Clavinet
Clav, Clavi

Classification Keyboard Chordophone Electric piano Playing range F0 – E5 Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making music. ... Piano, a well-known instance of keyboard instruments A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. ... A chordophone is any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by way of a vibrating string or strings stretched between two points. ... An electric piano (e-piano) is an electric musical instrument whose popularity started in the late 1960s, was at its greatest during the 1970s and still is big today. ... In music, the range of a musical instrument is the distance from the lowest to the highest pitch it can play. ... Related instruments Cembalet, Pianet, Duo A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making music. ... The Pianet was a series of electric pianos built by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany from the 1950s to the 1970s. ... Builders Hohner Hohner is a company specialising in the manufacture of musical instruments. ...

A Clavinet is an electrophonic keyboard instrument manufactured by the Hohner company. It is essentially an electronically amplified clavichord, analogous to an electric guitar. Its distinctive bright staccato sound has appeared particularly in funk, disco, rock, and reggae songs. An electrophone is any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by electrical means. ... Piano, a well-known instance of keyboard instruments A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. ... Hohner is a company specialising in the manufacture of musical instruments. ... Large five-octave unfretted clavichord by Paul Maurici, after J.A. Haas The clavichord is a European stringed keyboard instrument known from the late Medieval, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras. ... For other uses, including related musical genres, see Funk (disambiguation). ... This article is about the music genre. ... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. ...

Various models were produced over the years, including the models I, II, L, C, D6, and E7. Most models consist of 60 keys and 60 associated strings, giving it a five-octave range from F0 to E5.

Each key uses a small rubber tip to perform a "hammer on" (forcefully fret the string) to a guitar-type string when it is pressed, as with a conventional clavichord. The end of each string farthest from the pickups passes through a weave of yarn. When the key is released, the yarn makes the string immediately stop vibrating. This mechanism is completely different from the other Hohner keyboard products, the Cembalet and Pianet, which use the principle of plectra or sticky pads plucking metal reeds. The Pianet was a series of electric pianos built by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany from the 1950s to the 1970s. ... A plectrum is a device for plucking or strumming a stringed instrument. ... Alto and tenor saxophone reeds. ...

The Clavinet C, used on Stevie Wonder's Superstition.

Most Clavinets have two sets of pickups, which are positioned above and below the strings. The Clavinet has pickup selector switches, and a guitar-level output which can be patched to a guitar amp. Early Clavinet models featured single-coil pickups; the D6 introduced a six-core pickup design. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Stevie Wonder (born Steveland Hardaway Judkins on May 13, 1950, name later changed to Steveland Hardaway Morris)[1] is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. ... This page is about amplifiers for musical instruments. ... This image shows three single coil pickups on a Stratocaster guitar. ... Three magnetic pickups on an electric guitar. ...

The Clavinet D6, the most popular model, introduced in 1971.

Originally the instrument was designed for home use and aimed at playing early European classical and folk music. The Clavinet L, introduced in 1968 was a domestic model and featured a wood-veneered triangular body with wooden legs, reverse-colour keys and an acrylic glass music stand. The final E7 model saw the culmination of several engineering improvements to make the instrument more suitable for use in live amplified rock music, where its use had become commonplace. By 1982 however, the Hohner corporation had ceased production of the Clavinet. It should be noted that the "Clavinet DP" name was applied by Hohner to a range of Japanese-made digital pianos during the late 1980s. These instruments were designed for the home market and made no attempt to emulate any characteristics of the true Clavinet, and should be seen as the equivalent of a badge engineering exercise. In 2000 Hohner disassociated themselves from the Clavinet completely by unloading their spare parts inventory to restoration website Clavinet.com. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Perspex redirects here. ... Hohner is a company specialising in the manufacture of musical instruments. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Badge engineering is a term that describes the rebadging of one model of car as another. ...

Usage in recordings

The archetypal Clavinet sound can be heard on:

• Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" and "Higher Ground"
• Led Zeppelin's "Trampled Under Foot"
• The Rolling Stones' "Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)"
• Sun Ra's "Atlantis"
• The Commodores' "Machine Gun"
• Billy Preston's "Outa-Space"
• Van Der Graaf Generator's "Godbluff"
• Emerson, Lake & Palmer's "Tank" (as well as the live cover of "Nut Rocker" from the Pictures at an Exhibition album)
• Herbie Hancock's Head Hunters
• The Beta Band's "Easy"
• Steely Dan's "Kid Charlemagne"
• Bob Marley's "Concrete Jungle"
• Peter Tosh's "Equal Rights"
• Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" (Part 8) and "Empty Spaces".
• Tori Amos' "Not David Bowie"
• Soundgarden's "Fresh Tendrils"
• Red Hot Chili Peppers's "Warlocks" (played by Billy Preston)
• Gorillaz' "Dirty Harry".

