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Roli did the seaboard and the Rise (I own one of the latter and absolutely love it) - and now they release something new: Blocks. I haven't made my mind up whether I like it or not but hey it's innovative. Check it out!

https://roli.com/products/blocks

Everyone already has a touch sensitive pad (their smartphone/tablet). Not sure this can do anything that a smartphone, tablet or something like a Novation launchpad or Kaoss already can't. It's like having yet another touch surface to lug around, purely for the sake of it. Why didn't they just make this as an app?

These seem pretty expensive. Perhaps they are a lot more useful than they appear in the video.

i think Roli might have had a typo error when naming this product. sure it should be called bollocks

peterk wrote:i think Roli might have had a typo error when naming this product. sure it should be called bollocks

Possibly quite amazing but this is a terrible terrible marketing video.
Seems to be aimed at those who would play games on their phones on the train on their way to work.
Perhaps it isn't meant to be a serious product - who is it for??? .....

Pete

Just be warned. New Noise app completely destroys previous Noise app functionality and while previous version was great example how you can use 5D touch technology using any controller, new one doesn't seem usable with anything else than Blocks hardware - so DON'T UPDATE if you used old app for something meaningful.

If you watch the launch video, Roli claims this also targeted for serious production work. Wait & see whether that'll happen ...

tomto66 wrote:If you watch the launch video, Roli claims this also targeted for serious production work. Wait & see whether that'll happen ...

Well, it works with any 3-party application, including MAX. So this will likely integrate very well into Ableton also, in particular.

Their ads are all focused on playing their app - "Noise" from Blocks - but (as a Roli Seaboard owner) when I log into the Roli web site I see the guides for a plethora of generic applications.

I think anyone can register with Roli to gain access to these documents. I anticipate using these for realtime triggering of sequences, for their expression capabilities, and even the realtime control of sound spatialization using IRCAM and FLUX "Spat" spatial processor. To me, these are a god send - they go beyond Push 2 and even the QuNexus in terms of gestural control, at my whim.

If it is a software synth compatible with mpe it will work with blocks lightpad. You can not change the midi cc for each parameter of touch but I think they are normal values used. A dashboard with some ability to adjust these things would be nice. I was reading their facts about its use with Logic and max and other items.

I have just read through the app spec for the Noise update compatibility with the Seaboard and it mention that it is also the wireless synth engine for Seaboard. I can only guess tha there is some way to switch the app between Blocks and Seaboard. I am unable to verify this as my iPad and iphone are no longer compatible since the update and was going to buy a new iPad tomorrow in order to continue using the Seaboard with the app, but won't bother if it won't work.

Can anyone else advise please?

Thanks.

Roli has done a great job at making an item with a lot of functionality look like a toy trinket. Read more about it and you will see it is quite versatile. I was hoping they would create a pad item similar to the maschine hardware pads, I have a mk2, that would be as expressive as the Rise, which I love, and integrate with my DAW, logic. I actually think they did a good job with this, marketing let it down.

I hope they create a dashboard for it so we can assign our own midi cc to the five dimensions of touch. I can honestly say the more I think about the more I like it.

Zero effort required, instant gratification.

Does it have a Selfie mode?

In answer to my own post.

https://support.roli.com/

They are going to fix it in under a month. No need to get a new iPad just yet then.

Sharp you don't think this new Roli has any uses?