Luthéal

The Luthéal is an additional mechanical equipment for grand piano. It was developed in 1919 by the Belgian George Cloetens and has to change the purpose of the timbre of stringed instruments that are played on a keyboard or by hand. The only remaining Luthéal, in the Brussels Museum of Musical Instruments, can be used in any grand piano. It has four tab buttons, two for the bass or treble. With them, the sound can be changed so that it is similar to a Cimbalons or the volume register of a harpsichord. Maurice Ravel wrote in 1924 rhapsody Tzigane for violin and Luthéal - which is mostly played today with the piano - to give him a folk sound similar to that of the Hungarian hammered dulcimer. Also Ravel used the Luthéal also in the lyrical imagination L' Enfant et les Sortilèges.

Files with the sounds of the Brussels Luthéals are available for samplers.