Roli Seaboard Rise

Started by Elantric, January 24, 2016, 08:51:51 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.


admin

#1
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SeaboardR-25

A New Level of Expression for Keyboardists
Getting your hands on the Roli Seaboard RISE keyboard controller is like experiencing a new instrument for the first time, albeit one that will feel familiar to any keyboardist or pianist. A squishy keybed with 25 "Keywaves" is more sensitive to your touch than any traditional keyboard ever was and offers polyphonic pitch bend and aftertouch. Slide notes like a cellist, add vibrato like a guitarist, and make tonal changes on a per note basis, either with the included Equator software synthesizer or your own favorite software instruments. You'll be able to create more depth and dynamic interest in your performances than ever before with the Roli Seaboard RISE.

Roli Seaboard RISE USB Keyboard at a Glance:
Keywave playing surface has unprecedented expressive potential
Polyphonic pitch bend and aftertouch enhance any performance
Slide notes just as with a ribbon controller
Comes with Equator synthesizer designed specifically for Seaboard
Keywave playing surface has unprecedented expressive potential
The smooth playing surface on the Seaboard RISE has 25 molded Keywaves arranged similarly to a typical piano keyboard. When we first got our hands on it at Sweetwater, it only took a moment to adapt to the lack of physical keys. We also noticed the amazing sensitivity: the response is adjustable, and at the most extreme sensitivity settings you barely need to touch a Keywave to play a note. Digging into chords and emphasizing certain notes felt much more satisfying than the aftertouch found on most keyboards. And it quickly becomes second nature to wiggle notes for a vibrato effect. Sit down at the Seaboard RISE and play a piece you know well, and you'll soon discover more expressive potential than you ever had with a traditional keyboard.

Polyphonic pitch bend and aftertouch enhance any performance
With the Roli Seaboard RISE you can strike a chord, then bend the pitch of just a single note. Or add pressure to a single note to add modulation, while other notes remain unaffected. It's this level of expression that allows you to perform with more dynamics and nuance than you ever could with a typical keyboard. For the one-person composer/orchestrator/performer, it can enable you to quickly add expressive lifelike interpretations to your group or solo instrument samples.

Slide notes just as with a ribbon controller
Because the Seaboard RISE's Keywaves all flow together, you can actually slide between notes like you can on a fretless instrument. Just hit one note, slide your finger along the Keywaves, and the note will glide right along. And the flat area in front of the Keywaves acts as a ribbon controller, allowing you to play notes and slide between them.

Comes with Equator synthesizer designed specifically for Seaboard
Along with the Seaboard RISE, you'll receive Roli's Equator software synthesizer, a custom instrument that takes advantage of the Seaboard's advanced expressive capabilities. Browse hundreds of presets directly from the Seaboard using the SoundDial, from realistic pianos and guitars to evocative pads and extreme synth leads. And of course, you can use the Seaboard RISE as a controller for all of your other virtual instruments, too.

Roli Seaboard RISE USB Keyboard Features:
25-note USB controller with embedded processor for standalone use
Keywave playing surface allows you to slide between notes and use unique playing techniques
Supports wireless MIDI via Bluetooth
Supports polyphonic pitch bend and aftertouch
Control pedal input offers even more expressive potential
Reassuringly rugged with all-metal construction
Comes with Equator software synthesizer (Mac)
Perform with more expression than ever, with the Roli Seaboard RISE!


Owners Manual
https://rsp-production.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/files/pdf_media_file/198/RISE%2025%20Creator%20Manual%20October%2013th%202015.pdf

Elantric



Marco Parisi plays Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing" on the Seaboard RISE at Musikmesse 2016

Elantric


ROLI Seaboard RISE 49 - David Gilmour - 5 A.M. - Kashyap Iyengar


MESSE 2016: ROLI Seaboard Rise and the New Lift Dimension

whippinpost91850

That's pretty impressive and expressive for a keyboard contoller

mbenigni

Love this.  I started envisioning an instrument like this 17 or 18 years ago - to bridge the gap between a guitar's sensitivity and a keyboard's range and polyphony - but I still imagined it with discrete mechanical parts for each key, and I couldn't figure how you'd get sufficient bend ranges without the distances between them becoming problematic.  And cost would have been insane.  This contiguous, touch-sensitive design is brilliant.

sixeight

It's the keyboard player's revenge to us midi guitarists. You sound like us,  we'll sound like you.

Chumly

#7
It's astounding the amount of individual control over each voice (particularly vibrato) and the price seems quite reasonable given the reports on build quality, support, and included software are promising, however I do note some possible limitations, at least when trying to emulate the idiosyncrasies of guitar:

The need for sample playback / physical modeling with hefty functionality to allow for such things as:
Pick-attack-variance emulation
String-mute-percussive emulation
Pick-string-position emulation
Guitar-amp-feedback emulation
Acoustic-interaction between strings emulation
Natural and artificial harmonics string emulation
Slide-guitar emulation
Etc.

