Claviphonos is a harpsichord for the Mac that is modelled rather than sampled. Every string is described by its length, diameter, metal and tension and sounds through a modelled soundboard, played from a MIDI keyboard.
An instrument is a voicing: its registers, the keyboards that play them, their strings and the soundboard. Claviphonos comes with a generic Florentine and a Neapolitan instrument, and with a Florentine, Neapolitan and a Flemish soundboard.
See Extras for additional example voicing files.
The Florentine instrument plays for free. A one-time purchase unlocks all instruments, editing their registers, strings and soundboards, and saving and opening voicing files.
Brief overview:
- Brass or iron strings, their tension following from length, diameter, pitch, and plucking force.
- Customizable distance of plucking point for each string, also known as "speaking length" to change tone
- Plectrum clicks, damper noise and the jack's release noise
- Reverb and a ten-band equalizer
- Strings spelled for the current key, such as D♯ or E♭, following Claviatura's key changes
- Several MIDI inputs and keyboards routed to the registers
Claviphonos requires macOS 15.1 or later on a Mac with Apple silicon. It will soon be available in the Mac App Store.
