A Guide to Weird Keyboards

In this pilot video for my channel, I explain small, column-stagger, split keyboards. This video explains the reasoning behind the seemingly strange form-factor of split keyboards, and how we can take a full-size keyboard and fit it in a much smaller keyboard by using layers.
Let's break it down:
- Take a full-size keyboard.
- Remove the numpad (and get a TKL).
- Make everything more compact (and get a 75%).
- Put less used keys on a layer* (and get a 65%).
- Put keys away from home row on a layer (and get a 40%).
- Stop fingers from moving sideways (and get an Ortholinear keyboard).
- Allow typing with hands at shoulder width by splitting the keyboard.
- Account for different finger lengths by moving the columns around (and get a column-stagger keyboard).
Hopefully these strange-looking keyboards make more sense now!
*Layer: Hold a key to access a new set of keys. Shift is already a layer (hold it to access upper-case letters and symbols).
EDIT: Here's an F.A.Q based on the comments:
Q. What is the keyboard on your desk?
A. It's a Centromere Mini by Southpawenineer. I got it in a Group Buy, and it's no longer in stock. But SPE sells other awesome boards at southpawdesign.net
Q. What layout do you use?
A. My layout can be found here: github.com/GauthamYerroju/qmk... I also heavily use Combos: github.com/GauthamYerroju/qmk...
- For ready-to-buy consumer keyboards with warranty and service, I recommend: ergodox-ez.com and shop.keyboard.io
- For ready-made keyboards or kits you can build (but with no warranty, and more DIY in spirit), I recommend Kyria, Corne, Lily58, Solfe, etc., available at boardsource.xyz, www.littlekeyboards.com, splitkb.com (UK), mkultra.click, gboards.ca (CA) to name a few.
- Check out other people covering split/ergo boards in my subscriptions.

[@scythargon]

This is awesome! I wish you'd put a list of keyboards used in this video with pictures and names somewhere! Really need names for split ones a 7:24 ! Thank you!

[@gothamdoes835]

Very good point, sorry about that! Left column: Pinky 3, Corne, Kyria, Pinky 4 Right column: an hhkb 40% case from AliExpress, and Zeta from Southpawdesign.net

[@scythargon]

@@gothamdoes835 thank you!

[@jebhank1620]

@@gothamdoes835 What happens to be your favourite among these split keyboards? Trying to decide between the Corne and Lily58 Pro

[@gothamdoes835]

@@jebhank1620 I've been using a Gergoplex, but recently got back to my Kyria (with 2 rotary encoders). Between the Corne and Lily58, I prefer the Corne (looks better and I prefer the minimal layout without numbers), but as you can see it's personal preference. I'd say pick based on your comfort level with not having a number row. Lily58 for gaming, where the numbers come in handy.

[@AX-fx7ng]

@@gothamdoes835 Can you share your build details please? Are yours wireless/ rechargeable? (By the looks of it?)

[@fredneverdead773]

That was the most clear guid to keyboard layouts i have EVER SEEN

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you so much!

[@rubenb.molina6968]

@@gothamdoes835 I was just thinking the same. Then I noticed It's all resonated in the comments. Nice work!

[@guydudemanperson8963]

it really is

[@gothamdoes835]

@@rubenb.molina6968 thank you!

[@gothamdoes835]

@@guydudemanperson8963 thank you!

[@lilithz]

the stem students were right. indian men reign supreme in terms of explaining things in the most clear and throrough way. this video is insane, thank you for the best explanation i have ever seen.

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you, glad you found it useful!

[@nitinkarthy2775]

The progressive explanation from normal keyboard to the *weirdest* is really awesome. The whole evolution really explains the motivation for the minimalist split keyboard. No keyboard is weird after this video. Thanks 🙏🏽

[@fyrelistic]

Bro this is better than like 90% of the videos I saw. Thx man 👍

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you so much!

[@jwoolson]

Best keyboard explainer I’ve found yet. Thank you!

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you Jonathan!

[@sillynapalm]

Great guide, dude. Clear, concise, and well put. The 7 mins literally flew by.

[@mini-_]

Excellent video, this would be a great introduction to anyone confused about the stranger smaller keyboards on the market. Addresses why people go for smaller keyboards, while not belittling those who have preferences towards larger sizes.

[@shanksisnoteventhatstrongbruh]

This is by far the best video explaining keyboard layouts i've seen. Great work.

[@RichardBronosky]

Please do a follow up detailing the layer options for your keyboard, the layers you chose, and why.

