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| The Guitaret is an ] made by ] and invented by ], in 1963. It was one of a series of such instruments including the ] and the ]. | The '''Guitaret''' is an ] made by ] and invented by ], in 1963.<ref>Hohner: Guitaret Manual, Trossingen Germany 1963</ref> It was one of a series of such instruments including the ] and the ].<ref>Guštar Milan: Elektrofony - Historie, Principy, Souvislost. Uvnitř, Praha, 2007 </ref> | ||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| The reeds of the instrument are enclosed in a metalic box, with the only the very tips of the reeds protruding. They are activated by being plucked by fingers or the right hand in the manner of an mbira, and damped by the left hand using a large pedal-like button on an extension to the instrument. In addition, a set of undampened, unplucked reeds act as a kind of reverb to the others. It was designed to be amplified: the instrument itself is very quiet, and it is amplified by two Wurlitzer-style ] running the full length of the reedbank, connected via a DIN 3pin plug. The manual recommends the Hohner ORGAPHON 18 as an amplifier. It was launched at the Frankfurt Music Fair in 1963. | |||
| From the manual: | |||
| <blockquote> | |||
| The Hohner Guitaret is a new rhythm instrument, with a sound similar to the guitar or banjo. Its easy handling permits after only a little practice a perfect rhythm-playing for a dance band or jazz combo. | |||
| </blockquote> | |||
| The instrument itself was not popular, and was dropped from the product line in 1965, presumably because it failed to excite the market. It was one of a number of experiments that Zacharias made converting non-standard musical instruments to modern ones.<ref>As well as the Pianet and the Cembalet, Zacharias also designed the ] (derived from the ]), the ] (derived from the ]) and the ] (possibly derived from the ]). Only the Keyboard instrumnets continued.</ref> Guitarets that have survived have problems with the reed dampening system, which means that the instrument has come to be played with two hands. | |||
| ==Note layout and chords== | |||
| The instrument was designed for accompaniment, with the tongues arranged as a set of note clusters arranged in the order of the cycle of fifths. | |||
| ] | |||
| The notes in order are: | |||
| ] | |||
| The arrangement makes for easy accompaniment of tonal songs. For each note there is an arrangement for major, relative minor, 7th, 6th, major 7th, augmented, diminished and minor 7th. | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| Despite its obsolescence, its distinct tone has made it popular in both retro- and colourist settings, and it has experienced somewhat of a revival. It has been featured in soundtracks recently for this very reason.<ref>"I ended up playing a lot of guitaret (the rare thumb piano-like instrument that Eno gave me" Leo Abrahams, review of Searching 1906</ref> | |||
| ==Guitaret performers== | |||
| *It is featured on Leo Abrahams' work (he was given a Guitaret by Brian Eno. Leo plays the Guitaret on the soundtrack for "Searching 1906" ("I ended up playing a lot of guitaret (the rare thumb piano-like instrument that Eno gave me"). | |||
| ==References== | |||
| *] plays Guitaret both on the ] album and on the ] | |||
| {{reflist}} | |||
| *Max Eastley (creator of instruments) plays Guitaret according to the Lord Jazz Dicography | |||
| *Lali Barriere plays Guitaret in Pad (Projecte Achmed Digital) and with Ferran Fages in a Barcelona experimental duet GRUS. Lali also plays guitaret in "My Pony", last track of "Press the Space Bar", by Chicks on Speed and The No Heads. Lali also started the Guitaret Fan Club on FaceBook. | |||
| {{Music-stub}} | |||
| *Saïd Zarrabi, the keyboardist in Les quitriches, a French beat band from Stuttgart, Germany and Quitriche-en-Auvergne, France doubles on Guitaret | |||
| *Aja West plays Gutiaret on Aja West & Cheeba's Flash & Snowball | |||
| ] | |||
| *Plamo includes Guitaret in his instrumentation. | |||
| *Roland Wolff plays the Guitaret in his stage music | |||
| ] | |||
| *Michael Peters played Guitaret in in Tonlab (2004-2006) as part of a collection of strange instruments | |||
| *Icelandic band múm have Guitaret on their latest album and the track Illuminated features it | |||
| *Abandon the Earth Mission features a Guitaret | |||
| *It is sampled in the MOTU Electric Keys, so the Guitaret sound is likely heard more than the Guitaret itself. | |||
Revision as of 18:28, 30 December 2009
 | |
| Other names | Guitareti |
|---|---|
| Classification | |
| Related instruments | |
| Cembalet, Pianet, Clavinet, Clavichord | |
| Builders | |
| Hohner | |
The Guitaret is an electric lamellophone made by Hohner and invented by Ernst Zacharias, in 1963. It was one of a series of such instruments including the Cembalet and the Pianet.
The instrument itself was not popular, and was dropped from the product line in 1965, presumably because it failed to excite the market. It was one of a number of experiments that Zacharias made converting non-standard musical instruments to modern ones. Guitarets that have survived have problems with the reed dampening system, which means that the instrument has come to be played with two hands.
Despite its obsolescence, its distinct tone has made it popular in both retro- and colourist settings, and it has experienced somewhat of a revival. It has been featured in soundtracks recently for this very reason.
References
- Hohner: Guitaret Manual, Trossingen Germany 1963
- Guštar Milan: Elektrofony - Historie, Principy, Souvislost. Uvnitř, Praha, 2007
- As well as the Pianet and the Cembalet, Zacharias also designed the Clavinet (derived from the clavichord), the Claviola (derived from the sheng) and the Harmonetta (possibly derived from the bandoneon). Only the Keyboard instrumnets continued.
- "I ended up playing a lot of guitaret (the rare thumb piano-like instrument that Eno gave me" Leo Abrahams, review of Searching 1906
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