The final thing is that if you listen to the underlying guitar timbres (especially the acoustic guitar) they are kind'a cheesy, however I'd expect a goodly amount of these issues could be overcome with sophisticated enough performance based, sample playback / physical modeling software (if there is such a thing available for PC / Mac?).
I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. - Richard P. Feynman


Hurricane

 8)
I want one - it's going to make traditional keyboard piano keys obsolete in electronic music betcha

EZ :

HR


mooncaine

If you want to *hear* this keyboard playing Indian music, skip the first video.

First vid has plenty of interesting stuff about the Indian instruments, but you don't know if/when you're hearing the Roli.

admin

#12
https://www.gearnews.com/roli-files-for-bankruptcy-and-reboots-as-luminary/

ROLI files for bankruptcy and reboots as Luminary
Approximate reading time: 4 Minutes






The MPE pioneers and makers of squishy keyboards have run out of money. The firm will ditch Seaboard and retool with a focus on light-up keys for fun piano teaching.   

ADVERTISEMENT

ROLI
ROLI seemed to be a powerhouse of modern instrument making. They were everywhere, in everything from product placement in movies, to celebrity endorsements, pushing MIDI 2.0 and scooping up other firms like Fxpansion and JUCE.

Roland Lamb founded ROLI in London in 2009 with the aim of designing a playing surface that went beyond the limitations of the piano keyboard and MIDI controller. This resulted in the Seaboard controller that could generate polyphonic pitch bend, register pressure from individual fingers and slide while funnelling all this expressive data through a regular MIDI connection. ROLI, more than anyone, brought the potential of MPE (MIDI Polyphonic Expression) to a wider market and were instrumental in getting it adopted into the MIDI 2.0 specification.


ROLI Seaboard

Since 2014 ROLI has raised $75.7 million to develop its products. Here's a quote from BusinessInsider.com:

"Ultimately, what happened was the pro-focused products we initially developed, although successful within their marketplace, the marketplace wasn't big enough given our venture trajectory," Lamb told Insider on Wednesday. "We had our eyes set on hypergrowth, and that proved to be difficult."

In ROLI's most recent filings to June 30, 2019, it reported pretax losses of £34.1 million on revenues of £11.4 million. The costs were put down to high salaries and manufacturing. Doing a little bit of Googling people were talking about ROLI's losses over a year ago so perhaps it shouldn't come as a surprise. I also noted that CEO of Fxpansion Angus Hewlett who became VP Engineering and Head of Sound Synthesis when Fxpansion was acquired by ROLI in 2016 moved on in April of this year. I wonder what will happen to the Fxpansion range of software synths?

Luminary
So, the plan is to ditch most of the hardware and focus on milking a subscription service instead because, apparently, that's where all the money is. ROLI released the LUMI illuminated keyboard in 2019 via Kickstarter with a view to building a platform for teaching piano. They've picked up another £5 million in funding and taken about 70 employees to the new business.

ROLI Lumi Keys
ROLI Lumi Keys

While they are definitely still in the hardware business they hope it's the $80 yearly subscription that will keep the money flowing from people wanting to learn how to play. Although you have to factor in the Lumi Keys Studio Edition which costs nearly $300 for a light-up 2-octave keyboard and software. They hope to bring the Seaboard back in some form at some time in the future.

Hypergrowth
Saying I'm not an expert in financial dealings would be an understatement of epic proportions! But from a lay person's perspective, it seems extraordinary that you can burn through so much money, and then go into administration writing off a load of debt to investors and effectively killing off well-regarded software like the Fxpansion synths, and then get another £5 million from someone to do it all again. What's wrong with designing a product, working out how much to charge to cover your costs and then building a business on that? Isn't that what hundreds of manufacturers do within the music technology market? I don't see Roger Linn picking up millions in investment to take over the world with his Linnstrument. Modular makers make a living from their kitchens and workshops and yet deliver products into the hands of musicians all across the world. ROLI didn't ever behave like they were in a niche market and perhaps this Hypergrowth concept is best for mass-market products of little consequence rather than tools designed to inspire musicians. It feels like it's all some weird illusion pushed by apps makers and con artists on Instagram.

Anyway, I expect Luminary will be pushing funky easy-to-learn piano apps at us via clever social media campaigns and I don't imagine we'll be seeing MIDI 2.0 come into reality any time soon. But let's hope that software support will continue in some way for the Seaboard controllers so they don't end up being expensively and expressively obsolete.