120 Years of Electronic Music

Clavecin Électrique 1759

The Clavecine Électrique or the 'Electric Harpsichord' is one of the earliest documented electronic instruments built by the Jesuit priest Jean-Baptiste Delaborde in Paris, France, 1759. The instrument was based on simple electrostatic principles and is said to have been a keyboard controlled electro-mechanical instrument rather than a 'synthesiser' . The Clavecine is thought to have produced musical sounds by electronically vibrating metallic tines and stricking bells and clappers.

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