24-key modular controller keyboard appeals to both keyboard beginners and pros
LUMI, by ROLI.
ROLI have been impressing us with innovative controller designs since the launch of their otherworldly Seaboard Grand four years ago (see the review in SOS September 2015). Their latest product offers all the depth and innovation of their previous products, but channelled in a very different direction. As its name suggests, its all about light.
Like ROLIs earliest products, LUMI is a controller based around a keyboard-like interface, but the loose resemblence ends as soon as you power it up, because in stark contrast to the monochromatic Seaboards, LUMI comes alive in a riot of colour. Each of its 24 keys is lit evenly along its entire length from underneath by super-bright variable LEDs - so each one can be a completely different colour.
This simple idea is used to excellent effect to assist a major part of LUMIs target market: those of any age who are learning to play the keyboard. Thus it ships with a proprietary iOS or Android music training app with a library of songs, and if you select one, the keys will light up brightly in sequence, allowing keyboard learners to follow and play the melody (and accompanying chords, if you wish) for the selected song by following the lights. While there have been educational keyboards with followable LED strips or lights above the keys before, we cant call to mind any on which the entire key can light up so brightly and in such a wide range of colours before - and the intuitive impact of being able to follow the lights as an aid to playing is not to be understated. For songs already in the LUMI apps library, there is a wealth of extra content to help you master playing, from videos showing you optimum fingering to performance training routines, where you accompany a scrolling score on the app, a piano-roll display, or simply follow LUMIs lights, and the app rates your accuracy and speed.
The library will cover music from classical to cutting-edge; at the demo we attended, it was still under development, but already contained works from Bach to the Beatles, Sia and Calvin Harris. However, the app will not be limited to audio material already loaded in its library - in time, the plan is that it will be able to analyse the music in any audio file presented to it and swiftly provide a light-up key sequence for the melody, and a best guess at the key and chords too. We saw an early demo of this aspect of the app in action: we were asked to freely pick a well-known track completely at random. Slightly mischievously, we chose one not in the LUMI library - The Beatles Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, well known for its various key changes - and watched as the app not only identified the keyboard and vocal melodies from a quick playback on Spotify, but also tracked the key changes through the verse into the chorus and back again. Once this feature is fully working, it could in theory allow fledgeling keyboard players to learn whatever songs they like quickly and easily.
If your initial impression is that you have no need for this kind of educational aspect to a controller, and the 24-note span and light-up keys call to mind countless cheap plastic kids keyboards or even the atonal early 80s warblings of Hasbros circular toy Simon, think again. LUMI is a fully specified, modular and highly portable self-powered MIDI controller, with polyphonic aftertouch. In the studio, it integrates smoothly with DAWs and ROLIs own Studio Player and Dashboard software, and also physically with other hardware; each LUMI unit features ROLIs proprietary magnetic DNA connectors along its edges, as used on their innovative Blocks control hardware, so ROLIs control Blocks, Lightpads or Seaboards can be instantly attached if required. Whats more, if you want or need a larger keyboard, you simply snap LUMI keyboards seamlessly together (up to maximum of four).
LUMI in action.
The keyboard itself and its action have been carefully designed for playability by pros as well as beginners, with a plunge almost as deep as that of a grand piano and keys corresponding to the Donison Steinbuhler 5.5 standard, seven-eighths of the width of a standard piano keyboard (for those unfamiliar with DS5.5 keyboards, their dimensions are widely believed amongst music educators to be more approachable and playable than standard-sized piano keys). Measuring 282x141mm, only 27mm thick, weighing 600g per unit and with an approximate battery-powered life of six hours when fully charged, LUMI also fits into a backpack for easy use outside the studio - even if you carry four of them for ultimate assembly into a 96-key Imperial controller!
Even if the educational aspects of LUMIs light-up design are unimportant to you, there are many possible pro applications for the coloured keys in a live or performance context. Because the colour of each key is individually customisable in ROLIs Dashboard software, you could colour keys depending on the samples assigned to each key during live performances as an unforgettable aide-memoire, or colour different zones of the keyboard to highlight split points... or, yes, if you like, draw attention by giving your keyboard a completely different colour scheme for every song in your set, simply because you can. Its surely only a matter of time before LUMI is a major visual component in someones super-hip video...