[@gothamdoes835]

It's definitely going to be my next video. In the meantime, I recommend googling "Miryoku layout" for an example of how these small keyboards are actually viable. My layers are here: github.com/GauthamYerroju/qmk_firmware/blob/a26b80bd0b7730bd3989aa2b1e2ac5e79eb5197f/users/gotham/wrappers.h#L150 but I also heavily rely on Combos: github.com/GauthamYerroju/qmk_firmware/blob/userspace/users/gotham/userspace_combos.def

[@SoftwareSadhu]

@@gothamdoes835 yes we need the video

[@gothamdoes835]

@Gabriel Beauchemin 🔜

[@gothamdoes835]

@@SoftwareSadhu I will try to make it happen in the next month!

[@SoftwareSadhu]

@@gothamdoes835 Going to wait... TIA

[@dark_orbit2845]

This is incredible, the way you flow from one layout to the next! Couldn't believe this was coming from such a small channel, subbed!

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you so much!

[@dark_orbit2845]

@@gothamdoes835 Thank YOU for the video!

[@tom8347]

so concise and clear! the how, the whys, with examples and demonstration. I just want to forward it to everyone that asked me of my strange hobby and didn't stayed until the end of my explanation 😆

[@deadadam666]

Super informative and despite basic recording equipment you were perfectly visible and audible (clearly) the entire time - well done on being of a higher standard than many far larger channels

[@davidbcg286]

Great video, I switched to Colemak DH 18 months ago and got a Planck keyboard. Learnt to touch type. Love it! I wish to get into Steno and/or column stagger, split keebs in the future. Your introduction was very good.

[@ShadesGameSource]

Great video, man. Very well-structured and to-the-point. Love it!

[@uryaar7216]

Great explanation - clear and concise! Thanks. I'd also add a reference to the thumb cluster.

[@violentkat5198]

This was a very clear and well organized video. Thank you for your explanation 🙏

[@zerosandones701]

Incredibly well explained, thank you!

[@ndought]

That was such a good video. I don't own a mechanic keyboard, yet, but I have been watching videos on and about them for months now. This explanation of some of the different types was such a good break down.

[@NicolaLarosa]

Very nice explanation. I'd add a mention of the importance of the thumb cluster, both for frequently used keys, modifiers, and layer activation.

[@the11thhour44]

This is an excellent explanation on the different kinds of keyboard layouts while also conveying how much of a rabbit hole this hobby is

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you! Although, I believe I barely scratched the surface of how deep this goes. I haven't even covered 3D boards like the Dactyl and Advantage, single-splits like Atreus, steno boards like Georgi, key cap profiles, switch types, spring weights, and on and on!

[@vividist]

Explained so clearly, thank you!

[@eikeimnetz]

very good video, not too slow nor too fast, no useless information or advertisement, straight forward, good voice, informative. THANKS

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you, I appreciate it!

[@zenosan4394]

Amazing work man, no stutter, fluid and relaxed, I learned many things, thank you very much.

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you, glad you found it helpful!

[@Cyromantik]

Thanks! It's great to see such a well laid out guide! I use a 65% split Quefrency at home connected to my game rig, and a 60% Preonic for the office that I bring in and dock to my Android phone. The dawning of the age of homebuilt kit keyboards has allowed some amazing creative expression and ergonomic solutions, and as a beginner I'm really excited to see where else we can go from here for human interfaces.

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you! I feel the same way. I'm currently fascinated by stenography and the various systems available for it. On the physical dimension, I'm closely following projects like the Azeron, not to mention the Dactyl and it's many creative variants, especially those with full-size trackballs integrated. Exciting times ahead!

[@SkullTraill]

Who needs production quality when you genuinely have the best keyboard layout explainer for noobs. Well done, best explanation I’ve seen ever.

[@ProphetBrohammed]

I could listen to you talk about keyboards for hours dude! I decided to get a mechanical keyboard today, some cheap 75%, so I've been watching keyboard videos all day and this was easily the best I've seen!

[@gothamdoes835]

That's high praise, thank you so much!

[@srivenkatesan5047]

This video was super informative and concise. Thank you!

[@Bluepaccao]

What a great structured video. Thank you!

[@shavonegranville6004]

WOW despite the camera quality you managed to make a great video. Very detailed and informative, engaging, and entertaining. Well done!

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!

[@bondbabe]

Thank you for this. All i needed to intro me to all the Keyboard sizes

[@otikamporn]

Very good summary. Thanks

[@Youtubings335]

Excellent video, very clear and informative

[@gcason2]

Great video. The way you explain it is very logical and follows a nice progression. Thanks!

