Animoog Seaboard demo 

iPads are not pressure sensitive so Animoog is not able to support Z-pressure directly, but does support X and Y movement. As such, in order to be optimally played from the Seaboard which does support pressure sensitivity, it was necessary for me to customize controller mapping of my Animoog patches. X movement (pitch) matches, so no change was necessary there. Y-movement on the Seaboard is mapped to Animoog Modulation Wheel (CC#1). Pressure on the Seaboard was mapped to correspond to to Y-movement on Animoog (MIDI Poly Pressure). I hope this was helpful to your understanding.

Since I don't own the Seaboard Block, I can't answer that definitively. However, since I assume that it must communicate via MIDI, I would say that it is very likely to work properly with Animoog in MPE mode, assuming it is connected via a compatible interface..

Thank you! Unlike some other DAWs, Cubase has ideal features for this application. It is quite straightforward and it's not necessary to set multiple tracks. In Cubase, you set your one track to receive on "Any" MIDI channels (with Seaboard set as MIDI input and Animoog set as MIDI output). It then records and plays back all MIDI channels from one track. Along with that, the other feature I enable is the unique "Note Expression" feature, which allows one to view and edit controller data specific for each individual note within the key editor. So for example, I can edit pitch and aftertouch data independently for individual notes, without affecting other notes that might sound around the same time, as would normally happen. This is a perfect solution for MPE devices. (For the record, very little editing within the DAW was done for this demonstration. Most of my time and effort was devoted to the video editing). And no, I do not experience any noticeable latency. However, perceived latency may be affected by your computer's processing power.

Steffen Presley Much appreciated for your response. I love animoog and i have just bought a roli seaboard now so your set up is really convenient for what i want to achieve. I have cubasis on my ipad so i will have a look to those features you mention from the desktop version of Cubase and see if i have any luck with Cubasis.. However, I do have experience loads of latency when i route the audio through my iconnect midi. Could you please explain exactly how do you monitor the sound from animoog while performinig please? Also, I did have many problems (pops and clicks) while routing audio with my iconnect midi2 and using other audio interfaces for listening to the audio.. Thanks!

Clicks and pops are almost always caused by incorrect audio clock settings. This is a very common problem, as it is understandably a difficult technical hurdle for musicians to grasp, particularly as it can be time consuming and difficult to initially set up. Generally speaking, you'll need to check all audio system software for the iConnectivity device; Cubase; Animoog; other audio interfaces and digital devices; and most importantly, your computer OS (on a Mac this is found in the "Audio-MIDI setup utility"), and make sure your settings, such as sample rate, all match properly. Above all, make sure your Master/slave clock relationships are properly set on all devices. There should be one designated device for master clock, and the rest should be slaves. If this is not set up right, digital audio won't properly synchronize between devices and that manifests itself in clicks and pops. Hopefully, getting everything set up right may also resolve any latency issues, which you should not be experiencing. In Cubase, besides your MIDI track, create a stereo audio track. Have them both selected for monitoring and to be ready to record. You may want to set monitoring in Cubase to "Manual" (found in the Preferences- I created a key command shortcut for that). In Cubase, in the "VST Connections" menu, create an input buss set for the main audio buss on the iConnectivity device , and then select this input as the input for your audio track (This routes Animoog to the audio track). You should be good to go! Because proper audio settings and routing can be initially complex to set, you may need to seek further help elsewhere. Once you get it all working right, it should be lots of fun. Good luck!

Much appreciated for your kind support Steffen. That was all very true. It was a clocking issue! Somehow, it seems that everything works smoothly when I set my Sampling rate to 48KHz 24 Bit and run my main daw buffer at 256 samples. It's a bit weird because I really thought Apple capped the Max Sampling Rate on the iPad to 44.1KHz? Nevertheless, it works now and the latency is also manageable so far so good! Controlling Polyphonic Pitchbend from the seaboard with animoog is just amazing. The aftertouch doesn't work very well for me yet. So I'll keep trying different modulations on animoog. It works much better with the Animoog Keys on the iPad... Many Thanks again for all your help!

