That was an interesting podcast! I agree about experimenting with different materials, and I too love natural wood varieties. What I'd love to see is a wood "sheet" for a keyboard top (like instead of layering acrylic, bolt on a shaped piece of wood at the top of the case as a cover), something fairly dense with nice figure, and carved or burned with designs. Or a fully carved wooden case made of 2 parts.
Random samples from google image search (doesn't need to be that intricate, but just illustrating the endless possibilities):
![](http://www.lowes.com/creative-ideas/images/2013_08/Fall_CI/woodburning-turntable-102057276-hero.jpg)
![](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61ykerHJ6oL.jpg)
![](http://www.amillionlives.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Wood-Carving-Patterns.jpg)
Add colorful stains, like blue or black/gray, and various oils and finishes.
Alternatively, tooled leather bolted on at the top with some aged looking bolts.