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you!

[@carbonfibreguy]

Dude, this is perfect. Also absolutely love your personal split keyboard at the end, very straightforward. The one big benefit that I hadn't considered before with split keyboards is at 5:05 !

[@gothamdoes835]

Thanks! I usually have my plate there when I eat my lunch :D

[@lucazollner9804]

Great video! Makes it very easy to understand every "normal" layout out there in coustum keebs.

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!

[@user-zk3md1vo2x]

Wonderful presentation!

[@jayasreeyerroju4539]

Wow, I got a clear idea about the keys in keyboard which I overlooked all these days. Excellent explanation waiting for more videos Gotham Does :-)

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you very much!

[@tanmay______]

I was just getting down the keyboards rabbit hole, this demystified a lot of things for me. Thank you!

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you, and I'm glad I could help!

[@mraarone]

What a great presentation! I loved it!

[@repalmore]

Very good presentation. Good tempo. Well thought out and presented. Keep up the good work.

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you so much! I put in effort on getting the tempo and information density right, so I'm happy you noticed it!

[@nyx7056]

Easy to understand and straight to the point, great video!

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@TapanJella]

Wow !! So clear and to the point

[@Marxone]

Probly the best video about keyboards I've seen in years.

[@TheYounis2012]

Great presentation. Informative and entertaining. Please do more videos

[@dogbert32]

Amazing presentation. Really is the best explanation of a keyboard on KZbin.

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you!

[@LEGIONofPHREAKZ]

Well done, mate! Looking forward to more content, specially on split mini keyboards such as the Centromere Mini. Typing on my Gergoplex. :)

[@gothamdoes835]

Thanks! Gergoplex is my next build, and I've been putting off building it so I can do a build log video for this channel :)

[@mattymerr701]

Wow, great video. You give an awesome quick summary.

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you!

[@lightplus407]

Great video man, very informative!!!

[@error.418]

Super well presented

[@marianouvalle895]

Really awesome guide! thanks for putting it together!

[@BenMilford]

Indeed, this is great!

[@arsickler]

FANTASTIC video. Just plain fantastic.

[@gothamdoes835]

I'm gushing now, haha! Thank you so much!

[@dave14647]

This was so clear and concise. Hope you get more views

[@ShawnFumo]

Nice work! One other thing not covered here is you can have a bowl-shaped design for each hand instead of a flat keyboard. Like the older Kinesis Advantage (though their newer 360 ver is coming out later this year) and Glove80 (kickstarter end of this month). It'd be cool to see a video on your layout and demonstrating using it while programming. I know people can be skeptical of the usability of 40% layouts.

[@allthehandlesaregone]

This was a fantastic video! :) Thank you!

[@abbze8272]

Really best video about keyboard types ❤

[@nitanice]

Nice video. I'm a court reporter, so I'm used to a totally different keyboard that lets me fly. But I learned a bit more about why I like my Apple keyboard more than a regular one!

[@sanasification]

Subscribed and crushing on your script writing!

[@LS-jv4uh]

Would love to see more videos from you. This was excellent. As a coder, I wonder what it’s like using this keyboard with programs with a lot of their own unique key combinations, such as VIM.

[@jameskagua6392]

subscribed for the amazing explanation on the different layouts! hope there will be more vids!

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you so much! I have been neglecting the channel, but you have inspired me to make the next one happen :)

[@janschmidt1614]

Another great example of a small youtuber doing great videos. Thanks

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you!

[@AlleBalle54]

nice video with clear transitions

[@pnwdrew8586]

Nice quick explanation. Looking for a better keyboard and happy I came across this.

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you! Do check out the FAQ in the description for some direction, or check out r/ergomechkeyboards for a great community who can help you pick your next keyboard.

[@janlaan9602]

Subscribed, this was easilly the best and right tot he topic video about this.

[@daninspace9009]

Best explanation of ergo keybaoards I ever seen!

[@gothamdoes835]

That's high praise, thank you!

[@shivamashtikar5738]

Nice guide, thanks a lot

[@kertjalukse757]

Very good content, keep going! Thanks for explaining.

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you very much!

[@mr.ethings1545]

nice explenation! I just got into ortholinear 40% boards. You should keep making content!

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you, that's the plan!

[@fitchyyboi]

This is a really smart video. Really well done, thank you :)

[@daudfrotan]

Love your efforts and Videos

[@K0P]

excellent video! looking forward to the rest of your content

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you so much!

