Uploaded February 2017 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
At the 1939 World's Fair, Story & Clark showcased the world's first commercially produced electric piano. This instrument doesn't have a soundboard. Instead, it features a pickup system and vacuum tube amplifier system designed ("voiced") by RCA-Victor. Here's what this beautiful instrument sounds like. Notice the crystalline, shimmering highs. A side effect of the design of this piano is that the speaker system is right next to the strings, and causes these strings to resonate in a feedback loop, so these notes can sustain for quite a long time relative to a standard acoustic piano.
At the 1939 World's Fair, Story & Clark showcased the world's first commercially produced electric piano. This instrument doesn't have a soundboard. Instead, it features a pickup system and vacuum tube amplifier system designed ("voiced") by RCA-Victor. Here's what this beautiful instrument sounds like. Notice the crystalline, shimmering highs. A side effect of the design of this piano is that the speaker system is right next to the strings, and causes these strings to resonate in a feedback loop, so these notes can sustain for quite a long time relative to a standard acoustic piano.
