I remember the first time I heard about ROLI and saw that squishy MPE Seaboard keyboard for the first time at NAMM almost a decade ago, it was mind-blowing. Multi Polyphonic Expression was in its infancy, and the music producer community was intrigued and at the same time intimidated, or at least I was.

The product demonstrations were stunning, but made you feel like a neophyte, even if you did play an instrument. The performers were taking it to another level, doing things no one had ever seen before on a MIDI keyboard. It was exciting, but niche. ROLI eventually expanded into more accessible versions of their products, like blocks, a smaller version of the Seaboard universe, and the innovative Lumi Keys, which was the first iteration of what is now the ROLI piano.

ROLI Piano & Airwave at NAMM 2025 – Taking home a Best of NAMM 2025 Award

So ROLI stepping up their game in the beginner–to–pro piano lane feels like a long time coming. And not in a boring way—more like, of course, this was coming, because no one else in the keyboard world is this committed to rethinking the instrument from the ground up. ROLI doesn’t play by the rules; they innovate for today’s players, and it’s serving them well.

ROLI released the ROLI Piano back in January 2025 at NAMM, and I went gaga for it and its futuristic sidekick, the ROLI Airwave, which had come out shortly before. I wasn’t expecting a combo like this, so seeing a combination that turns learning piano into a sort of immersive, inspiring experience was awesome. Think: a piano teacher meets an interactive heads-up display.

So I finally got my hands on a setup and took both for a conceptual spin—individually and together—and what follows is the full Magnetic breakdown from absolute beginners on day one to performing artists in their expressive prime.

I’m not a piano player; I’m a drummer, so I was excited about the possibility of using this kit to deepen my understanding of the piano and some theory, and to improve my playing so I could play at least at an intermediate level. So that’s where I’m coming from on skill level.

Here is a quick walk through video:

ROLI: A Brief (and necessary) Backstory

ROLI has been chasing the idea of total expression since its founding in 2009 by designer-pianist-philosopher Roland Lamb—one of the few people on Earth who can credibly quote both Cecil Taylor and Buckminster Fuller while showing you how pressure-sensitive silicone can reinvent musical performance.

Lamb’s ethos? “Everyone is musical. Music is in everyone and everything.” That’s not marketing copy—that’s doctrine. ROLI’s first major instrument, the Seaboard, changed the game with MPE (MIDI Polyphonic Expression), letting you bend, slide, press, morph, and essentially paint sound in three dimensions.

Now ROLI wants to “free the piano” with a system built around two core devices: ROLI Piano (your main keyboard) and ROLI Airwave (your spatial gesture partner). Add in the company’s ROLI Learn app, and you’ve got something that acts like a personal piano coach crossed with a modular performance rig.

ROLI Piano Review: A Learning & Performance Hybrid That Grows With You

Build Quality & Design

ROLI Piano looks clean and modern—svelte without being toy-ish, with a big dash of futuristic.

It’s built around:

49 full-sized semi-weighted keys with real plunge depth
BrightKey RGB illumination that guides your playing
Bluetooth 5.0 + USB-C for both wired and wireless use
Battery power is good for around six hours
MIDI out (3.5mm TRS) and pedal input
Weight around 3.5 kg / 7.7 lbs —light enough for a backpack, solid enough not to skate around the desk

This isn’t your typical plastic “learning keyboard” from the big box store. No cheap springy keybed here. No carnival of blinking LEDs. No built-in speakers that sound like a 2007 phone. The ROLI Piano is a professional-grade piece of kit—studio-worthy, road-friendly, classroom-ready.

Features & Specs:

49 Keys, Full-Size, Semi-Weighted
Enough for 90% of real-world piano playing, from learning classics to writing new material.
MPE-Ready Hardware
Each key can detect detailed expression—bend one note in a chord, press into a pad sound, add vibrato with touch.
BrightKey Illumination
Keys light up to show finger placement, scales, chords, and patterns during learning.
Integrated Software
ROLI Studio plugins, ROLI Dashboard, and deep integration with ROLI Learn, which handles guided lessons, structured courses, coaching, and progress tracking.
Wireless Mode
Bluetooth MIDI + battery operation = couch, park, airplane tray table. Your call.

