The "Alternative" Keyboard Layout 🎶🧬
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- Опубліковано 15 чер 2024
- I spent a month trying to learn a "Jankó" keyboard and didn't die.
Try it for yourself: tinyurl.com/2jp47t54
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"Stephen Hawking Counts while Grown Man Plays Typewriter" is one of the most haunting compositions I've heard this decade.
bwahahaha!!
Sounds like a Kevin Moore / Chromakey track. 😎
Lol 😂
ONETWOTHREEFOURONETWOTHREEFOUR
Fitter, happier, more musical.
That soothing metronome is hilarious!
and wirdley good
Officially sent but def a vibe after a min
That slightly late "three" would drive me nuts.
that section of the vid kinda reminds me of huge chrome cylinder box unfolding
@@rdoursenaud the metronome is on dilla time
"Hey! These things exist, if you've never seen them before. Cool, right?"
As a subscriber to Technology Connections, I whole-heartedly approve of this message.
Love the key flying off edit.
It's a feature.
It made me laugh out loud every time
The most soothing metronome I‘ve ever heard!
I first heard it on OP-1, now I see where teenage engineering have grabbed it from 😅
"Goddamnit"
This piece of equipment summed up in one word fairly
🤣🤣
That metronome is an instant classic
My favorite isometric keyboard is LinnStrument! It uses the same tuning system as a bass guitar. As a guitar player you might pick it up really quickly! And the expressiveness is wonderful.
And cheap Novation Launchpads are also great but without MPE
@@SHLDMusic valid! I need to get one
Yes! The guitar-string style isomorphic square grid layout of Linnstrument, Launchpad, and lots of other MIDI controllers is pretty cool. That guitar-string style isomorphic square grid layout seems to be becoming a pretty common "standard" alternative keyboard layout.
I played piano off and on a few times in my life, but I never got very good. A few years ago I went down the isomorphic rabbit hole, reading up on Janko and various square grid and hex grid layouts, and the array mbira briefly shown in Benn's video, etc. The isomorphic uniformity of chords and scales is very appealing. Now I'm enjoying playing a Linnstrument and pleased with my amateur progress playing it. Currently having fun working my way through Bela Bartok's Mikrokosmos, for example. :)
The isomorphic hexgrid Lumatone looks very intriguing (but is expensive and big). There are some great youtube channels with neat Lumatone exploration of various layouts and various microtonal tunings.
Also see the Harpejji for another appealing instrument with a different isomorphic layout, in the form of a stringed instrument. Stevie Wonder plays it.
Yeah, there's nothing better than the Linn, yet especially if you are used to stringed instruments.
Would love to try one. Ableton Push is a bit limiting in range
For a while I thought this might be an elaborate April fool's joke.
Someone else mentioned the Linnstrument - as a fellow southpaw I'd be interested in your take on it, but actually I'd love a Benn Jordan deep dive into Roger Linn in general.
Can't wait to hear soothing metronome in an upcoming flashbulb album.
Then lug in on tour. Because just playing a sample would be unauthenticated and a deep disappointment to your fans. And that thing looks like it's made for live performances.
or a previous one. re: the flashbulb - someone
couch background is crazy
if you know you know
@@fleecefoxes6471, I literally left the same reply on another comment here... 😂
I have a Lumatone (videos on my channel, not a plug, just if you're curious).
It's an isomorphic keyboard that lets me play in literally any Temperament. The isomorphic layout lets me play in tunings like 31 tone equal temperament.
Yeah I wish he did this on one of those. They are so pretty and slickly designed. I feel this is way too colored by his choice of super-crappy equipment.
The barrier to entry on a CT-312 is $200-500, whereas, the Lumatone is $3800 if they happen to be producing them when you check their website... otherwise, if you see one on reverb, they start over 4k. A lot of money for an alternate key layout on a controller that doesn't even make doorbell noises, that you may not like. Don't get me wrong, "If I win the Lottery, I won't tell anyone; but there will be signs..." but lottery win is basically the only way I'm gonna afford one.
the lumatone was exactly what i thought about when i saw this
@@rickmay1188 I don't think you understand how the instrument works and why it's awesome and worth the price, but okay!
