7 ms·

I play the lumatone (https://www.lumatone.io/ https://www.lumatone.io/) which is very similar. I personally love it, especially as I like to do a lot of improv

I play the lumatone (https://www.lumatone.io/ https://www.lumatone.io/) which is very similar. I personally love it, especially as I like to do a lot of improv in various tunings, and the layout makes transposing and thinking about structure so much easier than a traditional keyboard. The terpstra seems similar, not sure what their selling point is over the lumatone. Edit: oh, it seems that the lumatone is the commercialized version essentially. Great hardware, can reccomend!

nh2 11d ago
> oh, it seems that the lumatone is the commercialized version essentially From the same makers or others? On the website I can find no info whether this project is concluded or not.
gcanyon 12d ago
Any idea why something like this costs $5,000? It seems like manufacturing costs would justify 1/10th of that maybe? Disclaimer: I'm not a hardware manufacturer nor retailer, I'm just going off what regular typing keyboards go for.
- fxwin 12d ago
  > I'm just going off what regular typing keyboards go for. Are there any regular typing keyboards with velocity sensitive keys? I genuinely don't know, it's just the first thing I'd compare this to
  - gcanyon 12d ago
    Yeah, velocity definitely jumped out at me as a difference, but it seems(?) like being velocity-sensitive could 2x the cost, maybe even 3x, but not 10x ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I'm absolutely not calling it over-priced, just puzzled.
    - ianthehenry 12d ago
      Well the only moving part in a typing keyboards is a mass-produced switch that you slot into a PCB. There are mass-produced hall effect switches that can provide velocity sensitivity, but it's a pretty distant comparison. The keys on a lumatone aren't anything like buttons; they're weighted mechanical arms with significant travel -- much more like a piano key than a keyboard key. And it has 280 of these! The degree of mechanical hardware in this thing makes it seem not really comparable to a PCB with some switches slotted into it. That said! There are people making DIY isomorphic keyboards using hall-effect keyboard switches. None are commercially available right now, but see e.g. the MidiHex at https://gullsonix.co.uk/ https://gullsonix.co.uk/. You could make one for a fraction of the cost of a lumatone -- but of course it would be a very different instrument.
  - swiftcoder 12d ago
    > Are there any regular typing keyboards with velocity sensitive keys? I genuinely don't know Yes, a number of the mechanical keyboards that use Hall effect switches let you access the velocity data. Wooting has an official SDK, and there are community-supported drivers for a number of Keychron boards
- luqtas 12d ago
  > Any idea why something like this costs $5,000? It seems like manufacturing costs would justify 1/10th of that maybe? welcome to Capitalism and Niche Products sir
  - Johanx64 12d ago
    What does it have to do with "Capitalism" per se? If you have a well made, but very niche product that sells in very small volumes it will be expensive. If any of the labour & assembly happens in US that turns it into unavoidable inevitability. If it was cheaper, it would be a loss making hobby. A country without "capitalism" wouldn't make such product for sale to begin with.
    - luqtas 12d ago
      maybe a society which has laws and regulations voted by citizens (anarchy for example) commercial products shouldn't profit over 700% or some absurdity which caps the 5000 usd number... it's not like velocity sensible keys are expensive or overly complex to produce micro-tonal instruments are prevalent in various cultures which weren't flooded by Europe and then North America by hundreds, if not thousands of years ago. it's pretty easy to find examples on countries inside Africa and Asia
      - cwillu 12d ago
        > it's not like velocity sensible keys are expensive or overly complex to produce Oh, my sweet summer child; music instrument keys are mechanically not the same thing as a computer keyboard. There are moving parts involved that need to handle routine forces that easily break a normal computer keyboard. 𝆑𝆑𝆑 calls for your whole arm and torso.
        luqtas 12d ago
        oh yes, this isn't a physical instrument but a MIDI keyboard, not in a thousand worlds you need an arm and a torso for a fortissimo
- swiftcoder 12d ago
  > I'm just going off what regular typing keyboards go for. It's not that long ago that a mechanical keyboard with Hall-effect switches and individually-addressable LEDs would have set you back a couple of grand. The mechanical keyboard scene has exerted really significant downward pressure on the cost of this sort of thing - something that likely doesn't hit the music world due to lower volumes