Reflecting the new keyboards broader appeal to learners and non-technical musicians as well as the pro musicians that have formed most of ROLIs customer base since their launch, LUMI is initially being sold via a crowdfunding model, via Kickstarter. At the time of writing, a few days after its launch, LUMI has over 5000 backers and has exceeded more than tenfold its initial funding goal of £100,000, which suggests this model was a shrewd approach! Its expected to be on
Most recent headlines
17/02/2025
TVBEurope talks to the team who brought a piece of broadcasting history back to life on BBC Wales last night
By Jenny Priestley
Published: February 14, 2025 ...
17/02/2025
Eligible studios will receive the relief directly from their local authorities, with no need to submit a claim
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: February 17, 20...
17/02/2025
As DEI initiatives come under pressure in the USA, supporters of Rise, which promotes diversity in the media and entertainment sector, discuss the continuing im...
17/02/2025
EIB Global loan will partially fund SES's continued O3b mPOWER medium earth orbit (MEO) fleet expansion enabling additional capacity worldwide. O3b mPOWER s...
15/02/2025
At Nielsen, Business Resource Groups (BRGs) play a critical role in nurturing a ...
15/02/2025
Innovation to empower creativity: Explore the latest in Lightroom
Rob Christensen February 15, 2025
0 Comments
Whether you want to remove distracting ...
15/02/2025
Wisycom, a worldwide leader in RF technology and provider of wireless solutions, announces a new distribution agreement with EQUAPHON. An Argentinian profession...
15/02/2025
DPA Microphones, the leading manufacturer of high-quality microphone solutions, is pleased to welcome Nicholas Nick Mariano and Vincent Vince Divine to the ...
15/02/2025
Tuxera, a leading provider of quality-assured file systems and networking solutions, will showcase how Tuxera Fusion SMB enables unprecedented performance for m...
15/02/2025
Bitmovin's latest Video Developer Report indicates an increasing role of AI, the slow adoption of next-generation codecs, and continuing challenges when it ...
15/02/2025
When Michelin Enterprises set out to promote its prestigious Hotel Guide in the new Sleepless in the Kitchen , campaign, veteran German/Slovenian gaffer Robert...
15/02/2025
Formula E, the world's first all-electric racing series, revolutionizing motorsport with cutting-edge technology and a commitment to sustainability has sele...
15/02/2025
Agile Content, a global leader in TV and video technology solutions, announces its rebranding to AgileTV.
The transition to AgileTV stems from a commitment to ...
15/02/2025
Hiltron Communications will promote the latest additions to its range of satellite communication products, systems and supporting services at GovSatCom 2025. Th...
15/02/2025
Following the success of the original Airglow Booklight, DoPchoice debuts a new addition to their inflatable line the Float. This lightweight, inflatable, round...
15/02/2025
LAS VEGAS Marshall Electronics has announced that it will debut its newest camera controller, the RCP Plus, at the 2025 NAB Show at Booth N2649 between April 5 ...
15/02/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has named Blake Sebo as the next general manager of KTUU and KYES, Gray's NBC and CBS affiliates in Anchorage, Alaska....
15/02/2025
KOKKEDAL, Denmark DPA Microphones will feature its new CORE+ technology for distortion-free microphone sound at the 2025 NAB Show, April 5-9, in Las Vegas....
15/02/2025
SWANSEA, U.K. QuickLink will launch StudioPro-NDI and StudioPro-3, two new models of its QuickLine StudioPro video production platform, at the 2025 NAB Show, Ap...
15/02/2025
Live From 2025 NBA All-Star Game Weekend: After 25 Years, Turner Sports All-In F...
15/02/2025
NASCAR Driver Cam on Max Embraces Cloud-Based Workflow for 2025 Season Chris Brown of WBD Sports says Mobii will play key part in delivering signals from the tr...
14/02/2025
Last month, we officially launched the Spotify Partner Program, a powerful new m...
