MPE, or MIDI Polyphonic Expression, is the next step.
The difference is incredible.
The company went bankrupt, but it wasn’t down to the quality of the devices.
Roli
I reviewed the original Seaboard RISE some years ago and found it to be very well built.
The new version is almost identical, with the addition of ridges along its silicone keys.
And sliding is what you want to do.
Roli
MPE is built on top of the MIDI standard that electronic instruments and other gear use to communicate.
In supporting software, pretty much any synthesizer parameter can be mapped to these expressive touches.
Some controllers even detect how fast you pull your finger off the keys, adding yet another parameter.
Expression Impressions
I never got on with that original ROLI, despite its beautiful construction.
The silicone keys were surprisingly responsive but still felt mushy.
Perhaps if I were a keyboard player and not a guitarist, I would have fared better.
Another option is to fake it.
AndThumbjamlets you slide your fingers over the touch-screen to play some incredibly expressiveand startlingly realisticsampled instruments.
