From bw@ashbysolutions.com Thu Aug 25 04:43:52 2016
Subject:Re: Hammond XK-5 and 3 Contacts

Hi All,

Some thoughts about the new XK-5 keyboard.

* Digital keyboards use two contacts to measure the time it takes to
trigger a key, converting that to velocity. A piano isn't a purely
velocity-driven instrument, though; force and key travel enter into
the calculations, too. Three contacts per key started to show up in
higher-end digital pianos a couple of years ago, pioneered by
Casio. The third contact allows for better simulation of some
playing subtleties. The issue is cost. Developing a new keybed
design from scratch can cost millions of dollars/euro/etc., far more
than can be justified for a niche product like a tonewheel organ.
But once a new design is available, it's not so expensive to modify
it to suit a special need. Korg paid Fatar to modify their piano
keybed into the TP80 for the CX-3 and BX-3, which ultimately
appeared in many clonewheels. Like Korg, H-S is probably leveraging
available technology into their niche product to improve the realism.

* Yes, the other six contacts are 'virtual' ones. I imagine that the
algorithm goes something like this: 1) When the 1st contact trips,
send three DBs; 2) When the 2nd contact trips, send 3-4 more,
delaying them based on the time between the 1st and 2nd contact
trips. 3) When the 3rd contact trips, send the remaining DBs,
delaying them based on the time between the 2nd and 3rd contacts --
might use the 1st-to-3rd time, too. It's not a perfect simulation
of nine contacts, but it does add some of the random feel of a
console Hammond.

* I'm not sure if sending 9 DBs as individual MIDI messages is a good
idea. Organ techniques like slapping and palm glisses can create a
lot of MIDI notes per second (for short bursts), and multiplying the
data by nine could produce more data than the ~1K notes/second that
MIDI can handle. Even if the data doesn't exceed the ability to
send, receiving it might be a problem for some devices. I
occasionally get stuck notes if I enable 4 MIDI channels on my
'lower manual' Kurzweil SP4 and send it to my NE3. Not sure who
drops the messages, but it happens. Of course, USB MIDI has greater
bandwidth, but it limits the term 'MIDI capable.'

Regards,

-BW

Bruce Wahler
Ashby Solutions.com™
bw@ashbysolutions.com
http://music.ashbysolutions.com
978.597.7008

On 8/25/2016 6:08 AM, Daniel Forró danforcz@yahoo.com [CloneWheel] wrote: