Comment by mkl | Hacker News Reader

Comment by mkl | Hacker News Reader

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The Janko layout does this and has been around since the 1800s: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janko_keyboard

I have one, in the form of a Chromatone keyboard (https://chromatone.jp/chromatone/index.html, no longer available). The uniformity does make it harder to play by touch, but it otherwise has a lot of advantages. I have been experimenting with different colours and tactile markers (little rubber feet intended to stick on the bottom of things) but I haven't settled on anything yet.

I have commented on this a few times before: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...

Others have too, and jacquesm has even built a Janko keyboard retrofit.

This is really interesting, thank you for sharing! I wonder if it would have been more successful if it had just two rows instead. The duplicate rows add more power, but at the cost of adding ambiguity when sightreading, as you have to impromptu figure out what fingering you want to use. And it also makes it more expensive and intimidating looking. I feel like two rows would provide the core benefits while being more accessible. But I could be totally off, as I've never touched this thing.

The more compact nature of the layout means you pretty much need more than 2 rows, or fingering some things seems to become very difficult. It feels like your fingers get tangled more easily if you stick to two rows (which you do at first, out of habit). I don't think it adds much to the cost (the different places to play the same note are all on the same physical lever), but it certainly makes it look intimidating, and the "playing by touch" issue is unsolved AFAIK.

I think the physical size of pianos is why the first decent design "won"; you don't take your own piano to where you're playing, you play whatever's there. In the electronic age there's a chance for Janko to take off, as that's not universally true any more, but I'm not holding my breath.

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