Clavinet playing

Ench · #1 02-01-2009, 06:16 AM

Is there anyone else out there who really likes CMcV's clavinet playing? I think it's a great instrument that should have been used more. And I think it really suits her songs. People keep talking about her piano playing, occasionally mentioning organ and too-80s keyboards. But for me, it's the clavinet that stands out.

nicepace · #2 02-01-2009, 11:29 AM

Could you list a few of the songs on which she plays the clavinet? Thanks.

David · #3 02-01-2009, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nicepace

Could you list a few of the songs on which she plays the clavinet? Thanks.

The most famous one was YOU MAKE LOVING FUN (she put some clav on the verses, which gives them a driving funk groove). I can't think of others, but I'm not familiar enough with her song catalogue. There may be a clav on the outro of GOLD DUST WOMAN, or it might be an electric harpsichord of some type (with some heavy flange or phase). A clav isn't a type of instrument -- it's a proprietary model (or a model line, more specifically) manufactured by a company called Hohner.

Ench · #4 02-01-2009, 12:23 PM

I need to go relisten to the tracks to be more confident I haven't got confused

But I'm pretty sure that "Think about me" has some clav, as does "Friend". And others if either my memory was better or I was less lazy and would actually relisten before posting! In both of the previous songs, it's more subtle than YMLF, but I'm the kind of person whose favourite instrumental parts are sometimes the subtle ones.

To hear more clavinet playing, Stevie Wonder made IMHO extremely effective use of the instrument on songs such as "Superstition". Commodores on the instrumental "Machine Gun". Etc.

Machine Gun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rrz080KooA

Superstition: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDZFf0pm0SE

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clavinet

IMHO the instrument sounds brilliant and was underused. There aren't that many keyboardists who made frequent use of them, sometimes just using it on one track as a novelty. Christine and Stevie Wonder being examples of those who used them more seriously.

Edit: Oh dear. I think that might all be LB's guitar on Think About Me. But that's surely clavinet on Friend mixed in with all the guitar bits. Not all the time but certainly in the intro and verses.

aleuzzi · #5 02-01-2009, 02:32 PM

Yes, Stevie Wonder even mentions his clavinet in his song "Sweet Little Girl"(1971). He was one of the first keyboardists who used the instrument to create interesting sound textures.

Christine uses the clavinet on "Friend" too. What I like about her keyboard parts are that they are indeed parts. You could isolate the keyboard work on songs like Honey Hi (check out the earlier version on Tusk), Remember Me, Brown Eyes, Hold Me, Got a Hold on Me, Never Forget, Forgiveness, etc...and realize that the root of the song is in her playing.

Plus, her parts on Stevie's songs, such as Gold Dust Woman, Rhiannon, Crystal, Sara, Beautiful Child, and Silver Springs, shows she was heavily involved in the shape those songs took for recording.

Then, let's not forget her acoustic piano on Smile I Live For, Why, Songbird...

michelej1 · #6 02-01-2009, 02:38 PM

There was some talk about whether that was a clavinet used on Easy Come, Easy Go. I don't know, because I don't know what a clavinet sounds like. But I remember other posters wondering and talking about how it was a Clav D6 used on YMLF.

Michele

aleuzzi · #7 02-01-2009, 02:49 PM

If the calvinet is used on Easy Come Easy Go, I have not yet noticed it. There are some eerie keyboard parts on that, but I assumed she was using a synth for those.

What does the clavient sound like? It's a dark, weird sound that Michael McDonald occasionally exploited to good effect on Real Love and a few other songs. On YMLF it's that dark, groovy, funky keyboard sound underneath the electric piano.

Ench · #8 02-01-2009, 03:09 PM

There is certainly a fair amount of sound that is probably clavinet on Easy Come Easy Go. I say probably as it sounds as it's had some sort of effect added to it. So it could be a real clavinet effected slightly, or a synthesiser creating a sound that's nearly clavinet. Easiest to identify right at the beginning. I hear the "clav" at the beginning, along with the synth bass (Chris?

) and a number of guitar parts. There's also a more prominent bit after one of the breakdowns later in the song.

David · #9 02-01-2009, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aleuzzi

What does the clavient sound like? It's a dark, weird sound that Michael McDonald occasionally exploited to good effect on Real Love and a few other songs. On YMLF it's that dark, groovy, funky keyboard sound underneath the electric piano.