ROLI PIano and Airwave — ROLI Piano and Airwave in Magnetic Magazine Studios

Using The ROLI Piano

If you’re learning piano from scratch, this is an instant confidence booster. When you open the ROLI Learn app, songs and lessons highlight the exact keys you need. As you improve, you shift from exercises to improvisation to independent play.

Note: You need to commit to these lessons and practice, and while this setup might help you learn faster, you still need to put in the work. Bottom line, don’t expect miracles.

Piano lessons can be a struggle for many of us. When you add the gameification layer, inspiring feedback, and the ability to “level up,” it starts to make practice a lot more fun.

For experienced musicians and producers, the MPE capability is a strong selling point, and it has just enough functionality to be useful, but not intimidating like a Seaboard. The ROLI Piano works seamlessly with your DAW, and suddenly you’re sliding chords, bending notes, and adding movement without using a mod wheel, which can sometimes be awkward and miss the mark.

Who It’s For: Everyone Really

Beginners – The ROLI Piano is one of the best modern learning keyboards available.

Intermediates – Great if you’re producing, writing, or performing with a portable rig, and it sits nicely in the studio as well.

Advanced Players – If you’re deep into MPE, electronic performance, or hybrid setups, consider an upgrade to the ROLI Seaboard.

Travelers, Nomads, Live Performers – Battery + Bluetooth + expression = a travel-friendly powerhouse.

ROLI Airwave Review: The Gesture-Control Future Gets an Upgrade

The idea of a Theremin-like control with your hands via MIDI is not new; devices like the Genki Instruments Wave Ring arrived a bit earlier, but ROLI has taken it to the next level.

If ROLI Piano is the grounded, practical half of the system, ROLI Airwave is the flamboyant sibling who took a left turn at Theremin Avenue.

Airwave stands behind your keyboard like an architectural design object—an aluminum frame with dual infrared cameras and enough tech to map the movements of 27 joints per hand at 90 fps.

Build Quality & Ports

Rigid aluminum central frame
Integrated tablet/phone holder
Dual IR cameras
USB-C (data) + USB-C (power)
3.5mm pedal input
Headphone out for direct monitoring
Fits neatly behind most 49-key boards… though it may photobomb your monitor if you’re tight on desk space.

Features & Specs

Airwave recognizes gestures like:

Raise (volume or brightness control feel)
Tilt (filter sweeps?)
Glide / Slide (MPE-style motion)
Flex / Grasp (grab & morph sounds)

And you map each of these to any MIDI CC or MPE parameter. Think: wah-wah by hand wave, pad swells via air motion, EDM risers controlled by palm arcs. These gestures give you a live performance tool like no other, and now, instead of making stupid fist pumps, you can actually do something meaningful with your hands.

The software toolbox includes:

Airwave Player with 100+ presets
Deep integration with ROLI Learn for hand-position feedback
Compatibility with Equator, ROLI Studio, and most DAWs

Airwave as Educator – How It Works for Learning

This is where Airwave becomes more than a futuristic toy.

ROLI Learn can show your actual hand posture in real time, tracking:

Finger curvature
Wrist height
Hand shaping over the keyboard
Position drifting
Playing angles

And this matters. Ask any pianist: bad habits are formed in months and can take years to undo. Airwave essentially gives you a digital teacher who never gets tired or passive-aggressive. Having a watchful eye that spots bad technique and corrects it will save you hours of frustration down the line.

How It Works for Musicians in the studio and performing Performers

Performance is where Airwave takes your live game to a new level.

You can play chords with your left hand while your lifting your right hand to open a filter. Imagine tilting your palm to bring in reverb or flexing fingers to morph into a new patch. For electronic music artists, experimental musicians—this is your opportunity to take it to the next level, your inner conductor will thank you.