The track "Up on Cripple Creek" by The Band, is the first recorded example of patching a Clavinet through a guitar wah-wah pedal. More recently, John Medeski is a well-known player whose Clavinet work can be heard on nearly every release by the modern jazz group Medeski Martin and Wood. Stevie Wonder (born Steveland Hardaway Judkins on May 13, 1950, name later changed to Steveland Hardaway Morris)[1] is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. ... Superstition is a number-one single written, produced, arranged, and recorded by Stevie Wonder for Motown Records in 1972, when Wonder was twenty-two years old. ... Higher Ground is a R&B song with a rock edge, written by Stevie Wonder and first appearing on his 1973 album Innervisions. ... For the bands 1969 eponymous debut album, see Led Zeppelin (album). ... Trampled Under Foot (also sometimes seen as Trampled Underfoot) is a song by English rock group Led Zeppelin, featured on their 1975 album Physical Graffiti. ... Rolling Stones redirects here. ... Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) is a song by The Rolling Stones from their 1973 album Goats Head Soup. ... Sun Ra (Born Herman Poole Blount; legal name Le Sonyr Ra;[1] born May 22, 1914 in Birmingham, Alabama, died May 30, 1993 in Birmingham, Alabama) was an innovative jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his cosmic philosophy, musical compositions and performances. ... Atlantis is an album by jazz musician Sun Ra released in 1967. ... The Commodores was a highly successful soul/funk band in the 1970s. ... Machine Gun is the first album from the Commodores, released in 1973 on Motown. ... William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American soul musician from Houston, Texas, raised mostly in Los Angeles, California. ... This article is about the band. ... Godbluff is an album by Van der Graaf Generator. ... Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP) were an English progressive rock group. ... Emerson, Lake & Palmer was the debut album of British progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in 1970 in the United Kingdom and January of 1971 in the United States. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Pictures at an Exhibition is an album by British progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in 1971 as a live album and re-released in 2001 as a remastered edition including both live and studio versions of Mussorgskys classical piece Pictures at an Exhibition. ... Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940 in Chicago, Illinois) is an Academy Award and Grammy award-winning American jazz pianist and composer. ... Headhunter can refer to: Headhunter: a person who takes someones life in order to take their head. ... The Beta Band is Scottish musical group whose self-described style is folktronic, a blend of folk, rock, trip hop, and experimental jamming. ... Steely Dan is a Grammy-Award winning American jazz rock band centered on core members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. ... The cover of the Kid Charlemagne single features Fagen (top) and Becker (bottom) Kid Charlemagne is a song by the rock group Steely Dan, which was released as a single from their 1976 album The Royal Scam. ... This article is about the reggae musician. ... Peter Tosh (October 19, 1944 – September 11, 1987[1]) was the guitarist in the original Wailing Wailers, a pioneer reggae musician, and a trailblazer for the Rastafari movement. ... Pink Floyd are an English rock band that initially earned recognition for their psychedelic or space rock music, and, as they evolved, for their progressive rock music. ... Shine On You Crazy Diamond is an epic nine-part Pink Floyd composition with lyrics written by Roger Waters, in tribute to former band member Syd Barrett, and music written by Waters, Richard Wright, and David Gilmour. ... Empty Spaces is a song by the British progressive rock band Pink Floyd. ... Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos on August 22, 1963) is an American pianist and singer-songwriter. ... Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by lead singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto. ... Superunknown is the fourth album by the Seattle grunge band Soundgarden. ... The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1983. ... Warlocks is a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers from their 2006 album, Stadium Arcadium. ... William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American soul musician from Houston, Texas, raised mostly in Los Angeles, California. ... For the Gorillazs self-titled debut album, see Gorillaz (album). ... Dirty Harry is a song from Gorillaz second album Demon Days. ... The Band is the eponymous second album by The Band, released on September 22, 1969 (see 1969 in music). ... For other uses, see Band. ... This article is about the effect pedal, also known as a Wah. ... John Medeski is a pianist and composer. ... For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... Medeski Martin & Wood (MMW) are a jazz trio formed in 1991, consisting of John Medeski (piano, organ), Billy Martin (drums, percussion) and Chris Wood (double bass, bass guitar). ...

The clavinet has also become popular in Celtic music, largely through the works of Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill in the groups Nightnoise and Relativity. Celtic music is a term utilized by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic peoples of Northern Europe. ... Nightnoise was a celtic jazz chamber music ensemble active during the 1980s and 1990s. ...

External links

• http://www.clavinet.com