every time there is a video from Ben, i want to open a bottle of wine and drink a glass of wine and take my time, because im getting some fine cultured small keeb entertainment.
Thanks Ben, this is all very interesting to understand how a minimal key layout can work out. I'd love to hear you continue to expound on these techniques you're using, successful or not. Your explanations of what doesn't work so well are probably almost as useful as the successes. When you're describing how combo of features work, I think using more concrete examples would help with clarity. As you're talking fairly quickly through quite generic description of scenarios it's quite hard to mentally grasp the abstract scenario to understand how it will play out in specifics (meanwhile you're moving on to say more). I mean, we can skip back and slow it down while we digest what you're saying, but I think additional specific examples could be helpful in some cases. I'm not sure who else is generating this sort of info out there, so thank you and please keep it up!
Yeah pacing is interesting and tricky - I think what I’ll do is do specific videos on each of these features in time and then I can go right into the ZMK syntax etc as well. Thanks for the feedback!
@@BenVallacksKeyboards Ben, do you mind to cover also alpha layers layout? I'm mostly interested what is the reasoning behind the placement of individual letters for such two alpha layers layout. Also, I wonder why you didn't chose to minimize the difference between this layout and the one you use on 34-keys layout.
Ben, I can't be alone in my opinion - if you put out a video of just you editing some code from the downwards facing shot and the vim window overlaid transparently on top; I could watch it for half an hour easily.
Love your videos, I was curious if you could do a full build video/list for your piano layout? I’ve been trying to get into alternate keyboard layouts and this one seems like the one!
Hi there, Ben, are you available for custom keypad design work??? I know what I want, but I don't know how to design or program. If your not available, could you recommend someone who can? Cheers
Very cool video! I've experimented for almost a year on smaller layouts, but have ended up sticking with 42 keys, and 30 keys where I add many cool shortcuts on my Moonlander Mark I. I am currently using the ISRT layout for the Alpha (with now the “Q” and “Y” swapped as well as the “J” and “K”) and I have no problems at all with any of my custom layers, but I struggle to type words like “system” and words that roll “is” “si” “sy” and “ys” as well as “ox” and “xo”, but any other place on the layout I've found only makes things worse. What I would ideally want would be to have all the alpha keys in an ISRT-like layout, but that would solve or soften these issues, and I would want it to *not* move the index finger an additional row on the side, I want all my alpha keys to be on 4×3 blocks (with also two Alpha keys on the thumb cluster) and not 5×3, so that my fingers only have to move up and down from their home position and not to the sides, and I have tried some things, but I just cannot get it to work the way I want it to. If anyone in this community has an idea to make this work, your help would be gladly appreciated. Here is my current Alpha-only layout : Q C L M J Z F U '" :; I S R T G P N E A O Y V W D K B H ,? .! X What I would want is something like : X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
I need to leverage layers more. I love this idea of a system layer. I could have all kinds of modifier commands and macros on single presses. I would probably spend more time in that layer than in typing mode.
Hey Ben, I love your channel! Your videos have been very influential on my split keyboard journey, particularly in purchasing and configuring my Moonlander. I would personally enjoy your videos even more if there were more / longer pauses mixed in to aid listener comprehension. You give wonderfully thorough descriptions, but the amount of complexity and detail combined with the quick delivery means I have to slow down the playback just to keep up. (For reference, I generally watch most vids at 1.5x.)
I was literaly in the middle of cutomizing my Moonlander layout X) definitely gonna take a break and see if I can't apply a few thing from this and your're 16K too
Is there any chance you'll make a tutorial video about how to actually use ZMK? I have had keyboard layout ideas for years now but I just don't understand how to realise them on my mechanical keyboard.
hi ben... qq did you share the pcb prints for the split so we can 3D print them through your sponsor? ( im looking to order the PCBs for the split piano config you have for the 18 key layout). thank y0u!
Thanks Ben, great video! I’m curious about how your overall speed on the 18 key layout compares to your previous best (in what ever layout that might have been in). I’ve been using roughly this layout for a few weeks and am at roughly 2/3 my previous best, topping out in the low 60s. The biggest issue I’ve had is impatience with the sys layer when I am deleting and just creating a bunch more errors. Did you ever run into that / grow more accustomed to the timing with experience?
I'm definitely happy with my layer toggle timeouts. I don't recall it ever being a real issue but certainly fine now. The main issue for me is the error rate at higher speeds with normal words. I often add keys where I don't need them and sometimes just get the keys in the wrong order. I'm probably about as fast as I was with qwerty though but the error rate is brining my real speed down.
