X

Chapter 16 Vintage Clav 447
D6 Clavinet information
D6 Clavinet history
The German company Hohner, manufacturer of the D6 Clavinet, was known mainly for its
reed instruments (harmonicas, accordions, melodicas, and so on) but had made several classic
keyboards prior to the rst incarnation of the Clavinet, known as the Cembalet.
Musician and inventor Ernst Zacharias designed the Cembalet in the 1950s. It was intended to
be a portable version of the cembalo, or harpsichord—which could be amplied. Its mechanism
worked by plucking the end of a at reed with the key, which was then picked up and amplied,
in much the same way as an electric guitar.
A year or two after the Cembalet’s release, two Pianet models appeared. Both the CH and N
models used at reeds for tone generation but employed a very dierent plucking/striking
action. When a key was depressed, it engaged a sticky pad with a foam backing, which actually
stuck to the reed. When the key was released, the weight of the key caused the pad adhesive to
free itself from the reed. This made the reed vibrate, and this vibration was then amplied.
The model T Pianet was released several years later and utilized a soft rubber suction pad on the
reeds, rather than the adhesive of the CH and N models. This method still had several drawbacks,
however, because the dynamics available from the keyboard were limited. As a further
shortcoming, all reeds were damped on release, thus negating any possibility of sustaining the
sound via a foot pedal. Despite these problems, the sound of the model T Pianet was popularized
by bands such as the Zombies and Small Faces in the 1960s.
In the years between the releases of the Pianet N and T models, Zacharias invented what was to
become Hohner’s most successful, and certainly funkiest, keyboard—the Clavinet. The Clavinet
was designed to replicate the sound of a clavichord, but with an altogether fuller sound (the
clavichord was notoriously thin sounding).
The early models—Clavinet I with a built-in amp, Clavinet II with tonal lters, Clavinet L with its
bizarre triangular shape—all led to the Clavinet model C. This, in turn, was rened into the more
portable D6. The D6 uses a hammer action, which strikes a string against a metal surface to
produce a tone. It has a fully dynamic keyboard because the striker is directly beneath the key—
the harder you hit, the louder and more vibrant the tone.
Mention the Clavinet today and most people will automatically think of Stevie Wonder’s
“Superstition”—a recording that owes as much to the D6 as it does to the artist who wrote
and performed it. The D6 was later superseded by the E7 and the Clavinet/Pianet Duo. These
were basically the same as the D6 but more roadworthy, quieter, and better protected against
proximity hums than previous models.