User Guide

Chapter 23 EVD6 377
A Brief History of the Clavinet
German Company, Hohner, manufacturer of the Clavinet, were known mainly for their
reed instruments (harmonicas, accordions, melodicas, and so on), but had made several
classic keyboards, prior to the first incarnation of the Clavinet, known as the Cembalet.
Musician and inventor, Ernst Zacharias, designed the Cembalet in the 1950s. This was
intended to be a portable, amplifiable version of the Cembalo, or Harpsichord. Its
mechanism worked by plucking the end of a flat reed with the key, which was then
picked up and amplified 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 flat reeds for tone generation, but employed a very different
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 amplified.
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, as the dynamics available from the keyboard were
limited. As a further shortcoming, all reeds were damped on release, thus negating the
possibility of obtaining sustain via a foot pedal. Despite these glaring 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 built-in amp, Clavinet II with tonal filters, Clavinet L
with its bizarre triangular shape, all led to the Clavinet model C. This, in turn, was
refined into the D6—a portable, amplifiable keyboard. The D6 used a hammer striking
a string against a metal surface to produce its tone. It had a fully dynamic keyboard—
since the striker is directly underneath 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 that 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.