source file: m1608.txt
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1998 07:59:24 -0600 (CST)

Subject: Re: xen keyboards 2

From: Paul Hahn <Paul-Hahn@library.wustl.edu>

On Fri, 18 Dec 1998, Carl Lumma wrote:
> For those of you not familiar with this, the Janko keyboard, being
> originally designed for acoustic instruments in 12tET, has keys sharing the
> same internal lever and strings (as Manuel explained).  This causes the key
> travel to be longer and easier in the rows nearer to the performer, and
> shorter and harder in the rows farther from him.  I think it can be agreed
> that this is undesirable.  The makers of Janko pianos never solved the
> problem.
> [snip]
> Either way, can anyone come up with a different solution?  It would be
> worth a great deal, I think.  Might even get one in the history books (I
> think we're all already there anyway, but...  :~)

I believe I mentioned Paul Vandervoort on this list a _long_ time
ago--possibly within the first year or so of its existence.  Vandervoort
has made some refinements to the Janko keyboard, one of which is a
parallelogram linkage to equalize the leverage.  I have a citation
somewhere of an article from the '70s about his ideas, but I haven't
found anything since then (though I haven't looked real recently), so I
don't know if he's still active.

--pH <manynote@lib-rary.wustl.edu> http://library.wustl.edu/~manynote
    O
   /\        "'Jever take'n try to give an ironclad leave to
  -\-\-- o    yourself from a three-rail billiard shot?"

             NOTE: dehyphenate node to remove spamblock.          <*>