@@amj.composer ok, I understand the lumitone is awesome, but $3800 bux is a car, or 3 months rent, or saving for 2 years with nothing bad happening. It is literally priced out of my ability to own one, or use one, and since the price is so high, I can't risk 3 months of rent on something I may very well hate. I'll probably love it, but the price is an insurmountable barrier to entry for like 99.66% of all people on the planet.
You can't change the fundamental way people interface with their music, if no one can afford it. I'm borrowing my friends Exquis by Intuitive instruments, which is a cute 2 octave hex key controller, similar in many regards to the much bigger car-priced Lumatone, but thats the problem... There are minor things about it I don't like, which has been the case for nearly every non-traditional keyboard layout. With that in mind, why would I want to spend 13 times as much for a Lumatone that may share some of the minor issues I don't like about the Exquis?
Theoretically, if I don't like it, I can resell it for more than I paid, but I don't want to deal with Reverb people... "Its used. Ill give you 75 bux if you deliver it." Or even worse, if I like it, and now have a car sized hole in my finances I can't plug.
You may as well be telling me I should also get a CS80 to use as a desk for this thing, and hook it to a Colossus Double....
Been rabbit holing with programming videos tonight and just saw this, thought you were gonna be talking about computer keyboards for a second. Always love your videos! Not a musician just stumbled across your channel from your non music related videos ages ago but stayed for the mad vibes
Gotta say the completely random stock backgrounds that look like you dumped your shutterstock inventory just to use stuff you'd never otherwise get around to are fire 🔥
One of those backgrounds is definitely not random (if you know, you know...)
@@maldivirdragonwitchoh god I just saw the casting couch
All your stuff absolutely bangs, and the range of topics is wide and deep. Bravo!
Insane timing, I just bought one of these last week and have been loving it.
I'm tickled that you mentioned my keystep mod! If anyone was interested in learning more, I made a video about it on my channel.
Awesome vid btw, I'm a fan of alt layouts (clearly), so this is totally my jam.
You made the Keystep Mod? I'm building a keytaur using a MIDI Plus x6 mini, and plan to do the keystep mod to it, since it uses the same keyblanks....
Thank you for taking the time to make, tweak, and post the designs online.
Glad you mentioned the Lumatone! It’s very expensive for what is essentially a giant MIDI controller (albeit an incredibly pretty one), but at the same time, I do think their customizable colored light layouts is a great and versatile solution for switching between various tuning systems (for exploring microtonality), or for playing a large number of instrumental parts at once live, or while improvising, with minimal finger travel. When I’m able to afford one, I’m definitely excited to learn the system… unlike an alternative keyboard system that is designed to specifically do one set of tunings, the customizable layouts (each with their own key colors, in order to help you find your way around the keyboard in that particular tuning or setup) seem like they’d be a lot more intuitive.
I’m really digging the format of your videos! Love the unique themes, keep up the great stuff!
The learning curve on the Jankó is steeper in the beginning, but once you've spent some time with it, reusing scales and chords in all keys is very convenient and your muscle memory kicks in.
These keyboards are used in some accordions and really allow a lot more acrobatic movement compared to a traditional piano accordion layout.
I know there are stradella MIDI keyboards available, as someone who learned rudiments of how to play a button accordion, seems like this might be related?
Glad you're still doing hardware videos. Your video on the Solar 42 was awesome and inspired me to pick up an instrument that had been collecting dust.
5:11 sounds actually sick with the voiceover
Such a fantastic retro-futurism vibe!
It gave me real Radiohead - Fitter Happier vibes.
Add a Think Break on it and it might sound at home somewhere on Red Extensions of Me
Sounds like a beat for Lucki
Total Limp Bizkit vibe!
Holy crap -- This just makes sense to me. I had a hard time with music theory and keyboard layouts because I wanted a shape to represent a type of chord. Thanks for making this video. You just created a rabbit hole for me.
When do you find time for all these completely diverging topics in your videos and go so deep as learning a new instrument to the point that it sounds professionally? I admire your energy! Keep 'em coming, your videos are truly educational!
Love this guys channel
Was a massive flashbulb fan back in 2009 growing up and still a fan
Omg this keyboard layout has been all up in my algorithm recently! Excited to see your experience.
