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Other musical keyboard designs
This section gives more information about various other keyboard designs related to the Balanced keyboard.



The Music Notation Project - article on Isomorphic Instruments
The Music Notation Project is a project which explores alternative music notation systems. Its website has a page which summarises a number of "Isomorphic" instruments, meaning instruments whose physical note layout presents musical structure in an identical or similar appearance of intervals in all transpositions. See http://musicnotation.org/wiki/instruments/isomorphic-instruments/.  



Re-colouring of standard keyboard - The Music Notation Project
The Music Notation Project also discusses a re-coloured variant of the standard keyboard - see
6-6 Colored Traditional (7-5) Keyboard . According to the web page, it helps the musician to see the interval patterns between the keys. Note that this layout is NOT the same as the Balanced layout.



The Janko keyboard
The Janko keyboard seems to be one of the most well-known alternative keyboard designs, based on a large array of keys / buttons. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jank%C3%B3_keyboard for a good introduction to the Janko keyboard.



The Uniform keyboard - Daskin Manufacturing / Paul Vandervoort
Paul Vandervoort's Uniform keyboard (produced by his company, Daskin Manufacturing) is based upon the Janko keyboard design. See the Daskin Manufacturing website at www.daskin.com.



Symmetrical/Uniform accordions - Hugo Alberto Alzate LondoƱo
Hugo's interests are in accordions with the "symmetrical" (2-row) and "uniform" (3 or more rows) 6+6 keyboard layouts. Here is Hugo's 2-row symmetrical keyboard accordion which he designed:

Hugo explains: "I am trying to revive the interest of accordionists about the 6+6 system. There are some videos in YouTube of me playing a 3 rows button accordion and a 2 rows symmetrical keyboard accordion."

Video 1
Video 2


"Also, this 4-row uniform keyboard accordion belongs to Edwin Davison (co-author of the famous book 'The Golden Age of the Accordion'":



Uniform accordion - Hakan Widar
Hakan Widar is a Swedish accordionist who has several videos in YouTube playing a Uniform keyboard accordion, for example:
Video 1
Video 2





C-Thru Music Controllers (Harmonic Table note arrangement)
C-Thru Music is a company which produces MIDI music controllers based upon a Harmonic Table note arrangement. See the website at www.c-thru-music.com.




The WholeTone keyboard
A Japanese company have a commercial variant of the Janko keyboard available, called the "WholeTone".



The Symmetrical keyboard
Closely related to the Balanced keyboard is the "symmetrical keyboard", in which Graham Breed modifies a DX21 keyboard (see http://x31eq.com/instrum.htm) in a similar manner as described in the Build one section of this website, but for microtonal music (i.e. with more than 12 notes per octave) rather than as a generalised replacement for a standard keyboard.



Bilinear Chromatic keyboard website
Jose Sotorrio discusses the "Bilinear Chromatic" keyboard (a variant of the Balanced keyboard layout), along with his Bilinear Music Notation system, at www.myspace.com/sotorriokeyboard.



The general keyboard and Notebender
John S. Allen's website at http://www.bikexprt.com/music/introduc.htm examines the fundamentals of musical keyboards, and proposes new designs.



"Intuitive Instruments for Improvisers" website
Alternative keyboard designs, with commercially available adaptors to adapt standard keyboards. The website also has a range of other interesting ideas. See http://improvise.free.fr/


 

     
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