All RISE for ROLI’s new Seaboard

The Seaboard RISE behaves like anything from a conventional keyboard controller to a completely open­-ended interactive surface

London-based music technology specialist ROLI reveals another innovation in expressive MIDI instruments, which comes bundled with the Equator software synthesiser

East London-based technology company ROLI has unveiled the Seaboard RISE – a universally accessible, expressive MIDI controller that builds on the technologies of the S​eaboard GRAND, ​which CNN called “​the piano of the future”. Like the GRAND, the Seaboard RISE features patented S​EA Interface technology, which remodels the keyboard as a pressure­-sensitive, continuous surface that responds to subtle gestures. Playing on its unique ‘keywaves’, musicians shape notes, modulating the character of sound in real time with movements of the finger.

“Finally, musicians have at their fingertips an affordable and accessible tool that lets them create authentic instrumental simulations in real time,” says Roland Lamb, ROLI’s CEO and inventor of the Seaboard. “C​ombined with its strengths in creating fresh new sound interactions, the Seaboard RISE is truly a breakthrough for both musical performance and production.”

RISE comes bundled with Equator, ROLI’s custom-built software synthesiser designed specifically for ‘expressive’ MIDI instruments. In Equator, the five primary dimensions of touch and gestural control – strike, press, glide, slide, and lift​ – are independently mapped to a wide variety of sound parameters. Sliders on the left­-hand control panel regulate the extent to which these parameters of gestural modulation are utilised, allowing the Seaboard RISE to behave like anything from a conventional keyboard controller – in easy­-to-­use ‘piano mode’ – to a completely open­-ended interactive surface.

The Seaboard RISE is now available for preorder at a retail price of £599 ($799) and will be available in stores globally from October. To see and hear the controller in action, watch the video below and for more info visit: roli.com/products/seaboard-rise

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