Awesome video, I've always been fascinated anytime a random janko video pops up in my youtube feed. I know you mentioned lumatone and other alternative layouts, would love to see a video on microtonal and alternate scales
Had an accordion layer out in the same pattern back in 1969. Found it much easier to understand music theory using it.
Fantastic video. Never knew this thing existed, and it's crazy
You do it so we don't have to - thank you, Ben 😊
Thank you Benn, you are my favourite idm musician, I'm happy to get to your youtube
The keys randomly popping off are a feature, not a bug.
I havn't heard or seen one before. Thank you for all the cool videos and your music.
Take care (:
ive never seen one of these but i love the idea of isometric and janko key layouts, i cant believe ive never heard of this! one thing i really love about playing my stringed instruments like guitar, bass, viola, etc is that for the most part as long as you remember the shapes of a scale or chord you can just move it around, if you know it somewhere you know it everywhere. Piano was my first instrument but ive really always found it annoying how different keys really feel different to play in when all i want is for them to *sound* different. ... i think im actually going to consider getting one of these, i feel like it might help me fall back in love with the instrument. .... probably not this one in particular, but ive got to try this out. loved the video
I'm making some of the janko adapters for piano shown in this vid
My recommendation is to skip the Chromatone, and wait for a Wholetone Revolution instead... as Benn mentioned, they're both made by the same company, but while the CT312 is a disapointing casio knockoff with crappy fall apart keys, the Wholetone Revolution is a Korg N5EX with solid keys, not keycaps that fall off in transit, or when you play it.
Chromatone generally run about 400 to 600 plus shipping from Japan... usually another $150 to $200... I had to wait 3 years for one to become available at the same time I had money, but I got a Wholetone Revolution for $550 plus $200 in shipping, and it arrived in 3 days. Unfortunately, the Metronome on the Wholetone Revolution is pretty boring. Just whatever Korg put in there.
Babe new benn jordan just dropped
So interesting!! Thank you ❤
David Lynch hearing you playing over the soothing metronome: 'I love it. I need it. Do that. No. Don't change anything. It was perfect. :-)'
Not sure what this referenced, but it brought to mind More Cowbell. Unfortunately youtube's search function doesn't list it anymore, but hundreds of distorted clips from it.
@@0LoneTechLynch and Angelo Badalamenti working on Laura Palmer’s theme for Twin Peaks
@@0LoneTech only a matter of time before someone deepfakes david lynch saying more cowbell
OH ANGELO, IT'S BEAUTIFUL!!
The assorted stock backgrounds and the Speak 'N' Spell metronome really elevated things.
I really dig those water caustic backgrounds! they look super sick!
One Love!
Always forward, never ever backward!!
☀️☀️☀️
💚💛❤️
🙏🏿🙏🙏🏼
Sound excellent
If you haven't already you should check out the Linnstrument. Similar isometric layout but with added MPE capabilities, with 3d control. I'm not a piano player but as a strings player I picked it right up and it rocks. Super easy to learn.
Interesting and weird stuff and it's not a commercial. Good show!
loved the new video. please drop next
Yep, cool.
Keep experimenting!
I love how the tiny you is sticking out of the slot on top of the keyboard.
Heck that's all the reason I need to watch a cool video, thanks for letting us know they exist!
Ooh, this reminds me of the Chromatic Button Accordion layout. Neat!
I've wanted something like this for a long time, but I also know that it isn't actually what I need. I think the value of an isomorphic layout like this isn't very transformative for performance, but could be for composition. Seeing the harmonic table (an expression of Eulers' Tonnetz) explained for the first time made me feel like I could intuitively understand something about music that would allow me to slowly and ploddingly describe a song to a DAW despite having no actual musical skills. The shapes visually demystify relationships that normally have to be memorized to start playing much of anything.
So, what I actually need is *software* that lets me use a chord-builder with a hexagonal layout to drop sound events onto a timeline for each voice. This almost exists, but that I've found, not yet in a useable form.
Key escape clip had me howling
thanks for letting me know these things exist!
You are such a cool dude, enjoy you videos very much.
I love isometric keyboards, it's why I use my ableton push so much.
a felt a bit of your soul leave your body when that key flew off the board lol
Perfect for creating custom number stations
my son would love that!!
Thanks for the history lesson. I had thought that C-Thru-Music Axis 64 was the first to do Isometric.
