This article describes a new kind of digital musical instrument, a novel assemblage of the familiar MIDI keyboard with custom interactive software. Inspired by John Cage's prepared piano, our instrument both takes advantage of and subverts the pianist's hard-earned, embodied training, while also inviting an extended configuration stage that “prepares” the instrument to behave in composition-specific, idiosyncratic ways. Through its flexible—though constrained—design, the instrument aims to inspire a playful approach to instrument building, composition, and performance. We outline the development history of our instrument, called bitKlavier, its current design, and some of its musical possibilities.

Combining a new software system with the familiar interface of the MIDI keyboard, bitKlavier is a versatile instrument for exploring the nature of tuning and temperament. We describe a number of approaches it facilitates, including composed tunings, moving fundamental systems, and a novel system for adaptive tuning. All of these are characterized by the overarching design priority for bitKlavier to be a context for musical play and exploration, as opposed to finding singular, “correct” solutions to particular tuning “problems,” as has often been the case historically.