When it comes to entrepreneurs pioneering new technology in the UK, Roland Lamb came from interesting beginnings. The music tech pioneer moved to Japan after high school to study Zen Buddhism, before securing a degree from Harvard University in Classical Chinese and Sanskrit Philosophy.
Lamb’s business idea came to him as he sat at a piano at London’s Royal College of Art. His first instrument, Seaboard, was conceived as a pliable silicon surface, based on the piano keyboard. The revolutionary product introduced new methods which allowed musicians to effectively play ‘in between’ standard piano keys: bending pitch, deepening tones and the manipulation of sound was now achievable through movement and touch.
Far from a gimmick in the music industry, the Seaboard was adopted by household names such as Stevie Wonder, KT Tunstall and Hans Zimmer. The young entrepreneur’s first product proved immensely successful within his rapidly expanding company, ROLI. Since then, Lamb’s ventures have been immensely well-received, with modular music system BLOCKS being sold in Apple Stores across the globe.
For music producers and amateurs alike, Lamb’s products have been a welcome addition to both the bedroom and the studio: the NOISE app and Equator software synthesizer became popular within weeks of launching. However, it doesn’t stop there for the travelling Buddhist turned music tech prodigy: Roland Lamb also owns the coding framework JUCE, as well as FXpansion and the social music-sharing platform, Blend.