  - Fnoord 12d ago
    Hall effect by Wooting costs like a few hunderd EUR and have been around for quite some years, and this one with OLED is from 2007, costing 1600 USD (not worth it IMO) [1]. You don't typically look at your keyboard, same with toich bar. I guess there's a niche ie. Stream Deck (also overpriced). Doubt keys last long, given OLED burn-in. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimus_Maximus_keyboard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimus_Maximus_keyboard
- fipar 12d ago
  I’ve only seen videos of this keyboard but never played one. With that disclaimer out of the way, the price is comparable to mid-range clavinova models. The clavinova does have a piano-like body, very very good built in sounds (including binaural for 2 types of piano in mine), and built in speakers, so there’s that. On the other hand, this one says “built to order” while clavinovas are not. All this to say that, while expensive, it does not seem outrageous if the keyboard plays good. This one has after touch too, which makes it more comparable with a synth than a digital piano (though I understand this one is just a controller).
  - viccis 12d ago
    Clavinovas in that range have very intricate internal actions and don't have simple 1 year warranties lol
- Johanx64 12d ago
  Lets presume this thing retails at - very unrealistic low price - of $500. How many people would buy this weird thing per month - even at this low price point? 10? 50? 100? Imagine you're an engineer and your competency is worth $200,000/year. If this retailed at 1/10th - as you suggested - so $500, and lets generously say you make $100usd per unit at this price point. You have to atleast sell ~166 of these "weird" niche things per month, every month, no exceptions to match. And you're probably not a single person, so way more. Can you? And why bother? More importantly, can you even make these things for $400usd when your order quantity is only 166units per month? And this is after spending years(?) in development, and some non negligible amount of cap ex.
- Palomides 12d ago
  if they sell 100 of these per year (which I doubt), with profit of $3000 per unit (which I also doubt), that pays enough to employ like one person (who needs to handle sales, support, marketing, three or four different kinds of engineering, etc.)
  - pfannkuchen 12d ago
    I feel like most projects like this must be run by people who are independently wealthy(ish) already and are in it for the long run? Like if this style took off enough to mass produce they could eventually make a lot of money, but if they keep it niche they are never going to make significant money no matter how much they charge. I could definitely imagine a smaller cheap plasticky version of this being pitched as a more intuitive way for kids to learn piano, maybe that's where they're aiming?
    - LeBit 11d ago
      So, like if Batman was into optimizing musical keyboard layouts instead of whatever he’s doing.
- Blackthorn 12d ago
  Lot of finicky keys with velocity sensitivity and polyphonic after touch.
- cwillu 12d ago
  A tenth of that gets you a basic but solid 88-key Roland FP-10; that's something they will sell a shit ton of and which shares components with several other pianos. It's also worth noting that a piano or piano-like keyboard will be taking _much_ greater impacts than any typist inflicts on a computer keyboard; a music keyboard needs a mechanical action that can properly and rapidly reset the keys, withstanding many rapidly repeated simultaneous heavy strikes.
bryanrasmussen 11d ago
have you ever tried a midi fighter? https://www.midifighter.com/ https://www.midifighter.com/ if so how do they compare? I would expect the midi fighter with less keys would be somehow easier to control and get better results from.
- triclops200 8d ago
  No, but I have the linnstrument and have programmed my akai launchpad as a midi controlled isomorphic layout before, which are both grid layouts in a very similar configuration (though, the linnstrument allows for bends/slides/expressive-playing). I also have a synthstrom deluge which is also essentially the same midi controller as the one you mentioned. I love the linnstrument, but, different vibe. More like a 8-string stringed-instrument than a keyboard. The launchpad/deluge, which are more direct comparisons, are fine, but, I miss the range of a larger instrument. Further, the amount of keys does not affect the ease of control as the layout of the Lumatone is very regular, so, it could be 100x as long and just as easy to control outside of having to jog between the ends of a hypothetical 30 ft long keyboard, lol.

