Welcome to the official Orba by Artiphon User Manual! This guide is designed for anyone with any Orba model. 

Feel free to start from the beginning, or jump to the section you need:

Orba Basics

Hardware Controls

Charging Orba

Orba can be charged from any power-supplying USB port using the included USB-C cable. Orba remains fully functional while charging, so you can keep playing, even while you're juicing up.

When you connect Orba to a power source and turn it on, you'll see a green LED lit up on Pad 8. This indicates that Orba's battery is charging. Unless turned on, Orba won't give any indication that it is charging.

You can check your Orba's charge amount at any time by quickly pressing the power button. Green LEDs will indicate how much battery power your Orba has left.

Terms to Know

Here, we'll cover some of the nomenclature we use in Orba-land! Terms defined in this section are used throughout this guide.

The [A] Button

You can think of the [A] button as a function or menu button, like the modifier keys on a computer keyboard (option, command, control, etc). Any time you want to change what you're doing on Orba, you'll use the [A] button to make it happen.

Each of Orba's pads has a secondary function, which can be accessed when the [A] button is held and that pad is pressed.

A single tap of the [A] button will cycle between Orba's four Parts. For example, if Drum is active, simply tapping the [A] button once will put you into Bass!

Want to jump to a specific Part without cycling through the Parts? Just hold the [A] button and tap the pad that corresponds to that Part.

Function Chart

Parts (Drum, Bass, Chord, Lead)

Drum

Orba's Drum part features one percussive hit per pad, plus an additional hit that can be triggered with the Bump gesture. Orba also features a shaker, which can be accessed by holding Pad 8 and well... shaking... See Gestures.

All drum kits feature extra sounds accessible through octave switching. The number of extra hits varies from kit to kit.

Many of Orba's drum sounds behave just like real drums; a quick tap lets cymbals or snares ring out, while a held tap chokes the sound!

Bass

Orba's Bass part is monophonic. This means only one note will play back at a time, with the most recently played note taking priority.

Out of the box, Bass is tuned to a C Major Diatonic scale.

Chord

The Chord part plays four notes with the tap of a single Pad. 

By default, Orba's Chords are built upon the scale degrees of the Major Diatonic scale, forming triads with an octave-doubled root.

If that previous sentence sounded overwhelming to you, don't worry!!! What's amazing about Orba's Chord Part is that it lets you play beautiful chord progressions regardless of how much musical training you have (or don't)!

Lead

Lead is polyphonic, with up to four notes able to be played simultaneously.

Out of the box, Lead is tuned to the C Major Pentatonic scale.

As opposed to the Diatonic scale, the Pentatonic scale features only 5 of the 8 scale degrees, omitting the most dissonant intervals. This makes Lead great for crafting melodies that work well atop any chords you may have looped!

Looping

Orba's built-in looper lets you record and layer all four Parts together to create loops up to 128 bars long. You can even overdub to add more notes to a Part that already has loop data.

Step 1: Hold [A] and tap Pad 6 to enter recording mode. 

You can start a loop from any of the four Parts. You'll know your in recording mode because you'll hear the metronome, but Orba won't begin recording a loop until you play a note.

Step 2: Play something cool!

Step 3: Press [A] to close the loop.

The first press of the [A] button when in recording mode "closes" the loop, and you'll hear your performance played back.

Don't stress about timing! Orba's looper is smart, so even if you press [A] ahead or behind the downbeat, Orba will still create a perfectly in-time loop.

Closing a loop does not exit recording mode, so you can immediately begin layering atop your initial performance.

Step 4: Hold [A] and tap Pad 6 to exit recording mode. 

Once you're satisfied with all your layers, exit recording mode the same way you entered, with [A] and Pad 6. Your loop will continue to play back, but the metronome will stop.

You can play or pause your completed loop as you like by holding [A] and tapping Pad 5. You can also re-enter recording mode to add even more to your song!

Love your loop? You can save it using the Artiphon Connect App to share or load again later. See Saving Your Song.

Clearing Loops

Make a mistake or want to start over? You can clear your loop by holding [A] and Pad 6 for a few seconds. While holding, you'll see orange lights progress around the pads, followed by red lights doing the same.

To clear only the current Part's loop, let the orange lights complete their progression, and release [A] and Pad 6 before the red lights complete theirs. 

To clear everything, hold [A] and Pad 6 until the red lights have completed their progression.

You can also clear all loop data by holding [A] and Pad 6 and shaking Orba!!

