Cheap MPE controllers

[machinesworking]

The cheapest model is three times the price of a Seaboard Block and it's not even a f**king keyboard, it's just a bunch of buttons in a layout that makes no sense to a keyboard player.

You should pick up a bass at least once before you die you pleb.

Roger f*cking Linn himself has answered every support email I've sent and I have no doubt it wouldn't be any different for AU.

He'd f**king have to, wouldn't he? He's the only man in the company. This from the RLD website - "The company consists only of Roger himself". It's another reason to stay away, if you ask me.

Yeah, no, the exact opposite is true. He doesn't sell a million of them and he's more responsive than any other company I own product by. I forgot though, you're all about the corporate dick, and low cost from slave labor.

That, to me, sounds like a patch issue. If you need the AT at full pressure, wouldn't it make sense to use another mod source, like velocity or an expression pedal, instead? Maintaining full AT pressure on any keyboard is hard. It's not really what it's designed for.

You should always be able to go full force on any instrument. Easy enough solved with the mod ThomasHelzel suggests. It's exactly what I was looking for and I'm OK with modding it if it doesn't work like I want it to.

[Ah_Dziz]

I never had any issues with the rubber/ silicone/ whatever seaboard keys are made of. Aside from having the exact same texture as many "marital aides" which was kinda odd at first, it plays and responds fine and I have never had any bunching or other issues with it. My plan has always been to get the Blocks version if my rise ever dies off so the more similar the better for me.
I'm a wee bit interested in many of the other MPE controllers including the Linn and the little honeycomb thing, but I've not got room or money to keep getting this kind of thing. Especially not until MPE becomes far more standard than it currently is.

[Uncle E]

I never had any issues with the rubber/ silicone/ whatever seaboard keys are made of.

That's good to hear. We had some Keith McMillen QuNeo's in stock that I had to donate because the rubber material had turned to goop.

[Ah_Dziz]

I've had mine for years and I just wipe it with a damp microfiber cloth ever now and again. It's as sturdy as any other nice gear I've had/ used. Worried about the battery going bad and causing electrical issues more than anything.

[ThomasHelzle]

The battery can be changed in theory if you remove the rubber tape from the bottom and remove the screws.
No idea why Roli did not offer that, it's just lying in there:

I did not investigate what kind of battery it is but I would assume they used some kind of standard pack.

[Uncle E]

Seriously looks like the battery in my Roomba. This $5.99 baby monitor battery will work:

https://www.amazon.com/Babysense-Replac ... 286&sr=1-6

[BONES]

You should pick up a bass at least once before you die you pleb.

Why? I have Shreddage Precision, it's all the electric bass I need, thanks.

Yeah, no, the exact opposite is true. He doesn't sell a million of them and he's more responsive than any other company I own product by.

Good for you but I don't live in his time zone, so like most other companies, it would be one response per day, dragging on for weeks. OTOH, when I've required support from a proper hardware vendor, I've been able to have realtime conversations with their local distributor to sort out issues. e.g. When I was recently having issues with Korg Legacy Collection, I got a response within minutes. In the past, when I had issues with Cubase, the local support team were on the phone within an hour or so. Even a small hardware company like Elektron have a local service agent in Sydney where I could get my Analog Keys fixed.

I forgot though, you're all about the corporate dick, and low cost from slave labor.

You see, the thing with low-cost labour is that it's how poor countries raise their living standards. What you perceive as "slave" wages is actually enough to support a family. What vested interests would have you perceive as "exploitation" is actually giving a helping hand to those worse off than we are. What if we stopped manufacturing in low cost countries like Inda, Bangladesh and Vietnam, how would all those workers earn enough to feed their families?

You should always be able to go full force on any instrument.

And you can, as you have done yourself. It simply requires more effort than you seem willing to devote to it, much as I have no interest in devoting any effort to working out where the f**king notes are on a Linnstrument.

[BONES]

I never had any issues with the rubber/ silicone/ whatever seaboard keys are made of. Aside from having the exact same texture as many "marital aides" which was kinda odd at first

I tell you what I find "kinda odd" and that's that you know what texture is used on marital aids.

I'm a wee bit interested in many of the other MPE controllers including the Linn and the little honeycomb thing, but I've not got room or money to keep getting this kind of thing. Especially not until MPE becomes far more standard than it currently is.

