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Hohner, an old German musical instrument company which sold a lot
of harmonicas, dreamed up their electric keyboards in response to
requests for something like a harpsichord that was portable and easy
to maintain. Well, they got the portable part sort of right and did a little
better than that on the maintenance end. But the sound of their
clavinet became THE staple sound for funk and disco in the 70's, and
continues to make its presence felt today in everything from rock to
country to r&b to rap and hip-hop. Or at least synthesizer patches that
sound like it carry on the torch. I've met some musicians who thought
"clavinet" was the name of a synth patch and wasn't a real
instrument....that's how prevalent the sound is on everything from
megabuck synth workstations to home digital pianos.
C8 - Pianet
What better way to start off a collection of Hohner sounds than
with the sound of something other than the clavinet - like the pianet?
Sounding like a cross between an anemic Wurlitzer and a ukulele, the
Pianet nevertheless found its way onto recordings by superstar acts
like Fleetwood Mac and others. I happened to own one at one time,
and was recently reminded by Mr. Julian Colbeck in his book Keyfax
Omnibus Edition that the Pianet didn't require a power cord - which
was true. You plugged it into a pre-amp and it drew its power through
the connecting plug - truly genius! It had no sustain pedal, and the
keyboard had a curious sticky action - almost like some sort of delay
occurred between the time you depressed a key and the time you
heard a note sound.
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