This guide will show you how to set up ROLI Dashboard so that you can easily use BLOCKS with GarageBand for
MacOS.
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Lightpad and Seaboard Blocks are bundled with ROLI Studio Player, which can easily be loaded into GarageBand, allowing you to record your expressive performances.
On mobile devices like the iPhone and iPad, the Seaboard Block pairs with Roliâs Noise app, which packs loops, instruments, and other music creation tools. After youâve created a recording, a. ROLI Seaboard Block. Creating music on the move can often be a tough experience. Even with the advent of laptops becoming more prevalent in music-making, they can often seem unwieldy, obtrusive a hassle. Not any more: introducing the ultimate in portable modern keyboard controllers: the revolutionary ROLI Seaboard Block! Seaboard 5D (used to be noise) by ROLI is a fantastic free synth app that gives you access to 25 expressive instrument sounds that you can play with Skoog.What is really great about the sounds in Noise is they are designed to work with ROLIâs own tactile keyboards and this means they are really responsive to after touch (squeezing on the Skoog).
Additionally, some of GarageBandâs built-in software instruments respond to several of the BLOCKS' 5 dimensions of touch, excluding Slide. You may also use BLOCKS with GarageBand for iOS.
GarageBand is extremely easy to set up with ROLI Dashboard.
Using ROLI Dashboard load the Note Grid app mode onto your Lightpad Block, or use the default factory settings of your Seaboard Block. In GarageBand, create a software instrument track. Load Equator into this track for full 5D expression, or load one of GarageBand instrument. Play and record as normal. Most instruments in GarageBand will provide full polyphonic expression of dimensions of touch including Strike, Glide, and Press (although not Slide).
Edit the data for the dimensions of touch using GarageBandâs MIDI Draw on a note-by-note basis.
Blocks, including the Lightpad Block and Seaboard Block, use multiple channels of MIDI so that each dimension of touch can be expressed polyphonically. ROLI Dashboard gives you detailed access to edit the responses and behaviors of Blocks. It is especially useful when setting up Blocks with third-party software, when you may want to select different channel ranges and behaviors to match the specific capabilities of the software.
GarageBand is compatible with ROLI Dashboard because it accommodates multiple MIDI channels on a single track. This means that setting up and recording is just like a normal MIDI controller.
Once you've downloaded and installed ROLI Dashboard, open it from your applications/programs folder.
Connect your Blocks via USB or Bluetooth connection to your computer. Subsequent Blocks can be connected by DNA â simply snap them to the first Block to magnetically connect. (Keep in mind that all of your Blocks must be updated separately to the current firmware version to work with ROLI Dashboard.)
After you see your Blocks setup on the Visualizer, select the Lightpad Block or Seaboard Block you'd like to play with GarageBand.
With your Lightpad Block selected, choose the Note Grid app to load it onto your Block. Click 'Edit' to edit the app's settings.
Underneath 'Mode,' select 'MPE.' This will set the Lightpad Block to a 5x5 note grid with full 5D expression.
If you'd like, you may change the Lightpad's scale, octave, and other Pitch, Play Mode, or 5D Settings. For example, if you'd like to use a 4x4 drum grid instead, under 'Play Mode' select set 'Mode' to 4. For using the Lightpad as a drum controller, you might also like to turn 'Fixed Velocity' on, and set 'Fixed Velocity Level' to 127.
To use your Seaboard Block, with it selected in the Visualizer its default app will automatically be loaded. Click 'Edit' to edit the settings, and then beneath 'Mode' select 'MPE.' This will set the Seaboard Block to 5D expression using MPE. If you'd like you may change the Seaboard's 5D Settings so that its responsiveness suits your playing style.
Open your GarageBand project. Go to:
Track â New Track â Software Instrument
Select the appropriate Input Device and Output Device. The details should show '1 MIDI Input Detected.' GarageBand may not change the name of the instrument in the new track, so you can change the name by double-clicking on it and typing 'ROLI instrument,â or changing as desired.
After this, you can choose your specific instrument sound from GarageBand that you want your Block to control.
You'll want to choose an instrument with a pitch bend range of 48 to match the default pitch bend range of the Lightpad and Seaboard Block, or otherwise change the pitch bend range in ROLI Dashboard. Also, note that GarageBand's guitars and selected string instruments are not MPE-compatible, so to use these instruments use ROLI Dashboard to set your Block to MIDI Mode: Single Channel.
To use Equator in GarageBand, go to:
Track â New Track â Software Instrument
Select the Equator plugin. GarageBand may not change the name of the instrument in the new track, so you can change the name by double-clicking on it and typing 'Equator.'
