The Seaboard is designed to allow its players to apply dynamics, slurs, portamento, pitch bend, vibrato and other forms of expression with the fingers in a new and natural-feeling way. Or, as its inventor Roland Lamb says, it's a way of finding the space between the black and white notes on a traditional keyboard.
The launch event saw a trio of Seaboard players - Marco Parisi, Heen-Wah Wai and Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess - accompanied by drummer Raymond Hearne, playing a set in Abbey Road's Studio 2. Capital Sound supplied a DiGiCo SD9 mixing console, Martin Audio wedges for the musicians and a K-Array KR200 loudspeaker system for the studio audience, along with mixing engineer Harm Schopman.
Harm recorded the performance on a JoeCo Blackbox Madi recorder directly from the console, with ROLI using the recording for promotional videos of the event. The launch was a great success, impressing all of those present with the Seaboard's playing flexibility and expressivity.
"Capital was great to work with! Their equipment is state-of-the-art, as well as being low profile, meaning the system didn't take up too much space," says ROLI's Dan Weingartner. "Harm was fast, professional and courteous; he delivered a great mix for the audience and the recording worked out very well. We will definitely use Capital again for future events."
