Electro-Harmonix Effectology, Vol.10 “The Electric Piano Effect”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ouX_r5lfBk

The effect in this video was inspired by the keyboard sound in the 1972 Led Zeppelin song “No Quarter”.
The keyboard they used was a Fender Rhodes electric piano with through a Maestro phase sifter on the fast setting.
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Below are the EHX settings I found reminiscent of that great recording.
(The controls need to be fine tuned for each individuals instrument and playback equipment.)

The second example in the video was the same as above but with the Pulsar pedal warble effect.
It has more of a traditional, slightly dirty suitcase style Fender Rhodes.

The solo sound was the guitar through a Voice Box pedal in the whistle mode.
To plug a guitar into the mic jack of this pedal, I used XLR to 1/4 inch adapter plugs.
Below are the setting used for the Whistle sound.

Good luck and have fun.
Bill Ruppert

Just when I thought I’d heard it all.

Unbelievable Bill.
:clap:

oh i love it Bill… i’m not really much into Led Zep but No quarter has always been my favourite…

it’s a pity that you need so big pile of pedals to get that sound… well, let’S dream about it

Magnificent!!!

I have all of those pedals, so I’ll have to try to figure it out. Maybe it will curb my appetite a bit for a real Rhodes. I had one, and lost it for the stupidest reason that I don’t want to go into.

Hey Bill first of all THANK you for such inspiring videos!

In particular in this case, I always tried to get a convincing Rhodes fx… but in my rig I get a very different sound.

I have a Micro-synth, (Moogerfooger) ring mod, delay and reverb etc.. so basicaly I can reproduce your rig and sound chain (except for the compressor).
I find your Micro-Synth setting “light”, and the sound doesn’t “swirl” at all…
The MS is a very strange beast, some slight variation can produce very strong variation… any suggestion?

Thanks andtrea

Well to start I feel the compressor in front of the MicroSynth is a must.
It keeps the attacks consistent and more keyboard like.
It also drives the MicroSynth at a consistent level.
The settings I listed are for the XO series MicroSynth.
The “Big Box’ Micro Synth settings will be different as the sliders in the filter section do not match up to each other.
The two units can sound the same its just where the sliders are set will be different.
Let me know what unit you have.

As for swirl, I used the Pulsar in stereo for the “No Quarter” sound.
That added a big Doppler effect.
I also used the Stereo Memory Man in the Mod+300mS mode and that adds a beautiful chorus swirl to the sound in stereo.

Bill Ruppert

andtrea - 23 November 2009 01:35 PM

Hey Bill first of all THANK you for such inspiring videos!

In particular in this case, I always tried to get a convincing Rhodes fx… but in my rig I get a very different sound.

I have a Micro-synth, (Moogerfooger) ring mod, delay and reverb etc.. so basicaly I can reproduce your rig and sound chain (except for the compressor).
I find your Micro-Synth setting “light”, and the sound doesn’t “swirl” at all…
The MS is a very strange beast, some slight variation can produce very strong variation… any suggestion?

Thanks Bill.
I have a new XO series pedal, not the old large box version.

I already thought to add a compressor before the Micro-Synth, but I had a very bad luck and the Analogman comp that I was waiting went lost in a catastrophic shipment from a TGP danish forumite :(

Anyway a comp will probably my next pedal, to avoid some well knowm dead notes and sustain problems of our beloved Micro-Synth..
About the swirl: I didn’t get the Delay modulation, i’ll try to add some with my MiniDejaVibe, but I suppose that the main difference is the strong and compressed signal of the Soul Preacher that loads better the Synth…

Thanks again for all your help and creativity!

Good luck with the compressor!
The Mod delay is a chorused delay.
The Memory Man has a very interesting changing rate for speed.
Other that that the stop and start frequency controls of the MicroSynth are tricky to set correctly and need to be toyed with according to your playing dynamics.
If the sound is to over all to bright, lower both controls. If the attack is to bright lower just the start ect.
Thats where the compressor may make things easier by taming the dynamics of the guitar.
Thanks again and good luck.
Bill

andtrea - 25 November 2009 06:55 AM

Thanks Bill.
I have a new XO series pedal, not the old large box version.

I already thought to add a compressor before the Micro-Synth, but I had a very bad luck and the Analogman comp that I was waiting went lost in a catastrophic shipment from a TGP danish forumite :(

Anyway a comp will probably my next pedal, to avoid some well knowm dead notes and sustain problems of our beloved Micro-Synth..
About the swirl: I didn’t get the Delay modulation, i’ll try to add some with my MiniDejaVibe, but I suppose that the main difference is the strong and compressed signal of the Soul Preacher that loads better the Synth…

Thanks again for all your help and creativity!

I am very tempted to pull the trigger for an used HOG.
The only worrying is its size…

Do you think that a compressor behind would be a must with it too?

Hi Bill, I’ve had a lot of fun time trying to recreate your Effectology examples with my mix of EHX and non-EHX pedals. Using this particular setup as the foundation, do you have any suggestions for getting a grittier, over-driven Wurlitzer sound? I’m thinking specifically of the Wurli sounds sprinkled throughout the new Norah Jones album.

Thanks,
JP

hello everyone,

just got a 2880 super multitrack looper and I need some help to understand how i can get the 4 tracks empty after i did the mixdown track. i guess there’s must be a function to allow me to start to record the 4 tracks again after the mixdown. Ineed them empty again!!!!

thanks a lot

Hi Bill, I have the new XO Micro Synth and a Ring Thing on its way to me. Any advice on how to set the Ring Thing to reproduce the first electric piano effect you demonstrated? Would the controls effectively be fairly similar? I’ve never used a Ring Modulator before, but I’d really like to catch that sound.

Thats a great question.
When I get a few free moments I will set both units up and post a Ring Thing setting that matches the frequency Analyzer.
Bill

ekwatts - 21 April 2010 08:46 PM

Hi Bill, I have the new XO Micro Synth and a Ring Thing on its way to me. Any advice on how to set the Ring Thing to reproduce the first electric piano effect you demonstrated? Would the controls effectively be fairly similar? I’ve never used a Ring Modulator before, but I’d really like to catch that sound.

Thanks Bill, that would be excellent!

bill ruppert - 22 April 2010 10:29 AM

Thats a great question.
When I get a few free moments I will set both units up and post a Ring Thing setting that matches the frequency Analyzer.
Bill

ekwatts - 21 April 2010 08:46 PM

Hi Bill, I have the new XO Micro Synth and a Ring Thing on its way to me. Any advice on how to set the Ring Thing to reproduce the first electric piano effect you demonstrated? Would the controls effectively be fairly similar? I’ve never used a Ring Modulator before, but I’d really like to catch that sound.

Here is a setting for the Ring Thing that duplicates the sound of the old Frequency Analyzer in this video.
Bill