One thing that drew me to the Continuum Fingerboard is the semi isometric design where the half steps are all the same. So similarly chord shapes can be moved around left to right but without adopting a wacky hex layout.
Been looking for some kind of keyboard that would be better suited for people with smaller hands. Thanks for the leads!
That metronome was super soothing lol. Dear Lord, who thought that that would be a good metronome I don’t understand. But I think the layout is cool I’ve actually thought of purchasing lumen, just way incredibly expensive. When you can pay as much for controller as you can for a Yamaha montageM… That’s a little too much for me. Thanks for the video Ben good to see you man. Hope you have a great day and hope your Easter was good.
Thanks for this; I’ve never seen one before. I feel like I might have a fighting chance since my first instrument was the accordion. Would love to see you cover the Theremin.
This reminds me of the current Ableton Push and the like when playing in its keyboard mode (the default mode), where chord shapes hold position and you just change the key your in. Has helped me get into music theory from a unique angle.
8:05 you hit the nail on the head and I enjoyed every bit.
This “Nasty Daddy Benn” look is giving it to me…
Yep, very cool
That rotary encoder probably works with two rings of contacts that are slightly offset (or the contact springs also might be offset). The device knows the direction of the rotation from which contact conducts or loses conduction first on each step. If the contacts get oxidized those usually glitch very annoyingly and tend to mostly switch back and forth between two adjacent values and only sometimes go through more. And not always to the direction you wanted. Many times the problem is more because lack of use than wear from too much use. Sometimes they can be revived just bu turrning the control vigorously around a lot.
After hearing the metronome, I realized the keys popping off is a feature. Something about the sound of them hitting the floor on the right chord while Hawking counts the beat.
I have a Striso, which is isomorphic, and I am absolutely enamored of it. I went down a massive isomorphic keyboard rabbit hole in the early days of the pandemic, and played quite a few virtual versions, and the DCompose layout of the Striso is by far my favorite. The creator welcomes others to use the layout (with the DCompose name, not Striso), but so far, I don't think anyone else makes one. I would love for a toy version to give my nieces and nephews, but can't spend the $484 on each of them.
Reminds me of the bass keyboard of an accordion - and yes, this seems to be a Jankó keyboard, or rather there seems to be a variant of the right-hand keyboard that is. The German and English Wikipedia are not consistent on that, and there seem to be lots of variations. I wondered what those keyboards are about and how they operate …
It's pretty funny to see this video Ben. I recently got an Akai Fire for FL Studio and I don't really care for the ability to manipulate the channel rack switching but I do like using "Note" mode and using the muscle memory I've learned all these years typing (i taught myself to type at 10) to make music lol. I'd probably dig something like this...
Great to see the interest in the Jankó keyboard! The Jankós shown at 3:30 are mine, one I built myself from wood and the other one is a 3D printed overlay by Fred Merck that I put on top of my Korg SV2.
Check out my video playing on the Jankó:
ua-cam.com/users/shortsfciG88KojI8?si=vhFDq98cFv0__4da
You should try out the Exquis and the harmonic table layout! I just got one a couple weeks ago and I love it so much more than a traditional piano layout. It looks easier than this layout too.
I just love the metronome, not kidding, i find that to be awesome
The editing is so good, also major t-rex vibes haha, more t-rex's with short arms, they need this keyboard.
You must have been practicing. You're really good ! Has anyone ever done a concert with one of these? Philharmonic or Rock ?
=D
The feel of the underlying piano translates surprisingly well to the white keys on the overlays I've printed, but then the black keys feel kind of flimsy in comparison, probably a combination of the extra weight and leverage. I've found that it's playable-ish since you can still accurately accelerate the key, but so far it does seem like a springy midi keyboard is the way to go for overlays.
Isometric is great, but I much prefer the harmonic table layout. (side note: we need to figure out how to get Benn a Lumatone.)
There’s also an iPad app that does the isomorphic layout. You don’t get velocity (well sort of) or after touch. It is called ‘Musix Pro’…unfortunately it only sends midi keys…so you need the destination synth to do the microtonal stuff.
This is fascinating.
