In 1882, Paul von Jankó invented a keyboard where any pattern can be fingered in the same way in every key, There are 88 key levers just like a normal piano, but each key lever has three key tops. The keys are arranged in two rows of whole tone scales offset by a semitone. They were produced by over 50 manufacturers. There was a Paul von Jankó Conservatory in New York dedicated to teaching it. Franz Liszt said of it "This invention will have replaced the present piano keyboard in fifty years' time!". Arthur Rubinstein said "If I were to begin my career anew it would be on this keyboard". Many experts and music educators of the time thought that the dominance of "the new keyboard" was an inevitability. An 1889 book stated "the victory over the old keyboard is now merely a question of time". But by 1920, they had all but vanished. The traditional keyboard just had too much inertia to overcome.
I notice she depresses the keys with her forearms, more than just her fingers. I wonder what the resistence of these keys feels like. And what kind of leverage do those short keys have?
@@andybaldman It clearly wasn't obvious what exactly you meant, for three reasons: 1: "Key" means multiple things, so it's not always clear which is meant, which you experienced with the uploader. 2: Because it's fairly common for people to mistake Janko keyboards as having more notes than a typical piano. 3: Further, the wording of your comment is grammatically correct when interpreted in a way you didn't mean, and not grammatically correct with respect to your intended meaning. So it's really easy for your comment to be misconstrued as a joke about the keyboard being microtonal or something.
Haha, its so wonderfully mind boggling to hear a piano sound of what on a traditionally piano would be a relativiely broad chord that you would have to play with two hands and on the same time just see you play those voicings with one hand and cassualy hear you say “that was a diminished 12th” 😳😅😂 On a side note wouldn’t you be able to play open drop-chords by playing vertically as well as horizontal? Like playing on a higher “manual” and literally dropping it vertically down to a lower manual like on an organ where the lower manual could be made an octave lower with organ stops or on a guitar where you could choose to go down by dropping down to the next string rather than going down the same string. If that is the case I would love to hear your thoughts on what you think is the pros and cons of going up/down by playing either horizontal or vertical.
On a Jankó keyboard, there's no change in pitch by going vertically. There's only one manual. This keyboard has 88 keys like a normal piano, but each key lever has three surfaces that appear on alternate ranks, that move as one. You can see as I play lower keys, that the upper keys press down as well. This is because they are the same lever and hit the same string. Rows are whole tone scales, and alternate rows are one semitone apart, but rows are duplicated 3 times, making 6 ranks. This is to give choices in fingering and allow room for the thumb to pass under.
But how do you do a glissando on the white keys? Do you know how many classical pieces (such as Waldstein, for example, a really important piece in the literature) incorporate glissandos on the white keys?
You're putting the cart before the horse. The only reason glissandos are primarily done on the white keys is because that's the easiest way to approximate a real glissando using a standard piano keyboard. The easiest way to approximate a true glissando depends on what note configuration is chosen. On the Janko, a whole-tone glissando is easiest, and so that is what would be used.
@@Discrimination_is_not_a_right You're ignoring your misconception about gliassandos by basically just going "no" without a real explanation. Your belief is based on emotional attachment rather than logic.
@@Persun_McPersonson My assessment, not to be confused with belief, comes from having played the piece. There is no way on a Janko keyboard, with it's current set up, to play those octave glissandi in the key of C Major, whose sound Beethoven heavily leans on to set the euphoric mood of the recurring theme.
