Clavinet V

How it works

Struck strings like a guitar 'hammer-on'

Under each key there is a small hammer with a rubber tip. When the key is pressed the tip squeezes the steel string against a metal anvil: the string is simultaneously set into vibration and 'fretted' at that point, exactly like a guitarist doing a hammer-on. As long as the key stays down the string vibrates; the harder you press, the more the string is tensioned and the pitch rises slightly (a form of mechanical aftertouch).

Damping

At the end of each string a woven yarn is threaded that damps it as soon as the key is released: this is why the Clavinet has a very short release. The Mute bar is a slider that rests a felt bar on all the strings and shortens their decay further, for a plucked, muffled sound.

Electromagnetic pickups

Two rows of pickups, one above and one below the strings (at different positions along their length, like the neck and bridge pickups of a guitar), turn the vibration into an electrical signal. The position determines which harmonics are 'read' (a pickup near a node of a harmonic does not hear it). The two pickups can be used singly, together in phase (sum, full sound) or together out of phase (common frequencies cancel and mostly the high harmonics remain, a thin, nasal sound).

Tone filters

Four switches insert passive filters: two high-pass in character (Brilliant and Treble) and two low-pass (Medium and Soft). Combined they give dozens of colors. Clavinet V calculates everything with physical modeling: strings, hammers, resonance, mechanical noises, pickups and preamp.

Character and tone

A bright, nasal and highly percussive timbre, halfway between a funk electric guitar and an amplified harpsichord. The attack is dry and immediate (the string is fretted by a rubber pad against an anvil), the sustain is short in the high notes and longer in the low. Spectrally it lives between 150 Hz and 5 kHz, with strong attack energy between 1.5 and 4 kHz: for this reason it cuts through the mix even at low volume. The choice of pickups changes the character enormously: the lower pickup is rounder, the upper one sharper, the out-of-phase combination is thin and 'quacky', almost a parked wah. Very touch-sensitive (volume and brightness), with the characteristic possibility of slightly varying the pitch by pressing harder (mechanical aftertouch on the original). Strengths: groove, rhythmic definition, versatility with pedal effects. Limitations: it is poor in long, sustained chords, in the low registers it can become 'boomy', and bright combinations without EQ cuts can sound shrill. Compared with the Wurlitzer it is harder and more guitar-like, compared with the Rhodes much less sustained and without the bell-like character.

Architecture

Original (Hohner Clavinet D6)

• 60 keys, from F1 to E6, each with a steel string stretched over a frame ('harp') under the keyboard, tunable with front tuning pins.
• Action: key → rubber tip → string against anvil; yarn dampers.
• Two sets of electromagnetic pickups (above and below the strings), unshielded, solid-state preamp with line output.
• Panel: four tone switches (Brilliant, Treble, Medium, Soft), two pickup switches (A/B and C/D), Mute slider on the right, volume.
• Path: string → pickups → pickup and phase selector → tone filters → preamp → output (often to a guitar amp and pedals such as wah and phaser).

What Arturia adds

• Complete physical modeling: strings, hammers, dampers, pickups and circuit.
• Advanced panel under the lid: Harmonic Profile (6 timbral models), String Resonance, Release Time, Tuning, Key Release Noise, Dynamics, Hammer Hardness, Hammer Noise, Pickup Noise.
• Editable Velocity Curve (up to 5 points, savable presets).
• Pedalboard-style effects chain, from right to left: fixed slot 1 with Wah or Auto-Wah, slots 2–5 with stompboxes chosen from Flanger, Phaser, Chorus, Analog Delay, Compressor, Overdrive and Vocal Filter (5 simultaneous effects).
• Modeled tube amplifier with 3-band EQ, Bright, spring reverb (convolution), tremolo (Vibrato) and SM57 microphone on/off axis; mono output when the amp is active.
• MIDI Learn on every control, including wah and Mute bar.

The controls, one by one

Tone/EQ switches

Brillant

Very open high-pass-type filter: emphasizes the attack and the 2–5 kHz zone. It is the basis of the sharpest funk sounds.

Medium

Medium low-pass filter: rounds off the highs and leaves a full midrange, useful for less aggressive riffs.

Treble

Another high-pass-type filter, less extreme than Brillant: adds bite without excessive harshness.

