Seaboard Grand - wow!

Anything about hardware musical instruments.
Post Reply New Topic
RELATED
PRODUCTS

Post

Just had a play on one of these today. I must admit I had been sceptical about this one compared to say the Linnstrument or Continuum but having now played it I think it has the edge. It is just really fun and expressive to play, and the experience is so sensuous and tactile it's almost sexy and alive. Your fingers just sink into the material and there are so many ways to touch and stroke it, each one producing the most delicate sounds, it was hard to pull myself away from it and I wanted to just take to home. The 2 ribbon strips were also very impressive.

https://roli.com/products/seaboard-grand

It also comes with a very capable built in modular synth with FM and wavetable capabilities.

My only concern is how long lasting the keyboard material is and how easy to clean, the instrument as a whole is very solid and well made but the rubber stuff is very soft and I can see it getting dirty or wearing out over time (or even tearing).

Post

cool, sounds like its fun to play ... out of interest, have you tried a continuum?

I think the keyboard material should be fine, Jordan Rudess mentioned (in his masterclass video?) that he had heard concerns about this, but said he has not seen any marks etc on his, it still looks like new (and he has had it a long time).

I was quite sceptical of the ribbon sliding, rather than sliding like you do on a continuum... but JR also showed that, and it actually looks quite natural.

only drawback on Seaboard, is it lacks the third dimension (front/back), but again JR mentioned that Roli were looking into this.
(I use this a lot on both the Eigenharp and Soundplane to control timbre in an additional way to using poly pressure )

I do hope I can try a Seaboard out some time soon, fantastic instrument.

Post

Yes I was surprised it didn't have a front back capability but the pressure sensitivity added enough of a third dimension for me - still if they could add that it would be cool. I've not tried a Continuum but from what I've seen it has a harder surface.

Post

Id be surprised if the continuum was 'harder', its quite a soft surface too... what is also surprising (about the continuum) is the depth of press, gives a huge amount of dynamic control.
That said, i don't think you need a lot of movement, my Soundplane has very little, but enough to get the tactile feedback you need to control.

third dimension, yeah will be interesting to see if they develop it, I wonder if it will work well for a piano layout.

Q. can you play adjacent keys at the same time on the Seaboard? (you can't on a continuum)

Post

I think so - I played a few tone clusters - going back tomorrow to try it with some softsynths so will test that better. I also want to make sure it doesn't have the same annoying problem my Qunexus has with some plugins which is that because it relies on pressure information it get's confused between velocity and AT.

Post

Bit frustrating that their website is so low on information - and you can't even seem to access the manual unless you are already an owner - bad idea. I would like to know some more about how this handles polyphonic aftertouch and it doesn't even say whether it supports OSC even. One thing that is confusing is it doesn't have a modwheel - I guess that makes sense given that they mean you to send mod info via touch - but if the keys are already sending poly aftertouch how can they also send cc1 and not confuse the 2 things? Also what happens with plugins that don't support poly aftertouch?

Post

I've been eyeing this thing for a while now. I just hope they can get the cost down. I know JR mentioned something about that too. I didn't realize it lacked the third dimension though. I'd have bought a Soundplane long ago if he'd just add support for Windows. In the meantime, I guess the Linnstrument is the most affordable option.
Incomplete list of my gear: 1/8" audio input jack.

Post

No, OSC as its only got a USB midi output, no ethernet (ok, its feasible to do OSC over USB, but no one supports it yet)
pressure, can do poly or channel (afaik)... perhaps also CCs, mod wheel, you could easily substitute a pedal (I think supports 3)

I'm with you on the lack of info... its odd, no public forum, manuals - obviously a marketing decision, that experience should be hands-on, perhaps they feel similar controllers have suffered from not being experienced before being 'judged' ?
(and most of the videos, feel more like marketing than information)

Post

I'd like to try the Seaboard & the Continuum too, but it's not easy to find places that have one.
A pity there aren't more 'exotic' controllers that give access to more sound-shaping parameters than a standard keyboard.

Post

I'm impressed with it and have high hopes for the model. company.


There are plenty of public forums for discussion on the unit, including this one. Having seen how product sponsored forums have been abused through the years I think it prudent that a product manufacturer not move in that direction. I mean lets face it commentary on youtube for any video goes way beyond the pale of acceptable social intercourse.


Regarding no online manual I'm sure that someone will make it publicly available as it gains in popularity.
Synapse Audio Dune 3 I'm in love

Post

I'm more interested in the Linnstrument because of its compact size.

Post

I'm more interested in the linnstrument because of it's layout. I'll often lay my ztar z6 flat like a lap steel and try to tackle tapping on it that way.
Synapse Audio Dune 3 I'm in love

Post

I like the Linn layout too but the keys look too small and cramped to me.

I had a second demo of the Seaboard and there are 2 things that put me off somewhat, 1 is I kept finding my fingers slipping into the valleys between the keys too easily, the raised area is too narrow to target easily - I'm sure practice would improve things though but this would not happen so much if they increased the target area width. The second thing is I found the velocity response quite insensitive - in particular trying to play very quiet notes was hit and miss, it took a fair amount of pressure to trigger a note, consequently I could not get consistency in playing quiet notes. It is possible there is some control over that in the setup utility, unfortunately in the shop display they were using Windows so I couldn't access the settings (currently Mac only).

Post

aMUSEd wrote:I like the Linn layout too but the keys look too small and cramped to me.

I had a second demo of the Seaboard and there are 2 things that put me off somewhat, 1 is I kept finding my fingers slipping into the valleys between the keys too easily, the raised area is too narrow to target easily - I'm sure practice would improve things though but this would not happen so much if they increased the target area width. The second thing is I found the velocity response quite insensitive - in particular trying to play very quiet notes was hit and miss, it took a fair amount of pressure to trigger a note, consequently I could not get consistency in playing quiet notes. It is possible there is some control over that in the setup utility, unfortunately in the shop display they were using Windows so I couldn't access the settings (currently Mac only).
Seems hard to believe that with an instrument so expensive, and intended specifically for expressive playing that you would not be able to adjust the sensitivity

Post

I'm sure you can, I just couldn't test it in the shop.

Post Reply

Return to “Hardware (Instruments and Effects)”