@@Discrimination_is_not_a_right If someone matter-of-factly makes an assessment meant to explain their line of reasoning, then that most likely means they believe their assessment. In most cases that a keyboard glissando appears, its only purpose is to be an approximation of a real glissando, thus the difference in exact notes is irrelevant. In the few pieces that do incorporate the melody of the piece and the scale structure of a diatonic glissando together, I'd wager it would be permissible in many cases to substitute it with a whole-tone one, depending on the level of strictness required (which isn't absolute; most people are fine with pieces written in a non-12-TET tuning to be played in 12-TET, for example). Still, even if the specific notes being used in the glissando are seen as pivotal to the piece's character and flow, a skilled pianist accustomed to the Janko layout would be able to play a diatonic glissando just like they would any other quick melody - in fact, they would be able to play it in every key using the same fingering, unlike the traditional Halberstadt layout which has a different pattern to master for each of them, leading to key dependence. You might ask, "Why not just play it in the key it was written in?" but the key it was written in is a reflection of the traditional layout's key-dependent limitations and compromises, a limitation in flexibility. If the standard keyboard's keys all corresponded to different notes, like the white keys comprising what we'd conventionally refer to as D♭ major rather than C major, then the piece would have been written in D♭ major instead. Overall, a multi-row whole-tone piano layout adds much more flexibility and ease of use than it takes away, with the type of criticism of these layouts that you're leaning into pointing to very niche cases that don't detract from the overall benefit of them. Given the traditional layout requires design-consequential workarounds when playing it in the first place, and there inevitably being plenty of things you can do on Janko-like layouts that you can't on a traditional layout, cherry-picking in this way is silly.
Virtuosos are taught on the traditional layout as children and the Janko layout is fairly obscure, so it's going to be hard to find anyone like that attempting such and thing and then recording it with a decent microphone. but as for your question, anyone who has reached that level of virtuosity is going to be able to adapt to a Janko and do it justice, that is just the nature of being incredibly skilled.
Perhaps you can figure out which fingering is being used in which row. - Here's a video in which I reduced the video's speed: app.box.com/s/l43a5jk8r5y4w234dcjf2v9len8r843b Please mark the fingers in this matrix: app.box.com/s/4yi296l17m21fz0naxiio14nx78n25d8 Thanking you, Joh
@@jankopiano577 Thank you for the reply. Yes, it looks like it. - The problem is F# uses only 2 rows for fingering but in this Janko Demo 3 rows being used. Perhaps you can figure out which fingering is being used in which row. - Here's a video in which I reduced the video's speed: app.box.com/s/l43a5jk8r5y4w234dcjf2v9len8r843b Please mark the fingers in this matrix: app.box.com/s/4yi296l17m21fz0naxiio14nx78n25d8
That's only because you're used to traditional western ideas of harmony. Once you're used to the dissonance of these scales, it gives off an interesting effect.
Are there big differences playing on the sixth row in comparison to the 4th ? Because you would think repetitions are easier with this fingering: 31313131 etc. on 6th-4th-6th-4th...etc. To use the same surface reminds of what you would do on the normal piano keys.
Most people are extremely attached to the 7/5 keyboard. They confuse adding a layer of artistic richness/complexity with "muddying the water to make it seem deep" through an unintuitive and inefficient design.
while I really love janko keyboards and have learned to use use I would still be a little more open minded about the 7/5.While I can also agree that it is an insufficient design that fails to represent equal temperament well and skews everything to they key of C,but I still wouldn't throw it completely out of the window
funny enough,I actually invented a keyboard layout that is a cross between janko and 7/5 that any normal keyboardist could understand and adapt to but also have the distinct advantages of easy transposition of the janko system
@@vrai3078 Adapting to the Janko from the Halberstadt is already really easy; in fact, the more experience you have with a typical keyboard layout, the more easy it will be, believe it or not, due to just how intuitive the Janko is once you get used to it (which won't take as much time as some might initially think). And since the Janko layout is better in pretty much every way, I don't see why ditching it for the most part would be bad. The Halberstadt was made with little thought in regards for ease of use and ergonomics, neither for intuitiveness (basically the musical equivalent to the QWERTY keyboard), while the Janko was made specifically for those very reasons. It's no contest. The Terpstra keyboard is _kind of_ an in-between, with both a Janko-like and Halberstadt-like fingerings being possible, but the main draw with that key layout is the freedom to use any tuning or note layout you want and have it be intuitive to play. To elaborate on the "note layout vs. key layout" thing, even if I just stick to 12-TET, I could use a Janko-like layout, or I could opt to use a button accordion layout, or even the harmonic table layout. Same hexagonal key pattern, just a different mapping. I love the versatility of it, but the masses would definitely have an easier time digesting the Janko layout, and I also like that the doubled keys move with each other. Depends on if I wanna use 12-TET or experiment that day.
