< see "photos" of Maxi - help me map the 294 keys

Hello,

I made a 294 key two dimensional midi keyboard. It is 29" wide X 24"
deep. To see the Maxi click on photos on the menu to the left.

The Maxi is composed of 6 modified 49 key midi keyboard controllers.
Each segment has 25 front and 24 back white keys of which none are
raised. The keys have been shortened. The octave range can vary and
a method for marking the octaves has been implemented. Because I
want to have many octaves in the 49 key range I will limit my
octaves from a low 5 keys to a high 10 Keys per octave. Weird?

The six midi outs from the keyboards are inputted into the USB
MidiSport 8X8 inputs. I will put each of the six segments on a midi
channel one through six. Each channel will play a different VSTi.

The keyboards are grouped in pairs so that each set of two keyboards
face each other. My first problem is that keyboard 1, 3 and 5 are
reversed so in a sense are played from behind. On 1, 3 and 5, the
key number 36 is on the right side and key number 84 is on the left.
These three keyboards have to have the key numbers inverted so that
low notes are on the left. This set up needs to be made the default.
What is the best way to do this?

Once all six 49 key keyboards have the low notes on the left, I will
need to map one keyboard to my specifications and copy the map to
the other five, so that all six 49 key keyboards are mapped the
same. Do I use the drum mapper for this?

I have Windows XP and Cubase SX. This is easy to do in Logic which I
want to avoid as they no longer support the PC version. I will
however consider switching sequencer if VST is included and it has
the capacity to play six VST instruments simultaneously.

At this point I am not interested in microtonality.

To invert the key numbers on keyboards number 1, 3 and 5 I am
looking for a software solution, preferably a plug-in. I will also
consider hardware solution. Your help will be appreciated to resolve
both mapping issues.

Kalamata Kid

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, "kalamataguy"
<kalamataguy@y...> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I made a 294 key two dimensional midi keyboard. It is 29" wide X
24"
> deep. To see the Maxi click on photos on the menu to the left.

What menu?

> The Maxi is composed of 6 modified 49 key midi keyboard
controllers.
> Each segment has 25 front and 24 back white keys of which none are
> raised. The keys have been shortened. The octave range can vary and
> a method for marking the octaves has been implemented. Because I
> want to have many octaves in the 49 key range I will limit my
> octaves from a low 5 keys to a high 10 Keys per octave. Weird?

Why limit yourself?

G,

{you wrote...}
>--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, "kalamataguy"
><kalamataguy@y...> wrote:
> > Hello,
> >
> > I made a 294 key two dimensional midi keyboard. It is 29" wide X
>24"
> > deep. To see the Maxi click on photos on the menu to the left.
>
>What menu?

Kalamata is obviously posting from the web interface, where all the pages, even the message ones, have a menu of choices on the left, for the files, photos, messages, etc. Going to the 'photos' section of MMM will allow you to see the .jpg files of the keyboards.

>What menu?

He just means the photos section.

>> Each segment has 25 front and 24 back white keys of which none are
>> raised. The keys have been shortened. The octave range can vary and
>> a method for marking the octaves has been implemented. Because I
>> want to have many octaves in the 49 key range I will limit my
>> octaves from a low 5 keys to a high 10 Keys per octave. Weird?
>
>Why limit yourself?

It's a tradeoff, not a limit. By narrowing the octave, the hand
can span a greater portion of the tuning. And by making it diatonic
only, you eliminate the chance of 'wrong notes' (where 'wrong' is
non-diatonic, at any rate).

-Carl

Carl,

Thanks for refering me to Make MicroMusic.

I just picked up Electronc musician and sure enough
there is an article on Mapping. Hope this will help.

Kalamata Kid

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, Carl Lumma <ekin@l...> wrote:

> It's a tradeoff, not a limit. By narrowing the octave, the hand
> can span a greater portion of the tuning. And by making it diatonic
> only, you eliminate the chance of 'wrong notes' (where 'wrong' is
> non-diatonic, at any rate).

It's hard for me to look at this keyboard and not see it in terms of
microtonal possibilities--for instance, 7/72 horizontally, and 6/72
vertically; or 68/612 horizontally, and 43/612 vertically.

Hello Gene,

> It's hard for me to look at this keyboard and not see it in terms
of
> microtonal possibilities--for instance, 7/72 horizontally, and
6/72
> vertically; or 68/612 horizontally, and 43/612 vertically.

Is this good or bad?

I will eventually try microtuneing and will request
some help but I need to crawl before I can dance.

Kalamata Kid

Hi all,

In addition to the microtonal possibilities, funny enough, upon first hearing of this keyboard, I was thinking more in terms of a keyboard for string players like guitarists. Ever envy just having to go up a fret rather than figure out which key becomes black, stays white?? Or having two octaves under your fingers?

I am following the mircotonal possibilities with interest, as a synthesist, I've been largely limited to "bend" capabilities on what ever I'm synthing on to get to those "places in the cracks" of the traditional keyboard other than scaling the keyboard to another scale entirely, then it's like playing a transposing instrument, what you play isn't what comes out, and that drives me totally nuts with close to perfect pitch, and being used to hearing what I hit on a keyboard as being that pitch.

Does most here identify with these problems of using most traditional keyboards even if rescaled?

Bonnie *:>

kalamataguy <kalamataguy@...> wrote:
Hello Gene,

> It's hard for me to look at this keyboard and not see it in terms
of
> microtonal possibilities--for instance, 7/72 horizontally, and
6/72
> vertically; or 68/612 horizontally, and 43/612 vertically.

Is this good or bad?

I will eventually try microtuneing and will request
some help but I need to crawl before I can dance.

Kalamata Kid

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>Does most here identify with these problems of using most traditional
>keyboards even if rescaled?

I certainly do. And I've spent years trying to convince people to
build/buy a "genaralized keyboard". Unfortunately, this cause seems
even more esoteric and hated than microtonality itself, even among
microtonalists!

-Carl