#133

FWIW I’ve had decent luck with the Roli block so far as an XYZ controller. Felt like I was getting occasional weird held notes/latency with Dashboard, but wrote a super simple Max patch with the .blocks externals to grab MIDI CC out of it and had much better response. still trying to parse out multi touch - curious if anyone else has success stories with the block beyond the (not super inspiring in my mind) noise app?

Here’s a first test of using it to control an instance of Kaivo and Aalto - https://www.instagram.com/p/BTcNlxMF3qH/

2 Likes
#134

The missing link?

1 Like
MantaMate released at last
#135

And a new one… Oh, mini mini arrived to Seaboard.

1 Like
#136

Much desire.

Side note, the separate “Touch Block” represents all the sensitivity controls that RISE has and this omits. It never felt particularly important on the “Lightpad Block”, but I think that module just went from useless to indispensable.

#137

Snap, I was excited for a second and was looking at the webpage as I understood you to mean that they had a similar “5d” responsive thing that WASN’T shaped like a keyboard!

Alas the “Touch Block” is just a little thing of buttons.

Speaking of, does anyone have any of the little “Blocks”? If so, what is the latency like? Are you bound to the controls or can you access them as whatever in Max (and control the LEDs)?

I’ve wanted a small “remote control” type thing for a while, but hadn’t found a good solution to that problem yet.

#138

There’s a good thread over here: Roli Blocks

The Blocks started off with a lot of issues, but are now excellent in my opinion. Blocks Dashboard allows you to save and load programs for the individual Blocks, which can be reprogrammed with code. The Max Blocks package (free in the package manager) does exactly what you want. You can reprogram each Block (not just the Lightpad), so you can upload a custom interface for the Lightpad or change the color/function of each button on the button Blocks.

Latency over Bluetooth is pretty noticeable. The connection to Max requires the use of the USB cable. Latency with the USB cable isn’t noticeable.

2 Likes
#139

The Lightpad Block is their “5D” responsive thing that’s not shaped like a keyboard.

(I still need to update mine and reevaluate; first impressions at launch were not good.)

1 Like
#140

That’s a buzzkill there. Will look through the thread though. Thanks for pointing to it.

Yeah I guess that’s true, though from the vids (and accounts) it’s not too exciting.

#141

Latency is less bothersome than the simple data bottlenecks inherent to transmitting several continuous readings per note. If you’re playing chords, you shouldn’t be wireless.

(When controllers are smart enough to thin out their own data streams as needed, I’ll worry more about latency again)

#142

Latency-wise, I was only thinking of one of the blocks that is just buttons/on/off stuff.

#143

Another side note:

Roli always assumed you’d have only one RISE25. When the RISE49 came out, they accepted that you might have one of each, but if you wanted to use two of either on the same computer, you were going to have problems.

Seaboard BLOCK assumes the opposite, as part of the modular Blocks ecosystem…

(I don’t know how it will deal with multiple units over USB specifically, but I don’t recall that being a problem with the Lightpad Blocks)

#144

this might be something kind of what you are talking about? not that you need the buttons on the controller numbered as such. but it seems they are marketing a “generic” one for whatever you want to use it for…

the link thumbnail looks like the normal light block shit but its a link to their “developer” kit…

1 Like
#145

That’s pretty nice, though I think I would prefer remember what icons do what, rather than what number is what icon.

#146

In that case, the latency isn’t noticeable. I thought you were asking about the Lightpad for rhythmic performance. The physical button Blocks do not have noticeable latency.

As a heads up, though, the button Blocks require a Lightpad Block or Seaboard Block for Max use. The button Blocks do not have a USB port on them, which is needed for Max interaction.

1 Like
#147

That’s a good news bad news situation. I was hoping it could just be used as a programmable hand held bluetooth remote.

#148

Buy a single Nintendo Switch Joycon?

I think they are programmable via third party software

they are definitely bluetooth and handheld.

1 Like
#149

There should be many used and inexpensive Wiimotes out in the world now, as well.

Here, those are used to good effect by Jazari:

#150

Hi gang, time to bump this convo and revisit everything that’s happened since it went dark! :slight_smile:

A lot’s happened since June. To summarize (and answer Jason’s query along the way):

The new Lightpad M is lightyears ahead of the original Lightpad in terms of comfortable touch sensitivity. The original was so stiff to operate that it actually hurt my fingers to use for long periods, but the new one is softer, more responsive, more brightly lit, and more even in its response at edges and corners… a night and day difference. As a universal utility MPE-capable surface, it’s something I’m now happy to carry around with me. (And battery life’s better too, at least in mine.)

I haven’t gotten into the Morph yet, but I hope to soon. I’ll be writing about it for the magazine in a couple of months.

For folks who haven’t been keeping track, the Joué is finally ready to ship. They hit their completion deadline, only to discover that their factory had used bad paint on the overlays and they were cracking and peeling almost immediately. It took them a couple of months to get that sorted, but now they’re ready to start filling orders; I am looking forward to getting mine.

In other news, KMI still isn’t shipping the K-Board Pro 4. I am not at liberty to discuss what I was told at NAMM, but in very general terms, one of the two versions is basically ready to ship but the other one is still being tweaked. They’re very aware of the fact that they’re late, but plan to start filling orders in the second quarter. I have a lot of faith that this will happen and that the resulting units will be very good; the BopPad was late, but is absolutely fantastic, and the production samples of the K-Board Pro 4 that I played at NAMM were phenomenal. They’ve definitely got it working like a dream, they’re just ironing out construction in quantity.

I recently got a Linnstrument 128 as a thank-you gift from Kim Bjørn for my editing work on PUSH TURN MOVE, which has been a smashing success. I’m hoping to actually be able to do something with it soon, I’ve been too busy writing reviews…

Watch this space for future developments!

3 Likes
#151

This is good to hear. How is it in terms of latency? I am revisiting the idea of picking up a seaboard block, but very much on the fence.

Curious what you come up with on this one as well. I probably need to revisit Sensel in case they’ve released some updates, but last I checked, they need to up their game pretty hard on the software front. You either get full control, with nothing done for you (developer overlay or no overlay at all), or you get an under-developed, not-configurable-enough-but-not-quite-what-you-want-either MPD or keyboard. They would gain quite a lot in terms of community and functionality if they were to open source the editors for the official overlays, rather than only providing their very broad developer SDK.

1 Like
#152

I haven’t noticed severe latency problems when doing Bluetooth, and of course you can always use them with a USB-C cable…

We shall see. I need to dive in and poke around, and I haven’t really properly started yet…