Gestures

Orba's touch and motion sensors work together to capture even the most subtle movements. Gestures refers to different ways you can interact with Orba to create and manipulate sound through movement.

All onboard sounds generally only audibly respond to Tap, Radiate, and Tilt, but Orba always sends MIDI CCs for all gestures. See MIDI Implementation.

You Tap whenever you touch a pad!

Orba is velocity sensitive, so how hard you Tap will change the sound, usually making it louder or softer.

MIDI Message: Note On/Off

To Radiate is to move your finger on one pad from Orba's center to its edge.

Oftentimes Radiate will add volume and brightness.

MIDI Message: Brightness (CC#74)

Tilt activates anytime Orba is not sitting perfectly upright.

Tilt can add all kinds of crazy effects! You never know what you'll get. 

The further you Tilt, the more your sound will change.

MIDI Message: Mod Wheel (CC#1)

You can add Vibrato to many of Orba's sounds by moving your finger from side-to-side on a pad.

Vibrato is most commonly found in Lead sounds.
The range of pitch can be adjusted with the Pitch Bend Scaling setting in the app.

MIDI Message: Pitch Bend

Press is manipulated by making your finger take up more (or less) surface area on a pad.

Press is measured once your finger is already being held on a pad.

For those familiar with MIDI keyboards, Press is Orba-land's aftertouch!

MIDI Message: Channel Pressure

The Shaker can be accessed in Drum by holding Pad 8 and Shaking Orba.

The shaker works best when using soft movements in a side-to-side motion.

MIDI Message: Note 69 and CC#2

All Drum kits have a Bump sound, which can be accessed by giving Orba a firm Tap on its side.

Bump only works in Drum mode.

MIDI Message: Note 39

Move Orba through space to access... you guessed it... the Move gesture!

Move rarely affects Orba's onboard sounds, but it's super fun to explore when MIDI mapping.

MIDI Message: CC#113

Rotate Orba like a knob to unlock Spin.

Like Move, Spin will not often affect Orba's built-in sounds, but is always being sent out as a MIDI message.

MIDI Message: CC#112

MIDI Implementation

Orba can send and receive MIDI data via USB or Bluetooth. 

Drum Note Mapping

Orba's Drum presets send and receive MIDI data based on the General MIDI Percussion Key Map.

MIDI Modes

Orba can be configured to send MIDI messages in three different ways. You can switch MIDI modes from Settings in the Artiphon Connect App. See Hardware Settings.

MPE stands for MIDI Polyphonic Expression, a MIDI protocol that allows MIDI Continuous Controllers (CCs) to be sent on a per-note basis by assigning each note to its own MIDI channel. 

On a traditional MIDI keyboard, for example, the Pitch Bend wheel affects all notes at once. However, when set to MPE mode, Orba's Vibrato gesture sends Pitch Bend independently for each note. 

The best way to experience MPE on Orba is to play two notes in Lead with opposite Radiate positions and observe how each note has its own timbre.

Single Channel MIDI mode sends all MIDI messages on MIDI Channel 1.

Channel Per Part mode sends Drum, Bass, Chord, and Lead on their own, individual MIDI channels. That means pressing the [A] button to switch modes will effectively switch the MIDI channel that messages are being sent on.

Per Part mode opens up a ton of fun possibilities, such as controlling multiple software (or hardware!) instruments with just one Orba!

MIDI Messages

Orba's playing gestures send unique MIDI messages.

The Artiphon Connect App

The Artiphon Connect App provides access to 300+ sounds, lets you customize Orba's key, tempo, and scales, share your creations, and much more!

Looking for the Artiphon Connect App? Visit Artiphon.com/downloads.

*Orba 1 is not compatible with Artiphon Connect (Orba 1 users, download The Orba App).

Connecting

To connect via USB, simply plug Orba into your computer with the included USB-C cable. If you've just installed Artiphon Connect for the first time, this should be all you need to do!

If you see the CONNECT YOUR INSTRUMENT button in the top-right corner, click it to open up Settings.

The Connect panel in Settings lets you select the connection method. 

Selecting Bluetooth will open a Bluetooth configuration window, from where you can connect your Orba!

Updating Firmware

As your instrument makes its way to you, our team continues to work to make it better!!

Though updating firmware can seem like a chore that keeps you from playing, it actually eliminates playing disruptions like bugs and crashes, and of course, gives you access to the latest and greatest new features.

Okay, okay, we get it... updating firmware is important... But how do we actually do it??