@@BenVallacksKeyboards Yeah, I figure it’s just an adjustment phase. I’ve gone the Callum mods route in the past and this is my first real home row mod usage. Your settings work great, it’s just the delete key that I’m still a bit too quick with. Just curious, I haven’t seen your unibody design up on your GitHub or pcbway, are you planning to make it open source?
@@makingvideogamehistory3028 yeah I actually noticed yesterday I made a bunch of mistakes on one of my sym layers as a result of being impatient with the timeouts - so it’s something that does still affect me - I guess I’ve got used to it to some extent without realising is does still cause me some trouble! Yes hope to get piano 2 unibody and split up soon. Although was hoping to fix the controller orientation on the unibody!
Another very educational video. Thank you, Ben. One question: I might be missing something, but how do you achieve the repeat firing you mention at the end of the video? I'm not seeing anything in the configuration that would make that work.
Hey Ben. I was just curious if you've found a control board like the nice nanos that uses 2.4ghz instead of bluetooth? Or if you know of a place i can find out. Would be great! Thanks
If you set them up in dongle mode you can have one connected to the host via usb then both halves will talk to the host nice!nano using the normal peripheral connection which is extremely efficient and reliable.
Love this kind of keyboard video. I cannot stand homerow mods style stuff myself, even with my (now gutted for parts) DASBOB keyboard. I love ergonomics, but I cannot use just a single low keycount board if in going to go that route. Maybe something like a dactyl as my main, with supplemental boards on the side for my other functions. Kinda like a fighter pilot approach. I'm currently building a Scylla by BastardKB, which MIGHT replace my BFOP monoblock split(ish, its 6*19 ortho, but I have the numpad in the center). Still, ergomech boards personally are where I see mechanical keyboards actually advancing and innovating. So much customization and personalization.
I would love to see a video about making a macbook function like a minimal keyboard through karabiner or something, when I can't bing my ferris sweep it would be awesome to have an alternative
I tried using as repeat key for a while. The way I implemented it was a bit rudimentary, but it was interesting. Similar to your experience, I found it a bit weird to use, but offloading tasks to the non-dominant thumb was nice. Currently, my offhand thumb does chords, oneshot shift, and a navigation layer.
Greetings fellow internet user! I absolutely couldn't agree more with your statement on the amazing ZMK features that make your 18 key keyboard possible. As someone who has also had the pleasure of experiencing the glory that is ZMK, I must say that it truly is a game changer in the world of mechanical keyboards. From its exceptional key remapping capabilities to its unparalleled macro support, ZMK truly sets the standard for what a modern mechanical keyboard firmware should be. Even the ability to customize the RGB lighting on the board is something that I never knew I needed until I had it. But let's not forget about the built in support for rotary encoders and OLED displays, which are true gems for those who need a little extra functionality from their keyboards. And the fact that it is fully open source, community driven, and has a thriving developer community is just the cherry on top. In conclusion, I firmly believe that ZMK is an absolute must-have for anyone looking to take their keyboard game to the next level, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for this amazing firmware. AND POST!
Thanks, very informative. It turns out the windows have closing from task switcher too. At last the the persistent task switch window have a reason to exist. I don't think the doubling key is aren't really wortth it to learn outside of very specific cases like layout without full alphabet presented. Double letter bigrams aren't that common in english language. Having a dedicated under a thumb e would be more helpful.
Hi Ben, love your videos; you've inspired me to make a similar journey and I am having a lot of fun with it (though I must confess my productivity has taken a hit; I am hoping that it will eventually pay for itself..). I was wondering, do you make your pcb schematics available (i'd be happy to pay a reasonable fee) or even perhaps the any spare boards themselves? I am quite keen to have a play with your 18 key layout but haven't quite mustered to courage to face KiCAD and ergogen yet.. I'm in the UK too so shipping would be relatively painless.
What is your use case for this keyboard? I don’t understand how having symbols on held keys doesn’t slow down your work flow (I use at least 4 other symbols as often as most letters in my regular typing). And a held pinky key is a recipe for RSI even without having to reach for it. I’d love to understand more about the purpose of the design if you do not have these issues.
I’m surprised how easy numbers are actually (the pinkie tap holds). This keyboard is easily the note comfortable of any I’ve ever used long term. No tingling, aching etc at all with this. I think the massive reduction in finger movement combined with the more closed hand position all work well to that end. I actually think a light key held down isn’t too bad at all. Basically I prefer a tap hold on the home row to stretching over keys I guess. For things like numbers and symbols especially I find it so much easier than jumping over various keys to reach them. I use for coding in vim primarily.
