Bartók: First Term at the Piano, Sz. 53, No. 17 I Danced with a Pig

 

Electra-Piano

Here's the entry for the Electra-Piano in a Hohner catalogue from April 1973:

And here's my translation of the text, although - as with the other entries - I'm unsure of the accuracy of some of the technical details:

HOHNER - Electria-Piano

A mechanical-electrical musical instrument with outstanding playing dynamics, excellent voice retention, individual tone shaping, pleasant key touch, amazing tone sustain, outstanding tone modulation, two pedals for influencing the sound, adjustment to room volume possible.

72 piano keys from F1-e⁴

2 pedals:  damper pedal (piano), sustain pedal (forte)

4 loudspeakers, power rating of about 20 Watts

Headphone connection for silent playing

Connection possibility for second amplifier

Control knob for basic volume

Power switch with indicator light

Mansonia cabinet

Lockable cover - Weight: 67.5 kg

Connection to alternating current over voltage selector for 110/130/220/240 Volt

Dimensions:  91 cm tall, 118 cm long, 45 cm deep  DM 2500

Trademark rights registered domestically and abroad

Telemann: Fantasia in B flat major, TWV 33:18: IV. Vite

 

I added a couple notes at the end so that it resolves.

Clavinet D6

Here's the entry for the Clavinet D6 in a Hohner catalogue from April 1973.

And here's my translation of the text, although I'm a bit unsure of the accuracy of some the technical details:

HOHNER - Clavinet D6

One could describe this HOHNER musical instrument as an electronic clavichord for the travelling band.  The tone production is individually determinable through the touch.  String vibrations are pickt up electronically and pre-amplified in the instrument so that standard amplifier systems or playback equipment can be connected.

A transistor battery powers the built-in preamplifier.  A mains connection is not necessary for this.  The instrument is easy to transport.

Exceptional beauty of sound and purity of tone especially distinguish the HOHNER Clavinet D6.

It sounds enchanting:  like a guitar, a harp, a harpsichord, a lute, or Spanish guitars.

Refreshingly silvery - dreamily soft or aggressively hard... always as the situation requires.

Best suited as a third manual for an organ.

Technical Data:

60 keys - range F1-e³

Dimensions:  119 cm long - 15 cm high - 38 cm deep

Weight:  31 kg - Leg length about 60 cm

Instrument legs either short or long (to store in the case)

Tasteful, decorative layout DM 1600

Mains connection device (adapter) DM 38.50

Telescopic stand DM 56.50

There's a separate entry for this telescopic stand on the next page of the catalogue:

This seems to show the Clavinet on top of the Symphonic 65 organ, which is listed later in the catalogue.

Here's my translation of this text:

Stand of square steel tubing, varnished black, with adjustable, nickel-plated telescopic extension.  Adjustable up to 120 cm maximum height.  Thumb screw with clamps as stabilizer.

1 pair DM 56.50

"Carnival of Venice"

 

From James Bastien's Older Beginner Organ Course, Level 1

Pianet N

Here's the entry for the Pianet N in a Hohner catalogue from April 1973.

I translated the text, although I'm not sure of the accuracy of some of the more technical terms.

HOHNER - Pianet N 

A polyphonic keyboard instrument with a sound similar to a piano, excellent accompaniment for singing associations and music groups. 

The tone reproduction occurs through connection to a good radio set or amplifying equipment.  For especially demanding performance with reference to note volume, above all in large rooms, we recommend as amplifying devices the effective HOHNER-Orgaphon-Amplifier or the Hanging-Amplifier.  Connecting jack for headphones "silent playing"; for this we recommend headphones with low ohmage.

61 piano keys of normal width, range: F1-f³ = five octaves; tone generators out of stainless steel with capacitive pickups, vibrato, connection jacks for amplifier, small and large signal sensitivity; wooden macoré housing, black legs, easily screw off, easily transportable, mains connection switchable 110-130, or 210-250 V alternating current, power consumption about 10 W, built-in mains outlet for the connection of the Hanging-Amplifier or an-other amplifier.

