The Clavivox was a keyboard sound synthesizer and sequencer developed by American composer Raymond Scott beginning in 1952.[1][2] He applied for a patent in December 1956 and was granted U.S. patent 2,871,745 on Feb. 3, 1959.

Scott had earlier built a theremin as a toy for his daughter Carrie. In his first Clavivox prototype, he used a theremin module built by a young Bob Moog (who was more than 25 years younger than Scott). The unit allowed the use of portamento over a 3-octave range. Scott then added amplitude envelopes, vibrato and other effects to the Clavivox.

The instrument included performance control, portamento. These features allowed the player to control the synthesizer via a keyboard, but with additional glide, giving it a "human" quality.[3]

Later Clavivox models used light shining through photographic film onto photocells as a source of control voltage to control pitch and timbre.

"A lot of the sound-producing circuitry of the Clavivox resembled very closely the first analog synthesizer my company made in the mid-'60s," Moog explained years later. "Some of the sounds are not the same, but they're close."[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ Raymond Scott Artifacts
  2. ^ Crab, Simon (2013-09-22). "The 'Clavivox' Raymond Scott, USA, 1952". 120 Years of Electronic Music. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  3. ^ Rhea, Tom (February 1981). "Electronic Perspectives - Raymond Scott's Clavivox & Electronium". Keyboard Magazine. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  4. ^ Irwin Chusid, Jeff Winner (December 2001). "Circle Machines and Sequencers: The Untold History of Raymond Scott's Electronica". Electronic Magazine. Retrieved November 16, 2023.

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