Clavinet

A clavinet is a keyboard instrument, manufactured by the Hohner company. It is essentially an electronically amplified clavichord. Its distinctive bassy, popping sound has appeared particularly in funk and rock songs.

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

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Each key uses a small rubber tip to do a "hammer on" 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.

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Most models 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.

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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 a plexiglass music stand. The final E7 model saw the culmination of several engineering improvements to make the instrument more suitable for use in live amplfied rock music, where its use had become commonplace.

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Other Hohner keyboard products, the Cembalet and Pianet, work by different principles (hammers strike mechanical reeds), and are not like the Clavinet at all.

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The archetypal clavinet sound can be heard on Stevie Wonder's track "Superstition," from Talking Book, Billy Preston's "Outa-Space," and Dr. Emmet's Rhoades to Funk.

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Keyboard instrument: A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played with a musical keyboard. Keyboard instruments can generally be classified as wind instruments, string instruments, percussion instruments, or electronic instruments. The most common ones are probably the piano and the synthesizer....

Hohner: Hohner is a company specialising in the manufacture of musical instruments. Hohner is identified especially with harmonicas and accordions, producing many different styles, and most of the harmonicas used by professionals. The company also makes kazoos, recorder flutes and melodicas....

Funk: Funk is a distinct style of music originated by African-Americans, e.g., James Brown and his band members (especially Maceo and Melvin Parker), and groups like The Meters....