MOTM

Yikes!  I stand corrected, my memory was totally off on this one.  
It's not the kord ribbon i'm describing, I'm actually describing a 
shorter kurzweil ribbon, I think.  Korg ribbons are essentially 
smooth.  Sorry!

--- In motm@y..., Adam Schabtach <adam@s...> wrote:
>  
> > the korg stuff has a similar approach, but instead of having the
> > plastic be propped up, the wire seems to be more obviously 
embedded
> > in the plastic, there's a ridge along it.
> 
> Just curious: which "Korg stuff" are you referring to? I have a Korg
> Prophecy, and its ribbon has no obvious ridge.
> 
> I have seen an Expression Mate, but only briefly and unfortunately 
I didn't
> consider the potential for hacking it for CV applications at the 
time.
> 
> > Although it's probably
> > just cosmetic, the idea of deforming plastic to push a wire into a
> > ridge underneath is a good one, I think.
> 
> I think so, too, for reasons of durability if nothing else. Seems 
like a
> wire would be more resilient to being deformed than the resistive 
plastic.
> 
> Many years ago, I remember playing with a friend's family's home 
organ--you
> know, those 1970s-era things with the cheezy preset rhythm machines 
and
> stuff. It had a ribbon controller thing that had a velvet-like 
cloth cover,
> and as I recall a very positive on-off sort of feel to its action. 
I wonder
> how it was built.
> 
> Since I'm typing this on a PowerBook, I'm suddenly curious about how
> trackpads work. I think that they're capacitive rather than 
resistive,
> though--they get all confused if your fingers are damp.
> 
> --Adam