Видео

Thanks! 5 keys feels a lot less limited for drums that it does for piano/guitar etc. 😁

In my last video I used tape, but in the prototype in this video I used a combination of popsicle sticks and hair ties. Two nails sit in a slot cut out in the key, while the remainder are on top, kept in alignment by the popsicle sticks, and movement eliminated by the tension of the hair ties. Hopefully it will be more durable than using tape. We'll see!

I agree with you. I also want to ask - what is this music instrument?

I assume you mean what is the physical midi controller that I'm playing? It's a five key prototype of a digital piano I'm designing and building - more info here: ruclips.net/video/U8PAwi5l6Sw/видео.html

@@aleathwick OK, thank you very much for responding us 👍🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻❤️❤️❤️!!!!!!

Thank you for the idea! I was going to send this to you, but I see you found it first.

Currently the teensy is running circuitpython (I haven't implemented calibration code in arduino yet), so the class with all the logic is the Key class in `circuitPython/src/midi_controllers.py`, and then the code on the teensy is roughly `c4051 test.py` - I say roughly because I may have tweaked it since that version.

Thanks!

I hope it was worth the wait!

Regarding your last question - if I were to rapidly move the key downwards a short distance (let's say 2mm) then stop it, which is less than half of the total travel of the key, a note would be produced. Not immediately, but the software would simulate the hammer continuing in free flight, and would trigger a note on once it hit the note on threshold (equivalent to the imaginary string), unless the hammer first succumbed to gravity, which is another factor in the simulation. I agree it would be more convenient from a size, weight, and bounce perspective to use an extension spring, but to me it is worth the inconvenience to introduce some inertia, because I find it easier to control. I think the reason for that is because I can then control the final velocity of the key by modifying how much of my weight is behind my finger as I press the key. For example even if my finger is moving fast (maybe because I have to get to the note quickly), I can still play the note softly because the inertia of the key absorbs the comparatively small inertia of my finger. I think that is roughly what is happening, but it is just a description of what I feel very strongly, as an intuitive preference. However, I feel that the inertia in a 'normal' piano goes too far. When I had the upstop firmly pressing on the key for the whole range of the key stroke, bounce was a real issue. But now the key is free in the 'up' position (changing where energy goes), the bounce isn't noticeable, or at least doesn't impact my control of the keys - unless I play in a very rapid sweeping motion, so my finger is no longer in contact with the key when the key hits the bottom. That does produce a bounce which I think it is possible could impact the velocity of a subsequent note, if timed right.

That is my end goal! Although I only produced 5 keys this time, the 3d model (used to create drawings for laser cutting) is complete with all 12 notes of the octave, and works so that two copies placed immediately side by side will fit together nicely.

@@aleathwick i wish you all the best on your work. id love to copy your project given how disgustingly high the prices of weighted keyboards are in my country

There are a few diy projects out there that do exactly that, but reading the hammer positions directly, rather than imputing their positions from key position as I do - for example, see: github.com/stem-piano/stem-piano-g-main

...actually I guess the projects I'm referring to aren't "exactly that", because they involve converting piano actions into digital instruments, which no longer function acoustically (no strings anymore).

The hardware is very simple - it is literally just a bunch of nails on the other end of the key, like a see-saw. Finger on one end of the see-saw, nails on the other end. The hammer is simulated in the firmware of the microcontroller - move the key halfway and stop, and the simulated hammer will keep moving. If it's moving fast enough, then it will keep travelling until it hits the (simulated) string, and a note is triggered.

Not yet - since the prototype in this video, rather than adding more keys, I've been playing around with other designs and methods of construction. It's been fruitful, eventually I'll post another video.

@@aleathwick Look forward to more updates. 👍

Thanks for the suggestion - I'll keep that in mind

Are they, though? The best pianists in history all had big hands, and big hands need big keys.

@@Gabu_ That's crazy, I guess people with big hands must be inherently better at playing piano.... oh wait....

That is exactly what I do!

@@aleathwick Ah yes, I see. I must have confused this with another DIY project.

Oops! I see that those are not shift registers now but adc’s! But that is even more enlightening! Thanks again (:

Don't worry with every day of practice your hands will feel bigger and bigger (small keys or not)

@@benm12310 The opposite is true. The more advanced pieces you want to learn, the smaller the hands will feel. If you want to choose freely which pieces to learn, you need a narrow keyboard for not having always to play in hard mode if you have small hands.

