Congratulations! You are one of the first to take Orba for a spin (quite literally). There are all kinds of things this new instrument does, and we’re excited for you to try them all. You might see how many tiny loops you can make as you ride the bus to work. Or perhaps you’ll use Orba as an gestural synth at your next gig – waving it through the air to control effects as the crowd goes wild. Or maybe you’ll use Orba to play a software synth in that track you’ve been working on in Logic Pro or Ableton Live.

However you plan to Orba, you probably have some questions. You may be wondering why we only put eight pads on Orba. Or maybe you’re wondering what all of those little flashing lights mean. Or maybe you just want to know how to turn up the volume.

You’re in the right place. Welcome to the official (and ever-evolving) Orba User Manual.

• Orba
• USB-C Cable
• Quickstart Guide

Orba can be charged from any power-charging USB port using the included USB-C cable. Either a wall charger for your phone or a computer will work perfectly. Orba remains fully functional while charging, so you can keep playing even while you’re juicing up.

When you connect Orba to a power source and turn it on, you’ll see a single green LED blinking on pad 8. This indicates that Orba’s battery is charging. If Orba is off you won’t see any lights, but rest assured it’s still charging.

Orba while on and charging

Low battery indicator

Tap the PWR button to check Orba’s battery level. You’ll see a series of green LEDs light up across Orba’s 8 Pads. When all 8 pads are lit, your battery is at full capacity. As the battery level decreases, the number of lit LEDs will decrease from 8 to 1. You’ll also see this display of green LEDs whenever Orba powers on.

If the battery level drops too low, a single, red LED will blink for 5 seconds before Orba automatically powers down. When you try to power up Orba on an empty battery the red LED will blink for 5 seconds before switching off again.

You can think of the A button as a function or menu button. Any time you want to change what you’re doing on Orba, you’ll use the A button to make it happen.

A single tap of the A button will cycle through each of the four main modes.

Press and hold the A button at the same time you press one of Orba’s eight pads to activate that mode.

DRUM mode has nine distinct drum sounds: one per pad, plus an additional one that is triggered by using the Bump gesture. You can also keep triggering the shaker sound by holding pad 8 and using the Shake gesture.

Drums are velocity-sensitive and will respond to different intensities of tapping, similar to how a traditional drum changes its tone and volume by hitting it harder or softer. The sounds also respond to how long your finger stays on each pad. Try holding your finger on a cymbal to cut it short, or tap and release quickly on a tom to hear a long decay.

Try it:

Drum velocity and timing allows for some very nuanced playing. For example, you can alternate between open and closed hi-hat sounds on the same pad simply by changing the way you touch it.

Orba’s Bass mode is monophonic, meaning only the most recent note is played at a given time (this is called “last-note priority” in synthspeak). By default, Bass is tuned to a C major diatonic scale.

Try it:

Bass is a great mode for trying different motion gestures, especially Tilt and Radiate.

In Chord mode, each of Orba’s pads triggers multiple notes simultaneously to form a chord in the key of the song. Chords are a fun way to casually explore song structures and create new ideas quickly. Like Bass, Chord responds really well to gestures like Tilt and Radiate.

Lead is a polyphonic mode (meaning you can play several different notes simultaneously). In Lead, the pads are tuned to a pentatonic scale. This is a fun scale with five notes per octave, making it easy to find a melody that goes along all that rhythm you just played.

Looping is a fun and intuitive way to create a lot of musical ideas very quickly. Orba’s built-in looper lets you record and layer all four modes together, and even overdub to add more notes as you get going.

• • • To start a loop

• • • • • Choose one of the four instrument modes.
        • Press A + Pad 6 (REC) together. When you release you’ll hear the metronome click—this indicates the tempo of the song and means you’re ready to play your first loop. Although the metronome has started, the loop won’t begin recording until you play your first note.

• Record a few notes, and then tap the A button when you’re ready to end your loop. The notes you just played will automatically start to play back from the beginning. Note: the song length will always be as long as the first loop you’ve recorded.

