not too bad sounding and had wooden keys. Mine had no problems at all and I took on gigs (in an anvil case) and used on recordings. Not sure about electronics being similar? Cheers. What you have is quite rare!!
Spandau Ballet - "True" is a famous song featuring a Rhodes Chroma.
No problem man. The dynamic response of the Chroma beats the Prophet-5 and the OB series. I love my OB-8 but the playability sucks because of the lousy plastic keys, for instance. Sitting down and playing the Chroma, for me anyway, is like sitting down at the piano and being able to come up with new ideas on the fly because it really is inspiring.
@xnonsuchx BTW, one of my favorite synths ever.
first time i see or hear a rhodes chroma its very warm. what year is it?
Wasn't the Rhodes Electronic Piano basically a repackaged ARP Electronic Piano? I've played one of those before, but never could find the ARP version.
@christianclough she used an ARP 2500
Is that the synth spandau ballet used for true's intro?
No. That was a Prophet-5.
Yes, the Chroma was the synthesizer used by Spandau Ballet for the intro of "True". In December of 2017, the Wall Street Journal did an article on the making of "True". It was revealed by songwriter Gary Kemp that the Rhodes Chroma was the instrument used the make the signature bras synth sound at the beginning of "True". The keyboard was played by Jess Bailey. There are also live videos from the 1983 showing Spandau Ballet using the Chroma on that song.
Just like I'd always imagined my 2600 would sound like if it could play chords.
The reason i looked here was because i had a Chroma for repair. Finally i set it up to 100% function. I did a full calibration and adjustment according the repair manual, adjusted all 8 tone cards perfectly. Finally i downloaded factory setting no. 5 to to get an impression on the sounds....
Guess i was .....
Were these all factory presets? If so, that's incredible.
is it right to assume that this was the synth used in Clockwork Orange?
I had one of the original Fender/Rhodes Chroma Polaris keyboards back in the mid-eighties and this looks nothing at all like it.
Ok theres a bit more to it then the trilogy .
that brass section sounds beautiful but there wasnt even 10 seconds of it!
Did you get all sixteen voices working?
beautiful sounds. Recognised alot from famous recordings...
@backindauk
Found one. About to start restoring :)
Theoretically, synthesizer with similar synthesis method could be build currently using FPAA chips.
An Oberheim Matrix 6 will get you 98% of the way there. Or 0% of the way there on the highpass patches.
@NonDigitalTom Ahhhh, honesty like a glass of ice water on the mojave in July. I tell every on selling gear is like selling your signature. Other's have a good point too, that point being "You're Crazy", but we can't listen to that type of negitive chatter now, can we? Great Video, post more when it's fully functional.
why does he constantly keep "sustain"?
1:05 kills it
Rhodes has always been part of Fender right? So who was involved in the synth tech? Seems so removed from what Fender was set up for. Although Fender being near Silicon Valley doesn't hurt. I realize these answers might be on the RhodesChroma site, but it would be good to have that info here with the video somewhere:) Sounds awesome!
ARP. This was originally going to be released under ARP's name, but they went bankrupt and got bought out by CBS, which owned both Fender and Rhodes at the time. Rhodes finished the instrument and put it out under its own name, but they didn't know how to market it. Nobody quite knew how to take it, not to mention the digital synth boom was just starting to happen, so it got pushed to the side.
Supposedly a couple prototypes still exist with ARP branding.
mmm also some of the r&d engineers from arp were hired into roades/fender to finish the desighn. cheers
To each their own I guess, though I would think it's debatable to say that the Prophet has the fastest envelopes of every synthesizer ever made. I do agree that the interface is limiting but there are software choices and midi controllers that can solve that problem and allow full access to all parameters.
@plungerdrum
And now Tom Oberheim too. He just re-released the SEM...
Now, if i could only find a Chroma for sale here in Australia. Anyone got one? Holler at me!
I dont and wont get into the nerd argument over which synth is the greatest BUT as far as this being polyphonic/analog and American its a truly versatile sounding machine. I mean what analog poly synth can go from fat sweeps to clavinets to almost DX7 like tines? Not even the Prophet 5 could do this. And as far as equating the analogy "great" to a synth based on say amount/quantity sold I beg to differ. I do not think Moog made that many modulars back in the day (who could afford them) yet they are considered one of the "great" synthesizers. This piece is up there with the great American poly analogs and sorry just because there are no patch cords for those to lazy to get "too" involved with actual programming.....its time to lay off the knob!
Voyetra Eight.
I SATELLITE
Yes! No one ever mentions the Voyetra! Another lost and forgotten synth. I think it was analog/digital if I recall. Impossible to find these today. Aside from Hall and Oates who used one in the early 1980s I wonder who else used them....They certainly were not a cheap mans synth.
You haven't heard a CS80 ???
Synth/player are equally important. Granted a really creative person, can create great sounding music on nearly anything, but the fact is,....different synths are capable of making different sounds. So synths VS player,.....one is nothing w/o the other.
This sounds strangely similar to Oberheim synths, particularly the Matrix 6/12
For what I can hear here, this ARP has way more punchy an fast envelopes than the Matrix 6/1000. And fatter saw waves
Then there are a few which absolutely can't be touched.
good playing at 8,oo
@javiceres I felt the same way!
The Chroma has it all over the Prophet-5 in terms of playability, options and sound. This is, of course, my personal opinion but I think from a players perspective, the Chroma would be the way to go.
1:34 made my jaw drop !! This synth is FAT...
ARP QUADRA. B.E.A. utiful.
This thing doesn't seem to have a bender.
@cubdukat ARP was never owned by Rhodes, just the Chroma design was bought.
Alan Pearlman and his family lost a lot of money when ARP went under - as per the story on the rhodeschroma website. That said, i'd buy a new ARP monosynth :)
Wakeman could play a packet of crisps and I'd achieve an embarassing trouser lump!
1982
And that"s a good thing. :)
@cubdukat Well, I know that at least Tom Oberheim runs the company, and that's good enough for me. But, it would still be awesome since even Oberheim came back! And Sequential Circuits!
Turns you got your wish. Yamaha gave Sequential back to Dave Smith and Tom Oberheim just got his name back, but he hasn't decided to come back yet. He's still making instruments, but on a way smaller scale.