The Rise 2 with just Equator 2. Playing alone, with multiple examples.
Nine minutes long.
ADDED : Two weeks later, another video. Kind of a no talk tutorial in three and a half minutes.
Looks great. But $1400 to wait 9 months for hardware from a company thatās already gone bankrupt onceā¦ nah. I would maybe impulse buy if I could have it now
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I see that ROLI will be at NAMM 2022, but for meetings only. No doubt they will have things to do with the MIDI Association. They are a corporate member.
They will likely also be negotiating to sign up US retail stores to carry the new Seaboard Rise 2. Weāll see if thatās so and who might sign up. That would be nice because it would allow people to pre-order a Rise 2, without making a pre-payment.
Also there is a new video out, with Allah Rakha Rahman an Indian film composer ( Slumdog Millionaire ), and a record producer. He talks about finding inspiration with the Rise. Very different sort of video promotion. A great opportunity for people here to hate it.
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Roliās keyboards are fantastic when they work. Their company is run by individuals that I feel are not exactly reliable and whose commitment towards their venture and user base has a bit of a startup mentality (ie we scale and if we fail we fail), which is a little tough considering the ticket size for most of what they sell.
Iām decked out in Roli stuff, I had several Seaboard Blocks (still have one), I own all of their synths (Equator 1 & 2 plus the FXpansion synths)ā¦their products are always interesting to me, I just donāt trust them in their decision making fully (see eg Lumi).
Looks like the Rise 2 is arriving with some early adopters.
Hereās a video with someone ( OBLVYN ) who can really play the thing. I queued it up to a solo where she plays it Continuum-style. You can listen earlier in the video where she lays down the backing.
I see that supply of the Rise 2 has caught up to demand, or very nearly so. The web-site says that orders ship this month.
They are selling, they are up to the thirteenth manufacturing batch, although how many units sold in total is not known. We shall see when they start to sell through retail, if they do, and which retailers may decide to participate.
I just discovered this YouTube channel ā Implied Music. He does a lot of different things there, including some very good music analysis, and he performs music on various keyboards and acoustic guitar, the Osmose, and he also plays the Rise, and not like most others iāve heard. Check this out ( one minute long ) :
Or this.
BTW : ROLI is still manufacturing and selling the Rise 2.
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Iāve hit my three consecutive post limit, so had to tack this to the end of the last post.
New sound pack from ROLI !
Itās called Expressive Virtuoso.
Very short video :
And more detail. Marco Parisi is a virtuoso on the Rise 2 :
$40 for 40 presets. ROLI page.
This would be MPE, so i would suppose this would be playable, even if awkwardly on other MPE controller devices, especially if it has a complete MPE implementation.
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Starsky Carr makes a good tutorial sort of video on the Rise 2 ā in this case with an excellent MPE hardware synth the 3rd Wave Dexktop from Groove Synthesis. Notice how he plays the Rise 2, heās not all over the keyboard, instead he is using the extra dimensions of the MPE implementation on the Rise 2 in conjunction with the synth, and working with those parameters to add to the musical expression. He spends quite some time with the ROLI Dashboard to show the flexibility in that control.
Much less intimidating when MPE and the Rise 2 is approached in this way.
Must resistā¦ I know Iāll never be as good as Marco anywayā¦ but stillā¦ This is so freakin awesome!
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Not with that attitude.
Cheers!
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Ok letās make a deal. You buy me one and Iāll proof myself wrong. 
Well, thereās lotto ticket sitting on my desk, past due, as we typeā¦
If itās a winner, a Seaboard shall indeed be yours.
Anything to inspire the next great player.
Cheers!
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Sound like a good plan. Got 2 lotto tickets here as well. Good luck! 
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I like to think of the lotto as purchasing hope, if only for a week.
Cheers!
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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7IDqFNy1EoQ
Poor audio quality unfortunately but you can still hear that low end and punch in this bass patch. This is giving me some big analog Moog vibes. Iām so getting a Seaboard!
Do you currently play a keyboard ?
Are you considering a RISE 2 as a software controller, or for hardware, or both ?
I can some, but I donāt play.
Mostly as a software/hardware controller. I find its design very impressive and I like the idea that it sparks creativity. Itās still not within my budget but there is always an āimpulse buyingā option.
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Well the Rise 2 is much like a regular keyboard in itās basic arrangement, with a lot of extras added.
People familiar with regular keyboards, being able to do chords, playing two hands, being able to play a melody, and that sort of thing, will have a head start with the Rise 2. Thatās not to say you canāt learn all that from scratch on the Rise, you definitely can. But this keyboard is not a short cut to creativity ( to the extent that anything ever really is ).
As a general controller goes, look at whatās there. Itās not got a lot of other controls other than what is on the left side.
This is nice as far as they go ā these controls could be set up as the essentials when playing, without a lot of distraction. Some people prefer to have more controls in front of them. You could add some other non-keyboard controller to the Rise 2 with more controls too.