nh2 11d ago

> oh, it seems that the lumatone is the commercialized version essentially From the same makers or others? On the website I can find no info whether this project is concluded or not.

gcanyon 12d ago

Any idea why something like this costs $5,000? It seems like manufacturing costs would justify 1/10th of that maybe? Disclaimer: I'm not a hardware manufacturer nor retailer, I'm just going off what regular typing keyboards go for.

fxwin 12d ago
> I'm just going off what regular typing keyboards go for. Are there any regular typing keyboards with velocity sensitive keys? I genuinely don't know, it's just the first thing I'd compare this to
- gcanyon 12d ago
  Yeah, velocity definitely jumped out at me as a difference, but it seems(?) like being velocity-sensitive could 2x the cost, maybe even 3x, but not 10x ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I'm absolutely not calling it over-priced, just puzzled.
  - ianthehenry 12d ago
    Well the only moving part in a typing keyboards is a mass-produced switch that you slot into a PCB. There are mass-produced hall effect switches that can provide velocity sensitivity, but it's a pretty distant comparison. The keys on a lumatone aren't anything like buttons; they're weighted mechanical arms with significant travel -- much more like a piano key than a keyboard key. And it has 280 of these! The degree of mechanical hardware in this thing makes it seem not really comparable to a PCB with some switches slotted into it. That said! There are people making DIY isomorphic keyboards using hall-effect keyboard switches. None are commercially available right now, but see e.g. the MidiHex at https://gullsonix.co.uk/ https://gullsonix.co.uk/. You could make one for a fraction of the cost of a lumatone -- but of course it would be a very different instrument.
- swiftcoder 12d ago
  > Are there any regular typing keyboards with velocity sensitive keys? I genuinely don't know Yes, a number of the mechanical keyboards that use Hall effect switches let you access the velocity data. Wooting has an official SDK, and there are community-supported drivers for a number of Keychron boards
luqtas 12d ago
> Any idea why something like this costs $5,000? It seems like manufacturing costs would justify 1/10th of that maybe? welcome to Capitalism and Niche Products sir
- Johanx64 12d ago
  What does it have to do with "Capitalism" per se? If you have a well made, but very niche product that sells in very small volumes it will be expensive. If any of the labour & assembly happens in US that turns it into unavoidable inevitability. If it was cheaper, it would be a loss making hobby. A country without "capitalism" wouldn't make such product for sale to begin with.
  - luqtas 12d ago
    maybe a society which has laws and regulations voted by citizens (anarchy for example) commercial products shouldn't profit over 700% or some absurdity which caps the 5000 usd number... it's not like velocity sensible keys are expensive or overly complex to produce micro-tonal instruments are prevalent in various cultures which weren't flooded by Europe and then North America by hundreds, if not thousands of years ago. it's pretty easy to find examples on countries inside Africa and Asia
    - cwillu 12d ago
      > it's not like velocity sensible keys are expensive or overly complex to produce Oh, my sweet summer child; music instrument keys are mechanically not the same thing as a computer keyboard. There are moving parts involved that need to handle routine forces that easily break a normal computer keyboard. 𝆑𝆑𝆑 calls for your whole arm and torso.
      - luqtas 12d ago
        oh yes, this isn't a physical instrument but a MIDI keyboard, not in a thousand worlds you need an arm and a torso for a fortissimo
swiftcoder 12d ago
> I'm just going off what regular typing keyboards go for. It's not that long ago that a mechanical keyboard with Hall-effect switches and individually-addressable LEDs would have set you back a couple of grand. The mechanical keyboard scene has exerted really significant downward pressure on the cost of this sort of thing - something that likely doesn't hit the music world due to lower volumes
- Fnoord 12d ago
