Cadence (n.): the rhythm of a movement, the measured fall of a phrase — the same musical lineage as Cadenza, condensed.
Cadence is a 34-key split keyboard layout for the Ferris Sweep, built on Colemak-DH and configured in Vial. It is the Sweep adaptation of the Cadenza layout (36-key Corne Choc) — same design philosophy, same muscle memory, two thumb keys less.
Cadenza without compromise — minus two thumbs.
Cadence inherits the entire Cadenza design philosophy:
- Per-finger Home Row Mods via Tap Dance (200 ms index/middle, 250 ms ring/pinky)
- Frequency + Strength symbol layer — high-frequency operators on strongest fingers
- Bilateral layer access — most modal layers reachable from either hand
- No inner column for layer content — G/M never carry layer content
- Vertical movement only for layer access — no lateral stretches
- NEIO = ←↓↑→ convention on every directional layer
Cadence diverges only where the Sweep's reduced key count requires it.
The Ferris Sweep has 34 keys (30 alpha + 4 thumb) versus the Corne Choc's 36 (30 alpha + 6 thumb). The two missing thumb keys force several structural decisions, which Cadence solves through Tap-Dance triggers and bilateral layer access:
| Cadenza (36) | Cadence (34) | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Esc on left thumb outer | Esc on Bsp-thumb (L1, L7) | Reachable via thumb-position layer holds |
| Del on right thumb outer | Del relocated within layers | Reassigned to layers that need it |
| L6 F-Keys via Hold Del | L6 F-Keys via Hold F or Hold U bilateral | Middle Top — strong fingers, low-frequency letters |
| L1 RGB & Media | merged into L6 Fn + Media | Sweep has no RGB; F-Keys + media combined into single layer |
| L11 (WS Quick) + L12 (WS Full) | L8 Tiling WM (consolidated) | Single unified WM layer |
| (no firmware control layer) | L11 Firmware Control | Bootloader + reboot via long pinky-top hold (500 ms) |
| (separate International layer) | L1 Overflow + International via Hold Tab | Tab on the inner left thumb makes umlauts maximally accessible |
| (separate Symbol layer) | L12 Symbols (NEW in v1.11) via Hold Bsp | Redesigned with right-thumb access asymmetry |
Everything else — Colemak-DH base, Tap Dance HRM, frequency-driven symbol placement, bilateral layer access, the Code & CLI macros, the dead-key fallbacks — is identical or preserved.
The Sweep adaptation is not a downgrade: it removes redundant features (RGB on a non-RGB board, two near-identical WM layers) and replaces dedicated thumb keys with Tap-Dance triggers that cost nothing in muscle memory.
- Home Row Mods via Tap Dance — per-key tipping terms (250 ms ring/pinky · 200 ms index/middle)
- 11 reachable layers (13 in firmware) — Base, International, Numbers, Navigation, Mouse, Fn+Media, Code & CLI, Tiling WM, Brackets, Firmware Control, Symbols
- Spc Tap-Hold-TapHold (TD(21)) —
tap = Space,hold = Navigation,tap+hold = Mouse— three layer functions on a single thumb position - Tab Tap-Hold (TD(10)) —
tap = Tab,hold = International— Tab remains a normal character; umlauts via thumb hold - Bilateral layer access — Fn+Media (F+U), Code & CLI (W+Y), Tiling WM (Z+/), Brackets (X+.) — same finger on both hands, same row
- L7 Code & CLI —
||·2>&1·&&·|(tap) /|(hold) ·//~//../·$()/${}·!=/==·=>/->·$?·`·~·\ - L1 Overflow + International — direct umlaut TDs (ä/ö/ü on A/O/U positions, hold = capital),
"dead key fallback, ß (RAlt+S), € (RAlt+5),'literal - L8 Tiling WM — WS 1–10 tap=go / hold=move (numpad memory) · focus and window-move on right hand · Kill / Float / Fullscreen on thumbs
- L11 Firmware Control —
QK_BOOTandQK_REBOOTsymmetrically placed, accessible only via deliberate long-hold (500 ms) pinky-top combination - L12 Symbols (NEW in v1.11) — redesigned symbol layer with right-thumb access asymmetry, sharing the design specification with Sonata v3.x
- Mouse settings tuned — QMK mouse acceleration / scroll behaviour configured in the
.vil
| # | Layer | Access | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| L0 | Base | — | Colemak-DH + Tap Dance HRM |
| L1 | Overflow + International | Hold Tab | direct ä/ö/ü TDs (tap=lower, hold=capital) · " dead key · ß · € · ' |
| L2 | (Symbols, deprecated) | — | replaced by L12 — kept in firmware for cleanup later |
| L3 | Numbers | Hold Ent | Numpad on left · operators · 0 on Spc-thumb · - on Tab-thumb |
| L4 | Navigation | Hold Spc | Arrows · Home/End/PgUp/PgDn · Word-skip · Tab on Ent-thumb for repeated Tab |
