RMI 368 Electra-Piano and Harpsichord

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The RMI 368 Electra-Piano and Harpsichord was an electronic piano and the most popular instrument created by RMI. It was renowned in different forms of popular music. It was known to act as an onstage substitute for a grand piano, but it didn't actually sound like one. It had its own distinctive sound that separated it from true electric pianos like the Fender Rhodes or the Wurlitzer, in that its sound was generated by transistors (like an electronic organ, which RMI started out making), instead of a hammer hitting a reed or tine.

It featured distinctive organ-like control tabs. It had 3 different sounds which could be mixed in any combination; (Piano, Harpsichord, & Lute, plus 2 variations called Piano PP and Harpsichord PP), an organ mode (which increased the decay of the sound generated by the keyboard), and Accenter mode (which was similar to the percussion effect of a Hammond Organ).

It was featured prominently on Delaney & Bonnie's hit single "Only You Know and I Know", on Yes's albums Fragile, Close To The Edge, and Yessongs, Rick Wakeman's The Six Wives Of Henry VIII, and most liberally on Genesis's masterpiece The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. Other famous players include John Lennon on "Imagine" (although it's almost unnoticeable underneath the signature Grand Piano lick, if you listen to it in Stereo, in the left speaker you'll hear the mellow tone of the RMI), Stevie Wonder (one of the many keyboards on the song "Isn't She Lovely", but is the most noticeable underneath the Fender Rhodes), Blood, Sweat & Tears (on the fadeout section of "You Make Me So Very Happy"), Ray Manzarek of The Doors (seen in the Promo video for 'Hello, I Love You'), Leon Russell, & Sparks.

There was a variation called the 368x produced in 1971, called "bass", that oscillated the tone. It was also given the nickname, "The Warbler", named for the sound that was produced with rapid oscillation to the knob.