Keyboard Mechanical Design

[Mike Nichols]

Hello,

I am a musician/EE graduate interested in developing my own synthesizer
equipment.  I've been reading up on analog and digital synthesis, and I
have no problem envisioning the electronic aspect of building my own
keyboard, but I'm at a loss as to what to do about the physical keyboard
(i.e., the keys) itself.  Can you buy a mechanical keyboard, like you can
with computer keyboards or touch tone telephone keypads?  If so, who 
would carry these?  If not, then how do people generally build them (what 
kind of switches should be used, what mechanical parts are necessary, what 
materials should be used, etc...)

Thanks in advance,

Mike Nichols
mrn8395 at unix.tamu.edu