From bruce@ashbysolutions.com Thu Aug 26 04:54:52 2010
Subject:Re: Keybeds [Was: Epoch]

I did a similar study for Hamtech years ago. Yes, different keybed
manufacturers apparently used different 'reference' pianos or organs for
developing their keys. The worst, IMHO, were the Japanese synths from
the late '80s/early '90s: I don't remember which keyboard was which any
more, but I remember that one of my synths was actually smaller by
almost a key width over the stretch of 61 keys, compared to my CX-3's
Fatar keybed.

For better or worse, most clones today use the same Fatar waterfall
keybed, so they tend to be uniform. I've never actually compared a
Fatar key to a Hammond key, but I suspect that the dimensions are close,
because Korg drove the development of that keybed specifically for the BX-3.

As far as cloning the early Hammond keybed, that's a tall order. As
others have mentioned, the keys were quite a bit longer, with a fulcrum
set way back. It's tough to mimic that well in the much shorter keys of
a modern clone. Piano keybeds have similar issues, but it's actually
*easier* to solve those issues, because the keybed is expected to
provide a certain level of inertia. In the case of a Hammond Organ, the
keys had both a long stroke and very little weight -- pretty much the
description of an ideal key.

Regards,

-BW

Bruce Wahler
Ashby Solutions.com^(TM)
bruce@ashbysolutions.com
http://music.ashbysolutions.com
877.55.ASHBY (877.552.7429)

On 8/26/2010 7:30 AM, Chuck wrote:
> The keys on my Motif 7 are very slightly thinner than the C2 or my Hammond.