From bruce@ashbysolutions.com Thu Feb 20 12:34:28 2003
Subject:Re: midi controllers with waterfall keys?

Hi Tony,

>As for the manufacturing issues: I find it illogical
>that Fatar would make a different "tinted" keyboard
>for Clavia than Korg if they wouldn't manufacture a
>different bed. And frankly, retooling costs aside,
>when you get down to it the customer gets what they
>want, if they're willing to pay for it. In this case,
>Clavia is the customer, and it would seem that they
>have managed to produce an instrument UNLIKE the CX or
>VK or XK not only in appearance and sound, but
>definitely in feel as well. And lets face it: the
>Nord has different requirements of its keyboard
>(really encouraging the use of "piano" playing) that
>the others do not.

I'm respectfully have to disagree with your line of reasoning. A color change -- especially a subtle one -- is a ridiculously simple thing to do, compared to other changes. A new keybed is probably a $1-1.5M (US) undertaking, counting the plastic tooling, testing, and manufacturing. A manufacturer has to test the design to make sure the keys all trigger at about the same rate, and that they will continue to do so over the life of the keyboard. This involves making sure that the plastic keys all come out of the mold at about the same size, that the keyboard frame is stiff enough that it doesn't flex or warp, and that the switch assembly triggers evenly, etc. -- and that all of these things don't result in a keyboard that costs a thousand dollars to make. It's a big job. How many Electros AND BX-3's/CX-3's can they sell in a couple of years? Enough to justify $1.5M development costs to each company? I doubt it.

If there is a difference in feeling between a CX-3 V2 (V1 doesn't count) and an Electro-61, it could be accomplished either a) by adding extra counterweights or stiffer springs; or b) through the way the software interprets the velocity information that the keyboard sends back. I've seen a small adjustment in velocity curves completely change the character of the instrument; if you have a synth that allows different velocity curves, try it and see what I mean. Other unintentional differences like case material could also account for differences.

Regards,

-BW

--
Bruce Wahler
Ashby Solutions™ http://music.ashbysolutions.com
978.386.7389 voice/fax
bruce@ashbysolutions.com