I find no issue with home row mod shift. You just have to tweak all the settings related to home row mods to find what works for you. If you don't like it, that's fine. Just don't present as fact that it doesn't work.
You’re adding a delay though. I did say in the vid it’s fine if you’ve done that and got your head around it but adding a delay when using shift isn’t something I want to do!
Hey Ben, I couldn't help but notice that you're not using lua config with neovim. Not that I'm asking you to switch to it, but I was wondering if you were considering it or if you were wanting to change to it and didn't end up doing it for some reason. Either way, I think it would be neat if you did a video on your vim setup. Nothing goes together better than a good keyboard and a good vim config.
I think if this was the first keyboard someone learned on it would be significantly more efficient than the standard qwerty layout and mistakes would be much rarer. The problem arises when you have to unlearn one format and learn a new one at the same time. It's harder to unlearn something than learn a new thing. These kind of keyboards fascinate me and I wish a keyboard in this style of layout was my first
I think this kind of smaller keyboard would be very beneficial on a laptop for example. Imagine how much space you'd gain to fill with important components
every time there is a video from Ben, i want to open a bottle of wine and drink a glass of wine and take my time, because im getting some fine cultured small keeb entertainment.
I think this is the best comment I’ve ever received. Thanks so much.
Thanks Ben, this is all very interesting to understand how a minimal key layout can work out. I'd love to hear you continue to expound on these techniques you're using, successful or not. Your explanations of what doesn't work so well are probably almost as useful as the successes.
When you're describing how combo of features work, I think using more concrete examples would help with clarity. As you're talking fairly quickly through quite generic description of scenarios it's quite hard to mentally grasp the abstract scenario to understand how it will play out in specifics (meanwhile you're moving on to say more). I mean, we can skip back and slow it down while we digest what you're saying, but I think additional specific examples could be helpful in some cases.
I'm not sure who else is generating this sort of info out there, so thank you and please keep it up!
Yeah pacing is interesting and tricky - I think what I’ll do is do specific videos on each of these features in time and then I can go right into the ZMK syntax etc as well. Thanks for the feedback!
@@BenVallacksKeyboards Ben, do you mind to cover also alpha layers layout? I'm mostly interested what is the reasoning behind the placement of individual letters for such two alpha layers layout. Also, I wonder why you didn't chose to minimize the difference between this layout and the one you use on 34-keys layout.
Ben, I can't be alone in my opinion - if you put out a video of just you editing some code from the downwards facing shot and the vim window overlaid transparently on top; I could watch it for half an hour easily.
That’s interesting to hear thanks! Will see what I can do.
Love your videos, I was curious if you could do a full build video/list for your piano layout? I’ve been trying to get into alternate keyboard layouts and this one seems like the one!
Sure thing!
Love the content and production quality - watched all your videos multiple times!
Hi there, Ben, are you available for custom keypad design work??? I know what I want, but I don't know how to design or program. If your not available, could you recommend someone who can?
Cheers
Hey, thanks for that tip about the hold-space-to-meh + [key] to switch or open applications, sounds super useful! Even for bigger keyboards 👍👍👍
Very cool video!
I've experimented for almost a year on smaller layouts, but have ended up sticking with 42 keys, and 30 keys where I add many cool shortcuts on my Moonlander Mark I.
I am currently using the ISRT layout for the Alpha (with now the “Q” and “Y” swapped as well as the “J” and “K”) and I have no problems at all with any of my custom layers, but I struggle to type words like “system” and words that roll “is” “si” “sy” and “ys” as well as “ox” and “xo”, but any other place on the layout I've found only makes things worse.
What I would ideally want would be to have all the alpha keys in an ISRT-like layout, but that would solve or soften these issues, and I would want it to *not* move the index finger an additional row on the side, I want all my alpha keys to be on 4×3 blocks (with also two Alpha keys on the thumb cluster) and not 5×3, so that my fingers only have to move up and down from their home position and not to the sides, and I have tried some things, but I just cannot get it to work the way I want it to.
If anyone in this community has an idea to make this work, your help would be gladly appreciated.
Here is my current Alpha-only layout :
Q C L M J Z F U '" :;
I S R T G P N E A O
Y V W D K B H ,? .! X
What I would want is something like :
X X X X X X X X
X X X X X X X X
X X X X X X X X
X X
Much appreciated Ben!
I need to leverage layers more. I love this idea of a system layer. I could have all kinds of modifier commands and macros on single presses. I would probably spend more time in that layer than in typing mode.
Hey Ben, I love your channel! Your videos have been very influential on my split keyboard journey, particularly in purchasing and configuring my Moonlander. I would personally enjoy your videos even more if there were more / longer pauses mixed in to aid listener comprehension. You give wonderfully thorough descriptions, but the amount of complexity and detail combined with the quick delivery means I have to slow down the playback just to keep up. (For reference, I generally watch most vids at 1.5x.)
