Artiphon ORBA User manual

!

Welcome!
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.

Product Overview
What's In The Box?
◦Orba
◦USB-C Cable
◦Quickstart Guide
◦
Input/Output Panel
Volume
Increase and decrease the volume of Orba's speaker
Power/Bluetooth
Pairing
Press and hold to turn Orba on and off
USB-C Port
Charge Orba's built-in battery and connect your external
hardware devices
Headphone Output
1/8" audio output for headphones or speakers
Speaker
Rock and roll

Function Cheat Sheet
MODES
LOOP
1. DRUM
5. Play / Pause
2. BASS
6. REC - Record your loop
3. CHORD
7. BPM - Adjust tempo
4. LEAD
8. OCT - Change octave
FUNCTION
COMBINATION
Record
A + Pad 6 (Rec)
End a loop
A
Stop recording
A + Pad 6 (Rec)
Pause playback
A + Pad 5 (Play/Pause)

Pause
A + Pad 5 (Play/Pause)
Clear the loop on the current mode
A + shake
Clear everything
A + Pad 6 (Rec), hold for three seconds
Change BPM
A + tap desired tempo on Pad 7 (BPM)
Octave up
A + Pad 8 (Octave) and slide clockwise
Octave down
A + Pad 8 (Octave) and slide counter-clockwise
Next mode
A
Switch to Drum
A + Drum
Switch to Bass
A + Bass
Switch to Chord
A + Chord
Switch to Lead
A + Lead
Hard reset
Hold power + volume down for five second

Power
Charging Orba
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.
Charging indicators
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.
Checking battery levels
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."

Low Battery
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 offagain.
The A Button
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.
Try it:"
Start in Drum mode and press theAbutton once. Now you’re in Bass mode!

Using the A Button to Switch Modes
Press and hold theAbutton at the same time you press one of Orba’s eight pads
to activate that mode.
Try it:"
If you don’t want to cycle between modes, you can jump to any playing mode
directly by holding A and pressing the pad for that mode.

D
R
U
M
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

B
A
S
S
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.