The New wireless Seaboard RISE: Expressive MIDI controller
The Seaboard Grand controller represented a bold attempt to create a more expressive kind of controller for piano players, but its high price put it out of the reach of the majority of home studio owners. But now we have Seaboard Rise, which packs SEA interface technology into a more compact and affordable instrument.
Like its Grand partner, Seaboard Rise is a pressure sensitive, continuous surface that responds to even subtle gestures. Using its ‘keywaves’, you can shape notes as you play, adjusting the character of the sound with your finger movements.
The Seaboard is one of several devices to deliver Multidimensional Polyphonic Expression, or MPE (others include the Haken Continuum and the Linnstrument), support for which is coming in Bitwig Studio 1.2. Also known as ‘Expressive MIDI’, this is designed to offer acoustic-level expression by enabling you to modulate individual notes in multiple ways in real time.
The Seaboard Rise is designed to bring Expressive MIDI to a wider audience. This 2-octave device comes with a touch control panel that has an integrated battery and supports Bluetooth over MIDI, meaning that it can be used wirelessly.
You also get a copy of Equator, Roll’s custom-built soft synth, in the box. Designed for Expressive MIDI controllers, this enables you to use Rise’s five primary dimensions of touch and gestural control (strike, press, glide, slide, and lift) to all manner of parameters. You can even use the sliders in the control panel to fine-tune the gestural modulation.
Find out more about this product here!