Soft

Tighter low-pass: dark sound, almost like a bass or a muffled clavichord. On its own it is perfect for bass lines.

Combinations

The switches add up; at least one must be on for the instrument to sound. Brillant+Treble = maximum cut; Medium+Soft = soft; Treble+Medium = balanced for comping.

Pickup settings (C/D and A/B switches)

C/D

C = a single pickup active (chosen by A/B); D = both pickups active (A/B decides the phase).

A/B

In C mode it chooses the pickup: A lower, B upper. In D mode it chooses the phase: A in phase, B out of phase.

AC — lower pickup

The warmest and fullest, with more fundamental: great for round basses and comping.

BC — upper pickup

Thinner and brighter, with less fundamental: ideal for staccato riffs that need to cut through.

AD — both in phase

Sum of the two: the fullest, most powerful sound, the classic 'Superstition' in many recreations.

BD — both out of phase

Common frequencies cancel: nasal sound, hollow mids, 'quack' effect similar to a parked wah. Lower level, to be compensated.

Volume and Mute bar

Volume

Output level of the instrument (before effects and amp).

Mute bar

Damping slider: up, the strings are muffled and decay immediately (plucked sound, like a guitar palm mute), down, they ring freely. It works as a two-position switch: map it to a button or a footswitch.

Advanced Features (lid open)

Harmonic Profile

Six timbral models: Default (the most faithful), Boosted 2nd and 3rd (2nd and 3rd harmonics reinforced, more body), Soft (flattened harmonics, softer), Soft Boosted (Soft with 2nd and 3rd reinforced), Dark (close to an organ or electric piano), Bass Guitar (in the lowest octave and a half it sounds like an electric bass).

String Resonance

Simulates the age of the strings: new strings = brighter and more sustained; old strings = duller and shorter.

Release Time

Time the dampers take to stop the string after release: lengthen it for softer tails, shorten it for tight staccatos.

Tuning

Overall tuning of the instrument (adjustable by about ±10%).

Key Release Noise

Mechanical noise of the hammers returning on release: adds realism and percussive 'groove'.

Dynamics

Range between softly and loudly played notes: low = compressed, uniform sound (useful in dense mixes), high = very expressive.

Hammer Hardness

Hardness of the rubber tips: harder = brighter, more aggressive attack; softer = blunted attack.

Hammer Noise

Amount of hammer impact noise in the signal: increases the percussive 'thump'.

Pickup Noise

Hum and noise of the unshielded pickups, for a vintage touch.

Velocity Curve

Curve menu

Velocity curve presets and Save As / Delete options.

5-point editor

X axis = velocity, Y = amplitude; the first and last points move only vertically, the three middle ones can be added and removed. 'Cross-switch' or 'cross-fade' curves allow stepped or smooth behaviors.

The Amplifier (bottom left)

On Axis

Modeled SM57 microphone pointed straight at the cone (more fundamental) or angled (less fundamental, more 'air').

Volume

Preamplification stage: high with low Master = more tube distortion.

Treble / Middle / Bass

Classic amp EQ: for funk often low Bass, medium Middle, high Treble.

Bright

Boost on the highs, effective only at low preamp volumes.

Reverb

Convolution spring reverb.

Vibrato Speed / Intensity

Actually tremolo (amplitude modulation): speed and depth.

Master Volume

Final stage: high with low Volume = clean sound.

Amplifier On/Off

Inserts the amp (red light) as the last stage of the chain; with the amp active the output becomes mono.

Effects — chain and slots

Signal order

From right to left, the amp is the last stage. Each effect is turned on with its footswitch; off is equivalent to bypass.

Slot 1 — Wah / Auto-Wah

Always present. Wah: pedal that moves a resonant filter, to be mapped to an expression pedal. Auto-Wah: Frequency, Threshold, Modulation depth, Automatic rate.

Slot 2–5 — stompbox choice

Clicking the label under the pedal selects the effect; choosing an effect already in use swaps the two places.

Effects — pedal parameters

Flanger

Delay amount, Effect Depth, Rate, Resonance: moving comb filter, to be used lightly (slow Rate) on riffs.

Phaser

Modulation Rate, Phaser depth, Feedback amount, Stereo spread: the '70s swirl typical of funk Clavinet.

