Using the Lightpad Block M with Equator, it soon becomes clear how much an improvement it is over its much-maligned predecessor. Equally as fun is a jazzy Fender Rhodes style electric piano preset that let you subtlety add a tremolo effect when sliding notes sideways.Īs with much of the software bundle, Equator Player is a scaled back edition, with the full version, which offers the ability to edit presets along with the addition of a further 300 sounds, available for upgraded for a discounted £75 for owners of the Beatmaker Kit. Among the many highlights within its patches is an overdriven guitar sound that really shows off the string-like note bending and vibrato capabilities of the Lightpad Block, likely to bring out the Eddie Van Halen in even the most amateur of musicians. The clear jewel in the bundle, it’s a really impressive software synth with a wide palette of 200 sounds. It can also be used to adjust the sensitivity of the Lightpad Block M, as well as make changes to scale and octave parameters when in instrument mode, letting you set up the pad as a grid-based keyboard that can be set to certain key so you won't hit a duff note during performances.Įquator Player, meanwhile, is a software synth that works standalone or with a sequencer that’s been designed from the ground up by ROLI to demonstrate the '5D' capabilities of their Seaboard keyboards and the Lightpad Block M. The two key apps included in the package, however, are ROLI Dashboard and Equator Player.Īs well as acting as a means for updating the Blocks firmware, Dashboard allows you to configure Blocks to work as a midi controller with third party software instruments and DAWs, with presets for programs like Garageband, Logic and Ableton Live. The desktop software bundle for both Mac and Windows includes a 'lite' version of the ubiquitous music sequencer Ableton Live customised to work with the Lightpad Block and similarly lightweight versions of software synths Strobe2 and Cypher2. After going through an online registration, we were directed to a suite of programs to download, along with a playlist of well thought out YouTube tutorials demonstrating how to use the hardware. We put the kit through its paces in desktop mode first of all, pairing the two included Blocks with our Apple iMac. Have you subscribed to Kotaku Australia's email newsletter? You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. But if you’re thinking about going down this particular hole, Melodics seems like a really interesting way to help speed up the learning process. I’m not much of a producer myself, and I’ll never drop the money on a launchpad or similar software. There’s 79 lessons so far, teaching you the basics of UKG Shuffle, house, rocking drums and all manner of beats that you might want to drop in a track. It’s not really about the score though, but more learning various types of music. Like Guitar Hero, Melodics gives you a score for how well you time each beat. The pricing model is subscription based: you pay US$10 a month and for that you’ll get new lessons every month from DJs and producers showing you various parts of the software, finger drumming and, ultimately, how to advanced beats that you can string together to produce your own tracks. It’s free to download and the first 20 tutorials are free. The introduction video outlines it all below and you can see the part where the gamifying (I’m sorry for that word) comes in. Melodics does that, and then it makes them fun by turning them into a Guitar Hero-esque rhythm game. The muscle memory and dexterity takes time to gain, and the software is another thing altogether. While the lightshows a launchpad (or Ableton Push) can create are dazzling, it can also be supremely difficult to get your head around. It seems simple, but it’s actually complicated as all hell. Ever seen those cool videos of people on YouTube producing music by tapping a board with a bunch of rubber pads. It’s called Melodics, and it’s a tool designed to help people learn the basics of finger drumming (also called cue point drumming or pad drumming). If you’re intrigued by the potential but scared by the software and the customisations, or just want some rhythm on your PC or Mac to fill the void that Activision’s Guitar Hero ports left, this program has a cool trick that might work for you. Melodics Turns Finger Drumming On A Launchpad Into A Game
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