The instrument consists of a
keyboard and a separate
amplifier and
speaker unit. The keyboard usually covered three octaves,[3] and had a number of switches to alter the tone of the sound produced, add
vibrato (a defining feature of the instrument),[1] and provide other effects. The Clavioline used a
vacuum tube oscillator to produce a buzzy waveform, almost a square wave, which could then be altered using
high-pass and
low-passfiltering, as well as the vibrato. The amplifier also aided in creating the instrument's signature tones, by deliberately providing a large amount of distortion.[1]
Several models of the Clavioline were produced by different companies. Among the more important were the Standard, Reverb, and Concert models by
Selmer in France[3] and
Gibson in the United States[4] in the 1950s. The six-octave model employing octave transposition was developed by
Harald Bode,[5] and under licensed by Jörgensen Electronic in Germany.[6] In England, the
Jennings Organ Company's first successful product was the Univox, an early self-powered electronic keyboard inspired by the Selmer Clavioline.[7]
In Japan,
Ace Tone's first prototype, the
Canary S-2 (1962), was based on the Clavioline.[8]
Recordings
The Clavioline has been used on a number of recordings in
popular music as well as in film. Along with the
Mellotron, it was one of the keyboard instruments favoured by rock and pop musicians during the 1960s before the arrival of the
Moog synthesizer.[9]
"Little Red Monkey" (1953) by
Frank Chacksfield’s Tunesmiths features Jack Jordan on clavioline. An earlier recording of the tune by Jack Jordan himself was issued on the HMV label.
In 1953–54, Van Phillips composed music for the clavioline for the science-fiction radio trilogy Journey into Space.[10]
In the Bollywood Hindi film Nagin (1954),
Kalyanji Virji Shah plays the snake-charmer tune "Man dole mera, tan dole mere" on the clavioline, under the musical direction of
Hemant Kumar.[11]
English producer
Joe Meek began recording with a clavioline in 1960.[12] His production of
the Tornados' hit instrumental "
Telstar" (1962) features the clavioline or perhaps a
Univox,[7] as does the B-side of that single, "Jungle Fever".[1] Author Mark Brend states that, while the exact instrument used has long been open to debate, "there remains a very faint possibility that Meek used a Univox on 'Telstar,' mixed with a Clavioline."[13]
The Beatles used a clavioline on "
Baby, You're a Rich Man", which was issued in July 1967 as the B-side of their "
All You Need Is Love" single.
John Lennon played the instrument on its oboe setting, creating an exotic sound that suggests an Indian
shehnai.[15] In his feature article on the clavioline, in Sound on Sound magazine, Gordon Reid pairs "Baby, You're a Rich Man" with "Telstar" as the two seminal pop recordings made with the instrument.[1] The Clavioline that the Beatles used was owned by
EMI Studios at Abbey Road in London.
The
Strawbs 1972 album Grave New World includes some clavioline played by their keyboardist
Blue Weaver, on the song The Flower And The Young Man.
Darren Allison plays clavioline on
William Blake's "Eternity" by Daisy Bell, from their London album (2015).
John Barry of the John Barry Seven made a recording called "Starfire" which featured the instrument. The clavioline was also used extensively on his Stringbeat LP and other recordings of the period, played by bandleader and future
Benny Hill associate
Ted Taylor.