After months of teasers, Tame Impala’s new instrument company, Telepathic Instruments, has officially announced Orchid, a digital synthesizer with an emphasis on chord generation.
Kevin Parker conceived Orchid over 10 years ago, according to the company, intending to create an instrument for songwriters to “find what’s on their mind”. The celebrated Aussie producer, multi-instrumentalist and Tame Impala mastermind co-founded Telepathic Instruments this year with a group of friends, and Orchid marks the brand’s debut product.
What is Orchid?
Orchid is a 12-key, 16-voice polyphonic synth with three separate synth engines and a chord logic system for quickly building chords and chord progressions. A collection of onboard effects include reverb, chorus and delay, plus four LFOs and envelope generators for modulation. There’s also a separate bass engine for low-end duties.
The synth was physically designed by one of Telepathic’s co-founders, Ignacio Germade, and also has a rechargeable battery and dual stereo built-in speakers for portable use.
Orchid’s chord generator comprises a matrix of eight chord-type selecting and chord-modifying keys. To play a chord, you play the root note on the keyboard and use the generator to trigger the chord, selecting its voicing and using a rotary encoder to re-pitch and reposition the chord. Check out the video below for a demonstration and a warning to not get too jazzy.
You can play Orchid in a handful of ways. Five performance modes are on offer, plus MIDI connectivity for hooking Orchid up to your DAW and other instruments. The performance modes are Strum, Slop, Arpeggiator, Pattern and Harp. The latter mode “mimics a harp being strummed to the sound of a given chord across a four-octave range,” says the brand.
Meanwhile, a built-in Loop Mode lets you capture ideas and build upon them with overdub in a set loop.
You can, of course, also play Orchid like a keyboard with its 12 velocity-sensitive keys. Telepathic Instruments stresses that the chord generation system effectively expands the keyboard to a full-size keyboard, not just the 12 keys on the unit.
When will Telepathic Instruments’ Orchid be released?
On 18 December 2024, Telepathic Instruments will make 1,000 units available to US customers. You’ll be able to order one at the Telepathic Instruments website.
This limited edition run gives the first 1,000 owners the option to join Telepathic’s online community, The Garden. Here, users can “shape and refine” Orchid before its wider release in 2025.
How much is Telepathic Instruments’ Orchid?
The first 1,000 Orchids will be priced at $549 USD.
What has Tame Impala said about Orchid?
We’ve not heard any official word about the instrument from Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, other than he and the team calling Orchid “an ideas machine”. The Telepathic Instruments brand was founded by Ignacio Germade, Chris Adams, Charl Laubscher, Tom Cosm and Kevin Parker.
Charl Laubscher has provided some insight:
“Orchid isn’t just about how much you know or don’t know — it’s about shaking up your creative process…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.”
Read more music technology news.
