Making an expressive microtonal MIDI controller
Talk Track Two
Some time ago, I got into building cigar box guitars. Then I happened to stumble across a video of a guitarist playing a modified guitar with frets positioned differently than the standard, regular spacing of 12-tone equal temperament, which he was able to use to great musical effect. Thus introduced to a more precise tuning system known as just intonation, I began experimenting with microtonal guitars.
Guitars pose a dilemma, though — just intonation generally requires a lot more notes than 12 per octave, and with guitars there’s a limit to how close notes can get to each other. I also liked playing piano, which isn’t really easily amenable to more than 12 notes per octave.
Thus began my project to build a just intonation keyboard. My original prototype, built about 10 years ago, functioned tolerably well but was not particularly reliable and required a lot of calibration.
More recently, I revived the project by designing proper PCBs in Kicad, having them manufactured and assembled, making a more friendly and configurable user interface, and finding ways to work with more synthesizers.