Lumatone 280 key isomorphic keyboard
Exploring the notes between the notes
Lumatone is a 280 key isomorphic keyboard that you can use to play software or hardware instruments. Isomorphic simply means that the patterns of your fingers do not change across the keyboard: once you have formed a certain shape it remains the same no matter where you go, unlike a piano keyboard where a major chord involves different combinations of white and black keys.
Standard music only has 12 notes per octave. This instrument could conceivably break the octave into 280 parts! But that’s really small. Even if you multiplied the number of notes “between” each of the keys on a piano by 4, giving you 48 notes per octave, you would still be able to play almost 6 octaves, which is the most used range in music anyway.
For those curious about how sounds resonate with each other and create harshness and smoothness – known as temperament – the video below is in a tuning where the sounds are smooth and relaxing, in a temperament called 31-tone equal temperament.
Without going into great detail, I encourage you to explore further at their web site:
Here is a short improvisation I did in memory of the ambient composer Harold Budd: