The prototype turns its number and function rows into a three-octave piano, with nine assignable knobs, TRS MIDI out and open-source firmware.
If you’ve ever used your computer keyboard as a temporary MIDI on your DAW, now you can get the real thing – Polyend has built a mechanical QWERTY keyboard that works as both a standard keyboard and MIDI.
Catch up on all the latest news here.
Keys works as a normal computer keyboard, with the added bonus of being a playable keyboard – and one that doesn’t cost you the desk space of a full-size controller. The number and function rows double as a three-octave piano, so there’s plenty of territory to cover. Nine rotary controls can be assigned freely to MIDI CCs for software or hardware, or mapped to everyday computer tasks like volume, scrolling and brightness, and a built-in display shows what you’re adjusting as you go.
Keys isn’t tied to a computer, either – a TRS MIDI output connects it straight to a synth, drum machine or other hardware, so it can work as a standalone controller with nothing else plugged in.
The body is machined from a single piece of aluminium and runs hot-swappable Kailh low-profile switches, so individual switches can be swapped without soldering, and the keys are backlit. Polyend is also making the firmware open source, leaving room for alternative layouts, different control modes, custom MIDI tools and sequencers to be built in software.
For now Keys is a prototype and so are the details, so its functionality, colour and hardware are still in the early stages and could change. Polyend gave it its first public showing at Gamescom in Cologne, which ran from 26 to 30 August, at Hall 02.2 | D031.
Price and availability are yet to be announced. Stay up to date at Polyend.