Within Animoog setup page, you can set a sample rate of 48K. Aftertouch response may never be completely satisfactory in this particular application. This is because neither the ROLI Dashboard or Animoog offer response curves for aftertouch, which is a real shame. I've lobbied ROLI hard to make this and other additions, as it would greatly aid in controlling other devices and software other than their own Equator or Noise, but I guess they only pay attention if a sufficient number of people make the same request. I would suggest contacting ROLI via their support page and requesting that they add selectable and/or programmable aftertouch response curves to the Dashboard in future updates. I would thank you for that!

As far as I know, Moog is still the only company which has officially embraced the official MPE protocol within iOS as utilized in Animoog. That said, if an instrument is able to receive on multiple MIDI channels, then it can likely be played effectively from a Seaboard (but without a global channel function and a with a more limited pitch glide range). The good news is that I have successfully played the PPG WaveGenerator app from my Seaboard (albeit with the limitations mentioned above). But most other iOS instruments, such as Waldorf's Nave cannot be correctly played from a Seaboard. Also, for instruments that do not directly support the MPE protocol (which is the marjority at this point in time), you will certainly need to know what you are doing in order to correctly setup an instrument (those with multi-channel input) to properly respond to Seaboard input. I also would like to take the opportunity to note that the majority of modern hardware synthesizers can effectively respond to input from a Seaboard. This is because many modern synths have a "combi" or "multi" mode, which allows reception on multiple channels.

If a computer is part of your setup, you'll need a MIDI interface. I recommend products from iConnectivity.com, which is what I'm using in this demonstration. The advantage to the iConnectivity models is that the USB/Lightning cable provided with the interface carries the audio, as well as the MIDI, obviating the need for connecting the headphone jack, which is particularly important with the newer iPhones which don't have headphone jacks (This is why you don't see anything connected to the iPad's headphone jack in this video). But if your wish is to connect a Seaboard directly to an iPad/iPhone to play Animoog directly without a computer, then it depends on your Seaboard model. If your using a Seaboard Grand like the one in this demo, all you need to get is the small adapter from Apple.com called the Camera Connection Kit, which is actually just a USB to lightning converter, and you are in immediate business! However, if you are using the more common Seaboard Rise model, this will not be sufficient, as you'll get an error message on the iPhone/iPad saying that there is not enough power (The Seaboard Grand has it's own power supply. The Rise does not.). The Rise does however have a port to connect a generic power adapter. This is not offered by ROLI, so a third-party adapter would need to be obtained. I haven't yet tested this, so I do not know how well that might work. Without the power adapter, then yes, you would need to get a MIDI interface. Again, I recommend products from iConnectivity.com, of which some models have both USB type A and Type B ports, and can therefore be used independently of a computer. It should be noted however, that some of the iConnectivity models don't come with a power adapter either, which would be necessary to power the USB connection on a Seaboard Rise. Fortunately, iConnectivity does sell their own power adapters, but would need to be purchased separately. By the way, none of the Seaboards respond to incoming MIDI, so MIDI output from Animoog is not necessary (only MIDI in). Hope you find this helpful!

You can also directly connect a Seaboard Rise to Animoog by using Bluetooth, in which case you don't need an interface or cables! When this works, it works well. Unfortunately, as others have confirmed, it is not particularly reliable. Hopefully, this will improve with future updates.

David: These are good questions. The Grand is a terrific stand-along instrument that I won't be parting with. Unfortunately, ROLI essentially abandoned doing any upgrades or updates for this instrument a few years ago. As such, we cannot expect modern features, such as wireless MIDI. It is possible to directly connect to an iPad using a USB cable. But unlike the Seaboard RIse, there is no facility on the GRAND to accept wireless MIDI. The internal synth in the Grand is ROLI's Equator. It is a very fine synth, but requires a desktop or laptop computer to create and edit patches which can be ported to the Grand. Creating, editing and saving patches on the Grand itself is never going to be possible. There is no internal compatibility with any other synth other than Equator, but the Grand can transmit MIDI to any instrument, including hardware synths. I've been able to get it work well with almost all of my hardware synths, and despite their not being directly compatible with MPE, I can still get the full range of touch expression using "combi" , "multi" (or whatever terminology is used by a particular company) modes on the instruments and adjusting the voice count within ROLI Dashboard.

