Roli Seaboard Rise 49, Seaboard Rise 25 User Manual

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.

)