Re: xen keyboards 2 (fwd)

This was from the same day as my other message that bounced, although I
don't remember for sure if it bounced or not. If you get two copies, I
apologize.

--pH <manynote@lib-rary.wustl.edu> http://library.wustl.edu/~manynote
O
/\ "'Jever take'n try to give an ironclad leave to
-\-\-- o yourself from a three-rail billiard shot?"

NOTE: dehyphenate node to remove spamblock. <*>

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1998 07:59:24 -0600 (CST)
From: Paul Hahn <manynote@library.wustl.edu>
To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu
Subject: Re: xen keyboards 2

On Fri, 18 Dec 1998, Carl Lumma wrote:
> For those of you not familiar with this, the Janko keyboard, being
> originally designed for acoustic instruments in 12tET, has keys sharing the
> same internal lever and strings (as Manuel explained). This causes the key
> travel to be longer and easier in the rows nearer to the performer, and
> shorter and harder in the rows farther from him. I think it can be agreed
> that this is undesirable. The makers of Janko pianos never solved the
> problem.
> [snip]
> Either way, can anyone come up with a different solution? It would be
> worth a great deal, I think. Might even get one in the history books (I
> think we're all already there anyway, but... :~)

I believe I mentioned Paul Vandervoort on this list a _long_ time
ago--possibly within the first year or so of its existence. Vandervoort
has made some refinements to the Janko keyboard, one of which is a
parallelogram linkage to equalize the leverage. I have a citation
somewhere of an article from the '70s about his ideas, but I haven't
found anything since then (though I haven't looked real recently), so I
don't know if he's still active.

--pH <manynote@lib-rary.wustl.edu> http://library.wustl.edu/~manynote
O
/\ "'Jever take'n try to give an ironclad leave to
-\-\-- o yourself from a three-rail billiard shot?"

NOTE: dehyphenate node to remove spamblock. <*>