I am trying to find a way to emulate a chorded keyboard (such as the Microwriter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwriter) on a standard keyboard.

If it was possible to assign certain key combinations ('chords') to a letter e.g. z+s+f = a , then a chorded keyboard could be emulated.

I have found no way to do this. I've looked at AutoKey and xBindKeys. Is there a way?

The advantage of a chorded keyboard would be to allow one handed typing.

What kind of output are you looking for? If it's guitar chords, you need hardly bother with extra hardware. If you want a music score, that is a totally different matter. They can get very involved - even bowing direction is specified on some violin scores.

You're going to get a lot more people talking about music — few of us can remember the microwriter! You can still get equivalents, at a price
http://www.infogrip.com/products/keyboards/one-hand/
There doesn't seem to be any emulation, though.

1 members found this post helpful.

Thanks for the comments guys.
David - I can see you remember the microwriter! I've looked at the infogrip BAT - it would do the job but is pricey. I wondered if there might be a way to emulate this using some keys on a standard board. The infogrip BAT seems the best hardware. The CyKey is cheaper but needs a line of sight to an IR receiver http://www.cykey.co.uk/. There's also the FrogPad but it's not so ergonomic. There are several gaming keypads http://www.razerzone.com/gb-en/gamin...razer-tartarus, but none I can see which would support a full keyboard character set, or 'chording'.
Is emulation possible in Linux on the keyboard i.e. have a mode where a chord of key presses is equivalent to a single key press?
regards

Some 10 years later there is a startup producing keyboards and an adapter just like what you want!

CharaChorder (I cannot yet post links, so you need to search for it)

With charachorder X you can turn normal keyboards into "chording-keyboards".
They also have some keyboards where this is built in.

The support software for configuration is also good.