Clavioline

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The clavioline is an electronic keyboard instrument, a forerunner to the analog synthesizer.

It was invented by Constant Martin in 1947. It consists of a keyboard and a separate amplifier and speaker unit. The keyboard usually covered three octaves, and had a number of switches to alter the tone of the sound produced, add vibrato, and provide other effects. Several models were produced by different companies; among the more important were the Standard, Reverb, and Concert models by Gibson and Selmer in the 1950s. The Bode 6-octave model employed octave transposition.

In England the Jennings Organ Company's first successful product was the Univox, an early self-powered electronic keyboard based on the Clavioline.

[edit] Recordings

The clavioline has been utilized on a number of recordings in popular music, including:

The 1953 tune "Little Red Monkey" by Frank Chacksfield's Tunesmiths, featuring Jack Jordan on clavioline. This was the first record featuring an electronic instrument to feature on the UK pop chart (April 1953).
The 1961 song "Runaway" by Del Shannon. The song features a famous solo by Max Crook, performed on a heavily-modified clavioline that Crook called the "Musitron".
The 1962 hit instrumental "Telstar" by The Tornados (Univox Clavioline).
The 1965 jazz albums The Magic City and The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume Two by Sun Ra.
The 1967 hit "Baby You're a Rich Man" by The Beatles.