Lurking for a few months, but I do have something to share, so I just created the account
Some context
I have been playing synths for a while, and I am also taking some classic piano lessons, but I am very much a beginner. I do some stuff on my own, mostly ambient like, and once a week I play with some friends in a jam band, where we do what we fancy, but tends to be more on the psych rock side of things. For now I mostly play with a Arturia Microfreak and a 25 key midi keyboard hooked to my ipad and a bunch of soft synths and effects.
That said I purchased a Roli Seabord Rise 2 in the middle of January 2024 with the intention of using it both for my solo project and my jam band. Its mostly upside but there are some caveats. So lets start with those.
The bad
- As you mentioned it is expensive! Depending on what you want to do with it, you could be better served with a 49 key semi weighted, lots of knobs and sliders midi keyboard that can be had for 1/6 (yes one sixth) of the price.
- Its not a good piano. Simple study pieces I know play well and easy in my digital keyboard and my teachers acoustic piano, are much much harder at the Rise. Donāt be fooled by the amazing marketing videos. Of course its also not a good Hammond organ as well.
- As @Jukka already mentioned, if you need a lot of sliders to control VST/AU params / the DAW, you need to pair it with something else
- You need to pair it with specific software to make it worthwhile. Just using it as a regular midi controler with some āstandardā software will be an exercise in frustration, you will gain nothing but will have to overcome its nonstandard playing surface. (but see bellow for what happens with the right stuff)
- The included software needs to phone home every 4 weeks. Although not the end of the world, if you are in a situation where you could see going without internet for a while, or intend to use it on a device which normally is not connected, keep this in mind. This info is available before you purchase it, but very well hidden. So I make a point to mention it here. I would prefer a one time activation, but it is what it is.
The good
- It does some amazing things and sounds. It invites exploration, I can just noodle with it for hours!
- Its great for evolving textured pads. With some presets I can just hold one chord with my left hand (lets say Am7) and do some minor movements without taking the finger from the notes, just sliding up and down, or pressing hard and easing the pressure a bit, and it creates enough movement and interest to carry a melody with my right hand. That hand can just play some simple melodies in a matching scale (so in this case, say Am) and you can make something that sounds great.
- Its amazing for acoustic instruments. I feel like Ian Anderson on a ton of cocaine playing flute like instruments. playing a simple melody and just intuitively slide the finger up for flutter is amazing! But there is more, because what about having a slight granular layer or string on top when you do that? No real flute can do that, but here is effortless and amazing. Guitars with strumming and pitch bends sound amazing, even the double bass can sound great with the attack and slides. The semi tone legato makes playing cello / violin etc like stuff just feel RIGHT! and let me tell you, I tried to play real cello for a year before giving up. I was playing a passable version of the swan with the Roli in a few hours!
- Its even more amazing for hybrid instruments,that is, you want a cello, but at the same time some digital glitches effects, whatever that show up when you want and not a beat before.
- All the above points are when the Roli is paired with Equator 2 / Roli Studio which come bundled with the purchase. The synth is quite alright, I can do my own patches easy enough, and yes there is a learning curve, but I will say most of the time the easiest path is to start with a pre-existing one and twist it to my liking.
- Most other synth software will not play all that well with the Rise as I mentioned, but some will. Pigments and its latest expressive presets will. So will dawesome Abyss and its brothers. Vital also. Possible others I donāt know about. So you have options and will not lack sounds to keep you entertained.
- The battery and Bluetooth, actually work very well. I tend to use it with a cable, but I was impressed by the very low latency and battery life.
- Roli support seems to be hated by many. But I must say i had a good experience with them. I bought it when there was no soft case available. About two weeks later a campaign appeared where a free case would be included with new purchases. I opened a support ticket and 5 days later the case was in my house, no extra charge. And I would recommend the soft case since the size is a bit smaller for regular 49 key soft cases.
- Speaking of which, its light and portable, compared to any other keyboard / synth I have, expect the MicroFreak.
Final remarks
If you donāt expect it to replace a traditional midi controller / digital piano it is amazing. But I would say its a new instrument. It takes practice. I already used it with my jam band, and it was pretty awesome, But I decided to postpone playing with it live for a couple of months still, because I feel I still need more practice on it. That said I expect it to be my only midi controller and center of my gear with my band before the end of the year, possibly even before the end of the summer.
I really hope this helps you. And do not hesitate in asking anything else.
AMBello
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Wow this is an amazing write-up! Thank you very much.
I have an MPK249 midi controller but I am super interested in buying an MPC Key 37 to go āsmallerā without losing any functionality. I try to assign knobs and faders and automate manually instead of drawing lines (at least so far).
Those promotional videos about Rise 2 were so tempting! As a primarily MPC Software user, I am already fighting lots of software relates issues between that and Ableton. So I think the points you make are very helpful. Maybe in the next generation products, they will be less significant.
Based on all you said, it seems a lot of money to me to use it for only amazing pad sounds or atmospheric texturesā¦ The music I try to produce doesnāt need that kind of investment right now. Thanks again!
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Unless you need a keyboard layout, you could also take a look at the Linnstrument 128.
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