Clavinet sound

[Tiger Jackson]

I've been wanting to ask on the background of the clavinet sound. To me it sounds like a guitar.. so was the whole idea behind the clavinet supposed to be like, a guitar-ish sound for keyboard players?

[Kenneth]

Good question. It's a really cool sounding instrument, but also, I think, hard to see where the designer was coming from or what he (or she? Not sure) was going for. Your guess is as good as mine. I agree it does sound a bit electric guitarish, but only vaguely so. I have accepted the lifelong burden of convincing people that it is a clavinet, and not an electric guitar playing the lead on Stevie Wonder's "Superstition". It always goes the same. "That guitar riff is so cool." "It's not a guitar, it's a clavinet" "I've never heard of that, you're wrong" (show them a YouTube video of someone playing a clavinet) "oh yeah, that's totally it. You're right." Over and over and over. I wish Stevie had just played the thing on guitar and saved me the trouble XD

[pflosi]

It's just an amplified clavichord / harpsichord / spinet, which all go back to medieval times. Just like an electric guitar is just an amplified accoustic guitar... Same concept really.

[Virgule]

Harpsichords sounds like an acoustic guitar because of it's design of plucking the strings. Clavinets emulate that system by having the strings lifted (or is it pulled down?) with a sticky foam pad after being struck/hammered. Or something like that

[Dr. Phibes]

It's just an amplified clavichord / harpsichord / spinet, which all go back to medieval times. Just like an electric guitar is just an amplified accoustic guitar... Same concept really.

Yep, it's really just an electro-mechanical version of the unfretted clavichord which has been around for centuries. As you hear in the following video. the sound is quite similar:

[meatballfulton]

I suppose the real question is why Hohner thought there was a market for an electric clavichord. Stevie Wonder was the one who popularized the instrument but it predates his use of it.

[GuyaGuy]

I suppose the real question is why Hohner thought there was a market for an electric clavichord. Stevie Wonder was the one who popularized the instrument but it predates his use of it.

So you're saying they made it before he even played it?!!

The Clavinet, Pianet and Cembalet were invented as a smaller, more portable version of their traditional counterparts. It just so happened that they also tickled the fancy of rock musicians. The late 60s neo-Victorian/English folk trend probably helped a bit there.

[tim gueguen]

Baldwin produced an electric harpsichord in the '60s, and RMI released the electronic Rock-Si-Chord in 1967, so something was in the air at the time.

[nvining]

The Clavinet and, I believe, the Pianet, were both the inventions of Ernst Zacharias, the mad inventor working for Hohner at the time. In addition to the Clavinet and the Pianet, he also invented the Cembalet (a precursor to both instruments), the Guitaret (a weird little box-thing full of other things), the Claviola (a melodica that you wear like an accordion; he invented it in the 60s and Hohner made a run of them in the 90s for a couple of months, largely out of boredom), and about 85 other patents.

Apparently he just liked making electric versions of baroque instruments.

[Dr. Phibes]

I think there was some rational behind it. Baroque instruments were enjoying a revival during the early to mid 20th century. The war interrupted production but demand began to grow again in the 1950s. I guess the idea was to produce smaller, cheaper imitations of otherwise expensive hand made instruments for an increasingly affluent demographic of home musicians. The growth of the electric organ market told a similar story.

[Sir Nose]

Stevie Wonder gave it some fame with his use of it on Superstition (layered something around 8 one the studio version).

But...

It was an instrument directly delivered to Earth by the FUNK gods. Do not underestimate it's power. It can funkiphy the straightest cut. I turn to Bernie Worrell for my clavinet fix.




They are limited in availability so fetch more than I can see myself shelling out. Good news is they were bought by all sorts of folks when sold new and still can be found in attics and garages. They are also not incredibly complex and can be restored by a hobbyist.

Damn, been over a year or two since I wanted one last. Thanks VSE for adding some GAS back into my life.

[V301H]

The DX7 was pretty much solely responsible for killing the Clavinet as it did the Rhodes Piano. Around 1984 Hohner sent letters to all the recording studios listed in Mix magazine offering the last Clavinets for $115 each. In the letter Hohner said they realized there was now a modern alternative and were making this offer to studios that might still want to provide their clients with the original instrument. If I had only known how things would turn out.

[iphoenix]

That last post is sad re: Hohner giving away the last Clavinets for $115 to give way to modern trends.

IMO the DX7 caused a lot of damaging change in the 80s to music technology evolution & sonic trends in recording , despite the fact that it was ( is) a fantastic concept & way of generating sound . I have only recently began to appreciate its hidden depths.

I have always loved the Clavinet.
Favorite Clavinet players & moments would include Jan Hammer's funky playing, especially when with Jeff Beck & especially on 'Wired'.

[Cumulus]

[Sir Nose]

^
I don't thinking I've seen a Clav with a bender mod like that before. Nice.