This chord is a good example of open harmony. Open harmony is simply the use of intervals that are widely dispersed to produce chord structures.
This chord is an E thirteen with a flatted ninth. In sequence from the bottom up I’m playing E, F and G sharp as the tenth with my left hand, followed by D, G, and C (all naturals) with the right.
Rhodes Chord E13 (flat 9)
The second voicing in my series of Rhodes chords is a suspended F chord with a flatted ninth. The flatted ninth might also be referred to as a minor second because I’m playing it right next to the root. You could also call this an A flat thirteen over F. I’m not sure what the most correct way to write this chord is, but the minor second and suspended note (B flat) seem to dominate the harmonic structure.
Rhodes Chord F Sus (flat 9)
It’s no secret that I’m a lifelong Rhodes electric piano fanatic. I could come up with a laundry list of reasons why this is the case, but one of the main reasons is how well the instrument responds harmonically. Therefore, I have decided to briefly forgo articles about sound design, processing, and field recording in order to present a few of my favored chord voicings on my suitcase model studio Rhodes.
The first example is a poly chord. It’s basically an E major triad over a D major triad, except I’m playing the D as a tenth with the fifth in the middle in the left hand and the third inversion of an E major triad in the right. You’ll need a wide reach in your left hand to play this voicing. The nice thing about it is the deep, open, and complex sound created by the thirteen and the flat five.
Rhodes Chord D7 (13 flat 5) Poly E over D
I took the idea from the last post a little further and tried a different sample; an already high pitched phrase of Rhodes electric piano. I played the sample in the software sampler, Simpler, higher and higher until it faded from an audible range. I kept going until finally, around eight octaves up, I started hearing strange artifacts from the sample. At this stage I created a MIDI clip with a scale of these sounds, then ran it through compression to bring out some of the more subtle effects, equalization to eliminate any canine-hearing-damaging-frequencies, and some processing to randomize the scale. Here’s what I ended up with.
Impossibly High Rhodes Sample
Love it or hate, the Rhodes is here to stay. Eventually we will have the Rhodes Mark 7, maybe even this year? Perhaps, in the distant future, after the patents expire, the Rhodes mechanics will become part of the public domain, similar to the acoustic piano, and be produced by a variety of companies. There might be a nine foot grand Rhodes, a studio Rhodes, a baby Rhodes, and an upright Rhodes. This chunk of “studio” Rhodes is running through loads of processing including MDAs RezFilter, delay and who knows what else.
110bpm Processed Rhodes