@@Song-haven fair enough, thanks for the info I guess, as someone who will predominantly be using this as a standalone instrument... How do you think it holds up? I mean COMPLETELY standalone, with no PC or ability to edit/switch out the onboard patches I've been also considering the Rise 49 to use with my iPad, but I'd rather have the 61 keys and standalone aspects of the Grand (even though the extra onboard controls of the rise are quite nice to have readily available) Also, excellent playing! I meant to say that in the first comment. I use animoog as well, but you really rock it, my dude!

@@davidlane1248 Thanks! Unfortunately, the Grand is not like most standalone instruments, of which most can be fully independent of a host computer. Even if the Grand you might purchase came pre-loaded with a selection of factory presets, which it very well may not, that would not prove satisfactory towards use as a standalone instrument. In order to set it up to respond the way you like requires the ROLI Dashboard, which in turn requires a PC. Any sort of sound creation in Equator (the Grand's internal synth) requires a PC, even if it were just to adjust touch response. No editing can be done onboard the Grand. In fact, the only thing that can be done onboard are program changes and octave switching. That's it! So if you never have access to a PC (including Mac), you won't get far. If you do have access to a PC, even temporarily in order to set up the instrument, then it can serve well as a stand-alone instrument. Once your sounds are loaded in, you can take it anywhere and play it without a computer. I also own a Rise 49 and like the touch response and extra controllers. It has downsides though: It's only a MIDI controller and has no onboard sounds; it's only 4 octaves as opposed to the 5 on the Grand, and wireless MIDI is not always reliable. Also, it is not a ruggedly built as the hand built Grand is. I've had no trouble with my Grand in the last few years, but have had to return my Rise for a warranty replacement twice and also send it to England for repair once as well, within a two year period, and I hadn't even used it nearly as much as my Grand. Also, the Rise is not cheap, so using it only to control an iPad, which overall has far less to offer sonically than Equator alone (in my opinion), may not be worth it.

@@Song-haven alright, well I suppose I'll save up and shoot for the Grand then. I know it has the limitations, such as no simultaneously played semitones and no extra controls, but my gut has been telling me to go for the Grand model since I discovered these. Plus I can still connect it to animoog, like you did in this video. I've dabbled with it since the early iOS days, but It'll be nice to be able to explore that app with a physical keyboard that really takes advantage of the expression as well

@@davidlane1248 I think you'll be happy with it. I'm certainly very happy with mine, despite frustration with some of the limitations. Here's a tip: The Grand has three inputs for pedals. You can get some global control hooking up an expression pedal. Some presets in Animoog respond to modulation (MIDI CC#1). By assigning a pedal to CC#1 you can get some extra control. But, you would still need to utilize the ROLI Dashboard on a computer to make that assignment. I tried a bunch of different pedals, including the Yamaha FC-7 recommended by ROLI. But the only pedal I found that actually works properly is the Korg XVP-20, which has the added advantage of also having stereo analog inputs and outputs for volume control, which I found to be a very big plus with the Grand for it's internal sounds.

Yeah, you could likely do that, although the receiving instrument is not likely to respond the way you might expect. Just because there is a passing resemblance to a keyboard, thinking of the Seaboard in terms of being anything like a traditional MIDI keyboard instrument is a mistake and would be a total waste of money.

Well it's laid out like a keyboard. Too late anyway as I just ordered it.

It is probably possible to connect to the iPad directly from the Seaboard if an appropriate interface and connections are in place. But in this demo, a PC (an Apple Mac Pro actually) is indeed connected via a iConnectivity MIDI2+ and a very long USB cable, which in addition to MIDI, also allows transmission of the audio from Animoog to the computer. The computer is running Cubase, which is where the sequencing in this demonstration is taking place. Visible in the demo and sitting atop the Seaboard is a Korg NanoKontrol 2 which is being used as a remote control for the computer.

Thank you SR!!

Further experimentation on my part has revealed that you can connect the Seaboard directly to the iPad to properly control Animoog, using only a USB cable and an Apple USB to lightning (camera) adapter. No PC is necessary!