Alternatively, to load Equator into an existing track, double-click on the instrument icon in a track, select 'Plug-ins,' click on 'Instrument,' and then select the Equator plugin:
Again, GarageBand may not change the name of the instrument in the new track, so you can change the name by double-clicking on it and typing 'Equator.'
If you receive the message, âEquator plugin could not be loaded in GarageBand,â please try clearing your AU cache by following the steps below, which should resolve the issue:
Quit GarageBand.
Open a Finder window, hold the ALT key and select Go -> Library from the menubar at the top of your screen.
Open the Caches folder and delete the folder named AudioUnitCache
Once this is complete, please open GarageBand again, and Equator should appear successfully as an AU instrument.
If you're using Equator, it's a good idea to check Equator's MIDI/MPE Settings. By default, they will already match those that we selected in ROLI Dashboard in step one. But since a mismatch of settings in ROLI Dashboard and Equator can cause silent notes or incorrect pitch bends, it's worth double-checking them now.
Now that you have created your instrument track with adjusted settings, just record and playback as normal.
In MPE Mode, Blocks transmit each new note on a unique channel so that channel-wide messages like pitch bend can be applied on a polyphonic basis.
Strike (velocity) is recorded as a single value per note and can be edited at the note in GarageBandâs piano roll. The other dimensions of touch are continuous controllers and are edited in GarageBandâs MIDI Draw.
Below is an example of how to edit the Glide dimension (recorded as pitch bend), which you will use to perform vibratos on the playing surface.
Use the same process to edit Press by selecting Channel Pressure, or Brightness for CC74 (Slide).
The Seaboard RISE and BLOCKS transmit MIDI over Bluetooth, and can be connected to mobile devices which can receive MIDI and produce sound! Take a look here for guides on the different methods of connecting the Seaboard.
There are many mobile music apps available, and they unlock the expressive potential of the the Seaboard RISE and BLOCKS to varying degrees. While the Seaboard uses standard MIDI messages to transmit its dimensions of touch, not all apps will be able to receive and respond to them, and others just need a little setting up. Our own app NOISE is designed specifically for BLOCKS.
Below are a handful of mobile apps which we recommend for using with the Seaboard or BLOCKS.
Our own free mobile app NOISE is custom-designed for BLOCKS and is available for iOS and Google Pixel. NOISE is a performance instrument that also features recording, looping, and export features, as well as an ever-growing library of available ROLI and artist soundpacks. In addition to a standalone app, it's also available as an AU plugin for use in mobile digital audio workstations like GarageBand for iOS.
Our own free mobile app, Seaboard 5Duses the Equator sound engine â which ships with every Seaboard â and has been designed from the ground up to be the perfect companion for the Seaboard's expressive dimensions of touch.
GeoShred is an expressive iOS app that pairs physical modeling synthesis with MPE compatibility, making it a great match for the Seaboard and Lightpad Block. Setting it up with the RISE and Lightpad Block is simple: see this article for details.
Apple GarageBand on iOS now supports MPE and allows for expressive control of the 5 dimensions of touch when using the Seaboard RISE or Lightpad Block as controllers. With a few simple steps, youâll be able to use the full expressive range of your RISE or Lightpad Block with GarageBand for iOS; see this article for details.
Cubasis is a great multi-timbral app and with a little setting up it can give the full range of expression offered by the Seaboard. You will need to create multiple tracks, each one responding to a single channel from the range you have selected in ROLI Dashboard (what channel range should I use?). To make the sound respond to each dimension of touch, just assign the Seaboard's MIDI messages to a parameter in the synth.
For example, Strike is transmitted as velocity, and Slide is transmitted as CC74.
Animoog is a great instrument compatible with MPE. so before using it with the Seaboard, set the Seaboard to Single Channel mode in ROLI Dashboard. Animoog also doesn't currently respond to Slide, but will give great response to Press (aftertouch) and Strike (velocity).
NanoStudio is another multi-timbral app which can be made to respond to each of the Seaboard's dimensions of touch with a little setting up. You will need to create multiple tracks, each one responding to a single channel from the range you have selected in ROLI Dashboard (what channel range should I use?). To make the sound respond to each dimension of touch, just assign the Seaboard's MIDI messages to a parameter in the synth.
For example, Strike is transmitted as velocity, and Slide is transmitted as CC74.
Many more compatible apps are available. Please see Compatible synths, DAWs and instruments for more suggestions.