ROLI Seaboard

The Seaboard is a MIDI controller, manufactured by ROLI, that has flexible rubber for keys instead of traditional "moving keys", and features an on board sound engine.^[4] It features 5d technology (see below) which consists of: "Strike", "Glide" and "Press", front - rear "Slide" sensitivity, and release–velocity "Lift" (Rise only). This can be used for example to play the Seaboard like a fretless bass guitar, or you can introduce vibrator into a string patch which would not be possible on a traditional MIDI controller. The Seaboard also features polyphonic aftertouch, and a built-in USB charged battery.

5d technology

• Strike – The way the player makes contact with the Seaboard (Velocity)
• Press – Pressure applied to the Seaboard after the first making contact with it. (Aftertouch)
• Glide – Left and right movements from side to side on a Seaboard, sends pitch bend information. (Pitch bend)
• Slide – Vertical movements up and down the Seaboard. (Brightness)
• Lift – The speed you take your fingers away from the Seaboard. (Release velocity)

Communications

The unit supports wireless MIDI over bluetooth.

Latency

ROLI reports that latency of the unit at 30ms using bluetooth. (24ms via USB)

Sound editing

Sounds can be edited and created by using software called Equator, ^[5] which can be quite resource intensive.^[6] and claims to be the world’s first purpose built, multidimensional soft synth.^[7]

Models

• BLOCK
• RISE 25
• RISE 49
• GRAND Stage

Alternatives

• K–Board^[8]
• QuNexus
• LinnStrument

References