I have been using MPE (Midi Polyphonic Expression) hardware for six years now, and it has become an essential part of my setup. I started timidly with a Roli Rise 25. As a classical pianist and keyboardist, I was initially confused by this weird silicone surface and all of the techniques possible with all of the five dimensions of control offered by the new MIDI standard.
Admittedly, I was able to refine my technique and fully appreciate this type of musical instrument only after a while, and when I was finally ready to get serious with a Rise 49, Roli went out of stock and declared bankruptcy!
Then, I started looking at other products to see if there were any viable substitutes. I came across a beautiful Linnstrument, an isomorphic MPE instrument with great potential, but the steep learning curve for a classical pianist and the surface being too rigid, far from the “softness” of the silicone surface of the Rise, which I still find perfect to this day, made me resell it.
So I decided to go back to Roli, first purchasing a second-hand Block and then a Lumi. Both turned out to be much more like toys compared to their older brother. The build quality, especially of the Lumi, is not at all comparable to the sturdiness of the regular Rise models. Not to mention the size of the keys, which I find lacking in terms of satisfaction and control and, even worse, the unforgivable absence of an input for a sustain pedal that sounds completely odd considering that one of the most recurring ad from Roli is showing the Lumi as a valid alternative for a portable master keyboard.
Ultimately, the Lumi device was nothing more than an aesthetically interesting project but struggled to move beyond its prototype stage and its subscription-based learning software was at that time the Roli’s main focus in terms of investments, proving to be not intended for professional use.
After my failed MPE experiments mentioned above, I realized that Roli was preparing to relaunch the Rise with its second model, Rise 2. I pre-ordered it immediately, and to this day, it remains my favorite controller. I can’t say that the build quality is the same as what I perceive with my beloved Rise 25, but it’s well-designed and suited for hard-core midi controller lovers. The expressiveness offered by MPE is the true generational leap in the MIDI industry over the past 20 years.