@@Persun_McPersonson what I'm just saying is that there will be a stigma for janko and terpstra keyboards for a long time and integration is going to take a while aswell ,you won't see concert pianists playing these anytime soon (even thought they should) but even then if the terpstra keyboard is an "inbetween" of janko think of my keyboard as more the inbetween of janko where it is closer related to 7-5 and uses normal 7-5 style keys where as janko is more closely related to terpetra because of its generalized keyboard style and contruction within a grid unlike a linear 7-5 piano.Once again I want to clarify that we should have equal apreciation for both systems,we don't have to simply forget one and replace it ,It's nice when different systems co-exist together kinda like accordions where there are many established keyboard layouts like,1,2,3,and even 4 diatonic row accordions chromatic accordions in B and C systems and then even regional variations that are slightly differed like how russion b system is sometimes different to the american standard b system accordion, 7-5 keyboard accordions ,I've even seen a few janko accordions before ,so there are around 5 to 6 main kinds of accordion layouts that exist within different cultures and are considered legit yet no one is really saying thst we should use this new better ergonomically based system for them and whereas the piano really only has one layout that is widely used.Pianos should be the same but I think the reason people are so touchy about it is because the concert piano is supposed to be a "sophisticated" and "highclass" to some people at least and being how western culture wants to just boil everything down to one system and undermines diveristy is very old fashioned.As a composer I look for new things all the and its just nice to have them together ,the more different the more interesting,so if new systems should crop up they shouldn't be made with the intention of replacing a system, they should be made with a new idea in mind or some different paradym that people could discover but also use to apreciate past systems that might still be in use ,so a system might be flawed but that doesn't make it useless or nessesarily better than another system, I can tell your a hard core "terpsta-ist" though remember to be open.
@@vrai3078 Your layout uses the usual keys, but orders them differently? That exists too, it's called the uniform keyboard-and while it doesn't have the ergonomics of the Janko, it does have less fingerings to learn per key, at only two instead of twelve. (The Janko layout only has one fingering per scale pattern, though. *;)* ) And the sharps and flats are still black like on a Janko, so you won't get as confused. Different layouts co-existing makes sense when each of the layouts are intuitive and have their own advantages, but the 7-5 has no real merit other than being widespread. The fact that the only accordion layout that isn't isomorphic is the Halberstadt layout, and that that layout only started getting used because people were intimidated about learning a new layout, says all you need to know. The Halberstadt is objectively worse-from both a design and a learning-curve perspective-than any other key layout that's been conceived since, so it makes sense to completely ditch that one and replace it with literally all the other layouts that are proven better. I agree that these alternative layouts will take quite a while, still, to be accepted, but that doesn't really have anything to do with their value. Conversely, the resistance people have in ditching the Halberstadt layout also has nothing to do with its value. I'm not a hard-core "Terpstra-ist," I simply said I liked the advantages it gave, and even also said that I'd only really care to use it when I want to use a different tuning system, since that's what the layout really exists for. Continuing to give the Halberstadt the benefit of the doubt is no different than defending the Americans' decision to halt the switch over from the imperial system of measurement to the metric system in their country. I'm an American, and even I know that was stupid and that we should have switched no matter what the stubborn mules afraid of any change, even if good, said about it. The metric system is better in every way and nearly everyone switched to it because they recognized that the imperial system is useless in comparison. Just like how the imperial system technically works but is worse to where you shouldn't even bother with it, so is the Halberstadt layout. My goal isn't to undermine diversity, but chastise a lack of progress and the stubborn act of holding onto something that's _objectively_ worse at achieving its end goal. I'm open to alternatives (which should be evident by the fact I enjoy several alternative key layouts in the first place), but only if they're actually good and can hold their own when compared to their rivals.
