# Roli Seaboard Rise or Seaboard Grand as Kontakt Controller



## owenave (Mar 14, 2016)

I have seen several Roli Seaboard Rise & Seaboard Grand Controllers
and have been thinking these might be great for controllers for Kontakt
libraries with a lot of Articulations. Seems like it would be great for that.
Any other composers given this any thought?
And what are your thoughts about it.
https://www.roli.com/products/seaboard-rise
https://www.roli.com/products/seaboard-grand
You can find a bunch of demos of the product on YouTube.
Haven't seen any demos yet with a Kontakt Library like a String Library 
with many articulations.
It is shipping in a few weeks.


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## kurtvanzo (Mar 21, 2016)

Saw all of these at NAMM and had the same idea you had, was even saving the money up until I tried them. IMHO they are too soft to the touch, similar to pressing on silicon implants, but without all the fun. Seriously, trigger sounds on them was more difficult and less predictive than an actual keyboard, and I was surprised to find the older models even squishier. The notes didn't trigger until pushing fairly hard, and although I'm sure there are sensitivity settings somewhere, the feel just wasn't there. I also got to try a Linnstrument they had there as well which was also interesting, but didn't seem worth the $1500 price tag. A nice traditional controller with a good bed would be the same or less and get you much further. Too bad too, I had high hopes for both of these until I tried them, I suggest you find a store that has one to try before forking out the cash. It might work for some, but was much too soft of a feel for me. Even the pitch shifting on the key was underwhelming and less responsive than I hoped. It was an eye opener for me, and that was their official NAMM booth, so I know it was set up properly. Bummer, but it did save me $1500 that can go elsewhere.


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## polypx (Mar 21, 2016)

I agree -- I arranged some time at a dealer to try them out and found them all basically unplayable. One of the main goals, if you have a controller that can do those various dimensions, is that your finger should be able to move in each direction smoothly, but the design of the Seaboard is such that you can't slide in either the Y nor the X dimension smoothly. The rubber is resistant to that kind of manipulation, and somehow non-slip. There are bumps that serve no real purpose other than to heed your movement in the X axis further. There is some Z response, but it's not very well calibrated... like very cheap aftertouch. Basically the entire product is an engineering disaster.

I love the company and wish them success, but the Seaboard is hopeless.


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## Gerhard Westphalen (Mar 21, 2016)

I had also started seriously considering picking one up but not after I tried one out. I found it far too rubbery like an eraser and difficult to play or slide. I imagined it was a bit more like a fabric and softer like a gel. Maybe their original (and far more expensive) line is but I haven't tried those. It would also probably take quite a bit of work from you or library developers to get libraries to respond nicely to the different control methods. 

I have a friend who got the 25 "key" and apparently likes it with the synth it comes with but he bought it blindly and I'm not sure if the fact that he splurged so much on it affects how much he says he likes it.


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## owenave (Mar 21, 2016)

Thanks to all that replied and saved me from spending money on them at their current state.
Hopefully in the future they will develop one that is more playable. I for one was ready to plop down the money for the 49 key one. But won't be now. I trust your guys opinions, especially @kurtvanzo who was planning on buying one till he tried it. I hope someone comes up with an idea like this that works but not as rubbery.THANKS for saving me a lot of money


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## kurtvanzo (Mar 23, 2016)

polypx said:


> I agree -- I arranged some time at a dealer to try them out and found them all basically unplayable. One of the main goals, if you have a controller that can do those various dimensions, is that your finger should be able to move in each direction smoothly, but the design of the Seaboard is such that you can't slide in either the Y nor the X dimension smoothly. The rubber is resistant to that kind of manipulation, and somehow non-slip. There are bumps that serve no real purpose other than to heed your movement in the X axis further. There is some Z response, but it's not very well calibrated... like very cheap aftertouch. Basically the entire product is an engineering disaster.
> 
> I love the company and wish them success, but the Seaboard is hopeless.



Have to agree, I like the company and the guys at the NAMM booth were great, but the feel of the keys were a disappointment. I also tried the more expensive versions hoping the feel was a little better, but no dice. I didn't mind the X,Y,Z response, but it wasn't as expressive as I had hoped either. My advice is just to try before you buy, as it would be an expensive doorstop.  Hopefully they will continue to develop it and get something that is more sensitive and responsive to the touch.


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## Softmo06004 (Mar 23, 2016)

Well, it was my first impression until i took the risk to buy one. I spent a long days using it but for me,now, no doubt, it's a wonderful keyboard. Infact, if you consider it as a "sort of keyboard", you can only be disappointed. You must take some times to learn how to play it, more than just a week, and work on its integration into your virtual instruments.


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