Mechanical Keyboard Sound Isn't That Simple
Figure 1: I couldn't think of a more literal way to represent this article if I tried... Looking back just a few years ago, there’s no doubt that the huge influx of people that joined the hobby at the peak of the COVID pandemic were drawn to keyboards by way of YouTube, TikTok, and other audio-visual content platforms. Even as the output from these content creators has waned in recent months, their collective impact and legacy on the keyboard hobby is rather firmly etched in the history books. As a result of all of their sound tests, build logs, and opinion videos, the message is clear to any new person joining the hobby: mechanical keyboards are all about the sound. Thock this, clack that. Whether it’s keyboards, keycaps, or even singular switches, seemingly everyone new to the hobby meticulously pores over each component of their keyboard not in an attempt to figure out how it will feel in hand, but how it will sound as they’re furiously grinding their way out from...
Mar 27, 2024
UPDATE 09/22/2017 (aka 22.09.2017) Drop concluded! Thanks so much to everyone that participated in this group buy! Seeing all these numbers roll in after so many hours spent on creating this set is a wonderful sight. I'm so happy that we had this much success! Now begins the last part of this epic journey, the long wait. Hang in tight :)
UPDATE 09/18/2017 (aka 18.09.2017) Bossman has given green light that all kits (yes, all!) are being made as long as people don't jump ship! So keep your orders in, or join if you haven't and our dream will be made true! https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-oblotzky-sa-oblivion-custom-keycap-set/talk/1817455
Hello and welcome fellow enthusiast!
I am here to guide you through what has been my pet project for the last 11 months. Back in October of last year, I started designing this keycap set as I wanted something on my keyboard that reflected my trade: Programming. You will find many influences of that profession in this set, but for those of you unfamiliar with it, I'd like to give you a short introduction to it.
First of all, lets talk colors. To make code more readable for humans, key words in it are highlighted with different colors. Just like in school when you were tasked to write nouns, verbs, adjectives and so on in different colors so you could better understand how sentences are constructed (at least we did that here in Germany). These colors are often carefully selected by designers and make up a 'color theme', one of which is called Oblivion. I've translated these colors over to this keyset in the same manner as it was done for the Penumbra keyset before. A solid dark shade of gray serves as the background for these beautiful colors, a visually stunning combination.
To expand on that theme, I created a second set of Modifiers called 'Git'. Git, developed by Linus Torvalds who also created the Linux operating system, is known among all modern programmers. It is a version control software that is used to keep track of code changes and also to back up code and other files on servers and the cloud. This software has many commands for various purposes, and simply acts as novelty text in this keyset.
Furthermore, there are some kits in this set that contain seemingly strange text such as XOR, RET, JMP, MOV and so on. These are instructions for Assembly, a very low level programming language. It is basically one level above punching ones and zeros into a computer, very fancy stuff. They serve as abstract legends, as they are used on keyboards where almost every user is using a different layout. Providing regular legends such as Shift and Tab for them would often lead to incorrect labeling, but with Assembly instructions, it remains neutral.
The Monochrome keys have very little to do with programming. I added those as an alternative for people that don't like colors on their sets as much, but still appreciate the selection of gray tones of this set. With a few accent keys, they allow you to build some nice vintage looking keyboards.
I hope this shines some light on the background of this keycap set.
Lastly, here is a handy sheet where you can check what kits are required to cover your layout, please feel free to suggest which I could add to the list!
If you have any question, please don't hesitate to ask! I am here from start to finish and beyond to answer anything that might be on your mind :)
I hope you will enjoy the ride as much as I!
Also - I've updated the numbers for the day and I wanted to update everyone on the UK kits - as long as we don't start losing people that have joined - we should be able to buy the extras and get these kits made even if they don't hit MOQ (this applies to the other kit like the Minilla etc).
Thanks again to the community for your support!
I'm still undecided whether to go ISO or ANSI, QWERTY or DVORAK, but I did decide to go full monochrome Oblivion. It's just too delicious and too versatile to pass up! Stoked to see all the monochrome kits getting made!
Congrats to @Oblotzky for a damn fine keyset being made in its entirety and to all customers getting to see their dream sets realized! Big thanks to boss man @YanboWu for realizing this keyset!
Cheers from Sweden!
For what it's worth, in my opinion you chose the right modifiers :) hope you'll grow to like them! If not, I'm sure someone of the 600+ that bought regular modifiers would love to swap them for yours.
Is there any way to add an extra kit to my purchase? I realized I need a 1.75U Shift key which doesn't come with the monochrome mods. Could I either buy the mono extension kit or just the key?
There might be leftovers (MD purchases a couple extras for potential support requests) that are sold later on when they are no longer needed via this drop: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/capatoa-keycap-explosion this drop goes live 1-2 times a year to sell off old kits from the warehouse.