Seaboard RISE Creator Manual
1 Introduction
Hello creator, and welcome to the Creator Manual for the Seaboard RISE. We
think of the people who buy and use ROLI’s products as creators more than
customers. Our products are designed to expand the bandwidth of creative
expression and thereby empower people as the creators they are. Everyone
who buys and uses a Seaboard RISE is investing in this vision of creativity and
therefore is also a co-creator of ROLI.
You may already be playing your Seaboard RISE and discovering its creative
possibilities. This comprehensive Creator Manual covers the RISE 25 and 49
1 Introduction
2 Glossary of Selected Seaboard RISE
Terms
3 Getting started
4 Software: ROLI Dashboard and Equator
5 Working with Other Hardware and
Software
6 Care and Maintenance
7 ROLI Support
and explains all of the details about your Seaboard RISE to ensure that you get
the most out of it.
The Seaboard RISE is a multi-dimensional MIDI controller whose touch-
sensitive interface and Equator software synthesiser open new possibilities for
musical expression. While most conventional keyboards offer one dimension
of touch to control sound (initial velocity, or what we call Strike), the Seaboard
RISE offers
five
dimensions of touch, or
5D Touch
for short. These can be
mapped to a variety of sound parameters. Three Touch Faders and an X/Y
Touchpad add another layer of expressive control, allowing you to tune the
touch responsiveness of the keywaves to match your personal taste in real
time.
On the next page we have included a short list of terms specific to Seaboard
instruments. We will refer to these terms throughout the Creator Manual.
Please note that this is a digital manual updated regularly to reflect software
updates and other improvements. Be sure to check for updates on My ROLI.
This Manual is current up to Equator v1.9.7, ROLI Dashboard v3.2.7 and RISE
Firmware v1.1.5.
Support and Feedback
We want you to have the best experience possible with our products and
would love to hear your feedback. Should you have any questions, experience
any problems, or just want to say hello, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
The easiest way to reach us is to send a support enquiry from:
support.roli.com. We will respond as soon as possible.
2 Glossary of Selected Seaboard RISE
Terms
Equator: ROLI’s custom-built, multi-dimensional sound engine and software
synthesiser. Equator is designed to communicate with Seaboard instruments
and take advantage of their real-time dimensions of touch, maximizing your
ability to express yourself using just the motions of your fingers on your
Seaboard’s keywaves.
Expression Mode: The mode of operation in which the three Touch Faders of
the Seaboard RISE control the dynamics of the Glide, Slide, and Press
dimensions of touch. Expression Mode is designed to let you modify the
expressiveness of the Seaboard RISE to suit specific sounds and your
individual playing style.
Five Dimensions of Touch (5D Touch): The feature of real-time control and
modulation of sound through the basic finger gestures of Strike, Press, Glide,
Slide, and Lift.
Strike: The velocity and force with which a finger makes contact with a
keywave.
Press: The pressure and continuous touch applied to the keywave after the
initial strike. Known as “aftertouch” in traditional synth terminology.
Glide: Horizontal movements from side to side on a keywave or along the
ribbons located above and below the keywaves. This typically controls
pitch and allows smooth movements from one pitch to another. It also lets
you bend notes and add vibrato by moving your finger.
Slide: Vertical movements up and down the Y-axis of a keywave.
Lift: The release velocity or speed with which your finger lifts off from a
keywave.
Keywave: A wavelike element of the keywave surface that corresponds to a
single key on a standard keyboard. Each of the Five Dimensions of Touch can
be accessed on a single keywave.
Keywave surface: The entire playing surface including all keywaves and the
ribbons above and below them. The keywave surface corresponds to a
keyboard.
MIDI Mode: A mode of playing the Seaboard RISE in which the Touch Faders
can be assigned to any MIDI CCs for additional customisation of sound.
MPE : Multi-dimensional polyphonic expression (MPE) is a protocol for using
standard MIDI messages to communicate with and enable the operation of
multi-dimensional instruments such as the Seaboard RISE and GRAND. MPE
enables these instruments to control multiple parameters–such as pitch,
brightness (usually via filter cutoff frequency), vibrato, and much more–on a
per-note basis
. You do this with playing gestures such as velocity, aftertouch,
and sliding up and down the keywaves–what we’ve called the
Dimensions of
Touch
–and importantly, a gesture you perform on one note affects only that
note, not all of the others along with it, which is what happens on most
conventional MIDI controllers and synthesizers.
