Artiphon ORBA User manual

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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."
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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.

C
H
O
R
D
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.

L
E
A
D
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
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.
Starting A Loop
•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.
Overdubbing

•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.
Try it:"
Start with a simple Kick + Snare on drum, then press A to start overdubbing. Add
in your hi-hats on the second pass, maybe toms on a third. Keep adding drum
beats till you notice that your head has been bobbing for a few minutes ;)
Playback/Pause
•To pause or resume playback, hold theA+Pad 5 - Play/
Pausebuttons together."
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Clearing a loop
•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"

Adjusting Tempo
•Orba’s default tempo is 120 beats-per-minute (BPM). There are
a few different ways to adjust the tempo of your song."
Adjusting Tempo by Tapping
1. Hold theAbutton
2. TapPad 7 (BPM)at the desired tempo
Adjusting Tempo by Sliding
•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"
Adjusting Tempo in the app

•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"

Transposing Orba
Changing Octaves
•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)"
Changing Keys
•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"
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Gestures
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.
Tap
Tap your finger on a pad. Orba is velocity-sensitive, so the harder you Tap, the
louder the sound.
MIDI Message:Note On/Off