Rhodes announces 2 digital versions of the MK8 piano

Many digital replicas of original Rhodes pianos were already available to incorporate into music production, but none have been able to come close to the original hardware- until now. The legendary production company decided to take a step in a different direction and announce the release of their very first digital instrument. From now on, you’ll be able to get your hands on the official Rhodes V8 plugin.

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The Rhodes MK8 is a simple but powerful electro-mechanical tine piano, carrying the sound for which Rhodes is famous. This compact piano holds onto the improvements of the pickups, pedals, and dampers which result in a renewed outcome of tone, sonic design, and touch. As Rhodes themselves stated, ‘We hope to capture every little detail of the original piece of hardware’.

Both the V8 and V8 Pro maintain the old school appearance. When looking at the plugin you’ll see a lot of similarities when it comes to the included features, but there are some changes of course. The Main tab holds onto the common features that you will find on the original hardware. From the left to the right, you’ll find the following features:

• Pre-Amp: volume, envelope, drive
• Equalizer: low, mid, and high
• Vari-Pan: rate, depth, and 4 different waveforms
• Compression: make-up, amount
• Chorus: rate, depth
• Phaser: rate, depth
• Delay: time, feedback
• Dry/Wet Mix

There is also an option to dive a little deeper into the technical aspect of sound design. The Setup tab will give you full access to the controllability of the timbre, damper response, level, and fine-tuning of every single key. You can change the sonic character of how you want the piano to sound. The Detail tab offers you a more in-depth range of functions from the included features. You can set the right settings for the equalizer, compressor, chorus, phaser, and delay. Set the right tuning of the overall sound, add mechanical noise, shift the timbre, change the velocity & pedal level, and even add an AMP or change the MIC type. The V8 Pro version includes the MK8 envelope in order to control different parameters. Overall there are a total of 30,000 samples included, spread over 100 layers.

The Rhodes V8 & V8 Pro electric piano is suitable in VST2/VST3/AU/AAX formats for Mac and PC. The V8 version is available for $149.95 and the V8 Pro is for $249.95.

Currently, there is a competition run by Rhodes that gives you the opportunity to use the plugin and create a soundtrack for a short movie. The winner will be rewarded with an original Rhodes MK8 piano. Compete here.

Have a closer look at the plugin down below:

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Image Credits: KVRAudio