An aside, if someone can do a review or share thoughts on the lumatone that'd be rad. No one seems to use it 😅
Please do a part two diving into microtonal stuff! I'll give you a cookie
This was hilarious! The sounds and the layout made me think about Star Wars.
I got used to chord shapes on my push2. Once you train your brain, it can become useful, kinda reminds of that, a little.
You def gotta use that metronome sample for something. Haha
I ordered the red Chromatone Wholetone Revolution back when the inventor was giving away his remaining inventory. It's pretty cool but one drawback of the isometric keyboard, aside from the smallness of the keys, is that I really have to be looking at the thing as I play it, since it's so uniform. Also the importance of chord shapes and the awkwardness of voice leading makes it more like a guitar than a keyboard in some ways.
I defiled my wholetone revolution with Stickers.... I'm not smart enough to find C4 in a sea of hexagons...
My first experience with this topic was back when I was more actively playing accordion.
I managed to get a perfect condition WholeTone Revolution delivered from Japan, with only minor shipping damage along the way. The blank keys are lame, so I got stickers, and marked out black keys, and A, D, F so I could navigate the keyboard easier. After I finished setting all the stickers up, I discovered the key marked as Middle C in the middle, was actually a C sharp, with the keyboard tuned down a half step... so I had to tear off, reset the tuning, and replace 200 stickers, then relearn everything Id been practicing 1/2 a step down.
Since I am not good at standard piano layout, the Janko pattern resonates with me. The Wholetone Revolution is really a Korg N5EX with a Janko/Muto keybed that has keys that don't shed their keycaps. It also has the full 88 key range crammed into the space of the original 61 standard keys, and the channel aftertouch works same as the standard N5EX.
I also got a CT-312 off an auction site, and it has non working velocity on about 25 keys in the middle, so I gotta tear it down and check the contact boards. The CT-312 is a 76 key equivalent in a 61 key bed space, so the keys are larger than the wholetone revolution.
Finally, I'm working on building a keytar using the keystep 3d print files that were shown in the video. That set actually replaces the whole key, and allows you to change the keycap angles with secondary print files others have added. Compared to the 3D prints you just set on top of, or glue to an existing keyboard, its excellent.
Have you tried any of those microtonal hex grid looking midi keyboards. They seem pretty cool, I’ve seen some people do some really beautiful microtonal performances on them.
This worth it for the metronome alone!
I love the idea of the janko keyboard but like yourself I'm not sure how well it works in practice, certainly without any visually identifiable black and white keys to give a sense of familiarity to new adopters
Today was the solar eclipse and I drove my car out to the country where there's a hill that over looks all the land and I was listening to a classic flashbulb track 'Burning the black and white' when the sky went dark. It was magical ❤ couldn't have picked a better track!
That metronome is the stuff of dystopian nightmares
It would be really cool to hear you talk a little about microtonal music though. It's a lovely vast scape of musical opportunity that only so many have explored! Just thought I'd mention!
I have a C-Thru Axis-49 midi controller with a harmonic table hex layout... and it's pretty nice. The 3 axes change pitch by 3, 4, and 7 semitones. However, it's not perfect, and sometimes I'd prefer to rotate it 90 degrees and set up the axes for 1, 3, and 4 semitones instead of 3, 4, and 7. But still, it's a super fun and intuitive way to play.
Isnt that Exquis layout?
i like the metronome :)
"Hey these things exist" is an underrated UA-cam video format.
i believe that apart from the janko keyboard, this is based on some of the older MEDELI arranger keyboards. Buttons, layout, built in sounds and arranger look familiar, but i can't tell the exact model. I think the sounds may be based on Yamaha XG sound module. It's funny that the keybed itself is unique, but everything else is typical consumer 2000s home keyboard.
My brain is on high alert for April 1, this immediately felt like an April Fools video but I really can’t tell 😂
That’s what I came here to say after sleeping on it.
So essentially the creator took the principle of the guitar and applied it to the piano... that's pretty cool! I might want to consider this as coming from the guitar, the piano layout always gives me the fits (why can't I just slide this chord shape around like I do on the fretboard?! ;). Thanks for the video.
5:48 bit makes me think of Sam & Max Hit The Road, made me so happy.
I own a Jankó grand piano made by Blüthner. The Chromatone is technically not really a Janko, it’s really a Rapian keyboard.