DK01 Keyboard

File Loading

The Keyboard will appear in the space below once the sounds have been downloaded into your computer.

Instructions for Playing

Use your mouse pointer to click on the controls and keys on the instrument. Clicking on the HowesComms logo will take you to another page on this website, so avoid doing this for the moment. If you release the mouse button while it is over a key, the note will stop immediately. If, having clicked the key, you drag the pointer off the key before releasing the button, the note will continue and stop of its own accord. Using a combination of clicking and releasing on a key with clicking and releasing outside the key, you can play more than one note at a time. Give it a try - some skill is required for best results!

If you are in an office with several computers, you could get a band together for a jam session!

Performance Issues

Because this instrument is modelled in software, all the processing for which is done on the client computer, the performance may vary from machine to machine and also with whatever other software is currently running. The rhythm sounds should loop without any break in the beat and the notes should sound without undue delay when clicked. If not, then try quitting all other applications on the machine and reloading the keyboard. On a Mac, turning virtual memory off can help.

Technical

To keep the file sizes small, the sounds are in low bandwidth MP3 format. The orchestra and bass sounds are a mix of sampled and synthesised sounds, the guitar is a Gibson Les Paul Standard run through a digital effects processor. All samples were edited in 'Logic' on a G4 Mac.