Lumatone: The Next Generation Isomorphic Keyboard

It all started with the vision of Siemen Terpstra in the Netherlands. A new design for a centuries-old idea. 280 Hexagonal keys, locked together in symmetry, rising as the hand travels upwards for maximum playability. Its Isomorphic layout was to enable new ways of thinking about chords and scales and the intervals between notes, offering up an inspiring new kind of instrument for musicians of all disciplines to create with.

It would also give microtonalists and polychromatic composers the ability to properly visualize all of the “notes in between the notes” on tunings beyond the traditional “12-notes-per-octave” ethos.

It would also have to provide maximum programmability in the most simple way, allowing the musician to define the instrument’s tuning, not the other way around.

The design fell into the hands of Industrial Designer Dylan Horvath in Toronto, Canada, who immediately fell in love with the concept, and a passion project was born. Together with the help of fellow enthusiasts Carl Lumma, Garnet Willis, Bo Constantin, Joel Mandelbaum, and Johnny Reinhard, a successful Indiegogo campaign was launched. With the help of over thirty forward-thinking crowdfunding backers, two prototypes were built, and the Terpstra Generalized Keyboard became a reality. This keyboard had replaceable coloured key-caps, but the dream of illuminated colour-changing keys was still in Dylan’s sights.

Let There Be Light.

Fast forward to 2019, and the instrument has been readied for production, and has been given a new name — Lumatone. Along with a new name, it now features its defining feature: 280 colour-changing LED keys. A player can now easily map MIDI notes and channels to any key along with a corresponding colour — allowing infinite mapping possibilities — putting the associative power of colour at your fingertips. Moreover, the layout has been finessed and finalized based on the feedback of our backers and the requests of a growing community of thousands of enthusiasts. Beautiful pitch and mod wheels have been added as standard to all production keyboards. The keyboard is now fully capable of polyphonic aftertouch. Improved key action, an improved kickstand, the list goes on and on. Improvements have been made to every element of both the build quality and internal design. We now have an instrument built like a tank, ready to take on the world. Unveiled at the 2020 NAMM Show in Anaheim, California, Lumatone drew plenty of press and onlookers, with Music Radar declaring it “the coolest isomorphic keyboard we’ve ever seen.”

Pricing and Availability: Now Taking Orders!

Despite some challenges presented by the global pandemic, we have made it through! We initially sold out ten batches throughout the winter and spring of 2020-2023, and we’re now shipping at anywhere from a 3 day to 3 mnonth lead time, depending on where we are in our production cycle. While we endeavour to eventually get to permanent in-stock status, we recommend you putting your name on one as early as possible to get the best possible build and delivery time. Order yours now here.