Firmware updates require a cabled connection. When Orba is connected to Artiphon Connect via USB, the app will show a pop-up when there is an available firmware update.

Firmware can be manually updated to the latest version at any time by holding shift and clicking the firmware version number in Settings.

App Overview

PLAY Tab

Artiphon Connect opens to the PLAY tab.

With Orba connected, you'll see the title of the currently loaded sound and its associated artwork, as well as controls that let you record and control playback from within the app.

It may look simple at a glance, but the PLAY tab actually holds tons of controls that you can adjust such as tuning, tempo, quantization, and more. See Part Settings and Song Options.

When you switch Parts with the [A] button, you'll see Artiphon Connect follow along. You can also switch parts from the app itself by clicking the icon that corresponds to that Part.

The PLAY tab features a visualizer that responds to Orba's notes and gestures. Play some notes while connected to see for yourself!

SOUNDS Tab

The SOUNDS tab lets you load sounds into the active Part.

For example, when in Lead mode, all available Lead sounds are displayed, and they can be loaded onto Orba without affecting the sounds currently loaded into Drum, Bass, and Chord.

We are constantly releasing new sounds!!!

Sometimes, a GET NEW SOUNDS button will be present at the top of the SOUNDS tab (shown in the image above). This means there are sounds that have been released that aren't in your app. Click to... well... get new sounds!

LIBRARY Tab

The Library is where both Sound Packs and Songs can be loaded. 

As covered in Terms to Know, Sound Packs are groups of sounds that work well together. When you load a Sound Pack, fresh sounds are loaded into each Part, and Orba is switched to a curated key and tempo. Sound Packs have no loop data, so you can start with a clean slate to create a new song!

Songs, on the other hand, do include loop data. The moment you've recorded a Loop on Orba, you've created a song, which you can save to your Library from the PLAY tab. See Song Options.

On the top left of the Library tab, there is are buttons to create a New Song and Import. 

New Song will make Orba a clean slate, discarding any unsaved loop data and re-setting Orba to its default sounds, part settings, key, and tempo.

Import can be used to Import Artibundles, which allow you to import Songs from other devices and can be exported from the PLAY tab. See Song Options.

Each Sound Pack includes a series of icons to its right. These icons provide information about the type and status of a given Pack. 

A Stem Pack is a type of Sound Pack where each Part is made up of looping portions of audio. Stem Packs provide a super unique way to "remix" existing songs on an instrument-by-instrument basis. 

Stem Packs cannot be used with Sounds, because Stem Packs are key and tempo locked.

Part Settings

Drum, Bass, Chord, and Lead each have their own Part Settings, which can be accessed by clicking the icon to the right of the Record button on the PLAY tab.

Part Settings are settings that apply to each part independently of the others. For example, if you adjust a Part Setting for Drum, the equivalent Settings for Bass, Chord, and Lead, will not change.

Volume and Effects

The Part Settings menu gives you the options to adjust the volume of each part from the app, as well as change the amount of reverb and delay on each part.

Quantization Behavior

By default, notes recorded into a loop on Orba are Quantized.

Orba's quantization automatically aligns your played notes to a 16th note grid. This ensures your notes are played back perfectly in time, even if your playing was slightly out of time.

Snap to Grid is the default behavior, but each part also has the option to turn quantization off completely, or to select Groove, which snaps notes as swung 16ths.

Select Your Scale

Orba's melodic modes (Bass, Chord, Lead), can each be set to one of three scales: Pentatonic, Diatonic, and Chromatic.

Each scale begins on the root note of Orba's currently set Key. See Tempo and Key.

Song Options

Tempo and Key

On the top left of the PLAY tab, there is a caret icon. Clicking this will reveal the Song Options menu.

This is where you can set Orba's tempo and key, and where you can save your active Song to your Library.

Clicking Tempo will bring up the Edit Tempo window, where you can... you guessed it... set Orba's tempo in BPM (beats per minute).

Clicking the metronome icon in the top right of the Tempo window will toggle the metronome on or off.

Clicking Key will bring up the Edit Key window, where you can set Orba to any major or minor key.

While Key is a global setting, Parts can have unique scales based on that key. See Select Your Scale.

Saving Your Song

Create something you like? You can save it to your Library as a Song from the Song Options menu. 

Saving your creation as a Song gives you the ability to load it again later to show your friends or keep working on it. Once you've saved your song, you can also use Artiphon Connect's Share functionality.

