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Always connected Seaboard Blocks

I'm contemplating making a custom case to house 2 Seaboard Blocks. My goal is to create a very compact, 4 octave, MPE keyboard that feels like one solid instrument. I want the keyboards to stay connected, in the case, all of the time.


1) Is there any reason that the keyboards would ever need to be separated?

2) Is it possible to charge both connected keyboards using the USB jack on the left side of the leftmost keyboard?


3) Is it possible to Glide from one keyboard to the other, across where they meet?


4) When the keyboards are connected, do they behave like one integrated unit or does everything have to be done twice, once for each keyboard?


5) Are there any quirks or issues that make it a hassle to use 2 connected Seaboard Blocks?


Thanks for any information,

Bob


PS: I use iOS.



Hi Bob,


Thanks for asking – sounds like a great idea! I'll be happy to answer your questions.


1) Is there any reason that the keyboards would ever need to be separated?


In order to perform a "hard reset" you'd want to have access to the Mode button on each Seaboard Block's left side.


2) Is it possible to charge both connected keyboards using the USB jack on the left side of the leftmost keyboard?


Yes, as long as you're using a sufficiently powerful charger (like an iPad charger) you should be able to easily charge both Seaboard Blocks using just one charger.


3) Is it possible to Glide from one keyboard to the other, across where they meet?


No – when your Glide gesture reaches the second Seaboard Block a new note will be triggered. While we continue to improve responsiveness in firmware, this will likely continue to be the case.


4) When the keyboards are connected, do they behave like one integrated unit or does everything have to be done twice, once for each keyboard?


At the moment, when used with ROLI Dashboard and desktop or hardware synths, you'll want to use independent channel ranges for each Block (for example, a channel range of 1–8 on one Block and a channel range of 9–16 on the other). We're planning on automating this in a future update so that this won't need to be manually set up. Note that NOISE works normally with multiple Seaboard Blocks and multiple Lightpad Blocks, and their behavior can be set in NOISE's Studio view.


5) Are there any quirks or issues that make it a hassle to use 2 connected Seaboard Blocks?


Aside from (4), two connected Seaboard Blocks should work well together.


I hope this helps.


Red


1 person likes this

Your answers are very helpful. Thank you!.

"We're planning on automating this in a future update so that this won't need to be manually set up."


Is that to say that with your intended solution the voice count per block when using multiple Blocks will still be reduced, just you do it behind the scenes without the user needing to set it all up?

That's 3 voices per Block using three Blocks with the 8 channels available in Omnisphere, one of the Blocks is even needed to be throttled down to 2 voices! Say it ain't so, please.


Such a cludgy solution would be very unsatisfying, to say it mildly! No way I'll buy a 3rd Seaboard block if that's the case, I'm sorry to say.


Hey Frank,


Thanks for your reply, and I should be clear: the plan is to share channel ranges across all connected Blocks, so that indeed you may use the full expressive polyphony available rather than being limited to the number of total channels divided by the number of Blocks. 


I hope this clears things up.


Red

Phew :)

Thanks for the quick reply, Red. You saved several of my days right there! I was really panicking when I read your previous post. I've got to say, advertisements and official statements trained me to assume: if in doubt, the less fortunate variant is most likely true. Glad to hear this case is different!


Money for a Songmaker Kit is put aside already since a few month, waiting for the glorious future update. It would raise my little squishy armada up to 7, ready to rule the waves, yo-ho!

As soon as you're ready we've got a deal.


(Thankfully I had this reply copied to the clipboard, your support pages like to throw me out with a message saying

"We are sorry. This portal is not available at your location.

You have been restricted from accessing this helpdesk. Please try again later.")

 

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