I'm not placing a hd antenna looking contraption on my desk blocking my view. I'm sure this technology will be further developed that will be more better implemented with it's construction & better form factor
for people who are doing this new, they wont have a "re learning" curve, would be interesting to see what someone who is new to producing music does with it
I agree with you that it is more interesting than practical. I believed Andrew's glowing review on a previous product, and it turned out to be junk and a waste of $500. He is a bought influencer, not an honest reviewer. I appreciate your honest opinions - you have way more credibility in my opinion. But I am also glad that companies are working to find something new.
I don’t think you will be locked in to Roli’s ecosystem of sounds. From their website: “Airwave is also compatible with third-party MIDI keyboards - just plug it in and follow the simple on-screen calibration procedure to unlock all five Dimensions of Air. You can even map each one to parameters in your favorite DAWs and third-party plug-ins.” From that I take it that Airwave will spit out a MIDI CC of your choice per gesture and you can do what you want with them, no matter which plugin. It’s basically a Roland D-Beam on steroids, or a Magic Leap in a different form factor, with possibly some additional function because it knows where your hands are in relation to your keyboard. Maybe they will use that information for an MPE aspect, but I didn’t see them show that off yet. Of course until Roli come up with some more technical info about it all it’s all speculation.
"100 presets" might mean a routing thing for Equator 2 specifically, and Equator 2 already has its own sounds, so I would imagine this controller would already be compatible with every instrument preset currently in Equator and Equator 2. I'd expect that we should be able to assign the air parameters to ANY MPE as long as the software you want to control can allow for your own routing. For example, mapping an air parameter (which is a separate MIDI channel) to a knob in some software sampler. The Airwave is just a MPE controller, so Equator software just receives MIDI channel data. I don't think Roli would lock the user into ONLY using the Airwave controller to those 100 initial presets. If that is the case, there's no way I'd buy it. I want the Airwave as an unlocked MPE controller, because I don't value Roli's presets as much as others might (but I'm also a sound designer and producer who makes their own stuff from scratch most of the time).
As always, thanks for the review. I think it's a gimmick. A creative gimmick, but still a gimmick. It's kind of like that Orba thing that you fling around your head or something. Interesting, but not practical at all. Can't see it doing much more than collecting dust for me.
It depends - most modern productions that make the charts actually do not even utilize MPE magic yet. MPE is something that's way ahead of its time still.
@@Rezonances Oh definitely. I agree that MPE is very cool, and probably the future of digital music in a big way. I'd guess the classical world is mostly utilizing it now. But my only point is there are more practical controllers for MPE than this one.
@@EytanKoch you can definitely do some organic strings/choir stuff with MPE. I have heard it being employed in some TV series here and there, but it's still pretty rare. It really takes a certain individual to know how to use it. I used to judge beat submissions when doing sound library production, and it was interesting that, out of hundreds of tracks we were sent, maybe only 1 spent some extra time doing something interesting with a hihat part, or going the extra mile to make sure the beat wasn't monotonous with the same snare or kick pattern/velocities throughout. The truth is that most producers are simply never breaking past the point of "amateur", and the real pros are like 1 out of a million, if even that. When I think about the products Roli creates, I imagine their allure to amateur producers, so it makes sense to lock their hardware into being used with Roli's software (those producers would likely never be the type to venture outside a pack of factory-suppled sounds/presets). Some of the big producers I sold sound libraries to are the largest names in the business, and you wouldn't believe how some of their productions simply never stray from factory/default sounds. There are some hits out there where sound 1 from folder 1 were chosen for a song, and no pitch adjustment was done. I can tell that many of these producers are just going through a given bank of sounds and seeing what inspires them, as they'll make an entire track around that one sample, even the key signature matching up (instead of changing the pitch of the sample to match their beat). You'd think the big producers would be power users, but they're more about efficiency and speed, so they're not the type to care about using an MPE controller like the Airwave to modify something else... they'd likely be the type to drop the cash on the system just to check out the 100 included presets, and then be inspired with one of them... make millions... then move on or keep using that device in future tracks. It's been a fascinating journey learning how everyone implements their unique approach, but most of the big producers don't think the way I believe Roli's actual users think. I don't even think Roli themselves programs presets in ways that truly inspire like they could. I see a lot of improvements still left on the table with many of the Equator 2 presets. There's some really odd, cheap, not-very-well-thought-out decisions for simple things like note-off's which I'm like "are you kidding me?" Sometimes the behavior can present as glitches, and they weren't intended, but even developers may not be musicians to understand the inspirational component of what they're making. Some engineers are not empathetic people, and what makes sense to them may not inspire others. When I first entered the hiphop production world, I realized that most amateurs are stuck at a certain level and cannot get over a hump. Hiphop is actually the most difficult genre to execute gracefully where all listeners of all ages will enjoy it fully. Producers must think empathetically and make music for other people's souls, not their own, to get over the speedbump I believe holds so many back. If anyone does get this Airwave, let us know if it is unlocked as a simple MPE controller, or if it can only be used within those 100 presets, OR if it can be used with any Equator 2 presets.
@@ChonkTek Roli Support has confirmed that you can use the AirWave as a mere controller by manually binding the gestures to parameters, so it's NOT locked to ONLY the 100 presets.
Marketing is good, keys renamed to Piano and addon works with iPad+ subscription. Parents can count money for a teacher and decent piano and go with something self taught instead.
