[sdiy] difference between computer keyboard and musical keyboard?

[J. Larry Hendry]

Funny enough, Commodore was big on promoting it's musical synth
possibilities when they were "the thing."  There was a lot of musical
software written to use the C-64 as a playable musical instrument via a
couple of different methods.  One was an actual keyboard mechanism that
plugged into the keyboard joystick port.  The other was a rather cheap, but
functional, keyboard overlay that went right on top of the computer keys.
It was designed to depress certain computer keys below when you pressed
keyboard keys above to allow you to actually play the internal musical
instrument.

So, it appears that there might be a couple of fairly easy methods, both
requiring some software or code writing on your own:

1.  Build the keyboard with its own matrix and read it from one of the 1/0
ports
2.  Make use of the existing matrix with some keyboard keys wired directly
across some of the computer key contacts and handling the assignment in
software.

So, it can be done.  It would certainly be easiest if someone still had some
of that musical software left laying around.

Larry Hendry


----- Original Message -----
From: Herbert Garonfolo <Herbert at web-developer.dk>
To: <synth-diy at node12b53.a2000.nl>
Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2001 5:00 AM
Subject: [sdiy] difference between computer keyboard and musical keyboard?


When I open my C64, it looks like one could just wire a musical keyboard
where the computerkeyboard is.. Is this possible?

ps. I've been programming for a long time, but just got into hardware. :O)