Chorus

Rate, Delay amount, Chorus Amount, Dry/Wet Mix, Stereo Chorus Rate, Stereo Width and 3-position type switch.

Analog Delay

Delay Time, Feedback Tone, Feedback Amount, Dry/Wet Mix, LFO Rate, LFO Depth: BBD echo, great at dotted 1/8 with low mix.

Compressor

Input level, Threshold, Ratio, Attack rate, Release rate, Makeup gain: evens out the comping or lengthens the sustain.

Overdrive

Drive Amount, Output Level, Drive Tone: from light grit to rock distortion.

Vocal Filter

Formant filter with a vowel screen A E I O U: drag the ball, LFO Rate and On for automatic movement, Res (width of the 5 band-pass filters), Mix.

Sound design tips

• Pickups and mix: in a full mix start from BC or BD (less fundamental, more cut) and leave AC/AD for sparse arrangements or bass lines. BD loses volume: compensate before judging.
• Frequency zones: the body is between 150 and 400 Hz, the 'nasality' between 800 Hz and 1.5 kHz, the attack between 2 and 5 kHz. With electric bass and kick, a high-pass at 100–150 Hz on the Clavinet is almost always right; if it is harsh, cut 2–3 dB around 3 kHz instead of closing down the whole Treble.
• Velocity and Dynamics: the groove lives in the velocity differences between ghost notes and accents. Keep Dynamics high and work on your touch; if the mix is heavily compressed, reduce Dynamics instead of adding external compression.
• Mute bar as a technique: alternating Mute up/down in real time creates contrast between verse (muted) and chorus (open). Assign it to a footswitch.
• Release Time and articulation: funk lives on pauses; a short Release and staccato notes make the riff more precise. A long Release turns the Clavinet into a more 'piano-like' sound.
• Wah: the pedal should be moved in time (often in sixteenth notes) or held still at the midpoint as a fixed filter; the Auto-Wah with low Threshold reacts to every note and follows the dynamics.
• Effects order: compressor before wah and overdrive for uniform action; phaser and chorus after distortion; delay at the end.
• Amplifier: high Volume and low Master for crunch; the amp makes the output mono, so widen the sound with stereo chorus or phaser only if the amp is off.
• Fitting in with bass and guitar: play in different registers (Clavinet between C3 and C5 if there is a bass) and on complementary subdivisions; avoid doubling the rhythm guitar exactly.
• Common mistakes: long, full chords (the Clavinet doesn't sustain), too many bright switches on at once without EQ, forgetting that BD with Overdrive can come out too thin.

Presets to recreate

In genres and records

• Funk and soul: the Clavinet is tied above all to Stevie Wonder, who used it from the late '60s (Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day, 1968); on Superstition several overdubbed Clavinets make up the riff and the accompaniment, on Higher Ground the Clavinet goes through a Mu-Tron III filter, and the album Talking Book uses it everywhere. Often played with the wah-wah: Bill Withers' Use Me, Funkadelic's A Joyful Process; Billy Preston uses it on Outa-Space and on the Rolling Stones' Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker).
• Jazz-funk and fusion: Herbie Hancock puts it up front on Head Hunters (1973) and Man-Child (1975); Chick Corea and George Duke (with Frank Zappa) also play it regularly.
• 1970s rock: John Paul Jones plays it on Led Zeppelin's Trampled Under Foot; Garth Hudson runs it through the wah on The Band's Up on Cripple Creek; Peter Hammill uses it as the main keyboard on Van der Graaf Generator's Godbluff.
• Pop and soft rock: Fleetwood Mac on You Make Loving Fun, Steely Dan on Kid Charlemagne, Captain & Tennille on Love Will Keep Us Together.
• Reggae: the first reggae record with the Clavinet is the Termites' Attractive Girl (1967); Earl Lindo plays the riff of Bob Marley and the Wailers' Could You Be Loved, Stevie Wonder that of Master Blaster (Jammin').
• Hip hop, neo-funk, nu-disco, French house: sampled or recreated riffs, filters and compression.
• 1970s crime-show soundtracks: rhythmic tension with wah.
• Electronic and modern synth-funk: with vocal filter, phaser and synced delay.