An American startup called Roli has developed a new instrument called the Seaboard Grand. It is a mushy digital keyboard that mixes a piano’s controllable pitch and dynamics with a vibraphone’s wa-wa intonation.
Although the people at Roli describe the Seaboard Grand in more sophisticated terms, it is essentially a piano where the sideways wiggling of a finger produces a vibrato — exactly the way it does on a violin or cello, for example.
The little bit of technology that makes this possible is an electronic sensor developed by the people at Roli that can interpret degrees of touch and provide tactile feedback. This sensor has all sorts of possibilities for applications outside a keyboard instrument.
The Seaboard Grand opens up all sorts of interesting musical options — but I’m not sure any of us will be interested in a wa-wa version of a Chopin Nocturne anytime soon. Because it’s digital, all sorts of plug-in possibilities beckon.
Like so many tech startups, the Roli website makes it impossible to guess where they are located. You can check them out here.
And this is the Seaboard in action:
John Terauds