Pirate VST

Adam Monroe’s Mark 73 Electric Piano was sampled from a 1976 Rhodes Mark I Stage Piano. The entire keyboard was wrapped in tinfoil, which eliminated EMI noise. The Rhodes was sampled DI through a Radial Pro 48 DI box, and the signal was routed to a Fender Deluxe Reverb amp, recorded relatively clean through an AEA R84 Ribbon Mic and AEA TRP Preamp.

Each note of the 73-note Rhodes Piano was sampled 3 times at 10 velocity layers. Releases where sampled for the DI signal as well as the amped signal, but the amp release notes sounded a bit out of place, so the decision was made to only include DI releases. The sound of the amp can be heard in the amp samples, as a Fender Reverb Deluxe is a noisy amp, even without a signal. The DI samples are relatively clean by comparison.

This particular Rhodes Piano was relatively in-tune, but some post-processing re-pitching was necessary in order to bring every note into a -2 +2 cent variance of equal temperament. The “bass boost” knob of the Rhodes Piano was set to 1 and the volume knob was set to 9. The instrument was left natural sounding, without eq tweaking, although one note was eq’d in order to make it fit with the rest.

The phase of the two signals had to be carefully adjusted by hand for each note, as the amp signal significantly lagged behind the DI signal. The settings on the amp were treble: 5 bass: 5. The amp signal has a slightly more aggressive tone, well the DI signal is warmer and fuller. Samples are 16 bit, 44.1 kHz wav files.

The plugin contains built-in Tremolo, but the parameters can be fine-tuned via the standalone tremolo plugin. By utilizing tremolo, distortion, phaser, chorus, wah, and the AMP + DI channels, a wide range of classic Rhodes Piano tones can be achieved, from Air to Steely Dan. We have done our best to create an accurate reproduction of the classic Fender Rhodes Piano. This is not a modeled-tine instrument, this is the real sound of a Rhodes Piano!

Some simple linear distortion was added to the VST and Kontakt (depreciated 2.10.2020) versions, as well as some built-in reverb, phaser, chorus, and wah effects. A smooth knob was added to dial back some of the harshness of digital linear distortion. The Kontakt version of Adam Monroe’s Mark 73 Electric Piano is is now depreciated (2.10.2020). The VST, Audio Unit, and AAX versions are programmed entirely by AdamMonroeMusic. The goal in any sample library that is also a VSTi (virtual instrument), AAX, or AU plugin is to attempt to match the performance of the Kontakt Player. With this library, we feel like we have done just that.
The VST, AU, and AAX versions include updated, high-performance algorithms that have been improving with each new virtual instrument released by Adam Monroe Music. For example, the buffering algorithm is double-buffered and multithreaded, which means that buffering performance is fast, even on slower computers, and even in lower latencies. Voices are held and iterated over in a pure, C-Style array. Memory use is comparable to the Kontakt version – around 390MB . Because of the solid VST, AU, and AAX code base, you can be confident that the VST version will work just as well as the Kontakt version.

Why develop a VST, Audio Unit, or AAX version at all? Although a great piece of software, the Full version of Kontakt (required to run 3rd party sample libraries) is expensive. Developing a VST, Audio Unit, or AAX version that anyone can use does not add significant time to the development of a Rhodes Piano library – most of the time is spent sampling and processing the samples – so it’s a real no-brainer.

Audio engineering is a large part of creating a VST, Audio Unit, or AAX plugin but the sounds of this Rhodes Piano library has barely been processed. No eq tweaks were made, as the tone can be shaped dramatically by blending between DI and amp signals. Adding distortion, even a small amount, can significantly drive the gain and presence of the signal.

This plugin now includes great-sounding, real-time, automatic sample-rate conversion through cubic interpolation supporting sample rates of 44.1, 48, 88.2, and 96 kHz.

– Range From E1 to E7
– DI And Amp Signals, Reverb, Distortion, Tremolo, Chorus, Phaser
– 9GB of Sample Data
– 3X Round-Robin, 10 Velocity Layers
– Supports 44.1, 48, 88.2, and 96 kHz

Release v2.0 2/10/2020
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Improvements since last version: 
*Mac Au/VST versions now conform to OS X Catalina code signing and notarization requirements. 
*Mac versions are now installed via package installers.
*Resources for Mac versions and a config file are now placed outside of the amhonky.vst and amhonky component bundles. This is because Apple wants things code-signed now: verifying resources in a bundle would take too long and the config can’t be inside because it would invalidate the code signature. If you don’t like it, complain to Apple!
*Maintaining separate legacy (32-bit) Mac versions for those who need them (OS X 10.9-10.14)

New Features:
*Added built in Tremolo (From Adam Monroe's Tremolo) and built in Delay, Phaser, Chorus, AutoWah, and Tone knobs.
*Made smooth switch a variable knob.
*Added 40 or so presets.