@@Hvranq yes but speaking to a beginner with one month of experience. Hand size is not as bad of a hurdle as you may begin to think. Once you get to very complex pieces it may pose an issue but that early on in a piano career it’s important to know that YOU CAN do it and you don’t need a special piano yet

Yes it is a very frustrating situation, and bears testament to the power of the status quo. At least some options are slowly emerging. All the best with your tinkering! Personally I have found the tinkering itself to be very rewarding, the electronics + engineering involved has been a lot of fun.

The issue of warping wood is somewhat mitigated in my design by the replacement of wood with plastic where the mortises interact with the metal pins, which eliminates the impact of humidity on the tightness of the mortises. But the holes on the balance rail pins are still wood (laser cut plywood). I'm working on a design at the moment that eliminates wood, with reduced labour / more laser cutting - I'll eventually get around to posting a video of it when I've made enough progress.

Same here!

The octave span is 141mm, so roughly 7/8 the size of the octave on a normal piano.

@@aleathwick hey, sorry, just wrote you back but my comment just disappered, not sure what happened, whether I deleted it by mistake or it's pending for your moderation. Please let me know if you've didn't receive it. I would be interested in a collaboration. All the best!

@@JankoPianko I can't see your comment. Your work with janko keyboards looks really interesting, I would be keen to chat more. You can email me, my email address is my last name at gmail.com.

I have settled on 6mm wide sharps - substantially narrower than normal sharps, and conveniently (in my region, at least) 6mm black acrylic sheet is readily available which makes cutting the sharps out (cutting as side profiles) a breeze.

Given the mcp3008 A/D converters he's using, I assume he's measuring the analog outputs of the Hall effect sensors (which I didn't even know was a thing; I've only ever used them as on/off switches). From the video, I gather he feeds the position of the key into a software simulation of a piano hammer (including momentum!). I hope he'll reply with more details!

@@michaelpark I think you are correct, the sensors are analog so only one channel per key is needed for key action and velocity (momentum). But I still use a SPDT (2 channels) for each key for action and velocity. True, I have to debounce the switches in code, but it is a lot easier, lower cost, and faster to multiplex digital inputs than it is for analog inputs. But he does have an elegant design that works.

That is correct, I'm using the analog output of the hall sensor. When I scale up to 88 keys I will need to do some further optimization to ensure latency is still ok, but I think it is doable. The main advantage I see with my approach is that it allows half presses - I can half press a key then stop, and still trigger a note because the software simulated hammer continues travelling. I do still find the digital approach attractive for the reasons you've mentioned.

judging by the description of working, its analog hall sensors (distance to magnet)

Thanks! The piece has no name, it is just something small I came up with for the video - something that would fit within the limited range of the keyboard.

@@aleathwick I was searching for this answer too. It's a really beautiful piece! I really thought how interesting it was that it felt like the piece accomplishes so much musically with such a limited range. Seems like a great exercise and skill to develop, to write pieces with that constraint.

Not just lighter/smaller, but if done right, more piano-like too - using weights on the end of the keystick results in a different leverage ratio (1:1, if the weights are the same distance from the fulcrum as are the front of the keys) compared to the hammers on a real piano (around 5:1), which means my digital piano feels much lighter than a piano (less inertia), even if the down weight is matched to a piano (50g). I would love to build something like you suggest where the touch can be adjusted electronically to simulate any keyboard instrument, and it has been done before by others, but I think it would be a big undertaking.

Nigel Tufnel was close. The lower the scale, the sadder the key, so on a piano (as he was playing) A Minor would be the saddest of all keys. But, A Locrian would be even sadder. But it was a great bit and we got the joke [smile]. After all, he thought that because his Amplifier controls were marked up to 11 instead of 10, he thought they were one louder... Best comedy bit ever!

I haven't made a schematic, but when the design of electronics is final I'll probably upload a schematic to the github repo. In the mean time, the parts involved are pretty common, with lots of tutorials on wiring them up - raspberry pico + mcp3008 for the ADC, and 49e hall sensor.

Feel free to, my email is my last name at gmail dot com.