Expressive digital instrument maker Roli has brought together elements of 2016's Block modular music-making hardware to create the Songmaker Kit portable music studio. The bundle comprises three of Roli's touch-enabled controllers – the Seaboard Block, the Lightpad and the Loop – and is designed to help players create music tracks while out and about.
The Songmaker Kit is made up of the familiar-looking Seaboard Block controller with 24 keywaves (the expressive surface found in Roli's Seaboard instrument range) and the Lightpad Block M, both touch sensitive interfaces/controllers that are used to shape sound and create music. The final piece of the hardware puzzle is the Loop Block, used to help facilitate recording, select different sounds and control the music production process. Each battery-powered module connects together wirelessly and integrates with music-making software tools.
The Kit comes with US$400 worth of software, including Roli's Equator software synth, its Noise app and two digital audio workstations. Also included in the package are a number of signature soundpacks curated by artists like Grimes, Steve Aoko and Rudimental.
The Songmaker Kit is available now for $649.95 and comes supplied with a protective Snapcase that keeps the various Blocks together and protected when on the move. The promo video below has more on the music creation package.
Source: Roli
Really it's a fancy modular controller, albeit a very nice one.