• • • While your first loop continues to play, you can begin to layer additional notes and loops on other modes. Orba will stay in overdub mode until you pause or stop playback by pressing A + Pad 5 (Play/Pause) to pause the song, or if you press A + Pad 6 (REC) to disarm recording while the song keeps playing. 

• • • To pause or resume playback, hold the A + Pad 5 - Play/Pause buttons together.

• • • To clear loops one at a time:

1. Pause playback (A + Pad 5 - Play/Pause)

2. Select the mode that you want to clear

3. Press and hold A + Pad - REC together for two seconds. Alternatively, you can hold A and Shake Orba to clear your current loop

• • • Note: You can also clear loops by pressing CLEAR in the Orba app.

• • • To clear your Song (all of your loops at once):

• • • Press and hold A + Pad 6 (REC) for 5 seconds. Alternatively, you can hold A + Pad 6 (REC) and Shake Orba to clear your song

• • • Orba’s default tempo is 120 beats-per-minute (BPM). There are a few different ways to adjust the tempo of your song.

1. Hold the A button

2. Tap Pad 7 (BPM) at the desired tempo

• • • You can also make smaller adjustments to your tempo by using the Slide gesture.

• • • Hold A + Pad 7 (BPM) together

    • Slide your finger up or down from the BPM pad

• • • To achieve a specific BPM, you can type the desired BPM in the Song window of the Orba App

• • • Open the Orba app

    • Select your Song

    • Select the pencil icon in the transport bar

    • Type in your desired BPM

    • Press save

• • • You can transpose octaves right on Orba itself. To shift octaves:

• • • Press and hold A + Pad 8 (OCT)

    • Slide your finger up from the Octave pad to raise the tuning

    • Press and hold A + Pad 8 (OCT)

• • • Orba’s default tuning is in the key of C major. However, Orba can play in any key. The key of your song is changed in the Orba App.

    • To change keys:

• • • Open the Orba app and select your Song

    • Select the Pencil icon in the transport bar

    • Select Key, and a dropdown menu will appear with different options

    • Select your key, and press Save

Orba’s touch and motion sensors combine to capture even your most subtle gestures. Pick it up and hold it, or just reach over and play a few notes while it’s sitting on your desk. Tap it with one hand or both, with your fingertips or thumbs, or shake and wave it through the air. You can slide around each pad, or go crazy with some vibrato. It’s all up to you! Below, you’ll find a bit more information on each gesture and how exactly it works.

The Orba App allows you to customize Orba, share songs, load presets and access songs. You can use the Orba app to update firmware, too, ensuring you’ve got the latest and greatest features enabled on your instrument.

A song is a collection of loops and presets that work well together. When you generate a series of loops you can save these in the Orba app together as a song.

A preset is a sound, tuning, and set of gestures that apply to one of Orba’s four instrument modes. Note: Presets are mode-specific. For example: a Drum preset could only be selected while in Drum mode. Changing a preset on Orba is done within the Orba app.

If you want to change your sound, you do this by selecting a new preset!

1. Navigate to the Presets folder

2. Select Load and voila!

In addition to being a standalone synthesizer, Orba also works as a MIDI controller. You can use Orba to trigger and affect sounds in any MIDI-enabled software or hardware.

There are two ways to connect Orba as MIDI controller:

• You can use Orba using MIDI over Bluetooth on Mac OS X, iOS, and Android.
• You connect via USB-C on Mac, iOS, and Windows.

For ease, we've provided instructions below on connecting to MAC OS X, Windows, iOS, and Android.

If you like, disable Orba’s internal synth to make sure you’re not hearing two different sound sources. To do that, open the Settings page in the Orba app and toggle Orba Sounds On/Off.

Simply connect the included USB-C to USB-A cable to your computer. Macs with USB-C inputs will require a USB-C to USB-C cable or an adapter.

1. Open Audio MIDI Setup on your Mac. This is found in the Utilities folder. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Command + Space. Type “Audio MIDI Setup” to find the program.

2. Open the Window drop-down in Audio MIDI Setup and select Show MIDI Studio, or use the keyboard shortcut Command+2.

3. Select the Configure Bluetooth icon from the header window

4. Select Orba from the list of available devices. If you don’t see Orba on the list, make sure you have it turned on and in range.