Yeah, I mostly just don't see the point of MPE. I like having the "dimensions of touch" but to my mind they are most useful when playing a solo line, which is 99% of the time going to be monophonic. So as long as I can assign various parameters to each of the "dimensions", I'm perfectly content to leave MPE switched off.

[vurt]

I tell you what I find "kinda odd" and that's that you know what texture is used on marital aids.

they can not only be fun in the bedroom with friends, but also good for 'exciting' strings or other materials
obviously, you'll want to wash them first.

[vurt]

although i prefer stainless steel to silicon.

[Ah_Dziz]

I tell you what I find "kinda odd" and that's that you know what texture is used on marital aids.

they can not only be fun in the bedroom with friends, but also good for 'exciting' strings or other materials
obviously, you'll want to wash them first.

I was in a "band" in high school that consisted entirely of guitars and drums (mostly broken) being "stimulated" in this fashion and me playing a Korg er-1 through a guitar multifx pedal.

We were children so we thought it was the most amazing and hilarious thing ever and I guess the guy who ran the little club thought so too since he brought us back like 4 or 5 times. At the time it was harder to get ahold of the sex toys than to convince folks to let us "perform".

[Uncle E]

Seaboard M should be sufficient for most couples. Polygamists are better off getting the 4 octave version.

[Tj Shredder]

it's not even a f**king keyboard, it's just a bunch of buttons in a layout that makes no sense to a keyboard player.

A keyboard is the stupidest button interface imaginable, I have no idea how one could prefer it over a LinnStrument. I have 3 variants of it (Sensel & Erae touch beside my LinnStrument) and hopefully don‘t need to touch a stupid keyboard ever again…
Btw. Roger Linns support is the best in the world by far. Rolis support in comparison doesn‘t exist (almost). I prefer a healthy one person luthier I can talk to personally over any bigger struggling investor driven money machine.
But I am very grateful to Roli nonetheless, they pushed MPE and convinced enough developers to create expressive instrument plugins.
Even if its not cheap, I would recommend to look into the Erae Touch II. Its not as much as a LinnStrument but very flexible by the programmability of the surface. The first version has not the resolution I would need and I couldn‘t test the new one yet…
The playability of the LinnStrument is unparalleled. And if Bones would like to test one, I bet any Linstrumentalist in AU would love to show it to you. Blame the music stores, not Roger if its not in any store down there…
And in terms of price, don‘t expect a 300 $ guitar to perform as good as a 1500 $ one….

[BONES]

I prefer a company that makes products that don't require any form of service whatsoever. Failing that, I want a company with a service and repair partner in Sydney. Anything less is pot-luck, at best.

I bought a Seaboard Rise because I had the chance to play with one for a couple of hours in a shop and make an assessment of its suitability to my needs. I bought a Seaboard Block bundle for the same reason. I took a chance on an Erae Touch because I wanted to support a new company that seemed to be doing good things. I bought the Lumi Keys because I was fairly sure it would be a good device that suited my needs and because it was cheap enough that if it turned out otherwise, I wouldn't be too concerned. Once I was able to confirm this, I bought another one.

I have no interest whatsoever in a Linnstrument because a) it isn't a keyboard and would, therefore, be at least as annoying as a Lightpad Block, which after more than two years still does my head in every time I try to use it. Also, I have no way of trying it out to confirm my suspicions and it is far too expensive for what it is compared to other options. The quality of service doesn't even get a look in.

[foosnark]

I prefer a company that makes products that don't require any form of service whatsoever.

Well, my Roli basically needs to be thrown away and replaced with something else because of the pressure issues, so does that count as not requiring service?

I feel like Linnstrument vs. Roli is too much down to personal preference for people to even bother arguing about who should or shouldn't use them. If my Roli wasn't having issues I wouldn't have gone for the Linnstrument. As it is, I'm not married to keyboards and I like the melodic jumping around that a grid layout allows, but I also really liked how the Roli felt and how slides worked on it (when pressure didn't fail). I just tend to play in a different style on the different controllers is all.

Purely in terms of quality/reliability (and yes, service if it ever comes to that) I have absolutely no doubts about the Linnstrument though.