Adapting traditional zebra piano Kbd to 6x6 Janko layout

[jjj]

Yes, that's a project I planed long time, ago. Now that I already successfully built a 3 layer Janko Kbd on top of my old Roland D20 Synth, I now plan to build a 6x6 fully-fledged (reversible) Janko Kbd on top of my Tyros 3.
I even invented a WYSIWYG notation for it, which enable you to graphically transform MIDI files (or traditional notation) into my WYSIWYG notation.
Well, have a look at it and let me know what you think of it...

[Enzo]

Well, whatever it is, it looks like you have put a lot of thought into it. But I have to admit I have no idea in the world what it is you are talking about. perhaps a link to a brief explanatory page would help. Seriously, I would find it easier to appreciate if I understood it.

[jjj]

Greetings to you dear Enzo,

As time goes by... I now am on a different level of getting my musical challenge accomplished. You might remember the time, when I was struggling with 4066 quad-switch and boring tremolo unit alterations? From Poland I bought a MIDI encoder kit and on eBay a 2nd hand 120-button accordion bass, which I fully renovated and now its mechanics might work another couple of decades. Thus, I need only 12 switches and 12 notes to connect and the whole bass will be working. I also like to recreate that accordion bellow tremolo, accordion players apply to instill emotionally charged tremolo variations into the melody. For that I'll need to create some kind of spring loaded suspension system.

My aim has always been to find the fastest to learn and easiest to play Kbd layout and notation.
The Japanese Chromatone Synth is such a Janko Kbd, which looks like a huge typewriter, but sounds rather awful.
I now have a Yamaha Tyros3, which sounds truly great and the only thing I hate on it is its traditional, outdated, grossly irregular zebra piano Kbd and notation. Well, at last found the answer to my prayers:
I already built a (reversible) 3-layer Janko Kbd layout on top of my old Roland D20 Synth and now I plan to build the fully 6x6 Janko layout on top of my Tyros3 Kbd. (I can send you a copy of Pics etc of it.)
Its advantages in a nutshell:
With my notation any novice is able to figure out, which note depicts the key to be pressed and with this Janko Kbd layout one only needs to learn to play one only major and one only minor scale and its chords. The zebra piano layout and its notation forces us to study and practice of 12 irregular major and 12 minor scales!!
To read the whole story of the Janko Kbd are, please peruse this page: Jankó keyboard ...and then watch this man displaying the impressive and amazing capabilities of a Janko piano; it's only 2Mb, here: https://app.box.com/s/oy1fnv0dx2f0ta6hdusy

[Mick Bailey]

I'd never heard of this keyboard until I read this post. Fascinating.

[jjj]

Yes, I'm amazed that it failed to succeed. I suppose, the only and true reason for its failure to be, is that "old habits don't die out" and so, music teachers felt threatened by it.
They even went as far, as claiming that this progressive Kbd layout offers "unfair advantages"...
Also, the fact that the traditional zebra piano Kbd layout requires more than 20 years of practice to acquire high level of dexterity and notation sight reading, is to blame for it.

Yet, what we "hobby musicians" have to do with it? We all should be in favor of a fast to learn and easy to play musical Kbd and computers offer us just that!!!

[jjj]

I'm still at it... at trying to convert my Tyros 3 zebra piano Kbd into Janko Kbd layout.
In the meantime I tried to get plastic printers to fabricate the Kbd keys, but they are as well very expensive. A replacement set of keys costs about $500.
So, I had to dream up another solution ...and found one:
I just use 0.3mm thin tin covers, which clip onto the keys to protect them. That offers me a firm surface onto which I then epoxy glue the square Janko keys and is easily reversible, in case I need to sell the Tyros later on.
The advantage of this Janko musical Kbd is that it offers the learner to play the Kbd 10x faster and easier; i.e. 1 year of Janko practice equals 10 years of zebra piano Kbd practice!! This advantage is not to be missed.
Most accomplished zebra piano Kbd players hate the Janko Kbd, because to them it's unfair to have it that easy ...if it can be made more complicated.
The same with traditional notation. That's why I invented my own WYSIWYG Janko notation. It allows to visually transfer the notes from the sheet music to the keys and to forget about irregular scales practice and music theory.
I also converted an old 120-button Farfisa accordion bass (bass section only) to MIDI. It was a hell of work combining, wiring/ soldering up all basses and chords via some 200+ signal diodes. This will enable me to enjoy musical creativity just like a singer or whistler, without bothering about irregular scales and chords with #+b.
Now all I would need is to find a PC programmer, who could accelerate the music conversion from traditional notation to my Janko notation, because now zebra piano players tell me that all music notation is written in traditional notation.
Besides, I converted an old 120-button accordion bass (bass section only) to MIDI, fabricated a special cover for it, decorated it with cloth of my old shirt and sold it in two day for almost $400 on eBay. It was easy to do: I just added 24 switches onto it air flaps, but I didn't like it, for its 120 buttons had to operate the mechanics and that made the buttons hard to press, whereas my Farfisa accordion bass only activates one tiny switch per button!!

[jjj]

I'd never heard of this keyboard until I read this post. Fascinating.

Well, for me to play the piano accordion in C-maj and A-minor came naturally, since these were the easiest to finger scales and hated the black keys!
Soon I found out that every other (than C) scale contained the narrow black keys and several scales are even played on mostly black keys! Imagine, in total that requires to learn & keep practicing 22 additional, irregular scales and its chords!!

"Why have it easier, if it can be done more complicated?", seems to be the piano teacher's motto! It's OK for professional musician, for that's all they do all day long and it helps them to discriminate themselves from hobby musicians, in the way doctors and clergy used Latin.
The biggest winners in that are the piano teachers and of course they, more than anyone else, care to protect, defend and perpetuate its irregularity.

Thus, the only "problem" with Janko is that it requires the learning of only one (!!) major and minor scale with its chords and this cuts the overall learning and practice time by ten; to a nightmare for piano teachers! One year of Janko learning and practice equals ten years of irregular zebra piano practice!!
If that's not attractive enough... I don't know what is?? As a hobby musician I'm better off investing my Kbd practice into the Janko layout.
So, whether I like it or not, I simply have no alternative than to convert my Tyros 3 zebra Kbd to Janko. Shall the trapped zebra & donkey lovers enjoy their chicanery... Smiley
My above mentioned conversion method allows me to extend the Janko Kbd layout to 5 rows. Each square key is sized at 25mm or 1 inch.