David Guetta adds the Rhodes MK8 MIDI piano to his Ibiza studio as a source of inspiration and a central controller within his setup. Drawing on its expressive sound and feel, he uses the instrument to explore how soul and musicality can exist beyond traditional genre boundaries within his in-the-box workflow.
“The first word I think of when it comes to Rhodes would be soul. I grew up listening to funk, from Michael Jackson to Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye. It’s a sound that is very present in my life,” he explains.
While Guetta is best known for his work in dance music, he sees that sense of soul as something that transcends genre, with the Rhodes sound serving as a natural bridge between musical worlds.
“Soul doesn’t have to be only in soul music. You can bring it to house music, and this is what I’m trying to do in many of my records,” he says. “If you want to add soul, Rhodes is the weapon to do that.”
Often traveling for shows and events, Guetta has shaped his creative process around a fully in-the-box workflow, relying primarily on software and plug-ins rather than external hardware instruments.
“I only work in the box. If you look in my studio, I have no synthesizers. But sometimes it’s about inspiration, so I’m using the MK8 as a MIDI controller and as an inspiration source. Between the touch, which is amazing, and the quality of the sound and effects, I have it all.”
The Rhodes MK8 functions as a central controller in modern studio environments. With polyphonic aftertouch MIDI and assignable controls, the instrument allows producers to shape dynamics, modulation, and expression on a per-note basis when triggering virtual instruments within a DAW. The MK8‘s onboard knobs can be mapped to parameters in virtual instruments and effects, or routed to external hardware synthesizers.
In the studio, Guetta uses the MK8 alongside Rhodes V8 Pro, pairing its touch and feel with software instruments while capturing performances in MIDI. This hybrid design enables him to move fluidly between software instruments and the authentic Rhodes sound without breaking his creative flow.
Guetta also points to the MK8‘s keybed as a crucial part of that connection, noting that its feel strikes a balance that suits his playing style.
“I’m not classically trained, so I don’t like when it’s too heavy, but I also don’t like when it’s too light. For me, this is really perfect.”
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