Here is a good example of what the Roli Seaboard with SWAM violin can do (I wish it was me playing …):


Here is a video of Jordan Rudess trying out the Linnstrument:


I think both videos illustrate the key concept: allowing gestures in all dimensions (up/down for different timbres, left/right for vibrato or bends/glissandos, attack, pressure and release for volume and grit). The gestures feels very natural, just like on a real instrument.

The Roli seaboard looks and plays similar to a regular keyboard, whereas the Linnstrument is a grid of ”strings”, tuned in 4:ths by defalt (just like a guitar). Hence the grid is fully ”isomorphic”, and intervals and chords thereby becomes ”geometrical shapes” that can be moved freely (e.g. a dominant 7 flat 9 has the same shape regardless of key or octave). That’s why I enjoy the Linnstrument the most. It makes me think of intervals and harmony in new ways, which is really refreshing (I’m 57 years old, and suddenly discover that what I learned about harmony during my piano studies in early years was not the whole story). But that, of course, has nothing to do with MPE.

To summarize, I didn’t mean to suggest that MPE wouldn’t bring value using a more traditional controller. But to me, it really became alive when I started using more expressive controllers.

The downside (as usual …) is the rather high price for these controllers (even though to me, they have been worth ever penny). A cheap way of trying out the capabilities is given by Geoshred, an IOS app with the same layout as the Linnstrument (developed by that same Jordan Rudess).

Good luck, I hope you’ll find musical joy in MPE as I have!

Cheers
/Björn