Electromechanical keyboard. Reciprocating bow actuators replace hammers. Spool-fed rosined ribbon, three independent bow positions per string.
The piano gives a player keyboard immediacy; the violin family gives a player the bowed-string timbre. No instrument has done both. Sustained, expressive tones under direct keyboard control have remained out of reach for the player who works in chordal and contrapuntal vocabularies.
An electromechanical keyboard instrument that replaces traditional piano hammers with reciprocating bow actuators, enabling sustained, expressive tones previously impossible on keyboard instruments. The design combines the immediacy of keyboard performance with the timbral richness of bowed strings.
"Three independently controllable bow positions per string create distinct timbral zones — analogous to harpist hand positioning."
A spool-fed rosined ribbon system feeds each string. Three independently controllable bow positions per string create distinct timbral zones analogous to harpist hand positioning (sul tasto / ordinario / sul ponticello). Bow speed and pressure are continuously variable from the keyboard's velocity and aftertouch surfaces.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Excitation | Reciprocating bow (rosined ribbon) |
| Bow positions per string | 3, independently controllable |
| Control surface | Keyboard with aftertouch |
| Sustain | Indefinite (bow-driven) |
Complete conceptual design with manufacturing, user-experience, and business-model architecture. Next step: single-string actuator demonstration.