Telepathic Instruments is proud to announce the initial release of Orchid, an advanced chord generating hardware synthesizer developed for songwriters, producers and musicians to expand the possibilities of songwriting and musical exploration.
Originally conceived by Kevin Parker (Tame Impala) over 10 years ago, Orchid is the first product developed by Telepathic Instruments, a company co-founded by Parker and friends. The instrument works by employing a unique chord logic system, combined with a multitude of ways to shape and alter the chords to maximize creative musical expression. All this is brought into sonic existence by a lush and powerful 16-voice polyphonic synth engine with onboard ambience and modulation FX, plus a separate bass synth engine solely for bottom end.
Physically designed by product designer and Telepathic Instruments co-founder Ignacio Germade, the Orchid boasts a beautiful aesthetic form, with dual stereo built-in speakers, a single-octave fully velocity sensitive keyboard and rechargeable battery for complete portable usage.
At the heart of Orchid is its innovative chord generating system. The layout consists of a matrix of 8 chord-type selecting and chord modifying keys, together with a single-octave keyboard to choose the root note and trigger the chord. The chords are then voiced with the unit’s patent pending voicing system, using a rotary encoder to re-pitch and re-position chords. This process effectively expands the potential of the chords to an entire piano’s key set, not just the 12 keys found on the unit.
Orchid offers a range of methods to bring the chord to life that are referred to as Performance modes. These consist of Strum, Slop, Arpeggiator, Pattern and Harp, the latter of which mimics a harp being strummed to the sound of a given chord across a four-octave range. While other chord generators deliver a static and rigid outputting platform, Orchid paints a new landscape.
An instrument for which there is no equivalent currently on the market, other notable features of the Orchid include:
Polyphonic Synth Engine: Made up of 3 separate synth engines each designed by famed German synth developer Stefan Stenzel: a polyphonic virtual analogue subtractive synth, an FM synth and a vintage reed piano emulation based off a famous 60s electric piano with mechanical noise samples for added realism. The virtual analogue and FM synths each comprise 4 oscillators, 4 LFOs, 4 envelope generators and adjustable type filter.
Onboard Effects: Add depth with built-in effects like Reverb, Chorus and Delay.
Loop Mode: Capture ideas in real-time and build on them seamlessly.
MIDI Out: Connect to your DAW and get your performance out of the ideas machine and into the world.
Affectionately referred to by the Telepathic team as the “ideas machine”, Orchid offers valuable utility for songwriters, who are driven by exploration and experimentation; producers, who can benefit from the ability to quickly pivot to different genres, sounds and styles; and gear heads, who revel in the unconventional approaches enabled by this kind of cutting-edge technology.“
Orchid isn’t just about how much you know or don’t know—it’s about shaking up your creative process,” says co-founder Charl Laubscher. “It’s a tool for anyone who wants to step outside their musical comfort zone, to experiment and to find what’s on their mind.”
A limited edition of the first 1000 Orchids will be available to US customers to purchase on December 18th at telepathicinstruments.com. Prior to the instrument’s wider release next year, the first 1000 owners will have the chance to shape and refine it as part of The Garden—an online community in partnership with media and community platform Patreon. The first 1000 Orchids will be priced at $549 USD.
