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PC1x Classic Keys User’s Guide
Hohner Clavinet
Most famous for having been used on Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition”, Rufus and Chaka Khan’s “Tell Me
Something Good”, and on nearly all of Bob Marley’s hits, the Clavinet had originally been conceived by
Ernst Zacharias of Hohner, to be the next stage in the evolution of the clavichord. The electro-mechanical
keyboard so well known for its “funky 70’s sound”, had been intended to play Bach.
The Clavinet’s 60-note keyboard extended from F1 to E6, and its action was light to the touch. Under
each key was a metallic string, which would be pressed down onto an “anvil” when the key was struck.
The string would vibrate as long as it remained in contact with the anvil, and was dampened immediately
upon key release. Two sets of magnetic pick-ups, which resembled the “treble” and “rhythm” pickups on
an electric guitar, produced an electrical signal, which was fed to the output of the instrument.
The Model C, introduced in 1968, and the more popular Model D6, introduced in 1971, were the two
most widely used versions. The D6 featured a series of six rocker switches, which controlled tone and
pick-up selection. Labeled “Brilliant”, “Treble”, “Medium”, and “Soft”, the first four switches were con-
nected to a series of band-pass filters. The next two switches enabled each of the pick-ups. Both could be
selected, with the choice of them being in or out of phase. The D6 also featured a sliding “mute” lever,
which controlled how fast a held note would decay.
Classic Keys features samples of the “treble” pick-up along with a “release thump”, while the PC1x base
ROM already contains samples of the “rhythm” pick-up. Many of the Clavinet programs in Classic Keys
were designed to imitate the D6’s various switch combinations, making use of the PC1x’s own MIDI
knobs and switches.
ARP Solina String Ensemble
The Solina String Ensemble, built for ARP by the Dutch organ manufacturer, Eminent, was the most well
known string synthesizer of the mid-seventies, amid a field of similar, less successful competitors. Its dis-
tinctive string sound has appeared on a wide variety of recordings, having been used by Herbie Hancock,
The Band, Vangelis, Pink Floyd, Parliament/Funkadelic, New Order, and many other well-known artists.
Housed in a sleek wood enclosure, the Solina was capable of producing haunting, ethereal strings in the
upper register, and lush pads in the lower register.
The String Ensemble was not a true polyphonic synthesizer, and employed a “divide down” single oscil-
lator (common in electronic organs) to generate a polyphonic saw wave. All of its voices were fed into a
single envelope generator which afforded the user control over attack (labeled Crescendo) and release
(labeled Sustain). A button labeled, Modulation, enabled the famous “Bucket Brigade” chorus circuit,
which added to the warm quality of the Solina’s sound. Many of the String Ensemble programs in Classic
Keys use the PC1x’s MIDI Knobs and switches to emulate the Solina’s front panel controls.
