Last April I posted about the CryptoClavier, a large three octave chromatic keyboard zither that was based upon the 19th century Marxophone. This unique instrument was born from the imagination of Nashville, Tennessee musician Rory Hoffman who commissioned me to design and build it. To learn more about it you may refer to my April 2, 2025 post on this site.

Rory Hoffman is a session musician who scores movies, plays backup on other musicians’  recordings, and performs in many local as well as worldwide venues.

After receiving Cryptoclavier, Rory employed technicians to install electronic pickups and controls to further the instrument’s range and capabilities. In the teaser he posted on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1AFvqrEvVP/?mibextid=wwXIfr

he experiments with running the pickups through some synth pedals.

I’m looking forward to his video introduction of CryptoClavier. He has even reported that CryptoClavier will be heard on Ringo Starr’s new album to be released this April.