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Proper polyphony for multiple seaboard blocks.

 I just got a second and third seaboard block, and have been very excited to have a 72-note mini-seaboard.


But when I hooked them together I had all sorts of problems.  After some reading on the topic, I learned that each seaboard needs to have it's own range of midi channels.  That is frustrating, as it limits the polyphony of each block to 5.


True polyphony for multiple seaboard blocks would be a big plus for me.  It's what I expected when I bought them.


Also, the present midi-channel-sharing situation seems like a good candidate for an faq.  The only mention I found of the issue was on the Juce developers forum.


I'm hoping that's just because you are expecting to fix it soon!  It's certainly not in keeping with the easy magnetic attachment-detachment.   (Just attach another block.... oh, and also reset all your midi channel ranges!)


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Hello Red,


I purchased my second Seaboard Block and THEN read this thread (with mild horror) while attempting to prepare for the arrival of my companion Block. Your last reply was the one that settled my nerves a bit and, having just finished putting the two-Block combination through its paces with Equator, I am completely happy. While I am sure that the software capabilities of the Blocks will continue to evolve, the current limitations are not an issue for what I want to accomplish. I have as much polyphony as I can control with the two Seaboard Blocks.


Having said that, it would have been helpful to  find (on the Roli site) a simple tutorial (text or video) that would have provided information on what must be a common use case among buyers: A desire to connect two (or three) Seaboard Blocks together. As was noted earlier in this thread, I could certainly buy the Rise or Grand instead, but my purpose for buying the Seaboard Blocks is portability and simplicity. 


My site and Google searches provided this thread as he most relevant to my simple query regarding connecting two Seaboard Blocks. This was a scary place to land, having purchased, but not yet received the second unit. Also as noted earlier in this thread, the simple and seamless connection of Blocks is a major functional feature of the brand, second perhaps only to the amazing expressiveness of the technology as expressed in the design of the Seaboard Block itself. 


I would end-run this unnecessary trepidation with some proactive text or video that allay fears and clear up confusion as to what to expect when purchasing add-on devices. 


My journey to purchase my first Seaboard Block began with a search for a mini-midi keyboard controller to take on business trips. I had seen amazing video of a Rise at a NAMM show a few years(?) ago and I have always dreamed of having this level of expressiveness with a keyboard. The Seaboard Block is a realization of this dream for me, and it exceeds expectations, so confusion about connectivity is an unwanted and easily avoidable negative condition in an otherwise delightful experience.


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Hey Eric,


Thanks for asking about this. Indeed, we plan to address this in a coming update to the Seaboard Block's firmware and ROLI Dashboard. In the meantime, I recommend where possible setting each Seaboard Block to use a unique channel range. I understand this is less than ideal, and we appreciate your patience in the meantime. 


Thanks,

Red


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Hi all, 


While this has taken a lot longer than we'd hoped, we're edging closer to releasing an update that will include this fix. 


We appreciate everyone's patience while we approach the final round of testing. 


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Hey Frank,


Thanks for weighing in here. I agree with you that this is less than ideal, and we're working on improving this as quickly as possible. 


As you note yours is an extreme example, and when used with Equator, for example, with two Blocks you'll have 7–8 independent expressive voices per Block, and with three Blocks you'll have 5. (Also note that when used with NOISE channels are automatically shared across Blocks.) 


Nevertheless, I know how important this is to you and appreciate your patience while we work on this functionality.


Thanks,


Red


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Has this issue been sorted because this is a huge deal breaker for me. About to drop £500 on a couple of Seaboard Blocks but will hold onto my cash until this is fixed. Not exactly how the product is ‘sold’ is it Roli!!

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Happy to report that this issue seems to be successfully fixed with Blocks firmware v.0.4.5

Case closed, as far as I can tell :)


Go, team ROLI!


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Hey bobbob, this is planned for a future update. For now, you can use multi-channel mode and use independent channel ranges (for example, channels 1–8 on one Block and 9–16 on the other). 


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+1 for this. I probably won't consider buying a second/third Seaboard Block until this has been addressed. Glad to know it's on the list.


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Hi Frank,


NOISE works normally with multiple Seaboard Blocks and multiple Lightpad Blocks, and their behavior can be set in NOISE's Studio view.


As you note, multiple Lightpad Blocks outside of NOISE display the same behavior as Seaboard Blocks, and we do plan a fix for this as well.


Red


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Ah, thanks for the clarification. That's very reassuring, much appreciated.

I'm curious as well. I almost placed an order for a second one.

This is a must! Try playing Omnisphere which has 8 channel polyphony. With two Blocks you're down to 4 note polyphony per Block, with 3 Blocks it's 3 notes and one Block is even down to 2 notes. It's a terrible design and needs to be fixed asap.

I asked support about it before buying my second Seaboard Block, having read about the issue in the old Blocks Developer forum and they said something to the effect that I "may" have to fix channel assignment "if" I run into problems and that's just a workaround needed in worst-case scenarios. I learned that this scenario can arise playing just a single note on each of 2 connected Blocks if you're unlucky, so you "must", not "may", do the workaround to avoid problems.


Everybody I tell this just can't believe it. No wonder they don't make it public, it's just too embarrassing.


Well, it wasn't a worst case scenario for me, it's completely unusable without the fix.


I have to assume they are going to fix this.  It would be nice if Roli weighed in on this thread.


But it may be they haven't sold multiple units to many people, and they are just figuring this out.  I do hope they fix it sooner than later.


If I don't hear anything on this in the next 25 days, I may be forced to return the other 2 units....

"Thanks for weighing in here. I agree with you that this is less than ideal, and we're working on improving this as quickly as possible. "

This was 3 months ago - has it now been addressed? I just bought a second Seaboard block and want to use them seamlessly together, as advertised by Roli

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