The Varitone was a

woodwind Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and ...

pickup and

effects unit An effects unit or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing. Common effects include distortion/overdrive, often used with electric guitar in e ...

, allowing direct amplification of the instrument (i.e. without a standard microphone) and the introduction of various electronic effects. It was marketed in 1967 by the Selmer Company, which developed units for flute,

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

, and clarinet. The system included an integrated pickup

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and pub ...

and a control box which allowed the player to use effects such as

tremolo In music, ''tremolo'' (), or ''tremolando'' (), is a trembling effect. There are two types of tremolo. The first is a rapid reiteration: * Of a single note, particularly used on bowed string instruments, by rapidly moving the bow back and fo ...

, basic EQ ("bright" and "dark"), simultaneous sub-octaves and echo in conjunction with a purpose-built amplifier. The ceramic microphone was developed to withstand high sound pressure and moisture levels, and built into the head joint of the flute, the neck-joint of the saxophone, and the barrel joint of the clarinet. The pickup was wired to a preamplifier and control box which was either mounted to the bottom key guard, clipped to the player's belt, or hung on a cord around the players neck. Similar products included the

Hammond Hammond may refer to: People * Hammond Innes (1913–1998), English novelist * Hammond (surname) * Justice Hammond (disambiguation) Places Antarctica * Hammond Glacier, Antarctica Australia *Hammond, South Australia, a small settlement in South ...

Condor, the Conn Multi-vider and the Maestro series of analogue effects boxes marketed by Chicago Musical Instruments. Notable Varitone players were

Eddie Harris Eddie Harris (October 20, 1934 – November 5, 1996) was an American jazz musician, best known for playing tenor saxophone and for introducing the electrically amplified saxophone. He was also fluent on the electric piano and organ. His best-k ...

,Feather, Leonard & Gitler, Ira ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'' Oxford University Press US, 2007
Lou Donaldson, Moe Koffman, and

Sonny Stitt Edward Hammond Boatner Jr. (February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982), known professionally as Sonny Stitt, was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/ hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of hi ...

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of ...

also used a Varitone extensively during his time in the Brecker Bros. Band. The Varitone could also be used with brass instruments by soldering a pick-up onto the lead pipe. Jazz trumpeter Clark Terry used it to good effect on a 1967 recording for Impulse! called "It's What Happenin' The Varitone Sound Of Clark Terry" (Terry was a Selmer endorser at the time). Varitone is also the name of a device used for changing the sounds of an

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

, featured on Gibson's BB King "Lucille" signature ES-355.

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