And here’s a classic example for this topic:
HARMONIC TABLE KEYBOARD BRINGS OLD IDEA BACK TO LIFE
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I did push the info in the mpe thread but hey ! Here is Hexboard :
https://shapingthesilence.com/tech/hexboard-midi-controller/
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It looks very interesting - I like the open source firmware, and I hope that along with the Linnstrument , and of course Zynthian https://zynthian.org/ this is the beginning of a trend towards open source even for otherwise proprietary hardware. Even better would be open hardware ala Zynthian!
edit: some keywords for searching: isomorphic keyboard hexboard hexagonal
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We only need do things well.
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So. I have an Hexboard now 
But when a dog microtonal there is some flaws …
I have to look at the midi flow to understand but there is sound cuts between adjacent buttons. And no clue if it’s because of MPE or because of the engine.
…
As I have bad background with after touch, I guess I run in a similar problem : being out of the casual keyboardist
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That’s interesting. Did you build the kit or buy it assembled?
I guess that is some form of translation error, I think I understand what you meant, with no dog involved.
It might help to try it on a few different synths to narrow down where the problem is.
Yeah, there is “g” that as nothing to do here 
I have the kit, very quite buttons that take less than an hour and colors that are nice.
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The “key-bowed” with a DIY bow sensor:
Rough Explanation of a Homemade Instrument (BGM + Subtitles) / Laputa: Castle in the Sky / Key-bowed
Here is the YouTube description:
This is a very rough explanation video about my homemade instrument, the Key-bowed.
The BGM is “Carrying You” played on the Key-bowed.
As mentioned in the video, the Key-bowed will be exhibited at:
“Maker Faire Tokyo 2024” in September
“NT Nagoya” and “Ogaki Mini Maker Faire 2024” in NovemberIf you’re interested, please come and check it out!
Anyone going to Japan in September or November?
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It’s wonderful, I was thinking top put a bow into a wheel, but his solution is wouaaaaw 
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Nice to see an arduino getting a credit.
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That is rather cool. My (violinist) son is less impressed but the extra control and modulation you can get from another input method is great. I wonder whether the control data can be extracted as MIDI and used to play other instruments. There may be a deteriation in the tactile interface when you have to convert to note number, velocity, pitchbend and modulation CCs. And such control data would need to be mapped to various parameters of a target MIDI instrument which could make it a challenge to be universal but some may find it super cool. Wack it into a small keyboard that could be slung under the chin for on-stage performance art. Certainly no worse than a keytar!
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A Facebook group where new firmware for the TheoryBoard MIDI Controller is being developed as of Fall 2024. The name of the group is: Theory Board 444
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Well, this is about as far from a keyboard as you can get, an interesting sampler and sample player in the shape of a guitar. It can be self contained including speakers but seems to have some flexible interface possibilities as well:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2073384220/lava-genie-sampler-guitar-60-seconds-to-musical-freedom?ref=ksr_email_mktg_auto_backer_project_update_registered_users_discover_project_similar_4
Video demos:
There are a lot more videos in the kickstarter, and a cutaway view that shows the guts of the device.
That’s cheating!
I was just watching a Jean Michel Jarre gig trying to work out what parts he was playing live and what was sequenced. I think I preferred it when there was more live playing and less karaoke.
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Nopia - a Music Theory based keyboard tool prototype - notice the two separate one octave keyboards, one made of lighted round buttons for setting the scale, and the more conventional one, which plays chords based on the notes you play, the scale you’re in, and the other settings. There is also a looper and provisions for bass and rhythm.
That video is a year old now, this teaser from seven months ago says they’re still working in it:
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Reviews are quite excited about this Orchid
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Wow - I’m excited about Orchid also. What a great video! After a semantic pause, I began to feel less excited, but still very interested. Some of the factors that gave me pause were:
The non-orderability at this (2024-12-30) time.
The existence of alternatives in the same “functionality space”, such as Nopia, Akuto Studio Chord Machine AKT-0.1, toraiz-chordcat, scaler (app), Omnichord, items above in this topic, etc.
Not knowing to what degree Orchid is open source - from a hardware and software perspective.
Thinking about how much of this Zynthian can do today and in the future. With a “controller-driver” and a two octave keyboard we Could split the keyboard into two one octave keyboards. then allocate to specifying what key you’re in and the other for the note you’d like to play with from a Chord Perspective.
And of course, you could use a larger keyboard, if you wanted more octaves.
Here’s an interesting comment from Educational_Bid_4678 in a Reddit thread:
https://www.reddit.com/r/synthesizers/comments/1gzn31d/comment/lz34g3b/
I see it as what a piano is to a lot of songwriters who play guitar and other instruments as their primary. Piano tends to be the ‘easiest’ instrument for a singer-songwriter when sketching. I say easiest because of all the notes are just right there in simplest form.
This is that evolved for people without that knowledge. You can get your ideas out and then transpose it by ear to different instruments and would be pretty effective in getting the right tones/scales/progressions sketched out.
Can’t help but think about the omnichord.
[edit] later in the reddit topic wilberfoss
(https://www.reddit.com/r/synthesizers/comments/1gzn31d/comment/lz411nv/) claimed that there were plenty of apps that did this, he named:
Harmonicc Chord Sequencer is $3.99. Also check out Scaler 2, Tonality, Suggester 2, ChordJam, ChordBud, etc. etc.
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I agree with you @tunagenes - or at least am inspired by your comment that a plugin could be used to provide similar functionality within zynthian. A MIDI plugin that assigned a key range to playing notes and another keyrange to modifying the played notes, e.g. dynamically configuring chords, etc. If I wasn’t so busy…
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That’s OK @riban - you can’t be expected to implement every good idea. We would like some spiritual guidance though.
It seemed to me that this would make sense as a “controller-driver” as introduced in NEW: Control-device manager + controller device "drivers" . Primarily because it would be very closely tied to the hardware controls available. There might be common functionality that would be called by specific controller-drivers to avoid having duplicate code to maintain. Are you suggesting a plugin approach instead? Any easy to explain reason?
I see this more as a plugin. A controller driver fixes a MIDI input device to a specific function. I wouldn’t want my keyboard to only act like this. I would want to be able to play some chains normally and to be able to dynamically select when such behaviour is enabled. There are many ways to skin this cat but I imagined being able to select a chain that has this plugin to enable the functionality.
I have spent approximately the time it took to read the previous posts considering this so my suggestions are at best, poorly formed… I imagine a MIDI plugin that has a parameter to set the split point (or be able to take input from different MIDI channels if we want to do the split in a different way). MIDI note on/off messages from the lower range would act as modifiers whilst messages from the upper range would act as the modified triggers. Other parameters could be mapped to MIDI CC in the normal zynthanic way.
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