@@appo038 Pianos in general are very complex instruments, so that's not really the issue. People just didn't wanna learn a new layout, even if it would be worth it in the end. This is an ongoing trend with humans.
it's slightly simpler than a chromatic accordion layout (which are actually three different variants depending on the manufacturer because there's still not a standard)
the tuning is not the same. horizontal rows are all in whole steps and vertical rows go up and down chromatically ,whereas the chromatic accordion is minors thirds in all horizontal rows(depending on C or B system)and chromatic steps vertically
Just different settings of camera rotations relative to the monitor, zoom and color controls. These interact with the transfer functions of the camera sensor and the screen phosphors over which there is no control. There is a mirror at a near right angle to the screen which produces the tesselated patterns.
I play the Janko keyboard every day. I've never put the traditional keyboard into it. I do have an upright piano with a traditional keyboard, if I want to play that. However, I've stopped playing the traditional piano since I prefer the Janko by far. Probably will sell the upright at some point.
@@marcrg529 For a real piano, you'd need to talk to someone about a custom build. Blüthner made mine. www.bluethnerworld.com . There's also Reinert www.reinert.eu For a MIDI keyboard, there is chromatone.jp . Not sure if those are still available.
Your videos showed up in my feed because of my interest in odd musical things like microtonal tunings and alternative keyboard designs. So it was crazy to see that table and think...wait, that looks like something my uncle Brooks did a long time ago. He had a similarly styled table that was in the movie Spy Kids I think.
John Keller he does play the other keyboard as well. Remind me of the same argument, beans provide protein, steak provide protein. I don't think there's any reason for humans to eat steak. One does not eliminate the enjoyment of the other.
@@benbrown8258 I would be more convinced of its usefulness if he played the same piece in a few different keys. But i suspect that he is relying on the black and white colour coding of the keys and this would in fact make him unable to transpose.
@@ExpressStaveNotation One of the main points of the Janko layout is that transposition is easy, so I think that's a weird assumption. Like Ben said, Paul plays the 7-5 aswell. He's played both layouts for decades, so he very likely knows how to transpose.
@@ExpressStaveNotation Now that I think about it, you didn't even read the description, which literally informs anyone that clicks on this video that Paul has been playing the Janko for 40 years. Do you really think anyone could go 40 years without ever being able to figure out that simply moving one's hand to start on another note and then using the same exact fingering results in the same piece transposed? The insinuation that Janko enthusiasts are simply too lazy to learn how to play music is just incorrect and incredibly disrespectful.
@@Persun_McPersonson Sorry, I realise now my posts do sound rather blunt. I actually admire Paul a lot and enjoyed his playing. But I did ask him about transposing pieces on his recently developed Daskin keyboard, which has textured key surfaces to enable tactile feedback as well as the colour coding for visual identification. I am fairly sure he agreed that once a set piece is learnt in a key, it is not easy to transpose. Even though the finger patterns are the same in other keys, the visual and tactile feedback is different. I have invented an alternative notation system (Express Stave) and I own a Chromatone! So I'm not just a reactionary against Janko. I just dont think the 7/5 keyboard is so bad! Fingering is pretty consistent - use 123 as you go past the 2 black keys ("I and J") and 1234 for the 3s ("KLH") - whether or not you use them. And no decisions about which rank to choose.
The mirror was laid nearly horizontally and nearly perpendicular to the screen, but these were adjusted slightly in the process. By rotating the camera relative to the screen and mirror, symmetry could be changed from 3 to 4 to 5 fold and everything between and beyond.
