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as the 9 volt battery powering its preamp. No battery meant no sound. Just like the single
pole pickups found on electric guitars, the original instrument's pickups had a tendency to
amplify transformer noise and any other type of hiss and hum within range, leading to a
niche business for the instrument's tweaking with improved RF shielding inside the instru-
ment's housing. The original had a very specific sonic envelope, and it could not be used in
conjunction with a piano style sustain pedal. Now that Scarbee has poured the funk machine
into the more fluid environment of a sampler, the original's classic tone is available for far
more experimental approaches to synthesis, from envelope alteration to filter modification
to layering to just about anything your imagination can bring to bear. The sound is one of
the most easily identifiable and unique amongst classic keyboards. Although its legendary
status and popularity have led to frequent imitation and sampling, until now the essence and
vibrant dynamics of the original keyboard have never truly been captured. Just as we did with
the MARK I, the A-200 and Scarbee Pianet, the Scarbee Clavinet delivers the sound of the
original in the kind of vivid and inspiring detail which—once you've started playing—you will
see you want to play on, and on, and on.
How much detail is there in the instrument?
In order to accurately reproduce the original keyboard's dynamics, both the sustained and
release sounds have been sampled at up to 20 different sustained velocities—including
samples of the occasional 'off center' string strike, a well known characteristic of the original
instrument. All samples are full length (no loops) and with the Clavinet, Scarbee introduces
"Horizontal Release Technology," whereby release samples are chosen from the wave pool
depending on how long a key has been held. This allows a staccato played note to create a
different release tone than a note sustained for a longer period. To achieve this, each key
sampled on the Scarbee Clavinet has 24 release samples assigned to it! This was the only
way to reproduce the very special action and soul of the original instrument. We sampled each
of the four standard pickup settings: Lower, Upper, Both (out of phase) and Both, each in a
standard version and a version with mutebar switched ON, resulting in 8 unique sounds! We
also made it possible to switch Standard/Mute modes with the Mod-Wheel. In addition we
have created a set of Impulse Responses for the KONTAKT 4 Convolution effect, which offers
you an exact simulation of the original and very special Filter/EQ on the original instrument.
Scarbee Clavinet and Pianet – User Manual – 7
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