London, UK, June 18, 2019 — The London-based music tech company ROLI now launches their newest innovative instrument as a crowdfunding project on Kickstarter. The new device is called LUMI and is said to allow people who buy it to learn to play music in a smarter way.
ROLI is known for its modular product design and while they might be a relatively young competitor in the professional audio industry, being founded in 2009, their flagship product called Seaboard has gotten a lot of attention from consumers, music production enthusiasts, as well as professional producers.
So how is LUMI exactly a smarter way to learn to play music?
The LUMI has a claviature that lights up in various colors. The keyboard reacts to you as you play it, or it lights you the right notes to play, as musicians are still learning to play a composition.
Using an app counterpart on another device allows you to see the notes coming before you need to press them just like we used to play in rhythm games such as Guitar Hero. Over time you will naturally understand where on the keyboard you can find what notes and through play, you will learn, over time.
Now is that an expensive toy or can it be used by the professionals?
Of course, this new ROLI product supports the modular product strategy (ROLI BLOCKS) as well but it’s especially good to know that you can even connect several LUMI units with magnetic edge connectors to build a keyboard with more octaves to play on. The modules become one if you need to compose more complex tracks but it can remain compact and portable if you’re dabbling away on the go.
The LUMI also acts as a MIDI controller so you could use it just like any other MIDI keyboard to trigger notes in your favorite music production software or studio environment. It works with leading DAWs and plugins such as Logic Pro X, Ableton, Cubase, Bitwig Studio, FL Studio, Tracktion, Reaper, and others. The LUMI battery gives you about six hours of operating time, so you should have enough time to work while you’re not hugging any wall sockets.
What’s the leadership’s take on this new product?
Roland Lamb, founder, and CEO of ROLI, states in an official press release, “Many people would love to play an instrument but worry that they don’t have the talent. Through our research, design, and innovation at ROLI, we’ve come to believe that the problem is not a lack of talent. Rather, instruments themselves are not smart enough. What excites me most is that the intelligence of LUMI means that there’s something in it for everyone. On one hand, my own kids now prefer LUMI time to movie time. On the other hand, several of the world’s leading keyboard players can’t wait to use LUMI in the studio and on the stage.”
Quick info about “backing” on Kickstarter
Kickstarter is mostly not a purchasing platform. Its purpose is to support product development by “backing” it with your money. This process is called crowdfunding. While mostly everything works out fine and people get the products they backed at some point, more or less according to schedule, it could also happen that the product is discontinued for some reason or the project owners just disappear. While this is rare and not likely the case, I need to also emphasize this particular aspect when “backing” something on Kickstarter as a potential risk. You don’t “buy” the product like you would in a store.
Let’s talk numbers
So when can you expect to get your new LUMI and how much will it cost you? ROLI stated that the currently planned delivery date for this product is in October 2019. The planned MSRP cost of the device is $249 but you can get it for as low as $164 with the early bird discount on Kickstarter as a backer for the solo option that comes with only the app and one LUMI module. You can get generic MIDI keyboards of that size for as low as $85, on one hand, but it’s neither as cool nor as helpful for learners as the LUMI would be, on the other hand. I don’t think that the LUMI solution is any more expensive than it should be.
If you are interested in learning more about ROLI and their products, check back in later. We are also currently preparing an article about other solutions they are building.
YouTube: LUMI Keys – The worlds most advanced portable keyboard
YouTube: Creating LUMI – The keyboard and app that lets anyone play music in minutes
Photo credit: All materials are owned by ROLI and have been provided for press usage.
Source: ROLI press release / LUMI product website
