MasHD Blog

London-based tech start-up ROLI has introduced a new musical instrument line that should get musicians and audiophiles salivating. The “Seaboard” is a continuous-touch keyboard with curved “keywaves” (instead of keys) that flow into one another like waves on the sea (thus the name.) This overcomes the step-function limitations of a traditional keyboard, letting musicians bend and select pitches with absolute precision, analogous in principle to a fretless stringed instrument like a violin. The only other on-board control is a “Sounddial” resembling an iPod click wheel that allows for continuous preset indexing and fine-tuning. To all you who are concerned about the instrument’s ability to produce tones in pitch: by playing on the tops of the keywaves, you can play it like a normal piano. The keys, which use subtractive — rather than reactive — synthesis, are instantaneously touch-sensitive. As with any new instrument, the Seaboard takes practice. (ROLI has released a few online demos...