I’m definitely going to experiment with this- cheers!
@@BenVallacksKeyboards Awesome, cheers!
I was literaly in the middle of cutomizing my Moonlander layout X) definitely gonna take a break and see if I can't apply a few thing from this and your're 16K too
Is there any chance you'll make a tutorial video about how to actually use ZMK? I have had keyboard layout ideas for years now but I just don't understand how to realise them on my mechanical keyboard.
Good idea - will see about doing that.
hi ben... qq did you share the pcb prints for the split so we can 3D print them through your sponsor? ( im looking to order the PCBs for the split piano config you have for the 18 key layout). thank y0u!
Just when I finished my wireless corne build... Impeccable timing
hi! could you please share this video's version with pauses in speech not cut out?
I’m adjusting my editing to avoid that. Future vids will be better :)
Is there also an Alt Repeat key like in qmk?
Thanks Ben, great video!
I’m curious about how your overall speed on the 18 key layout compares to your previous best (in what ever layout that might have been in).
I’ve been using roughly this layout for a few weeks and am at roughly 2/3 my previous best, topping out in the low 60s.
The biggest issue I’ve had is impatience with the sys layer when I am deleting and just creating a bunch more errors. Did you ever run into that / grow more accustomed to the timing with experience?
I'm definitely happy with my layer toggle timeouts. I don't recall it ever being a real issue but certainly fine now. The main issue for me is the error rate at higher speeds with normal words. I often add keys where I don't need them and sometimes just get the keys in the wrong order. I'm probably about as fast as I was with qwerty though but the error rate is brining my real speed down.
@@BenVallacksKeyboards Yeah, I figure it’s just an adjustment phase. I’ve gone the Callum mods route in the past and this is my first real home row mod usage. Your settings work great, it’s just the delete key that I’m still a bit too quick with.
Just curious, I haven’t seen your unibody design up on your GitHub or pcbway, are you planning to make it open source?
@@makingvideogamehistory3028 yeah I actually noticed yesterday I made a bunch of mistakes on one of my sym layers as a result of being impatient with the timeouts - so it’s something that does still affect me - I guess I’ve got used to it to some extent without realising is does still cause me some trouble! Yes hope to get piano 2 unibody and split up soon. Although was hoping to fix the controller orientation on the unibody!
Hi Ben what is this clamp you are using for your keyboards to be held on the front of the table ?
Another very educational video. Thank you, Ben. One question: I might be missing something, but how do you achieve the repeat firing you mention at the end of the video? I'm not seeing anything in the configuration that would make that work.
Ah, I figured it out. Just had to adjust quick-tap-ms. I had it way too short so could never hit the double tap in time.
Ah yep you’ve got it. A nice feature in ZMK for sure.
How was your process with arranging the alpha keys? Did you follow an existing layout, or did you set them based on your preferences/trial & error?
Hey Ben. I was just curious if you've found a control board like the nice nanos that uses 2.4ghz instead of bluetooth? Or if you know of a place i can find out. Would be great! Thanks
If you set them up in dongle mode you can have one connected to the host via usb then both halves will talk to the host nice!nano using the normal peripheral connection which is extremely efficient and reliable.
Awesome video
Love this kind of keyboard video. I cannot stand homerow mods style stuff myself, even with my (now gutted for parts) DASBOB keyboard. I love ergonomics, but I cannot use just a single low keycount board if in going to go that route. Maybe something like a dactyl as my main, with supplemental boards on the side for my other functions. Kinda like a fighter pilot approach.
I'm currently building a Scylla by BastardKB, which MIGHT replace my BFOP monoblock split(ish, its 6*19 ortho, but I have the numpad in the center).
Still, ergomech boards personally are where I see mechanical keyboards actually advancing and innovating. So much customization and personalization.
I would love to see a video about making a macbook function like a minimal keyboard through karabiner or something, when I can't bing my ferris sweep it would be awesome to have an alternative
Hi, what is the device you use to hold the PCB/keyboard at an angle? Looks really cool!
th-cam.com/video/NAUxTR4vGys/w-d-xo.html
Are you still using this layout months later? Thanks for all the tips man
Yep still my daily driver!
I tried using as repeat key for a while. The way I implemented it was a bit rudimentary, but it was interesting. Similar to your experience, I found it a bit weird to use, but offloading tasks to the non-dominant thumb was nice. Currently, my offhand thumb does chords, oneshot shift, and a navigation layer.
