Past and Present Combined with Clavinet Virtual Instrument Plugin

When it comes to iconic instruments from the 20th century, an unavoidable classic is the D6 model Clavinet. The Clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to the early 1980s. Hohner produced seven models, designated I, II, L, C, D6, E7, and Duo over the years. Furthermore, its distinctive bright staccato sound has featured most prominently in Funk, Jazz-Funk, Reggae, Rock, and Soul songs. This instrument was made famous by Stevie Wonder, Billy Preston, Led Zeppelin, and many other great artists and bands of the past century.

D6 Clavinet by Waves Audio

In recent years, Waves Audio introduced us to the software emulation of this iconic instrument. Waves Audio sound engineers meticulously sampled every texture, articulation, and hammer tip string-striking mechanic of the authentic D6 Clavinet in both the muted and unmuted modes, recreating all the original icon's dynamic control, feel, and expression. You can achieve an array of deep sonic textures using only a few controls. Moreover, they capture the distinctive timbre of Calvi's unique single-coil pickups. Choose from the factory presets featuring patches modeled after Stevie Wonder's "Superstition," Billy Preston's "Outta Space," and other classic songs, or shape your tones using the built-in auto-wah, amp overdrive, and other effects.

Let's Start

In the following tutorial, I will guide you through this software instrument, show you its functions, and provide some audio examples. As usual, let us add a fresh instance of D6 to the newly created MIDI channel within Soundbridge.

The Interface

Right away, you can see a clean and slick interface that faithfully represents the look of the original instrument. Moreover, Waves Audio did a fantastic job taking care of every detail, from the actual color to the knob and faders shape. Furthermore, the middle part of the interface is reserved for the core of the instrument's tonal characteristics. Starting from the left, we can see:

Velocity Curve

This control changes the curve of the velocity response from logarithmic to exponential.

Formant

It changes the sound character but not the pitch. Each step is equal to a halftone. This means that when this control is set to -12, the piano sound character will be lower by one octave, while the pitch will not change. Moving forward, we can see the mix section, which offers control of the following parameters:

Main

Controls the sampled sound of the Clavinet without the mechanics and the release keys sounds. It controls the level of the main sample in the overall mix.

Key Up

Controls the sound of the keys while releasing. It controls the Key Up samples level in the overall mix.

Mechanics

Controls the sampled sound of the Clavinet mechanics without the Main or Key Up sounds. Additionally, It contains the Mechanics (thump) samples level in the overall mix.

Fine-Tuning

Next to these controls, we can see the compressor, amp, and tone section, which are equally helpful in fine-tuning the desired sound. The upper section of the interface includes the effects. Wah Wah, Phaser, Chorus, and Reverb are simply unavoidable in order to finalize the famous sound of D6. They are one of the best built-in effects I have heard in virtual instruments so far. After introducing Clavinet's functions and parameters, let us move to a few audio examples.