Ernst Zacharias (21 June 1924 – 6 July 2020)
was a German musician and engineer. In the 1950s and 1960s, he invented various electro-mechanical musical instruments for the German musical instrument manufacturer
Hohner
Hohner Musikinstrumente GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of musical instruments, founded in 1857 by Matthias Hohner (1833–1902). The roots of the Hohner firm are in Trossingen, Baden-Württemberg. Since its foundation, and though known ...
, including the
Cembalet
The Cembalet is a type of electro-mechanical piano built by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany from the late-1950s to the late 1960s. The designer of the Cembalet was Ernst Zacharias
Ernst Zacharias (21 June 1924 – 6 July 2020 ...
, the
Clavinet
The Clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds by a rubber pad striking a point on a tens ...
, the
Guitaret
The Guitaret is an electric lamellophone made by Hohner and invented by Ernst Zacharias, in 1963. Zacharias also invented similar instruments like the Pianet, Cembalet and the Clavinet.
The instrument itself was not popular, and was dropped from ...
, and the
Pianet
The Hohner Pianet is a type of electro-mechanical piano built by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany and designed by Ernst Zacharias. The Pianet was a variant of his earlier reed-based Hohner electric piano, the Cembalet, which, lik ...
. The
Claviola
The Claviola is a musical instrument that was designed in the 1960s by Hohner technician and designer Ernst Zacharias (inventor of the Pianet and Clavinet). The instrument was produced for a few months in the late 1990s before being discontinue ...
, a modernisation of the
sheng and the
Harmonetta
The Hohner Harmonetta is a mouth-blown free-reed instrument which was introduced by Hohner in the 1950s. It has an approximately 3-octave range, from C3 to B5.
The Harmonetta combines features of the harmonica
The harmonica, also known a ...
, a mouth-blown concertina-keyboarded instrument, was also invented by Zacharias. He additionally invented the
Electra-Melodica, the first commercially produced wind synthesizer. DEPATIS lists 90 patents by Ernst Zacharias for Hohner, including plastic recorders and watch and clock mechanisms.
References
External links
2003/228/1 Electric keyboard, Hohner Pianet, timber / metal / plastic, designed by Ernst Zacharias, made by Hohner AG, West Germany, 1962-1970 (D*Hub)DEPATIS patents Zacharias (Search for (Ernst (L) Zacharias)/IN)
1924 births
2020 deaths
German male musicians
Inventors of musical instruments
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