The free Giulioz RdPiano emulates vintage 80s Roland and Rhodes MKS digital pianos.
Vintage SA-Synthesis (structured adaptive synthesis) e-pianos are all over 80s hit records, yet aren’t emulated as often as instruments like Yamaha’s DX7 or Roland’s TR-808 drum machine.
Italian developer Giulioz is changing that with the free RdPiano plugin for macOS and Windows.
RdPiano emulates classic models, like the Roland MKS-20, RD1000, and the Rhodes MK-80 electric piano.
Roland acquired the Rhodes name in 1987 and released the MK-80 and MK-60 in 1989. Roland only maintained ownership for a decade and returned the Rhodes trademark to Harold Rhodes in 1997.
There have been more changes since then, but those MK models are pretty rare, and RdPiano is a chance to add that wonderful sound to your setup without the cost.
RdPiano simulates the CPU-B board used in these models, emulating the CPU and custom chips. Giulioz got the 6800 CPU emulation code from MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator), who reverse-engineered the VLSI custom chips containing Roland’s harmonic/velocity sound analysis algorithm.
Giulioz used silicon analysis of the custom chips to reproduce the most authentic sound.
The sound quality is fantastic; the Roland sounds have that legendary percussive character and can sometimes be quite dreamy.
These sounds are a throwback to 80 pop hits and TV shows, especially with simple stabbing chord patterns.
The MK-80 also has a percussive sound, but it’s lush when held beyond the initial impact.
Giulioz has done an outstanding job of recreating these keyboard sounds with such precision.
With that in mind, the developer acknowledges one or two bugs, such as patches initially producing no sound. This issue is typically resolved by changing the patch back and forth.
We aren’t short of free piano plugins, like Sound Dust’s Drift Free Bad Pianos, and we aren’t short of 80s sounds, like Acustica’s Thing TH2.
But I’m glad to see these vintage keyboards get their time in the virtual spotlight, thanks to Giulioz.
RdPiano is available in AU and VST formats for macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel) and Windows.
It also runs in standalone mode.
Kudos to our friend Tom from Synth Anatomy for spotting this freebie!
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Last Updated on January 21, 2025 by Tomislav Zlatic.