Size:  100 x 41 x 72 cm - Weight:  about 23.4 kg

With foot control (without Hanging-Amplifier) DM 1200

Hanging-Amplifier DM 500

Trademark rights registered and granted domestically and abroad

Headphones (HD 414) DM 68.80

And for the sake of completeness, here's the separate entry for the amplifier:

HOHNER - Hanging-Amplifier

Combined with the Hanging-Amplifier, the HOHNER Pianet N becomes an independent musical instrument.

The Hanging-Amplifier has an output of about 12 Watts and is hung on rubber pads that are screwed onto the instrument.  High- and low-regulation.  2 excellent broadband loudspeaker.  Phono-connection, mains connection switchable 110 or 220 Volt alternating current, power consumption about 40 Watts.

Size:  81 x 20 x 20 cm - Weight:  about 11.0 kg  DM 500

Bartók: First Term at the Piano, Sz. 53, No. 16 Menuetto

 

Hohner Universal-Pedal

A couple months ago, I found a Hohner catalogue from April 1973 on Internet Archive.  As expected, there are a lot of harmonicas and accordions, but I found the keyboard section fascinating.  I may write about some of the other entries later, but I wanted to write about the Universal-Pedal first because in a way, it justifies the recordings I've made using the Hohner Pianet sample and organ bass pedals.

I got a pedal board (the Hammond XPK-130G) in July last year and have been using it with the Pianet sound on my Nord Electro 5D right from the start, just for my own enjoyment.  Since the Sound on Sound article on Ernst Zacharias says that "Zacharias also mentioned building a monophonic pedal-tone generator which was designed as a bass accompaniment for a piano," I felt that recording tunes with the Hohner Pianet sound and organ bass pedals wouldn't be too far of a stretch of authenticity.

Just days after I recorded the first piece like this, I discovered via this catalogue that Hohner actually made a stand-alone bass pedal unit similar to the Hammond one that I have.

Here's the entry in the catalogue:

Here's my translation of the text:

Hohner - Universal-Pedal with Sustain

Stand-Alone Bass Instrument

13-note pedal with sustain (as with the Symphonic 707) with a control unit (power supply).  With the S 707, the power supply is built into the instrument.

1st knob from left:  Pedal register 8' and 8' + 16'

2nd knob from left:  Adjustment for pedal decay time

3rd knob from left:  On switch and adjustment for loudspeaker

The control unit can be mounted either on or under the instrument.

As far as I can tell, there's not very much about the Universal-Pedal on the internet, but I did find a YouTube video about it (although the technical details are far beyond my comprehension):

Note that, based on what's shown in the video, the picture of the control unit in the Hohner catalogue is upside down.

I don't know the production dates of the Universal-Pedal, but since the Pianet N is in the same catalogue, their dates overlap to at least some degree, and it would have been entirely possible to use the two together.

Like Hohner's Universal-Pedal, the Hammond XPK-130G has built-in sounds, but for the two recordings I've done (one yet to be posted), I used the MIDI functionality to play the "B3 Bass" sound on my Nord Electro 5D.  If I make any more recordings, though, I'm going to use one of the XPK's built-in sounds because that tone seems a bit closer to that of the Universal-Pedal.

"Du, du liegst mir im Herzen"

 

From James Bastien's Older Beginner Organ Course, Level 1

I used the Hammond XPK-130G, connected via MIDI, to play the "B3 Bass" sound on my Nord for the bass notes.  I'd read that Ernst Zacharias, the inventor of the Pianet, had built a "monophonic pedal-tone generator which was designed as a bass accompaniment for a piano," so I felt that using bass pedals with the Hohner Pianet sound had some authenticity, but later I learned that Hohner actually did make a stand-alone bass pedal unit.  I'll have a more detailed post about this on Sunday.