[@danielvelho6627]

The clearest intro to this universo so far. When are you going to upload more?

[@Cherry696Bomb]

Really great video! I'm so in love with your keyboard! For someone with small hands and a lot of wrist pain, he looks like a dream lol

[@datasciencedecoded7840]

Very interesting video. Looking forward to more content👍

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you, and same from you!

[@maxfiialkovskyi5346]

You should give talks, if you don't already. Others said that this is an amazingly clear guide to keyboards. I want to note that it's an amazingly clear guide not because of the keyboards.

[@GGMEHD]

This is an amazingly well done video

[@KENTOSI]

Hey man please do more videos! Your content here is awesome

[@--.--]

Fantastic explanation

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you!

[@rhemtro]

this is the video I needed man, thanks

[@KnowArt]

great summary

[@sayo9394]

this is a great video! it's a shame you stopped and haven't shot anything else! you're good at it!

[@layyy2825]

100 subscriber!! Amazing guide as well :D

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you for the sub!

[@RoryDavidWatts]

This is an excellent tutorial, thanks

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you!

[@whoibrar]

Thankyou for making this! really well explained, and they way you explain this feels like im learning evolution not mechanical keyboards!

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you very much!

[@GreyDeathVaccine]

Great guide 🙂

[@5olano]

Great start! Really enjoyed the video - great summary. I especially like that you used what you had - regarding the camera quality - it made the point you wanted to and thats what matters. I dont need 8k for that ;)

[@gothamdoes835]

I really appreciate it! The camera quality still bothers me, but something is better than nothing applies here. It's great to have that validated and know that I have added value somehow :)

[@strictnonconformist7369]

@@gothamdoes835 your video doesn’t cover fine detailed schematics or have anything resembling a need for color accuracy or even being perfectly artifact-free: it was more than clear enough, the lighting was sufficient, and more importantly, beyond the orderly quick-and-brief intro to layers, covered enough in enough detail, with clear speech and audio quality. I suggest for this level of detail, your camera is perfectly sufficient.

[@garethwillis]

I don't own a pc or keyboard and yet I really enjoyed this video. It was informative, interesting and easy to understand. Now I know why those strange keyboards exist.

[@gothamdoes835]

I'm glad you liked it, thank you!

[@JCiscoSys]

Great info 👍

[@gurgle9849]

Fantastic video, thank you so much! I would love a full video on your keyboard, the one you showed in the end. Are you using QMK or is it wireless? I would also love to know your layer configuration as I am also a programmer, and would love to know what setup you find the most convenient for symbols and chord-shortcuts

[@AustinMarlar]

Looking forward to a video about your setup : )

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you! It's going to be my next video. In the meanwhile I recommend googling "Miryoku layout" for an example of how small keyboards are actually viable. My layers are here: github.com/GauthamYerroju/qmk_firmware/blob/a26b80bd0b7730bd3989aa2b1e2ac5e79eb5197f/users/gotham/wrappers.h#L150 but I also heavily rely on Combos: github.com/GauthamYerroju/qmk_firmware/blob/userspace/users/gotham/userspace_combos.def

[@KeithSheppard]

Very cool. It'd be great to see you do some videos on the stuff that's partially DIY

[@derecwilsom4546]

nicely done, thank you.

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you!

[@joemamauwu]

great video thank you !!!

[@Heidegaff]

We could push it a little more to the 2% keyboard. It's just two keys, one is an FN button that cicles through all the keys in a keyboard, the other is the key that has each normal key mapped as a layer on it.

[@gothamdoes835]

Haha it has been suggested more often than you'd think in the subreddit! With 2 keys you could also do Morse code. But if you're curious, definitely checkout ASETNIOP and ARTSEY layouts. Not quite 2 keys, but with 10 or less keys, these 2 layouts are actually viable for full typing.

[@mostafa2199]

Bro you managed to make a great video out of a slide show You did a very good job, keep the good work up

[@DanelonNicolas]

Amazing. Thank you! 👍🏻

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you, glad you liked it!

[@definitelynotcole]

GREAT VID! Very ragtag but hey you "work with what you got" and you did some great work.

[@gothamdoes835]

Hahaha thank you!

[@justanotherpxrson]

this is explained fantastically :D

[@gothamdoes835]

Thank you!

[@Ashwekar]

Such a lucid explanation amazing Just missing explanation of key Wells and thumb clusters

[@m33pr0r]

This needs 100x more views