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LH bass: Roli Seaboard Rise + Moog ?


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With things starting to open up again here I'm looking to start playing again with a neo-soul band in which I play left hand bass. To this point I've played Hammond bass. Synth bass would be cool, but I'd miss the articulations that require one hand on the mod and pitch wheels because I usually have one hand playing Hammond (or Wurli or clav). But I've been doing some research and I'm thinking I could use a Roli Seaboard Rise, which gives one hand control over pitch bend, filter brightness via moving my finger along a key, vibrato via aftertouch. I'm not going to play live with a computer, instead I'm thinking to get a usb to 5pin MIDI cable and hook the Seaboard up to control something like a Minitaur or a Sub-24. I know there'd be a learning curve getting fluent on the Seaboard but am more than happy to take on a new challenge. Any thoughts, suggestions, known limitations (I see Behringer's Model D doesn't respond to aftertouch), reservations or alternate solutions would be really appreciated, thx.

Gig keys: Hammond SKpro, Korg Vox Continental, Crumar Mojo 61, Crumar Mojo Pedals

 

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I"ve done a bunch of LHB gigs and I feel that I need precision more than the expression a Seaboard gives (I have the 49 'key' version). Aftertouch can be a great asset, but the Seaboard is too much for me to master when playing bass lines. If you try it, remember that you"ll need to 'match' the pitch of the seaboard with the synth you control, if you have a 24 key seaboard you"ll need to be able to set pitch bend on the slave to +/- 24 notes to track accurately.
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Niacin,

I have been trying left hand bass with a Seaboard Block and the Behringer Model D. It is fun to play the Model D with the Seaboard, but it is tricky. The Rise may be easier to control with the larger keyboard. I believe it could be done with some practice. I'm not there yet ;)

 

The Roli Dashboard app allows you to map and fine tune the parameters you want to control in the D. I use a USB Midi host converter to connect the Seaboard"s USB C directly to the D, it works great.

 

Here is a link to the MIDI Host.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Midiplus-USB-MIDI-Host-midiplus/dp/B074NGTGHN/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=usb+midi+host&qid=1589741836&sr=8-1

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If you want to stick with hardware, that's understandable (I've been itching to try my Seaboard as a controller for a Model D), but if you have an iPad or even a newer iPhone around, there are a number of apps that could provide you with synth bass sounds that respond more naturally to the Seaboard.

 

That said, I will second others: the Seaboard allows for extremely expressive left hand bass playing, but it is a bit like switching from fretted to fretless bass as far as having to mind your tuning. I struggled with that a bit on the one gig I've played Seaboard bass. But like anything else, practice makes perfect. Somebody on the forum loves using the Seaboard for exactly this purpose... was it Sven, maybe?

Samuel B. Lupowitz

Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado.

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