To save your song, open the Song Options menu using the little caret icon on the top left of the PLAY tab. From here, press Save.

You'll be prompted to give your song a name!

Once you give your song a name, you'll be able to find it in the Songs section of the Library tab.

You can even edit the details of your song from the Song Options menu, or by clicking on the three dots to the right of your song in the Library tab.

Editing these details will affect how the song shows up before it's loaded from the Library.

Sharing Your Song

Once you've saved a song, you have the ability to share it as an audio file, MIDI file, or "Session."

You can share a song from the Song Options menu using the Share button to the left of the Save button.

If you've saved your song, and the Share button is greyed out (shown in image below), this means you need to manually transfer your song from your Orba to Artiphon Connect.

To do this, navigate to the Library tab and click on Songs to view your saved Songs.

From here, click the three dots to the far right of your song's title. You'll see a menu pop up with an array of options, on of which is "Copy from Orba."

You'll see a dialogue letting you know that the song is copying from your Orba to your computer or mobile device.

Now, you'll see that the Share option is no longer greyed out.

Once you click the Share button either from the PLAY tab or from the menu shown in the image above, you'll be able to choose from three different ways of sharing your song.

For an audio file, you can choose how many times you want your song to loop in the exported file. 

For a MIDI file, each Part will live on its own channel, so you can import one file into your DAW that includes all four Parts.

Choosing "Session" will export a file with the extension .artibundle, which is a file type that can be imported into Artiphon Connect on any computer or mobile device using the Import button at the top of the Library tab, or by simply dragging it onto Artiphon Connect window on desktop.

Hardware Settings

Orba's Hardware Settings can be adjusted from the Settings page in Artiphon Connect. The Settings page can be accessed by clicking the gear icon in the top right of the PLAY tab. 

The top-most section of the Settings page relates to connecting your Orba to Artiphon Connect via either Bluetooth or USB. See Connecting.

Battery

Below the Connecting controls, you'll find a section where you can monitor your Orba's current battery percentage. 

Auto Power-Off

By default, Orba will auto-power off after being idle for a few minutes. You can toggle this functionality here in Settings.

Orba Sounds with USB

When using Orba as a MIDI controller, you may want to disable Orba's onboard sounds from playing through its speakers. Toggling Orba Sounds with USB to the off position will mute Orba's speaker. 

This Setting is only maintained when Orba is connected to a device that has the Artiphon Connect open via USB. An effective alternative to toggling the Orba Sounds with USB setting off is turning Orba's volume all the way down!

Haptic Feedback

The Orba-playing experience includes vibrations called haptic feedback to help enhance tactility. You can disable this haptics feature by toggling off Haptic Feedback. 

MIDI Settings

From the Settings page, you can switch between Orba's three MIDI modes. For more information about each mode, see MIDI Modes. 

In this section, you can also toggle off USB Charging. When USB Charging is toggled off, Orba's MIDI input ports are consolidated from four (one for each Part) to one. Some mobile apps work better when only one MIDI input port is available. This setting is also known as Mobile MIDI Mode. 

The Pitch Bend Scale setting scales Orba's Pitch Bend MIDI message, affecting both the Vibrato gesture's affect on the loaded onboard sound and the MIDI data being sent from Orba.

Serial and Version Numbers

The Settings page is a great place to head if you need to find your Serial Number, Firmware Version, or App Version!

Re-Scan Orba

The Re-scan Orba option impels Artiphon Connect to "catch up" with what's changed on Orba.

For example, maybe you changed octave or tempo on Orba while in standalone, and then connected it to the app. 

Though Artiphon Connect will usually initiate a scan automatically, scans can be initiated using this option in Settings!

Sync Factory Content

Factory Content refers to the sound content that comes with Artiphon Connect. Initiating a Factory Content sync will download all available Sounds to your device. New sounds are always being released, so clicking the SYNC button will probably add new sounds to your Library!

Send Anonymous App Analytics

The first time you open Artiphon Connect, it will ask you if you'd like to share anonymous analytics with the Artiphon team to help improve products for the future. If you'd like to change the state of this setting, you can do so from Settings in the app.

Audio Settings

At the very bottom of the Settings page, you can find a section dedicated to audio settings. These settings are only relevant when using the SAMPLE tab to record and preview samples in the Artiphon Connect app.

Orba 3

On-Device Melodic Sampling (Bass, Chord, Lead)

Bass, Chord, and Lead are melodic parts, as each pad is associated with a note or group of notes.