14/02/2025
From an island off the coast of Lutruwita to the global stage in France SBS & ...
14/02/2025
The future of electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) land systems is evolving so that ...
14/02/2025
Here are 5 reasons why you should attend ISE 2025
Discover more about Calrec: Learn more about Calrec's legacy of innovation in broadcast audio solutions ...
14/02/2025
World Radio Day: On the same wavelength
By Graham Murray, International Sales Manager at Calrec
To mark World Radio Day, Calrec's International Sales Ma...
14/02/2025
DALLAS and TYSONS, Va. Tegna has concluded a broadcast rights agreement that makes Tegna's KFAA in Dallas the exclusive local television partner of the Dall...
14/02/2025
Amazon's Prime Video has released a new app for Apple TV that the streamer said delivers an improved streaming experiences with faster scrolling, improved s...
14/02/2025
CLEVELAND Telos Alliance announced a software update for its Axia Quasar XR and SR line of audio-over-IP (AoIP) mixing consoles and will show the offering at th...
14/02/2025
Puget Systems Returns to HPA Tech Retreat 2025 with New Analysis Tools for Puge...
14/02/2025
Glass Animals: Tour of Earth Uses Blackmagic Live Production Workflow
Brie Clayton February 14, 2025
0 Comments
80six deploys Blackmagic URSA Broadcas...
14/02/2025
A dispute between Paramount and Youtube TV that would have pulled CBS stations and Paramount's cable channels from the streaming service has been temporaril...
14/02/2025
Colourist Deidre (Dee) McClelland details how she helped shape the distinct look and feel of whimsical Oscar-nominated stop-motion film, Memoir of a Snail
By C...
14/02/2025
BitFire said it intends to introduce forward-looking services that simplify the launch of live production workflows, and enhance real-time collaboration
By Jen...
14/02/2025
The claim by the liquidators is the latest twist in the ongoing saga of the companys collapse at the end of 2021
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: February 14, ...
14/02/2025
A carriage dispute between YouTube TV and Paramount could come to a head today (Feb. 13), with the virtual pay TV provider threatening to pull all of the progra...
14/02/2025
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. LG Electronics USA has opened a new in-house, state-of-the-art virtual production studio at its 360,000-square-foot North American headqu...
14/02/2025
NEW YORK In a bid to help local broadcasters find new ways of monetizing their content, the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) and TVB have relea...
14/02/2025
WASHINGTON Three Democratic U.S. Senators have sent a stern letter blasting FCC Chair Brendan Carr for the weaponization of the agency for attacking broadcast...
14/02/2025
Years after launching the streaming service Apple TV+ in November of 2019, Apple has finally released a version of its steaming app for Android devices....
14/02/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. Red Digital Cinema will make its V-RAPTOR [X] and KOMODO-X camera systems available with Nikon's premier Z Mount, providing filmmaker...
14/02/2025
DAYTONA, Fla. The Fox Sports production of this year's Daytona 500 will see the addition of a few new tech elements and the continued unfolding of the broad...
14/02/2025
Watch Bryson Battles Blind Audition on The Voice Get a Four-Chair Turn Michael Bubl said the Boston Conservatory at Berklee musical theater senior might have...
14/02/2025
2025 Daytona 500: FOX Sports Looks To Ride Super Bowl LIX Momentum Into NASCAR S...
14/02/2025
14 Feb 2025
VEON's Kyivstar and the Come Back Alive Foundation Raise USD 2....
14/02/2025
Max Renews THE PITT, Starring Noah Wyle, For A Second Season
Max
Warner Bros. Television Group
The Pitt
New Episodes Of The Medical Drama From John...
14/02/2025
This year, Technicolor proudly celebrates 110 years of shaping the magic of cinema pioneering color, visual effects, and innovation that bring unforgettable l...
14/02/2025
NBA All-Star: More Games, More Teams, More Music, More Sound From the Court Turner Sports' team will deploy familiar tech to capture all the audio By Dan D...
14/02/2025
LIV Golf Continues To Innovate With Drones, Data-Driven Graphics, and All-Access...
24-key modular controller keyboard appeals to both keyboard beginners and pros 
