Wilson MicroZone U-648 Array Keyboard from Starr Labs

288-Key Generalized Keyboard has removable keys and is completely programmable for any tuning. Using the companion PC editor software the new tunings and fingerings can be easily implemented. Legendary microtonalist Erv Wilson's design is a modern upgrade or the Bosanquet keyboard of 1875.
Sadly there is just a description here but no performances.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• microtonal
• keyboard
• Erv
• Wilson
• uath
• microzone
• axis
• terpstra
• tonal
• plexus
• starr
• labs

[ztarland]

But... I realize we could build a Janko keyboard now by color-coding the keys in two rows of one of our rectilinear array keyboards and programming the notes appropriately. On a standard 6 x 24 array you would get 3 Janko Keyboards that you could stack in 2-octave offsets for a 6-octave range. What;s nice is that one hand can finger across the about 5 octaves in this setup.

[ztarland]

We build what we are commissioned to build. I made parts for one guyu who was building a Janko keyboard. We did build an awesome version of a piano layout that offered three stacked 2-octave keyboards in the array. The fingering for each keyboard "manual" used two rows of keys and while they don't interleave the same as a Jankoit's a super compact way to play a 6-octave keyboard. Well... it's not really like a Janko

[ztarland]

a bit like the Jenko keyboard but for the honeycomb shape and the adjacent white keys. Sell the Cherry switches and we can provide you some velocity-sensing keys and the caps which are our molded parts.

[ztarland]

Regarding the key attachment. They snap into a little slot in a rubber keypad. No adhesive. Years ago an older design used a re-positionable adhesive.

[ztarland]

Regarding Velocity-sensitivity: Yes!!! the keyboard has a great dynamic range with programmable response curves. I should have demonstrated that. It was designed to have a nice tactile feel with a bit of key-travel to give the sensation of playing keys even though it's not possible to have the full travel of a piano key.

[Esosphere]

Can you play music with that or just generate noise?

[goldenhelix]

looks awesome. however, i am still left pulling my hair out wondering WHY are there several companies designing products like this but none developing a basic Janko layout keyboard with 3 rows. there is a HUGE industry gap there and i'm somewhat bewildered why no one has taken advantage of it. take note starr labs: you're perfectly equipped to build such a thing.

[loinfinitoazul]

@Esosphere hahahhahaha... Yeah @ztarland play Bach...

[humanalive]

3000 USD is way too much for a thing like this.

i have been almost every video available of your instruments but never saw anyone playing a "normal" piece of music with it, which leads me to believe that it might be very difficuld to play music with it.

I actually had a similar idea to build a midicontroller like this. This is the reason why i found yours.

One Q i have: Why should i use diff sounds on one keyrow?

I mean, a splitted KB is ok as long as i only have one but this thing has 6 of them

[RoboticusMusic]

FAKE LOOK IT'S PLASTIC!

[ericoschmitt]

i have some other questions: is it possible to tune it non-tempered-like? i mean, with rows for sharps, double sharps, flats and double flats? 31 notes per octave i think

or 19 1/3tone per octave tunings?

are you the developer of it? the instrument I want to play doesnt exists yet: it would have fingering as chromatic button accordion type B (Bayan), but without the bass system for left hand, but a single keyboard for both hands..

so, can you reconfigure the fingering to be like that instrument?

[ericoschmitt]

@ztarland actually it is exactly the same fingering as the Chromatone/Janko keyboard, but rotated 10 degrees anti clockwise

the idea is the same, wholetones to right, and half tones in diagonals.. if you can play it, you can probably play chromatone without much training..

anyway, can you tune it in quarter tones? i mean, on row in semitones and the other adjacent in semitones too but a quarter tone higher, and then the next one in semitones again as the first and so on?

and other tunings?

[goldenhelix]

@Sawa137 i re-ordered the keys on a little midi keyboard i have so that they go white-black-white-black-etc. so basically a janko without the redundant rows. i never had problems playing large chords on it. the annoying thing about it is the difference in height between the white and black keys and the fact that the distance from c to c is still the same as on a regular piano keyboard, unlike on the janko where it is about 20% smaller.

[Sawa137]

@goldenhelix Just a quick note, you NEED 5 rows, 3 is not enough. I have a Chromatone, and for playing difficult chords it's very important to have 5 rows, otherwise it would be really uncomfortable.