Greetings fellow internet user! I absolutely couldn't agree more with your statement on the amazing ZMK features that make your 18 key keyboard possible. As someone who has also had the pleasure of experiencing the glory that is ZMK, I must say that it truly is a game changer in the world of mechanical keyboards.
From its exceptional key remapping capabilities to its unparalleled macro support, ZMK truly sets the standard for what a modern mechanical keyboard firmware should be. Even the ability to customize the RGB lighting on the board is something that I never knew I needed until I had it.
But let's not forget about the built in support for rotary encoders and OLED displays, which are true gems for those who need a little extra functionality from their keyboards. And the fact that it is fully open source, community driven, and has a thriving developer community is just the cherry on top.
In conclusion, I firmly believe that ZMK is an absolute must-have for anyone looking to take their keyboard game to the next level, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for this amazing firmware. AND POST!
ChatGPT is that you?
@@AmitGold00 😉
In conclusion is always a dead giveaway, but the rest of it just has this "smell" you know? Especially the greeting
Thanks, very informative. It turns out the windows have closing from task switcher too. At last the the persistent task switch window have a reason to exist.
I don't think the doubling key is aren't really wortth it to learn outside of very specific cases like layout without full alphabet presented. Double letter bigrams aren't that common in english language. Having a dedicated under a thumb e would be more helpful.
I actually tried having an e on a thumb key. Quite interesting but felt super hard to learn!
@1:42 great video, but my guy you're in vim, why not just use "d" to delete?
Hi Ben, love your videos; you've inspired me to make a similar journey and I am having a lot of fun with it (though I must confess my productivity has taken a hit; I am hoping that it will eventually pay for itself..). I was wondering, do you make your pcb schematics available (i'd be happy to pay a reasonable fee) or even perhaps the any spare boards themselves? I am quite keen to have a play with your 18 key layout but haven't quite mustered to courage to face KiCAD and ergogen yet.. I'm in the UK too so shipping would be relatively painless.
I’m hoping to sell off a load of PCBs at some point - I’m not allowed to sell anything electronic so I would be listing them as ‘art’ or ‘souvenirs’!
im not sure,i use custom handwire orto 3x10.and what i know i have more del&enter key on entire layer
Is it possible to get those features using qmk?
Certainly a lot of them yep
What is your use case for this keyboard? I don’t understand how having symbols on held keys doesn’t slow down your work flow (I use at least 4 other symbols as often as most letters in my regular typing). And a held pinky key is a recipe for RSI even without having to reach for it. I’d love to understand more about the purpose of the design if you do not have these issues.
I’m surprised how easy numbers are actually (the pinkie tap holds). This keyboard is easily the note comfortable of any I’ve ever used long term. No tingling, aching etc at all with this. I think the massive reduction in finger movement combined with the more closed hand position all work well to that end. I actually think a light key held down isn’t too bad at all. Basically I prefer a tap hold on the home row to stretching over keys I guess. For things like numbers and symbols especially I find it so much easier than jumping over various keys to reach them. I use for coding in vim primarily.
I find no issue with home row mod shift. You just have to tweak all the settings related to home row mods to find what works for you. If you don't like it, that's fine. Just don't present as fact that it doesn't work.
You’re adding a delay though. I did say in the vid it’s fine if you’ve done that and got your head around it but adding a delay when using shift isn’t something I want to do!
Hey Ben, I couldn't help but notice that you're not using lua config with neovim. Not that I'm asking you to switch to it, but I was wondering if you were considering it or if you were wanting to change to it and didn't end up doing it for some reason. Either way, I think it would be neat if you did a video on your vim setup. Nothing goes together better than a good keyboard and a good vim config.
Yeah I want to try Neovim soon. The first vid on this channel was looking at this vim config though. th-cam.com/video/pVSrHdY2EqA/w-d-xo.html
What is holding your Korb so nice and firmly?
th-cam.com/video/mT3TToFqqEU/w-d-xo.html
Love your videos. As a qwerty loyalist I am probably not going to reduce my keys from 34, but you have some great ideas here.
can't wait for 2 key layout.
Done on my main channel 😀
God I want this new non-split keyboard so much
mousing in VIM is a sin ....
bro, you should use stenography
I think if this was the first keyboard someone learned on it would be significantly more efficient than the standard qwerty layout and mistakes would be much rarer. The problem arises when you have to unlearn one format and learn a new one at the same time. It's harder to unlearn something than learn a new thing. These kind of keyboards fascinate me and I wish a keyboard in this style of layout was my first
I think this kind of smaller keyboard would be very beneficial on a laptop for example. Imagine how much space you'd gain to fill with important components
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