ROLI Dashboard: An application for modifying and customising the internal
settings of the Seaboard RISE. (
See “ROLI Dashboard Creator Manual” for more
information.
)
Touch Fader: A control for adjusting the sensitivity of the keywave surface to
dimensions of touch.
3 Getting started
3.1 System Requirements
Macintosh
Mac OS 10.9 (Mavericks) or later
Minimum RAM: 4GB
Recommended RAM: 8GB
Processor: 2.5GHz Intel Core i5 or faster
Bluetooth connectivity: OS 10.10+
Windows
Windows 7, 8, or 10
Minimum RAM: 4GB
Recommended RAM: 8GB
Processor: Intel Core i5/equivalent or faster
3.2 The Seaboard Software Bundle
Before making music on your Seaboard RISE, you need to download the
Seaboard RISE Software Bundle.
To access the Seaboard Software Bundle you should first register your
Seaboard by following the instructions section 1.3 below. After registering you
can download the Seaboard Software Bundle from your account page on
my.roli.com.
3.3 Register on My ROLI
Visit my.roli.com and sign up with a user name and password of your choice.
When you have signed up and logged in, the website will ask you to register
your product. Use your Product Registration Code. The code is printed on the
Registration Card. This card is in the box marked
Make Music Now,
which
comes in the package with your RISE.
3.4 Log In and Download ROLI Software
Now that you have created an account on My ROLI, you can log in and
download the latest RISE Software Bundle. The bundle includes ROLI
Dashboard and Equator. Click either “Download Software Bundle for Mac,”
“Download Software Bundle for Windows 32-bit,” or “Download Software
Bundle for Windows 64-bit” depending upon which operating system you use.
3.5 Installation: Mac and Windows
When the download is complete, open the Downloads folder on your
computer. Follow the on-screen instructions and choose the location or disk
where you want to install the software.
The install will require approximately 1.0 GB of disk space.
Mac: Control-click or right-click the installer from a Finder window and select
Open.
Windows: Right-click on the installer ZIP file and click on ‘Extract all’. This will
create a new folder next to the ZIP file, which contains the unzipped items.
Double-click the installer inside the new folder to begin the installation.
You may see a message to say that Windows has protected your PC by
stopping an “unrecognised application” from opening. Don’t worry. The
software is safe to install. You can bypass this message by clicking “more info”
on the message, then the “run anyway” button.
4 Software: ROLI Dashboard and Equator
The Seaboard Software Bundle includes ROLI Dashboard and Equator. Below is
a brief description and summary of these software applications. Please refer to
the “ROLI Dashboard for RISE Creator Manual” and “Equator for RISE Creator
Manual” for a comprehensive explanation of all that you can do with
Dashboard and Equator.
4.1 ROLI Dashboard
The ROLI Dashboard is an application for managing and customising your
settings for the RISE and other ROLI hardware.
You can edit many settings through ROLI Dashboard, including:
Channel Mode: MPE “ON” or “Off”; Single or Multi.
Channel Range: 1-10 for Multi Channel Mode.
MIDI Channel: 1-16 for Single Channel Mode.
Settings for five dimensions of touch: Strike, Press, Glide, Slide, and Lift.
MIDI Mode Settings: Assignable MIDI CC’s for Touch Faders and X/Y
Touchpad.
Pedal Settings: Assignable MIDI CC.
Connection Status Indicator: USB or Bluetooth.
4.2 Equator
Equator is ROLI’s custom-built, multi-dimensional sound engine and software
synthesizer. Integrating seamlessly with the RISE’s touch-sensitive surface,
Equator opens new possibilities for multi-dimensional expression. In Equator
you can assign the modulation sources controlled by Strike, Press, Glide, Slide,
and Lift to a variety of parameters in the synth, such as filter cutoff, LFO
frequency, and many, many more. See the Equator Creator Manual for detailed
information on Equator’s possible modulation destinations.
4.3 Software and firmware updates
The RISE’s software and firmware are updated regularly. ROLI Dashboard is
where you get the latest updates. Connect your RISE to the computer and
launch ROLI Dashboard for RISE. Under the Dashboard Menu at the top right-
hand corner of the screen select “Check for updates” to update your software
and firmware.