  Hall effect by Wooting costs like a few hunderd EUR and have been around for quite some years, and this one with OLED is from 2007, costing 1600 USD (not worth it IMO) [1]. You don't typically look at your keyboard, same with toich bar. I guess there's a niche ie. Stream Deck (also overpriced). Doubt keys last long, given OLED burn-in. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimus_Maximus_keyboard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimus_Maximus_keyboard
fipar 12d ago
I’ve only seen videos of this keyboard but never played one. With that disclaimer out of the way, the price is comparable to mid-range clavinova models. The clavinova does have a piano-like body, very very good built in sounds (including binaural for 2 types of piano in mine), and built in speakers, so there’s that. On the other hand, this one says “built to order” while clavinovas are not. All this to say that, while expensive, it does not seem outrageous if the keyboard plays good. This one has after touch too, which makes it more comparable with a synth than a digital piano (though I understand this one is just a controller).
- viccis 12d ago
  Clavinovas in that range have very intricate internal actions and don't have simple 1 year warranties lol
Johanx64 12d ago
Lets presume this thing retails at - very unrealistic low price - of $500. How many people would buy this weird thing per month - even at this low price point? 10? 50? 100? Imagine you're an engineer and your competency is worth $200,000/year. If this retailed at 1/10th - as you suggested - so $500, and lets generously say you make $100usd per unit at this price point. You have to atleast sell ~166 of these "weird" niche things per month, every month, no exceptions to match. And you're probably not a single person, so way more. Can you? And why bother? More importantly, can you even make these things for $400usd when your order quantity is only 166units per month? And this is after spending years(?) in development, and some non negligible amount of cap ex.
Palomides 12d ago
if they sell 100 of these per year (which I doubt), with profit of $3000 per unit (which I also doubt), that pays enough to employ like one person (who needs to handle sales, support, marketing, three or four different kinds of engineering, etc.)
- pfannkuchen 12d ago
  I feel like most projects like this must be run by people who are independently wealthy(ish) already and are in it for the long run? Like if this style took off enough to mass produce they could eventually make a lot of money, but if they keep it niche they are never going to make significant money no matter how much they charge. I could definitely imagine a smaller cheap plasticky version of this being pitched as a more intuitive way for kids to learn piano, maybe that's where they're aiming?
  - LeBit 11d ago
    So, like if Batman was into optimizing musical keyboard layouts instead of whatever he’s doing.
Blackthorn 12d ago
Lot of finicky keys with velocity sensitivity and polyphonic after touch.
cwillu 12d ago
A tenth of that gets you a basic but solid 88-key Roland FP-10; that's something they will sell a shit ton of and which shares components with several other pianos. It's also worth noting that a piano or piano-like keyboard will be taking _much_ greater impacts than any typist inflicts on a computer keyboard; a music keyboard needs a mechanical action that can properly and rapidly reset the keys, withstanding many rapidly repeated simultaneous heavy strikes.

bryanrasmussen 11d ago

have you ever tried a midi fighter? https://www.midifighter.com/ https://www.midifighter.com/ if so how do they compare? I would expect the midi fighter with less keys would be somehow easier to control and get better results from.

triclops200 8d ago
No, but I have the linnstrument and have programmed my akai launchpad as a midi controlled isomorphic layout before, which are both grid layouts in a very similar configuration (though, the linnstrument allows for bends/slides/expressive-playing). I also have a synthstrom deluge which is also essentially the same midi controller as the one you mentioned. I love the linnstrument, but, different vibe. More like a 8-string stringed-instrument than a keyboard. The launchpad/deluge, which are more direct comparisons, are fine, but, I miss the range of a larger instrument. Further, the amount of keys does not affect the ease of control as the layout of the Lumatone is very regular, so, it could be 100x as long and just as easy to control outside of having to jog between the ends of a hypothetical 30 ft long keyboard, lol.