ROLI Piano M: Road Test
It’s just the thing if you want to get your Elton John on: a portable keyboard aimed at beginner players.
WHAT IS IT? Just the thing if you want to get your Elton John on: it’s a portable keyboard aimed at beginner players, and it has a few cool party tricks.
SUCH AS? Pair it with the ROLI Learn app and the keys light up with bright colours in sync with the notes appearing on your phone or tablet, to cue you. You can choose the musical notation to appear as video-game-like blobs coming towards you on the screen.
THE KEYBOARD SPANS ONLY TWO OCTAVES. ISN’T THAT LIMITING? A little – but if you buy a second ROLI M you can attach them (they snap together magnetically) for a four-octave range.
ANYTHING ELSE? Yes, you need to buy a subscription (full price $US120 a year!) to access the app’s video lessons, exercises and a library of 1000-plus popular songs to play along to.
VERDICT: ROLI calls this thing a “pocket piano teacher”, which is a bit optimistic seeing as it’s 28cm long and 14cm wide. You could definitely get it in a pocket if you’re wearing clown trousers, though.
$US199, roli.com
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