Grammy-winning Producer Keith Harris Creates New Music with Revolutionary Instrument | ROLI Seaboard GRAND
ROLI, the acclaimed technology company and creator of the innovative Seaboard GRAND musical instrument, released a video that features Grammy-winning songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Keith Harris. Harris walks viewers through his HQ Studios in Los Angeles and discusses his creation process, including his use of the Seaboard GRAND. This ROLI Creators: “Where the Soul Lies” video can be viewed at ROLI’s website, which also features content from artists like Cory Henry and Bill Laurance of Snarky Puppy, Jimmy Tamborello of The Postal Service and Dntel, iconic film composer Hans Zimmer, Emika, Dream Theater virtuoso Jordan Rudess, and more.
Referring to the Seaboard GRAND, Harris said, “It makes workflow faster, it makes it easier, and it makes it more expressive…this really gives you a chance to feel what you’re playing.” The recent Nicki Minaj collaborator adds, “The human touch is always important in any electronic music because that’s where the soul lies. The beauty of this particular instrument is that it gives you even more ways to be expressive…to give your soul to the instrument, and to make the instrument speak for you and through you.”
The Seaboard GRAND, hailed as “a visionary electric piano” and “the piano of the future”, reimagines the piano keyboard as a soft, continuous, pressure-sensitive surface. The Seaboard’s patented SEA interface technology allows players to manipulate notes through subtle gestures of their fingers in real-time, marrying the intuitiveness of a traditional instrument with the versatility of digital technology. ROLI has brought together years of innovation in several disciplines to realize this concept, which has earned them accolades such as the SXSW Music Accelerator and the Design Museum’s Design of the Year, Product. Three Seaboard GRAND models (the Studio, Stage, and Limited First Edition) can be purchased at ROLI’s website, and the Seaboard GRAND Stage is also available at select retailers, including NYC’s MoMA Stores and music stores across the UK.
Keith Harris has produced and written many chart-topping and Grammy-winning songs, including “American Boy” by Estelle (featuring Kanye West), “Be Okay” by Chrisette Michele, as well as “Meet Me Halfway” and “Imma Be” by The Black Eyed Peas. He has also written or produced for Madonna, Michael Jackson, Mary J. Blige, Usher, Nicki Minaj, will.i.am and more, and played on a number of popular albums as an instrumentalist. He’s currently the musical director for Miguel and Meghan Trainor, as well as the touring drummer for The Black Eyed Peas and Fergie. Harris founded The Gobo Music Agency, an agency that represents a variety of musicians, arrangers, programmers and engineers for work in studio sessions, tours, television, special event performances and music videos.
About ROLI
ROLI is a design-led music technology startup based in Dalston, London. ROLI makes hardware and software products designed to increase the bandwidth of interaction between people and technology. To learn more about ROLI, visit www.roli.com.
