In October, I was at one of the most exciting launches connected to the piano in its past 324-year history. The product launched is an amazing new piece of music technology called the Airwave, and it does many things. One jaw-dropping feature is the ability to play a chord, or just a single note, and then magically manipulate the sound by using your hand in the air above the keyboard! More on this later, but first a bit more about the company behind this groundbreaking technology.
ROLI was founded in London 15 years ago by Roland Lamb. This British company is based in Hackney (one of the more creative hubs in east London), and it was here that in 2009 ROLI launched the award-winning Seaboard. This is a very different sort of piano keyboard, with pliable silicone rubber keys, allowing you to play with loads of amazing (MPE) creative effects, like vibrato and bending notes (on a piano keyboard!). It's been used by many musicians around the world, most notably Ryan Gosling in La La Land, Hans Zimmer, A.R. Rahman and Grimes. The current models are the Seaboard 2 (49 keys, £1,099) and the Seaboard M (24 keys, £299).
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