The Most Serene Republic are a Canadian band formed on the Arts and Crafts label -- and they are the first band on the label not connected to Broken Social Scene (Kevin Drew, Feist). They have two full lengths. Underwater Cinematographer and Population, and an EP, Phages, out.

Keyboardist Ryan Lenssen spoke to Gearwire about his keyboards--particularly the Roland Roland RD 700SX he uses live and the 1973 Rhodes he uses in the studio. We asked him to talk a little about how the Roland and the Rhodes are different.

"The low end doesn't exist on real Rhodes like on the Roland. It is all synthesized," he says. "The Rhodes is mainly mid, but on a synth, they need to fill the keys. They use an algorithm and it is the same across the keyboard. When going into the high or low end it is the same algorithm for the mid range. They start boosting the low end."

He adds that this is sometimes beneficial but it really isn't a realistic representation of the Rhodes.

"If you are a good player, playing in the mid range, it is fine," says Lenssen. "You still need to EQ for the room or it will be muddy."

But even so, there is something about the Rhodes sound that is hard to capture on a synth.

"There is a 'tang' to a real Rhodes." he says.

Lenssen then apologizes for coining this new musical term and amends his statement by saying; "...a beautiful distinctive tanginess."

Basically he says there is a unique distortion when you hit the Rhodes keys that doesn't happen with a synth.

When it comes to a keyboard he doesn't have that he would like -- he brings up the Clavia-Nord Electro 2.

"I'd love a Nord Electro 2 with 88 weighted keys. I checked it our in Hamburg on tour. I really enjoyed its tonality," says Lenssen. "I am legitimately looking for a sturdy keyboard that is really rugged."

He is not into the Fantoms or the Motif keyboards.

"I don't like Yamaha. and Korg needs to step up their game -- abandon the Triton," he says. "There is a lot of recording gear I would like too. Right now my studio is Logic 8 in a Mac pro with Apogee Ensemble and Digimax 93k Presonus.'"

And despite saying he didn't want to give up any magical secrets he did give up one.

"Dave Newfeld gave me a 1954 regulated output amplifier -- a compressor before they knew to call it that." he says.

Lenssen runs an electric through the amp.

"You can hear it anywhere you put it in the mix." he says.

And that brings us to something else that makes Lenssen happy. The fact the band's music is being heard on more than just iPod headphones.

"Been selling a lot of vinyl records which makes me happy. By increasing the range -- it doesn't cut off at 20 k, you also slightly roll off the highs as well. It really opens the mix up," he says. "The best way to hear the music is on vinyl through Sennheiser headphones -- they really boost the subs and are very exciting headphones."

He also says that a paradigm surround sound at home would be another ideal sound system.

"You are not gonna like it on your iPod -- or if you do . . . then get a paradigm surround sound," says Lenssen. "We do not make records minimally. We push it as far as we can push which is sometimes a mistake."

But if they didn't he says they wouldn't be able to sleep at night.

"We are trying to find new beauty. I see music as a landscape, a planet, an undiscovered country."

Most music out there he likens to "Western Europe" Circa 1491 and he says "It is time to go discover the new world." By this he means new tonalities, non repeating lines and more.

The Most Serene Republic's latest CD, POPULATION, was released on Arts & Crafts in October, 2007. The band is currently on tour.