| L5 | Mouse | Spc tap + hold | Pointer · Scroll · Buttons — tap then hold Spc to activate |
| L6 | Function Keys + Media | Hold F or Hold U | F1–F12 (left, numpad-spatial) · media controls (right hand) |
| L7 | Code & CLI | Hold W or Hold Y | Shell operators · path navigation TD · | (tap) / | (hold) · ` · ~ · \ · Tab/Esc on thumbs |
| L8 | Tiling WM | Hold Z or Hold / | WS 1–10 (numpad memory) · focus · window move · Kill / Float / Fullscreen |
| L9 | Brackets | Hold X or Hold . | ( ) [ ] < > { } — bilateral mirror · App/Menu on Spc/Bsp thumbs |
| L10 | Clipboard | — | layer present, no trigger by user choice |
| L11 | Firmware Control | Long-hold (500 ms) Q or Long-hold ' | QK_BOOT (bootloader) · QK_REBOOT |
| L12 | Symbols (NEW) | Hold Bsp | redesigned symbol layout — see L4-Symbol-Layer.html |
Access keys in v1.11 are assigned by usage frequency × ergonomic quality × hold-detection safety, with one critical refinement learnt from v1.9: layers used heavily during HRM-required workflows (especially Mouse) must not block the active hand's Home Row Mods. This is solved by putting Mouse on a Tap-Dance carrier (Spc tap+hold) instead of a bilateral letter trigger.
The remaining bilateral letter pairs use finger-symmetric triggers — same finger on both hands, same row — placed on letters whose frequency is low enough for clean hold-detection: F+U (Middle Top), W+Y (Ring Top), Z+/ (Pinky Bottom), X+. (Ring Bottom). G and M never carry layer content. The outer pinky-top positions (Q and ') are deliberately reserved for the rarely-used Firmware Control layer — uncomfortable enough to prevent accidental activation, paired with an unusually long 500 ms hold term.
Spc as Tap-Dance carrier (TD(21)): tap = Space, hold = Navigation, tap+hold = Mouse. The tap+hold pattern triggers when Spc is tapped, then immediately pressed again and held. This three-way differentiation eliminates v1.9's HRM-blocking issue: on Mouse, both hands are free to use Home Row Mods (Ctrl for multi-select, Shift for range-select). The same key carries the two most-used cursor-related layers, semantically related ("Spc = cursor work").
Tab as Tap-Dance carrier (TD(10)): tap = Tab, hold = International. International is one of the most frequently used layers when writing German prose; placing it on a single thumb hold makes it maximally accessible. Tab as a character remains directly available (tap), and inside L4 Navigation and L7 Code & CLI it is also placed on the Ent-thumb for repeated Tab sequences (form navigation, shell auto-complete, code indentation).
Frequency + Strength (L12 Symbols): Symbols ranked by daily usage frequency in German IT writing, then assigned to fingers in strength order, weighted by the position-quality penalty for the right-thumb-anchored hand. = and - on thumbs (most-frequent operators on strongest positions). Bracket pairs as Tap Dance on right top. Identical specification shared with Sonata v3.x.
F/U for Fn+Media (L6): Middle fingers, top row. Strong fingers, low-frequency letters for safe hold-detection. F1–F12 in numpad-spatial layout on the left (matches L_NUM and L_WM positions for muscle-memory transfer); media controls on the right.
X/. for Brackets (L9): Ring Bottom. Moved from D+H in v1.9.0 — D and H are common letters (~5%), which made the Brackets layer prone to false-positive hold-detection during normal typing. X and . are far less frequent — cleaner hold-detection without per-key tapping-term tuning.
Z// for Tiling WM (L8): Pinky Bottom. Both letters very rare in DE+EN — safest hold-detection of all bilateral pairs. WS 1–10 in numpad spatial layout on the left (matches L_NUM positions for muscle-memory transfer).
L11 Firmware Control — deliberate exception to "no pinky-top hold": The Bootloader and Reboot functions need to be reachable but must never trigger by accident. They sit on Q (left pinky top) and ' (right pinky top) with a 500 ms hold term (more than double the standard 200 ms). The combination of an uncomfortable position and an unusually long hold serves as a safety mechanism. Within L11, both QK_BOOT and QK_REBOOT are placed on home-row middle positions, mirrored on both hands — requiring two deliberate steps (hold to enter the layer, then a separate key press) before the firmware command fires.
Path-navigation TD on L7 (TD29): Tap = /, hold = ~/, double-tap = ../. A complete filesystem path can be typed without leaving the layer.
Pipe TD on L7 (TD45): Tap = |, hold = | (with surrounding spaces). Both pipe variants on the strongest left index position.