Windows is easy! Just connect the included USB-C-to-USB-A cable to your computer. Unfortunately, Windows does not currently support MIDI over Bluetooth.

Bluetooth

• In the Orba app, navigate to the Orba icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.

• Select Orba from the list of Bluetooth MIDI Devices

• Note: If you don’t see Orba as an option in this list, make sure the instrument is powered on and within range.

There are hundreds of MIDI-enabled iOS apps available. When pairing Orba with an iOS app, connecting over Bluetooth is done in the app itself. As an example, we’ll walk through the steps of connecting Orba with GarageBand for iOS.

1. In GarageBand for iOS tap the Settings button (Gear Icon) in the control bar. On iPhone 8, iPhone 7, or iPhone 6s, tap the Settings button and then tap Song Settings.

2. Tap Advanced, then tap Bluetooth MIDI Devices.

3. Tap the name of the device you want to connect, then toggle the Connect switch on.

4. Load a software instrument such as Keyboard or Guitar.

5. Start playing! It’s as simple as that!

• In the Orba app, navigate to the Orba icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.

• Select Orba from the list of Bluetooth MIDI Devices

• Note: If you don’t see Orba as an option in this list, make sure the instrument is powered on and within range.

Orba will work with any MIDI-enabled software. Unlike iOS, when connecting with Android devices, the connection is done through the Orba app.

1. In an open project, tap the umbrella icon in the upper right corner of the screen

2. Toggle the ‘Enable MIDI over Bluetooth’ switch on.

3. Tap the MIDI Device selection button and select Artiphon Orba from the list. If you don’t see Orba as an available device, make sure that Orba is on and not connected to any other device.

We are always adding features and improving the Orba experience. Keeping your firmware up-to-date is the best way to ensure you’re getting the best this unique instrument has to offer.

Note: Updating firmware can only be done through the Orba desktop app with a USB-C connection. These downloads are available here: Mac OS X | Windows

To update firmware, follow these steps:

1. Connect Orba to your computer using the included USB-C cable

2. In the Orba app, open the Settings panel by clicking the A icon in the upper-right corner of the screen.

3. In the settings panel, click the cloud icon next to the text Firmware Update. Note that this icon will be greyed out and unselectable if you are already running the most current version of the firmware.

4. Let the app take care of the rest!

When you use Orba as a MIDI controller to trigger sounds in external software or hardware, you may want to temporarily disable Orba’s internal synth to prevent it from interfering with the sounds in your external gear. Otherwise, you’ll hear two sounds every time you play (which could be awesome!). Do this by toggling the Orba Sounds On/Off setting.

Adjusts Orba’s Pitch Bend Scaling settings by ranges (0% - 25% - 50% - 100%). This affects the rate of change in pitch shifts when performing Vibrato.

Orba can be configured to send MIDI messages in 3 different ways: MPE, Single Channel, and Channel-Per-Part.

All notes are sent on MIDI channel 1. Only the MIDI notes for the currently active mode are sent. For example when drum mode is selected only the drum notes are sent out on MIDI.

Each instrument mode sends MIDI data out on a dedicated channel. Switching modes will switch the output channel accordingly.

MPE (MIDI Polyphonic Expression) is a method that allows players to control multiple parameters (pitch bend, aftertouch, and vibrato) independently per note. On a traditional MIDI keyboard, for example, the Pitch Bend wheel affects all notes at once. An MPE compatible controller will allow these notes to be affected independently from one another.            

All notes are sent as MPE MIDI with every note having its own channel so that per-note controllers can be used. In this mode, only the MIDI notes for the currently active mode are sent out on MIDI. For example, when Bass mode is selected only the MIDI out for Bass is sent.

Gestures are associated with specific MIDI assignments. Below are the default MIDI assignments. Note: These may vary depending on the preset you load.

Each pad and each Mode sends its own MIDI messages. Below are the default MIDI assignments.

Note: These may vary depending on the preset you load.