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I worked on and off throughout the weekend, almost have the piano track done. I have a few edits here and there to complete, but I finished the first two choruses yesterday. The chorus is the most convoluted section of the song, it has multiple movements where it shifts gears completely. Not to mention that all three choruses are different. Argh... EPiano2 is sounding very good, it's gonna work quite well. Now, if I can only get my brother to learn the bass line...haha! But the opening solo sounds much more like the original recording, a *lot* better than what I could get out of the Behringer. Just for fun I ran through all the organ tones to see what they were like...this unit is a real keeper. I got a huge kick out of the DP Organ, I couldn't help but grin ear to ear listening to that classic John Lord distortion! One thing to mention is that I had to transpose the song down 1/2 step, the vocal is a lot higher than one would think. I would've preferred a full step, but that results in the bass track being a lot trickier, if not unplayable without detuning.

Hello all, Some great replies, many thanks. First, if anyone is wondering what my end goal is, I'm preparing to add this song to my group's songlist. After several decades and 21 previous versions of the group, we're down to just 2 members, me on guitars/vocals and a bassist/vocalist. I have a Tascam 24 track digital studio, and I build a drum track the drum machine and record it, then I add any additional harmony vocals and instruments required, such as keys, horns, etc. I have an alto sax, and I can get pretty good horn tracks using a couple sax tracks along with a trumpet or trombone voice from a keyboard. Once I get the backing tracks recorded I mix them down to a DigiTech Looper, with each song being a separate loop. It sounds really good, and our songlist is a mix of reggae/pop/new-wave/funk. Believe it or not those styles mix together extremely well. We play a number of songs with complicated arrangements, such as Our House (Madness), Steppin' Out (Steel Pulse), Beds are Burning (Midnight Oil), and Ghost Town (The Specials), but Babylon Sisters is by far the most complicated arrangement yet. The drum track took 2-3 weeks...trying to get the "Purdie Shuffle" duplicated properly was a task. - I've been comparing the various presets while listening to Babylon Sisters, a number of them would work easily. Before getting the X700 I was using Behringer UMX490, and it was difficult to get the correct phrasing with that unit, as it does not have weighted keys. Not to mention I was using a Piano Box, and the tone of their only "Rhodes" voice was lacking to say the least. Try as I might I just couldn't quite get a result that satisfied me, it just sounded off. The CT-X700 action makes a huge difference, and immediately I was able to get a result much closer to the original song. The weighted keys facilitate the phrasing a lot better, and even with voices that aren't necessarily Rhodes-based (60's EP for example) the result is far better for things such as the opening Rhodes solo. Epiano 4-6 seem to have somewhat of a bell tone, I can hear it when playing the 5ths on the low notes in the intro to the song. Dyno Ep sounds good, although it's a little too mellow. Dynamic EP is also good. But I decided on EPiano2, the tremolo is a little more than I would prefer, but it's acceptable. I may be able to play around with the EQ settings some on some of the tones, but I'm gettin' kinda weary after working on this piano part for more than a month...lol. Too bad that some of the DSPs on the various tones are a bit much, at least for me. I can hear what sounds like a subtle phase shift on the Rhodes in the original recording of Babylon Sisters. Unfortunately the phase shift in EPiano3 is too stark, the amplitude is a bit large and the frequency seems to be around 2 cycles/second. On sustained chords the wow-wow-wow effect is noticeable and distracting. I messed around with the chorus/flanger, but can't tell that it actually replaced the DSP. Testing a flange on Epiano3, I can still hear the wow-wow-wow sound on a sustained chord, or am I not applying the flange effect properly? I can't see in the manual where it says to press "OK", or enter or whatever. I wish I could just turn off the DSP on some of the voices, but that doesn't seem to be an option. But I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong here and not applying the effect correctly. Thanks again for the replies. Ric

Hello all, I just received my X700 yesterday and have been checking our the unit. I love the action, the keys feel similar to the old Wurlitzer I used to own, quite realistic. I have a request that the group here may be able to answer. What preset do you think best emulates the Fender Rhodes used in Babylon Sisters, by Steely Dan? Some of the Rhodes presets sound great in the midranges, but the higher octaves are more of a concern. For example, the chorus uses the chords Eb to F in quick succession, for the lyric "Shake it", with the inversion played in the higher octaves. Playing these 2 chords, one can hear some limitations with some of the preset electric pianos. So which preset EP best matches that from Babylon Sisters? Interestingly, one of the presets I've tested is a "60's EP" (apologies, I don't recall the exact names of the presets and I can't find a list of the sound bank online), which sounds to me like a Wurlitzer with a bit of tremolo, and that voice is nothing short of awesome. It sounds fantastic, even playing the high Eb-F chords. But the Dan uses a Rhodes for Babylon Sisters, so I'm torn here about using this voice. But I have to admit, it works very well for the song. Another Rhodes emulation has the word "wide" in the name, and that preset works pretty decent as well. It may be EP Wide....when I get home today I'll update the post with the exact names of the presets I'm mentioning, again my apologies. I may have to use a combination of voices, one voice for the verse/chorus chords, one for the intro piano solo, and one just for the 2 quick Eb-F chords in the chorus and ending. Thoughts or suggestions? My thanks in advance for any replies. Ric