I've always likened it to a 1) duck, or 2) a jazz guitar played through a fuzzbox or an overdriven tube amp.

For some annoying reason, embedding from YouTube isn't working, but here's a guy playing his clavinet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmVBN7EGCVs

Here's another kid jamming hard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7-5a...eature=related

I'm not really positive, but I don't think it's a clav on THINK ABOUT ME. Christine's electronic piano at the time (CP-30) had a ducklike/jazz-guitar sound to it, which could sound like a clavinet in the lower registers (especially the way Christine plays bass lines on a keyboard, which is very rhythmic & staccato). Here's the CP-30, whose sound you'll recognize from all over Tusk & from those touring years:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr4FS...eature=related

If Chris is playing clav on her most recent solo album, she's possibly playing a clav simulation on another instrument. There are a number of digital simulations of clavs nowadays -- like the Waldorf Zarenbourg & the Nord Electro -- that eliminate the need to maintain upkeep on the old clavs. The D6s probably went out of production as long ago as 1977. Hohner no longer produces keyboards. Same situation happened with Christine's main electric piano, which was also manufactured by Hohner. Once a model went out of production in those days, you had trouble getting replacement parts.

Here's a guy on YouTube playing the clav simulation on the Nord Electro:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfPiP...eature=channel

Only the most advanced ears can tell the difference, so Chris could be playing a "clav" with quotation marks around it.

Ench · #10 02-01-2009, 03:50 PM

I've got a cheap Yamaha home keyboard here. Bought when my son thought he wanted to play keyboards. I just dialed up the clavinet sound on it. I can't play keyboards but sort of picked out some patterns. Didn't sound nearly as bad as I thought, in fact reasonably convincing. So I'm sure that modern "clavinet" on modern recordings could easily be high quality "simulations" if even a cheap plastic thing does a reasonable simulation.

But, I'm at risk of going off topic here. Before a moderator comes along and tells me off for wandering off-topic, I'll just mention that there's a free physically modelled VST plugin for clavinet here which includes damping. I haven't listened to it to see if it actually sounds good though. http://bigtick.pastnotecut.org/index...PROD&pcode=120

aleuzzi · #11 02-02-2009, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David

I've always likened it to a 1) duck, or 2) a jazz guitar played through a fuzzbox or an overdriven tube amp.

For some annoying reason, embedding from YouTube isn't working, but here's a guy playing his clavinet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmVBN7EGCVs

Here's another kid jamming hard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7-5a...eature=related

I'm not really positive, but I don't think it's a clav on THINK ABOUT ME. Christine's electronic piano at the time (CP-30) had a ducklike/jazz-guitar sound to it, which could sound like a clavinet in the lower registers (especially the way Christine plays bass lines on a keyboard, which is very rhythmic & staccato). Here's the CP-30, whose sound you'll recognize from all over Tusk & from those touring years:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr4FS...eature=related

If Chris is playing clav on her most recent solo album, she's possibly playing a clav simulation on another instrument. There are a number of digital simulations of clavs nowadays -- like the Waldorf Zarenbourg & the Nord Electro -- that eliminate the need to maintain upkeep on the old clavs. The D6s probably went out of production as long ago as 1977. Hohner no longer produces keyboards. Same situation happened with Christine's main electric piano, which was also manufactured by Hohner. Once a model went out of production in those days, you had trouble getting replacement parts.

Here's a guy on YouTube playing the clav simulation on the Nord Electro:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfPiP...eature=channel

Only the most advanced ears can tell the difference, so Chris could be playing a "clav" with quotation marks around it.

Thanks sir! This is a wealth of info!

Ench · #12 02-03-2009, 03:50 AM

I'm sure there's clav or clav-a-like on "Anything is Possible" too. Over the left of the mix. Mainly higher register than typical recognisable clav, but it sounds like it to me.

Edit: More information on the Nord here: http://ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/showthread.php?t=18819

David · #13 02-03-2009, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ench

Edit: More information on the Nord here: http://ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/showthread.php?t=18819

Unfortunately, neither the Electro nor the Stage Piano model ever got a Pianet. The Stage was marketed that entire year as having a Pianet (in addition to the other voices), but when it finally hit the market ... no Pianet. And the Electro was supposed to have a Pianet patch available for flash drive download, but that never happened, either. I was so bummed in those days.