Making Musical Intent Buildable
This research direction studies how demanding musical intent can be translated into instruments that can actually be built and used by professional artists. Kaduk develops materials, mechanisms, and production systems that preserve control, precision, and reliability in real-world instruments. The samples below mark points where established approaches failed, requiring new structural and production strategies.
Automated Keyboard Generation & Fit Systems
Automated keyboard generation and fit systems were developed to replace fixed keyboard geometry with a formalized, buildable design space. Manual adaptation and artisanal fitting proved incompatible with consistency, cost control, and delivery time. By encoding hand measurements, reach limits, and mechanical constraints into parametric and simulation-driven models, Kaduk made it possible to generate individualized keyboard geometries with predictable behavior. This research showed that ergonomic interfaces only become professionally viable when geometry, mechanics, and production are treated as a single system rather than sequential compromises.
Monocoque key structures were developed to guarantee stiffness and stability under extreme geometries while retaining full control over key behavior. Narrow keyboards, alternative layouts such as Jankó configurations, and unconventional playing angles impose bending and torsional loads that conventional laminated keys cannot withstand without adding mass. By designing keys as monocoque structures, Kaduk achieved inherent structural stability first, allowing weight, stiffness, and mass distribution to be adjusted deliberately rather than used as compensatory measures. This made it possible to build keys that remain rigid even under extreme angles while being significantly lighter than traditional constructions, establishing full control over playability as a design choice rather than a constraint.
