Monday, September 20, 2010

I needed to make a stand for my keyboards in order to accomodate a 30 key pedalboard. I have read on the Hauptwerk forum of members using a computer table from Ikea named Galant. I went to the Southampton Ikea and found out that one can purchase just the steel frame and adjustable legs for £40. This is what I bought. However when I got it back to my workshop it looked massive. I needed to achieve 125 cm clearance between the legs so I removed 14cm from the frame and MIG welded it back together.


Here is the finished fame complete with a quick coat of Hammerite.



First mockup in the workshop. The keystack has a prototype music stand in the picture below.  The most important thing about this modification is the resultant stand fits in the back of a Ford Focus.  The top is  50cm composite pine board from B&Q. 



The finished item. Quite pleased with the result. Just need the pedalboard.


Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Pistons!

X-Keys Stick works brilliantly but... It was a real pain to fit and I'm still not completely happy with its position. Also the buttons are too close together and the feel is so light that it is easy to press a piston by accident! Better for gaming than a virtual organ!


So the plan is to use momentary push switches from Miyama Miyama DS-412. These seem to be the correct dimensions and can be obtained very cheaply. In the UK you can get them from Mouser Electronics.



I plan to use an mpc32xrs MIDI controller from MIDI Boutique to scan the switches and send note-on / note-off messages to Hauptwerk.

I plan to use the following layout, 10 generals, 6 divisionals, pedal coupler and clear and set on the great. Thats 25 switches.

Swell       1 2 3 4 5     SW/PED   123456
Great   S   6 7 8 9 10    GR/PED   123456   C



Sunday, September 05, 2010

It had to be done, I bought another keyboard. I now have a 2 manual stack that conforms to the AGO 2.5" and 4.25" keyboard spacing. Below is the new case for the great keyboard. I wanted both keyboard cheeks to be the same height. So I made them both 2.5" in order to get the correct vertical spacing. Unfortunately this meant that the ply boards that support the keybeds are no longer flush with the bottom of the cheeks.  If I did it again, I'd make the keybed supports from 10mm ply.


Another thing I'd do differently, the X-Keys. Not that they don't work well, as the do. It's just their dimensions make it quite difficult to incorporate without encroaching on the lower keyboard. Discrete piston switches are the way to go.
I have also invested in a 15" touch screen monitor.



Next jobs, finish the wiring, a coat of varnish and get a pedal board.