Watch Andrew's video here:
th-cam.com/video/23DUqgSX-XY/w-d-xo.html
Get Yosh's Drum Warehouse here:
gospelproducers.com/yoshs-drum-warehouse/
I'm not placing a hd antenna looking contraption on my desk blocking my view. I'm sure this technology will be further developed that will be more better implemented with it's construction & better form factor
@@SpyderBlackOfficial 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
for people who are doing this new, they wont have a "re learning" curve, would be interesting to see what someone who is new to producing music does with it
I agree with you that it is more interesting than practical. I believed Andrew's glowing review on a previous product, and it turned out to be junk and a waste of $500. He is a bought influencer, not an honest reviewer. I appreciate your honest opinions - you have way more credibility in my opinion. But I am also glad that companies are working to find something new.
I don’t think you will be locked in to Roli’s ecosystem of sounds. From their website:
“Airwave is also compatible with third-party MIDI keyboards - just plug it in and follow the simple on-screen calibration procedure to unlock all five Dimensions of Air. You can even map each one to parameters in your favorite DAWs and third-party plug-ins.”
From that I take it that Airwave will spit out a MIDI CC of your choice per gesture and you can do what you want with them, no matter which plugin. It’s basically a Roland D-Beam on steroids, or a Magic Leap in a different form factor, with possibly some additional function because it knows where your hands are in relation to your keyboard. Maybe they will use that information for an MPE aspect, but I didn’t see them show that off yet.
Of course until Roli come up with some more technical info about it all it’s all speculation.
"100 presets" might mean a routing thing for Equator 2 specifically, and Equator 2 already has its own sounds, so I would imagine this controller would already be compatible with every instrument preset currently in Equator and Equator 2. I'd expect that we should be able to assign the air parameters to ANY MPE as long as the software you want to control can allow for your own routing. For example, mapping an air parameter (which is a separate MIDI channel) to a knob in some software sampler. The Airwave is just a MPE controller, so Equator software just receives MIDI channel data. I don't think Roli would lock the user into ONLY using the Airwave controller to those 100 initial presets. If that is the case, there's no way I'd buy it. I want the Airwave as an unlocked MPE controller, because I don't value Roli's presets as much as others might (but I'm also a sound designer and producer who makes their own stuff from scratch most of the time).
I could see this in a live setting more than studio
That can definitely be interesting…I definitely think it’s more performative than it is a useful production tool…
As you said, pushing the envelope is good. Who opens said envelope is another video.
That’s a good take!
As always, thanks for the review. I think it's a gimmick. A creative gimmick, but still a gimmick. It's kind of like that Orba thing that you fling around your head or something. Interesting, but not practical at all. Can't see it doing much more than collecting dust for me.
It depends - most modern productions that make the charts actually do not even utilize MPE magic yet. MPE is something that's way ahead of its time still.
@@Rezonances Oh definitely. I agree that MPE is very cool, and probably the future of digital music in a big way. I'd guess the classical world is mostly utilizing it now. But my only point is there are more practical controllers for MPE than this one.
@@EytanKoch you can definitely do some organic strings/choir stuff with MPE. I have heard it being employed in some TV series here and there, but it's still pretty rare. It really takes a certain individual to know how to use it. I used to judge beat submissions when doing sound library production, and it was interesting that, out of hundreds of tracks we were sent, maybe only 1 spent some extra time doing something interesting with a hihat part, or going the extra mile to make sure the beat wasn't monotonous with the same snare or kick pattern/velocities throughout. The truth is that most producers are simply never breaking past the point of "amateur", and the real pros are like 1 out of a million, if even that. When I think about the products Roli creates, I imagine their allure to amateur producers, so it makes sense to lock their hardware into being used with Roli's software (those producers would likely never be the type to venture outside a pack of factory-suppled sounds/presets). Some of the big producers I sold sound libraries to are the largest names in the business, and you wouldn't believe how some of their productions simply never stray from factory/default sounds. There are some hits out there where sound 1 from folder 1 were chosen for a song, and no pitch adjustment was done. I can tell that many of these producers are just going through a given bank of sounds and seeing what inspires them, as they'll make an entire track around that one sample, even the key signature matching up (instead of changing the pitch of the sample to match their beat). You'd think the big producers would be power users, but they're more about efficiency and speed, so they're not the type to care about using an MPE controller like the Airwave to modify something else... they'd likely be the type to drop the cash on the system just to check out the 100 included presets, and then be inspired with one of them... make millions... then move on or keep using that device in future tracks. It's been a fascinating journey learning how everyone implements their unique approach, but most of the big producers don't think the way I believe Roli's actual users think. I don't even think Roli themselves programs presets in ways that truly inspire like they could. I see a lot of improvements still left on the table with many of the Equator 2 presets. There's some really odd, cheap, not-very-well-thought-out decisions for simple things like note-off's which I'm like "are you kidding me?" Sometimes the behavior can present as glitches, and they weren't intended, but even developers may not be musicians to understand the inspirational component of what they're making. Some engineers are not empathetic people, and what makes sense to them may not inspire others. When I first entered the hiphop production world, I realized that most amateurs are stuck at a certain level and cannot get over a hump. Hiphop is actually the most difficult genre to execute gracefully where all listeners of all ages will enjoy it fully. Producers must think empathetically and make music for other people's souls, not their own, to get over the speedbump I believe holds so many back.
If anyone does get this Airwave, let us know if it is unlocked as a simple MPE controller, or if it can only be used within those 100 presets, OR if it can be used with any Equator 2 presets.
@@ChonkTek Roli Support has confirmed that you can use the AirWave as a mere controller by manually binding the gestures to parameters, so it's NOT locked to ONLY the 100 presets.
Roland v equipment had this for yrs but you knew this already 🫡🫡
@@CORNERSTOW yup! D-beam!!
Marketing is good, keys renamed to Piano and addon works with iPad+ subscription. Parents can count money for a teacher and decent piano and go with something self taught instead.
Nah thanks
You can say whatever you want but this is the most hilarious invention in music instruments in long time ..
@@hueyfreeman569 😂😂😂 they made a tv antenna for musicians