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I watched this, it's a fun video. Turns out an isomorphic piano is one where the gap between every key of the same type (white and black on a regular piano, but
by scrumper 1y ago
I watched this, it's a fun video. Turns out an isomorphic piano is one where the gap between every key of the same type (white and black on a regular piano, but here "raised" and "lower", or "fat" and "skinny" or pick your own names) is a tone. There's a skinny raised key between every lower fat key. Chords are always the same shape in every key, but I'm not convinced that's much of an advantage. It looks hard to play, but the video host makes a good go of it.
- Oarch 1y agoLike decimal time, this ~might be a decent idea but it's simultaneously brain breaking.
- rwmj 1y agoI think trying to make an isomorphic <existing instrument> is a bit of a dead end. What has worked better is synthesizers like the Synthstrom Deluge which have isomorphic keyboards built from the ground up.
- lambdaone 1y agoIt would be interesting to hear from anyone who has played both a linear isomorphic keyboard like this, and two-dimensional isomorphic keyboards e.g. the Lumatone keyboards
- hrnnnnnn 1y agoI haven't played a linear isomorphic keyboard, but I do play guitar with an isomorphic tuning (EADGCF) and I have an Intuitive Instruments Exquis, which is a hex-grid. I feel like melody makes more sense linearly but harmony makes more sense in 2D. https://dualo.com/en/exquis/ https://dualo.com/en/exquis/
- rwmj 1y agoI've played a lot of the Deluge, and find it very intuitive. Of course you need to remember a small number of chord shapes - realistically probably only 4 or so - but those can then be moved anywhere around the keyboard. (For context I can also play piano and standard tuned guitar).
- maxdamantus 1y agoI feel like the main thing there is whether you can get people to actually adopt your new instrument. My feeling is that isomorphic instruments are ultimately superior, but the set of instruments used by professional musicians is pretty much fixed at this point (at least "classical" ones, because classical supposedly implies existing traditions). A recent example (recent as in 1850s) of an "isomorphic <existing instrument>" would be a chromatic button accordion, eg here (specifically a bayan in this video): https://youtube.com/watch?v=eDFFUIGoBUc https://youtube.com/watch?v=eDFFUIGoBUc I feel like the callibre of music played on CBAs is much higher than on diatonic- or piano-accordions. I kind of wish an isomorphic version of a piano had become the main form of that instrument somewhere in the world (as the bayan did for accordions in Russia), since I feel like it might have similarly improved on what music is playable. On a related note (hehehe), I posted this comment recently about my own use of the isomorphic layout used on bayans (including a video) .. though I'm not a trained musician: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44309109 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44309109
- JKCalhoun 1y agoGuitarists use non-standard tunings all the time. "Drop D" tuning is quite popular, for example (granted, Drop D changes the tuning of only one string of the guitar — but I'm sure there are other more elaborate tunings that some favor).
- adzm 1y agoI personally play primarily in DADGAD tuning, and I am very fond of several more esoteric tunings as well which I first learned from Nick Drake: CGCFCE, BEBEBE, though these usually need heavier strings for the lower notes to work well.
- Blackthorn 1y agoFor anyone reading this wondering "why do this" -- take a listen to some songs by Patty Griffin. Nobody's Crying is played on guitar in DADDAD tuning which is used to provide a drone DAD notes below the changing chord.