(You can choose French or English subtitles on Youtube)
ROLI BLOCKS: The promise to reinvent musical composition
I discovered these funny pressure-responsive surfaces when visiting the Apple Store where they are sold. I was immediately captivated by the concept and their promise: to make music creation (electronic music in any case) accessible to everyone.
The videos are promising, by striking, sliding or pressing your fingers on the surface, the music rings out. Everything looks so simple and easy to use. I, who have often attempted to create music in the past, was on board immediately.
And the girls invited themselves into the test. After all, if they can use it, then it lives up to its promise doesn’t it?
Check out our comprehensive family test of the ROLI BLOCKS in this video episode of the Revo-Rama!
Revo-Rama tests the ROLI BLOCKS as a family
Unwrapping the Lightning Block
Unwrapping the LOOP BLOCK and LIVE BLOCK
User manual for ROLI BLOCK
ROLI BLOCKS: A test that has inspired the whole family
When we received them we were delighted. As excited as when you receive a new Smartphone or a new game console. However the excitement quickly faded away, to return more gradually over the following weeks.
The positives: Pressure-responsive interface, very nice luminous appearance, mini USB port for charging, and the best bit, the various blocks connect (with magnets) to increase the playing surface or add control functions.
Note however that they only work with the mobile application NOISE. The sound is produced by your Smartphone. Interesting feature: community sharing for remixing and having your work remixed.
Discover the unwrapping and our first attempts at composing on video in this episode of the Revo-Rama!
DJ @leopoldine_ on her ROLI BLOCK
How do I use the ROLI BLOCK pressure-responsive interface
The ROLI BLOCK and its Loop Block module
DJ @alienor_ in concert with her ROLI BLOCK
ROLI BLOCKS: A very chaotic test and a hint of faulty workmanship
But what immediately irritated us is how the pressure-responsive surface responds. Sometimes you have to press really hard and it doesn’t seem as fluid as it is on the videos. So I contacted the customer services department, with video to back up my queries, and they say it’s normal: we just have to get used to it…
So we resumed our apprenticeship, and indeed we started to get better. But I’m still a little dubious … Perhaps one day we’ll add another Lightning block and can compare the two to be sure.
But whether it’s a hardware or a software problem, or maybe just a design issue, it baffled us a lot and I hope ROLI can hear this.
Check out the video of the LIGHTNING BLOCK interface and the one we sent to ROLI support services in this video episode of the Revo-Rama!
Arpeggios and other NOISE apps that accompany the ROLI BLOCK
My first recording DJ @ pka13
To conclude, despite this problem, we had fun with the ROLI BLOCKS, and I still think the concept is excellent. So I will try to keep learning during my free weekends. If I, or the girls, manage to compose an interesting piece of music, we’ll be delighted to share it with you. I also see that a new application has been released in beta and that they have released a keyboard … very strange. This is enough to stimulate our interest.
That said, I would have liked my request for support to be taken more seriously and for them to find a solution.
What do you think of this episode of the Revo-Rama and the ROLI BLOCKS?
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