The keyboard usually covered three octaves,[3] and had a number of switches to alter the tone of the sound produced, add vibrato (a defining feature of the instrument),[1] and provide other effects.
The Clavioline used a vacuum tube oscillator to produce a buzzy waveform, almost a square wave, which could then be altered using high-pass and low-pass filtering, as well as the vibrato.
The amplifier also aided in creating the instrument's signature tones, by deliberately providing a large amount of distortion.
The six-octave model employing octave transposition was developed by Harald Bode[5] and manufactured under license by Jörgensen Electronic in Germany.
[6] In England, the Jennings Organ Company's first successful product was the Univox, an early self-powered electronic keyboard inspired by the Selmer Clavioline.