Anybody using the Seaboard Rise?

[tpedraja]

I'm thinking of getting one so that I can ditch the mod wheel in favor of pressure sensitive keys. I know aftertouch can do this, but It would be nice to use the other 5D sensors to control vibrato. Ex. Pressing hard and wagging my finger to do a loud vibrato.

Does anybody have any positive or negative experiences with the keyboard in Cubase? I see demos of it using modeled instruments very often, but not much using sampled instruments.

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[doctoremmet]

but not much using sampled instruments.

That’s mostly because hardly any sample libraries actually support MPE. Making my Seaboard Block work with Kontakt takes a hell of a lot of tweaking and time, so I’ve mostly abandoned the idea. This simply does NOT work out of the box.

Also: using 5D to control MIDI CC’s sounds great on paper, but what you gain in control potential, you lose in terms of actual playability because the “faux keys” of a Roli do not play as easily as a regular weighted or synth action MIDI controller.

So I’m not really convinced any ROLI device is a match made in heaven for orchestral samples to be honest. I guess there’s a reason we’re sticking to faders and modwheel.

That said: the Expressive E Touché has made a far better impression on me, paired with Lié.

 

[wing]

Try one in a store if you can. I purchased one in the past and returned it almost immediately – I couldn't stand the feel of the "keys" surface. Your natural finger oils and skin leaves a bit of a residue which makes it feel kind of sticky and awkward, I thought so anyway. It felt like I was playing on a firm pillow as a surface, it doesn't have a tactile and springy response I look for in an instrument - but that's just me. You may dig it, so I recommend trying it first if you can.

Alternatively, the Osmose was just released, it seems interesting - a standalone synth but with MPE-enabled keyboard expression. Looks and plays like a piano but you can wiggle and move the keys about for various expressive qualities. A bit pricey but I might consider it in the future to use more as a midi controller (personally wishing they made a non-synth model too, just for midi control).