Direct umlaut TDs on L1 (TD48/49/50): Tap = ä / ü / ö, hold = Ä / Ü / Ö. Mnemonically placed on the A / U / O positions. The " dead key (TD33) remains available as a fallback for typing systems where the AltGr-shortcut is not desired (e.g. text fields that consume AltGr modifiers). The hold is implemented as a macro (M16/M17/M18) because Tap Dance hold slots accept only a single Vial keycode, while a capital umlaut requires RShift+RAlt+letter.
Backtick reachability: Backtick is reachable on L12 (right ring top via TD) and within L7 Code & CLI. Sufficient access for Markdown code-fences, JS template literals, and shell command substitution.
No inner column for layer content: G and M require a lateral inward index stretch — the same problem Colemak-DH solves for B and H. Cadence preserves Cadenza's extension: G/M only carry their letters, never layer content. The Application Menu key (formerly on G/M hold in v1.11.0 and earlier) was never used in daily work and was relocated to L9 Brackets in v1.11.1 — see Design Decisions below.
App/Menu on L9 Brackets thumbs (v1.11.1): Application Menu is reachable on the L9 Spc-thumb and Bsp-thumb, available from either hand while holding X or . to access Brackets. The Tab and Ent thumb positions remain unallocated on L9. Rationale: G and M hold-actions for App/Menu were inherited from Cadenza but never used in practice; freeing them simplifies the base layer to plain letters and reclaims two TD slots without any functional loss.
- Ferris Sweep (any RP2040-compatible variant)
- Vial-compatible firmware with
TAP_DANCE_ENTRIES = 64(Cadence v1.11.1 uses TD(57); the default Vial-Sweep build ships with 48) - OS keyboard layout set to US International (required for dead keys and
RAltcombinations)
Cadence v1.11.1 uses 52 Tap Dance slots and requires a firmware build with at least 58 entries. The default Vial-Sweep firmware ships with 48 slots, so a custom build with TAP_DANCE_ENTRIES = 64 is required:
# Clone Vial-QMK
git clone https://github.com/vial-kb/vial-qmk.git
cd vial-qmk
make git-submodule
# Verify keyboards/ferris/sweep/keymaps/vial/config.h
# Should contain: #define TAP_DANCE_ENTRIES 64
# Build
qmk compile -kb ferris/sweep -km vialFlash via RP2040 drag-and-drop:
- Double-tap the reset button →
RPI-RP2drive appears - Copy the generated
.uf2file to the drive - Repeat for the other half
- Open Vial desktop app, connect keyboard via USB
- File → Load saved layout → select
configuration/Cadence-FerrisSweep_v1_11_1.vil - Confirm all layers loaded correctly
Set your OS keyboard layout to US International. This is required for:
RAlt+S→ ßRAlt+5→ €RAlt+Q/Y/P→ ä/ü/ö (andShift+RAlt+Q/Y/P→ Ä/Ü/Ö, used by L1 hold-macros)- Dead key
"(Shift+Quote) → ä, ö, ü when followed by a vowel
| Resource | Used | Available | Free |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tap Dance slots | 52 | 64 | 12 |
| Macro slots | 19 | 32 | 13 |
| Key Overrides | 0 | 32 | 32 |
| Combos | 0 | 32 | 32 |
| Layers | 13 in firmware (11 reachable) | 16 | 3 |
| Document | Description |
|---|---|
| docs/index.html | Full design documentation and layer reference — keyboard visualisations for all 13 layers, design decisions, design principles, complete Tap Dance and Macro tables, firmware notes |
| docs/L4-Symbol-Layer.html | Dedicated specification for the L12 Symbol layer — design rationale, position assignments, shared with Sonata v3.x |
| VERSIONING.md | Semantic versioning policy and version history |
| CHANGELOG.md | Detailed change log including the Cadenza heritage |
| ROADMAP.md | Planned milestones — patches, features, QMK migration |
Cadence follows Semantic Versioning — vMAJOR.MINOR.PATCH.
| Increment | When |
|---|---|
| PATCH | Bug fix — no key moves, no new features |
| MINOR | New layer, macro, or Tap Dance added |
| MAJOR | Existing key behaviour changes — muscle memory impact |
Cadence's version numbers track the underlying Ferris Sweep configuration version 1:1 — v1.11.1 of the layout corresponds to Vial config Cadence-FerrisSweep_v1_11_1.vil.
Full versioning policy and change log: VERSIONING.md
See CONTRIBUTING.md. Ports, language variants, and usage reports are welcome. Open a Discussion to suggest future features.
Designed by one7two99 · MIT · 2026
Based on Cadenza by one7two99 · Colemak-DH by stevep99 · Inspired by Miryoku
34 keys. Two thumbs less. Same rhythm.
