[sdiy] Reed Switch and Magnet Keyboard

[Michael Boracci]

Did we not discuss this topic a few months ago ?

I was telling Mr. Wilson about Meder electronics. ( http://www.meder.com )
They have dual reeds, and SMD reeds. most likely not cheap, but very good.
One of the local reps met with me to discuss which ones would be good for
keyboards. He mentioned that Meder sells to Rodgers organ. Allen also uses
reeds. I saw the system on display at the Allen organ store in Mineola.

I have a few dozen of the doughnut magnets. They only seem to work when they
are surrounding the reed. Not very well otherwise. Got them from a really
old keyboard when I worked for Grumman Systems Support.

The magnets used in magnetic earrings are the best. They are cobalt, or
something and they really work great, but you have to get them wholesale.

I have been trying to get my own controller going for a while. 72 keys and
the reeds must be mounted below the keys on this one. A real pain. It is
much better to use an organ keybed because you can mount the reeds
vertically at the rear of the bed with the magnet on the end of the key.
Easy to mod. even after it is working.

Does anyone have another source for reeds?

Michael





-----Original Message-----
From: owner-synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
[mailto:owner-synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl]On Behalf Of harrybissell
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2003 11:23 PM
To: Tim Parkhurst
Cc: 'Ray Wilson'; Scott Stites; Synth-Diy
Subject: Re: [sdiy] Reed Switch and Magnet Keyboard


(if I could find them I'd use) Tiny horseshoe magnets, with the reed switch
located across the gap.  As the magnet approaches the switch, the flux will
be concentrated through the switch vanes and tend NOT to leak to the
adjacent switches.  Might be harder to install

H^) harry

Tim Parkhurst wrote:

> You might get a little extra 'breathing room' between the adjacent
> magnets/switches by offsetting every other magnet and switch assy. In
other
> words, on one key the magnet and switch sits fairly close to the pivot
> point; on the next key, the magnet and switch sit fairly far away from the
> pivot point. One problem I see with this approach is that the switches
> sitting close to the pivot point will tend to close slightly earlier than
> the switches sitting further away. This might be such a minor timing
> difference as to be unnoticeable, but (if needed) you might be able to
> compensate by putting shims under the switches that sit further from the
> pivot. This would raise them up slightly so that they would close earlier.
>
> Tim Servo
> "Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Ray Wilson [mailto:raywilson at comcast.net]
> > Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2003 5:11 AM
> > To: Scott Stites
> > Cc: Synth-Diy
> > Subject: [sdiy] Reed Switch and Magnet Keyboard
> >
> > Hi Scott (and list)
> >
> > You mentioned that you had made a keyboard using reed switches and
> magnets.
> > I want to outfit a set of piano keys in this manner and am interested to
> > know how you kept adjacent key switches from being activated together. I
> > have a source for some nice inexpensive reed switches and magnets of
> various
> > sizes and would appreciate your suggestions (and anyone elses who wants
to
> > chime in).
> >
> > Thanks
>
>
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