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Left handed keyboards

gavreid said:
What about piano keyboards? Has anyone made a left handed variant?
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You can do it on analogue/modular synths easy enough by just inverting the keyboard control voltage. I had a digital poly synth at one point where it was possible too, either a Casio FZ-1 sampler or a Roland D50, I can’t remember which one, though probably the latter. You could effectively program micro-tonal stuff in either direction from a defined pitch, so could easily set say D as the zero point and have notes going up below and down above in a mirror image of normal.

PS I’ve always suspected left handed pianists have an advantage in jazz, blues and rock as the left hand is so important on a lot of it.
 
Tony L said:
the numeric keypad, which seems to have fallen out of favour these days for reasons I can not understand.
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A keyboard without a numeric keypad means the mouse is closer to the keyboard. Which means the right arm doesn't have twist out to the side which is more comfortable and can reduce RSI type fatigue/injury, especially in the muscle along the top of the shoulder.

Also saves space and most people never use it anyway, hence the rise the the tenkeyless. I would never go back now, although the odd program that puts a keyboard shortcut on the keypad occasionally crops up.
 
matthewr said:
A keyboard without a numeric keypad means the mouse is closer to the keyboard.
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That is a good point.

matthewr said:
Also saves space and most people never use it anyway, hence the rise the the tenkeyless.
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I don’t get people not wanting a numeric keypad, it bugs the hell out of me on a laptop and it is one reason I use the Model M. To be honest I use the iPad for 95% of my computing these days, maybe more. I only use the ‘proper’ computer (Model M connected to the MacBook) for accounts, invoicing and any pfm server stuff. I’m remarkably lazy so it can take me a while to get round to the tedious business stuff and that can mean I have months of stuff to type into my accounts spreadsheet. No way would I want to be doing that without a numeric keypad! I’d actually buy one if my keyboard didn’t have one.

I’m sure one can get fast with the standard number keys, especially if a proper touch typist (which I’m not) but it just doesn’t feel right to me as the numeric keypad has always been there from my very first PC (a second hand IBM PS/2 Model 30 8086 DOS machine I bought in ‘89). I’ve been using a Model M since then!
 
I can use either hand for lots of stuff which is lucky because I've had beginnings of carpel in the right hand with too much computer work and I just switched over to the left. Now I often keep a trackpad on each side and just switch back and forth to keep from getting overuse issues.
 
Suffolk Tony said:
Strangely, when it comes to using bats I'm right-handed, and apparently being dominant with your left yet playing golf right-handed gives you a great advantage when playing the game. Wonder why I'm completely crap at it then?

I've always been puzzled by why we use our less dominant hand to do the fiddly bit when we pick up guitars.
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Yeah, i'm left handed with one handed bats/racquets (squash, tennis etc), but right handed with two handed bats/clubs (golf, cricket etc). Cricket always confused people, I bowl left handed and bat right handed.

As for musical instruments, they are all basically setup for right handed players, keyboards, brass, strings, you name it. I've never seen a left handed flute, a left handed trumpet, a left handed piano (actually that would be kind of cool).
 
Tumeni Notes said:
Phew. Thought we were talking pianos, synths and such for a moment there...
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I remember seeing a poster for a classical concert where the graphic designer had flipped the image of a performance left/right in order I guess to meet some design aesthetic about how the text flowed over the image or something. The problem was the piano in the middle of the image was now left handed, and the strings were all suddenly left handed. It looked very weird, this sort of parallel universe where there's a left handed orchestra.
 
Cesare said:
Yeah, i'm left handed with one handed bats/racquets (squash, tennis etc), but right handed with two handed bats/clubs (golf, cricket etc). Cricket always confused people, I bowl left handed and bat right handed.
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Same here.
 
separate wireless numeric keypad here. Tend to only use when entering data into Excel or when using the on screen calculator. When i do use it for the aforementioned, i tend to hold it in my left and enter data with my right, like a calculator or phone.....
 
Cesare said:
I remember seeing a poster for a classical concert where the graphic designer had flipped the image of a performance left/right in order I guess to meet some design aesthetic about how the text flowed over the image or something. The problem was the piano in the middle of the image was now left handed, and the strings were all suddenly left handed. It looked very weird, this sort of parallel universe where there's a left handed orchestra.
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Lost count of the number of guitarists I've seen who have been made left-handed by errant graphic designers...
 
I thought the DVORAK keyboard mentioned upthread was interesting.

AIUI, the QWERTY layout was specifically designed that way, to slow down typists in order to avoid the keys/levers on mechanical typewriters jamming against each other.

But when was the last time you saw a mechanical typewriter? So why do keyboard/laptop manufacturers still persist with these stupid QWERTY layouts ?

I would have thought, after the initial resistance to change, that it would be a big selling point.

If you wanted another selling point, you could allow users to select LHD or RHD configurations on their keyboards, either using removable keys, or keys backlit with programmable letter configurations ?
 
gintonic said:
i'd like to give one of these a go


https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07K1SMRGS/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

pricey though
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Years ago I asked work for something like that, my fingers were tripping over each other typing and it didn’t make sense that I had the same layout keyboard as a petite size 6 woman. They sent two people up from head office for an assessment, and they bought me a Herman Miller chair instead - that I never got on with!

if I was sat typing for 40 hours a week, I’d say that keyboard would have my arms and shoulders in the most relaxed position.
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
Another Lefty here, the first computer I used with a mouse was in a small booth, on a factory floor, mouse on the right was the only option so I've used the mouse and number pad on the right ever since.

Cheers BB
 
I'm a lefty, but I've always used the mouse on the right, probably stemming from starting out on shared computers where I was the only left-handed person. It's the same reason I use right-handed scissors: they're generally what's available.

BTW, for what it's worth, I use the Dvorak layout on a Happy Hacking 2 Pro keyboard. How many geek points do I win for this post?
 
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