Roli is no more - not a deal

[kevin H]

Not sure what this means for equator, cypher, etc…

https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/2/22653749/music-startup-roli-administration-reform-luminary-lumi-keys-app

 

 

[Craig N]

That's a shame. I really wanted a Roli Seaboard one day. Waited too long I guess. 

[kevin H]

From article it might be reintroduced by new company at some point.  They were always quite expensive I thought for 25 key version.   Then again Osmose looks cool but that is quite a bit more hahah

https://www.expressivee.com/2-osmose

Edited September 3, 2021 by kevin H

[Sander Verstraten]

3 hours ago, kevin H said:

Not sure what this means for equator, cypher, etc…

https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/2/22653749/music-startup-roli-administration-reform-luminary-lumi-keys-app

 

 

Aren't their synths under the FXPansion flag? 

But then again they might sell those off to InMusic, like they did with BFDDrums.

[Bajan Blue]

they lost $47 million on a turnover of $16 million........i don't think i would be very happy if i had invested in Roli!!!!!

[antler]

Can't help but wonder if they would have done better if they priced their keyboards a little lower. I always had a slight interest in them, but they were far too expensive for me to justify.

[InstrEd]

5 minutes ago, antler said:

Can't help but wonder if they would have done better if they priced their keyboards a little lower. I always had a slight interest in them, but they were far too expensive for me to justify.

My thoughts too.  They were just too much $$ for me to justify. Love the concept though.

[Sander Verstraten]

I went the Sensel Morph route for my MPE cravings.  Not much cheaper, but the switchable overlays are great

[antler]

52 minutes ago, Sander Verstraten said:

Sensel Morph

Interesting... Is this essentially a large multipoint touch pad with multiple overlays? Do the overlays do anything special other than offering a visual clue as to what's being pressed?

[abacab]

1 hour ago, antler said:

Interesting... Is this essentially a large multipoint touch pad with multiple overlays? Do the overlays do anything special other than offering a visual clue as to what's being pressed?

I looked into the Morph a while back. Looks a very adaptable touch pad, and the available overlays allow a lot of flexibility. However, I'm only interested in the two octave keyboard overlay. These items are all sold out and on back order from what I can see now. With Roli on hiatus,  the only other good MPE controller option appears to be the Linnstrument...

[Anxiousmofo]

Love the Morph.  Much more reasonably priced and a great piece of kit.

[Sander Verstraten]

8 hours ago, Anxiousmofo said:

Love the Morph.  Much more reasonably priced and a great piece of kit.

It's an amazing tool. And paired with an ipad ideal for music making on the go. 

Looking to get the creator's overlay to experiment with custom layouts

[abacab]

The Morph being demonstrated by Venus Theory

 

[kevin H]

This one looks interesting too.  Pre-orders only for now.  Available soon.

https://www.embodme.com

[kevin H]

5 hours ago, abacab said:

The Morph being demonstrated by Venus Theory

 

Sold out in most places unfortunately..

[abacab]

50 minutes ago, kevin H said:

Sold out in most places unfortunately..

B&H will let you set email alerts for when it's back in stock.

[abacab]

52 minutes ago, kevin H said:

This one looks interesting too.  Pre-orders only for now.  Available soon.

https://www.embodme.com

That definitely looks interesting, but is vastly a different design paradigm from the traditional piano keyboard.

[TheSteven]

16 hours ago, kevin H said:

This one looks interesting too.  Pre-orders only for now.  Available soon.

https://www.embodme.com

Interesting, but if I was going to be spending $ in that range I'd go for the the LinnStrument

 

Edited September 5, 2021 by TheSteven

[kevin H]

If money was no object the osmose I posted before looks like the most expressive for someone that plays keys. The video demos are pretty impressive.

[sarine]

I've been wanting to try a Seaboard for a while, but all these super-expressive controllers make me wonder how much would they actually add to the music.

The 'wow factor' is there and I bet they're fun to improvise with, but I'm not that convinced that they'd increase my productivity or creativity. I compose and design sounds mostly with intent and usually know what the sound/melody/rhythm etc. needs done to it without hearing it first. With all the expressiveness these controllers allow, I doubt actually molding the sound live can be done in a controlled enough manner to replace drawing automation curves with the mouse.

I'm also not sure whether this "multi-dimensional" touch control is at all better as a concept than separate knobs/faders/pedals for controlling the extra parameters. Sounds like the latter would give much better control considering how much challenge just controlling the whole dynamic range of a plain old acoustic piano can be. Besides, when you're creating such busy sounds and soundscapes, do you really need both hands anyway?

A friend of mine (a decent pianist) had gotten to try a Seaboard and found it awkward to play on. But he also said that when he saw someone else who knew the instrument play on it, it was pretty impressive. I'm not sure if the impression was of the musical, or just dazzling sound effect sort.