5 Working with Other Hardware and
Software
The RISE is compatible with any electronic instrument that can receive MIDI
and produce sound in response. It transmits MIDI on up to 16 MIDI channels
simultaneously, enabling polyphonic pitch bend and the other expressive
modulations available via 5D Touch.
The receiving instruments that you use must be
multi-timbral
for you to
experience the full expressive capabilities of the RISE. They should have a
pitch-bend range of at least +/- one octave and be able to respond to
aftertouch.
Note
: A
multi-timbral
software or hardware instrument is one that can play
multiple sounds at the same time by using multiple MIDI channels. Here, we’re
using those extra channels for note-by-note expression as opposed to different
sounds.
5.1 Multi-dimensional Polyphonic Expression
(MPE)
The Seaboard RISE supports MPE, which is a protocol for using standard MIDI
messages to communicate with and enable the operation of multi-dimensional
instruments such as the Seaboard RISE. MPE-capable devices can control
multiple parameters of each note independently such as pitch, timbre, and
other nuances when used within MPE-compatible software like Equator. MPE
accomplishes this by spreading MIDI data that pertain to each note across a
range of MIDI channels and reserving one channel (usually the lowest) for
global MIDI messages such as program change, pedal state, and fader
positions. These global messages affect all notes equally. Since each note gets
its own channel, it’s effectively its own sound “program” — even though you
still see a single preset onscreen — and thus can be pitch-bent, filtered, and
otherwise modulated independently of other notes.
Please refer to the ROLI Dashboard Creator Manual for information on MPE and
how to alter the MPE settings for the Seaboard RISE.
5.2 Working with Digital Audio Workstations
(DAWs)
Equator is a stand-alone software synthesizer and sound engine that works
seamlessly with the RISE, and no other software is required to create and
modify sound. The RISE, however, also works with most DAWs, such as Logic or
Cubase. Because the RISE transmits standard MIDI messages, it is also
compatible with any other software instruments which you might also use in
your chosen DAW.
In many DAWs, a single track can receive multiple MIDI channels from the RISE
and send the MIDI data to a multi-timbral synth like Equator. Other DAWs are
limited to a single channel per track, so configuring your project to take full
advantage of the RISE’s dimensions of expression is not a uniform process. It
depends on the DAW.
You can find detailed guides about working with most DAWS on our Support
page at support.roli.com. We also include template project files. If you do not
see your preferred software on the list, get in touch with a support team
member through our Support page or through my.roli.com.
The following DAWs have simple workflows which are ideal for use with the
RISE:
Bitwig
Cubase
Logic
Reaper
When working with DAWs, Equator can be loaded as a VST/AU plugin.
5.3 USB MIDI Class Compliancy
The Seaboard RISE is a USB Class Compliant device. It can be connected
directly to other USB Class Compliant devices which receive MIDI data and
produce sound in response, without the need to download and install special
drivers.
Although the RISE does not have traditional five-pin DIN connectors, it lets you
connect to hardware that requires these connectors. One option is to connect
to a computer and transmit MIDI via a MIDI interface. Or you can connect a USB
MIDI Class Compliant device that converts MIDI over USB to traditional five-pin
DIN connectors.
6 Care and Maintenance
Basic care and attention will protect your RISE and help it stay in optimal
condition for years to come. Avoid excessive force on the keywave surface,
and try to keep the RISE away from direct sunlight, sharp objects, liquids, and
especially oils — including greasy fingers after eating food.
To clean the keywave surface you may use damp, bleach-free, oil-free
cleansing wipes. Do not use any abrasive cleansing agents on the RISE or its
keywaves.
7 ROLI Support
7.1 My ROLI
Manuals and other resources on My ROLI should help answer initial questions
about your RISE. Visit our Support page at support.roli.com for a wider range
of resources that should help answer questions about the RISE and its
software. The page includes frequently asked questions, tutorial videos, and
guides for connecting the RISE with third-party plug-ins and DAWs.
7.2 ROLI Support
Contact the ROLI support team directly on support.roli.com for any questions.
You will receive an answer within 24 hours. Our support team is here to help
you.
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