The ROLI Piano + Airwave Hybrid Learning-Performance System

The best analogy I can come up with here is peanut butter and chocolate, alone they are nice, together, oh baby. Sorry for ripping you off, Reeses. Each device is truly innovative in its own right; together, they become a system—for anyone who wants to make music, something ROLI is explicitly pushing.

A typical journey with the ROLI system might look like this:

Start with the ROLI Piano – Keys light up. Lessons guide your progression. You learn notes, patterns, and coordination. For many, this will work fine on its own, no Airwave needed. So if you are short on cash, you can always add the Airwave later, and it’s something I highly recommend adding when you can.

Add Airwave for Technique Coaching – So, on top of what you get with just the lit-up keys, you know, you have real-time hand position monitoring, which is a significant step up. Once Airwave is engaged, the system shows your hand position, posture, mistakes, and suggests fixes. It’s like a human teacher without the awkward small talk about cats (sorry for the stereotype, piano teachers, but my guess is you have a cat).

Grow Into Expression

As you start to advance:

BrightKey illumination fades out
Hand-tracking shifts from “correct your posture” to “use gestures creatively.”
MPE controls on the keyboard begin to matter more

You’re essentially upgrading yourself—from a learner into a creator—without buying new gear.

Performance Mode

Now both devices work as a stage-ready combo:

Keyboard handles your notes
Airwave handles your gestures
The tablet holder on Airwave becomes your lyric sheet / sound map
DAW or synth plugins become extensions of your movement

It’s expressive, theatrical, and extremely modern.

Pricing & Considerations

ROLI Piano: Launch pricing around $399 (Keep an eye out for sales during promotional periods for Piano, Airwave, and Bundles)
Airwave: Around $349
ROLI Learn Subscription: Additional, monthly or yearly – I paid the $150 for a year, as that’s the best deal.
Bundles available on ROLI’s site at discounted rates

Not cheap, but considering what you’d spend on:

Beginner keyboard
Then a better keyboard, then an expressive controller
Then, lessons or subscription apps

This solution starts making financial sense very quickly, and the only upgrade after that, again, would be the ROLI Seaboard in my opinion.

Check out Pricing and Bundles at ROLI.com

Who Should Actually Buy This?

There is such a broad audience for this product that anyone interested in learning piano all the way to experienced musicians/producers looking to expand their live performance and add some MPE functionality to the mix. So if piano is a regular part of your kit, the ROLI Piano offers a lot of functionality and can grow with you. The Airwave is useful for both ROLI Piano users for learning and performing, and for artists looking to add a more interactive feel to their performance or a different control in the studio for recording sessions.

Summary: The Magnetic Editor’s Choice Award

ROLI didn’t just release a keyboard. They released a system—a bridge between the first time you hit Middle C and the moment you walk onstage to perform your own material. It is, dare I say, revolutionary, offering a clear path to learning piano while evolving your performance technique and style at the same time. There is nothing like it, and the system’s ability to grow with you as you evolve is the cherry on top, no upgrade needed unless you want to get into serious MPE techniques, which would require a Seaboard.

The ROLI Piano gives you the feel, the fundamentals, the creative control. It’s a MIDI keyboard with layers, enough MPE functionality to work with, and the ability to serve you well for years.

The ROLI Airwave gives you posture coaching, spatial expression, and a visual performance language no other brand offers. Together, they form one of the most thoughtful learning-to-performance pathways we’ve seen in years. If you want a setup that grows with you—shaping you from student to artist—this is it—a future-proof, expressive, beautifully designed, and genuinely inspiring ecosystem.

And yes… You will look extremely (well, no guarantees here) cool, waving your hand in the air to open a filter. I won’t pretend that’s not part of the appeal; use it wisely, otherwise, you could become a meme.

The post ROLI Piano and ROLI Airwave: The Future of Learning Meets the Future of Performance – Editor’s Choice Award appeared first on Magnetic Magazine.