Hi Jon. Thanks for reaching out. These are all really great questions.
1. Yes. If you press play on your Orba loop while connected to a DAW, it will automatically send out the loop as MIDI data. For loops that contain multiple tracks, make sure you have “Channel-Per-Part” selected in the Orba app settings for "MIDI Mode"
2. At this point, the app for Orba doesn’t allow for exporting songs created on Orba. This is a feature that our development team is currently working on and hoping to include in a future update.
3. The short answer is yes. You’ll need a MIDI interface for this to work, or a DAW, but you can send MIDI into Orba from an external source (like a keyboard) and trigger the onboard synth.
4. While the Orba doesn’t allow for soloing and muting individual channels, we have just installed the ability to adjust volume per part on loops made on Orba. Here’s a video that demonstrates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPiBHrXGGY8
5. Yes, the Orba app can store multiple songs at one time. Here’s some further resources on building songs and saving songs.
That sounds like a really fun way to use Orba (it makes me want to do the same thing). Let me know if you have any other questions.
Jon K
I have not yet bought the Orba. I have some questions about exporting/recording songs to a DAW:
1. When I play back a song on the ORBA are the MIDI notes and controller data sent out of the midi port? In other words, can I connect to a desktop DAW, press play on Orba and record the MIDI data in the DAW?
2. Does the desktop app allow us to export a song to a standard MIDI file? I know the sounds won't be there but I can assign other sounds in a DAW.
3. Can the Orba be used as a sound source? Can I send MIDI note and controller to it and hear the results?
4. On playback, can the individual ORBA channels be soloed or muted?
5. Can the Orba store more than one loop/song at a time?
All of these questions are to do with my desire to have the ability to take myself off to somewhere remote (up a hill, on the coast, wherever) make some cool loops with the Orba then get the results into a desktop DAW for further use/processing/editing.