"This bold, groundbreaking new instrument has capabilities and a character that nothing else quite matches".
In an exclusive 14-page review, Sound On Sound test the ROLI Seaboard GRAND in the new issue of the magazine. A radically new musical instrument, the Seaboard GRAND reimagines a piano keyboard as a soft, continuous surface, putting expression in the form of polyphonic pitch control, vibrato and continuous touch at a player’s fingertips.
"Though it’s a first–generation product, the Seaboard is nevertheless a beautifully manufactured thing. The body of the instrument is black aluminium, all elegant corners and chamfers...the Seaboard has something of a stealth–bomber look to it: rather serious, and more than a little mysterious”.
"Keyboard players like me are, to begin with, inexorably drawn to those raised parts of the playing surface, but in fact they just act as guides. Keywaves are actually sensitive across their full depth, from in front of the raised sections to behind them too. It’s just as valid, and sometimes even more musically fruitful, to play the ‘troughs’ or the flat ribbons in front of and behind the ridges”.
"The aftertouch behaviour was the first thing to grab me, with changes in pressure frequently modulating level or timbre with delightful immediacy, and complete independence of other held notes. We’ve all heard the whispered tales of legendary tank–sized synths that offered that Holy Grail of expression, polyphonic aftertouch... Well, the Seaboard makes it a modern-day reality, and the effect is super–controllable. Many factory patches let you squeeze in smoothly from absolute silence, a wonderful capability that no conventional keyboard instrument I know of gets close to”.
"Next comes pitch modulation. Wobble a finger sideways, and there emerges a vibrato with a responsiveness and ‘human–ness’ that is a million miles from what’s possible with a modulation wheel. And, of course, you can do this for one right-hand melody note, for example, without affecting other notes held in the left hand. Pull or push off a keywave’s ridge, or use a thumb to transfer touch to the front or rear ribbons, and you can fall off or gliss up from held pitches, up to an octave from the starting point. Two hands can be combined to do the same thing, for monophonic–style solo playing. Stay on the ribbons entirely and you’re into Theremin, pedal steel guitar or comedy trombone territory. It requires you to dream up a new technique, but opens up all sorts of interesting possibilities”.
"Allied with compatible synths and well–programmed patches, the Seaboard’s silicone supports playing of a flexibility and expressiveness that makes conventional keyboard controllers feel wooden. And because you don’t have to play on the raised parts of the keywaves, whole new types of interaction and creative possibilities beckon".
“With the layout of a piano keyboard but expressive characteristics closer to aid or string instruments, the Seaboard is fascinating new synth and controller. If you can utilise polyphonic aftertouch and finger-operated vibrato you’ll be in your element…”.
The full review can be found in the September 2015 issue of Sound On Sound magazine on sale now. The ROLI Seaboard GRAND is also available now at £2399 RRP inc VAT.
ROLI is distributed in the UK and ROI by Sound Technology Ltd. For more information please call 01462 480000 or visit https://www.soundtech.co.uk/music-retail/roli/.