When sampling in these three parts, a single sample will automatically be turned into a melodic instrument that fills all eight pads. Orba 3 automatically detects the pitch of the recorded sample and maps it to the correct note, which means that each of Orba's pads will maintain their pitches in the previously set key and scale.

Longer samples such as a train whistle of the pluck of a guitar work well for melodic sampling.

To record a sample, press and release the SAMPLE button on the side of Orba 3. 

Red lights on the pads will count down to indicate how much time you have left until the maximum sample length is reached. 

Once you've captured a sound, press the SAMPLE button once more.

On-Device Drum Sampling

In Drum, you can capture and save one sample per pad.

Just like in the melodic parts, press and release the SAMPLE button on the side of Orba 3 to begin sampling. 

Red lights on the pads will count down to indicate how much time you have left until the maximum sample length is reached. 

After you've captured a sound, press the SAMPLE button once more.

Now, simply tap the pad you'd like to assign the newly recorded sample to.

Whatever sample is slotted into the pad you tap will be overwritten by the newly recorded one.

Orba automatically detects and removes silence at the start or end of a sample!

Shake to Revert

You can revert a sampled sound to the most recently loaded Factory Sound by holding the SAMPLE button and shaking Orba 3. 

Lights will flash red to indicate the function.

Saving Sampled Sounds

A new sampled sound will overwrite an existing sampled sound unless the existing sound has been saved using Artiphon Connect.

When an Orba 3 with one or more unsaved sampled sounds is connected to Artiphon Connect, a dialogue appears immediately with the option to save a sound by giving it a name.

The dialogue indicates which Part the sound was recorded in, and once the sound is titled, it becomes available in the SOUNDS tab for its corresponding part.

Sampled sounds can also be discarded from this dialogue.

Orba 2

Sampling with Artiphon Connect

Artiphon Connect brings user-sampled sound functionality to Orba 2. The SAMPLE tab lets you create fully-functional sampled sounds that can then be saved and sent to Orba just like Artiphon's own Factory Sounds.

Drum sampling with the Artiphon Connect app allows for up to 12 samples to be recorded or imported into Artiphon Connect. 

Samples 1-8 correspond to Orba's 8 Pads, and samples 9-12 can be accessed through octave switching.

To start, select the sample slot you'd like to assign a sample to. From there you can either record a sample using the audio device selected in Settings by clicking the microphone icon or select an audio file from your computer.

Artiphon Connect’s SAMPLE tab currently accepts the following audio formats for import:

• wav
• aiff
• flac
• oggvorbis
• core audio
• mp3
• windows media

Imported files can can be up to 20 seconds long. If you import a longer audio file, it will be cropped to take the first 20 seconds, regardless of sample rate or file type.

Audio can also be recorded into the app for up to 20 seconds.

Once a sample slot has been assigned a sample, whether recorded or imported, the slot circle will become filled in, and the play button can be used to preview the sample within the app.

Once you've filled at least one of the sample slots in Drum, you can save the sampled sound to your Library and load it just like Factory Sounds.

USB connection is required to send sample data to or from an Orba.

Melodic sampling (Bass, Chord, Lead Parts) works like Drum sampling in the SAMPLE tab, but rather than having multiple sample slots, only one sample is imported, and that sample is transformed into a pitched, melodic instrument.

Orba 1

The Orba App

Orba 1 units are compatible with The Orba App. This application lets you load sounds, save Songs, switch key and tempo, and adjust other settings. The Orba App is also where you'll go to update firmware. 

Looking for The Orba App? Visit Artiphon.com/downloads.

*Orba 1 is not compatible with Artiphon Connect (Orba 1 users, download The Orba App).

Connecting

The upper right-hand corner of The Orba App houses a button with a connection type icon.

Clicking this button will open a pop-up letting you set whether you'll be connecting via USB or Bluetooth. 

If Bluetooth LE MIDI is chosen, pressing "Ok" will open a native window where you'll be able to select your Orba from a list of available Bluetooth devices.

Main Page

The main page of The Orba App houses four circles, each one corresponding to one of Orba's Parts. You'll notice that as you switch Parts on Orba, these circles will follow along. You can switch Parts from the app just by clicking the corresponding circle in the App.

The top-left of the Main Page has controls that let you play/pause your current loop, as well as set your Orba's key and tempo.

Saving Songs

As mentioned in the Terms to Know section of this manual, a Song encompasses everything happening on your Orba, like key, tempo, loops, and sounds. The moment you've recorded a loop on your Orba, you've created a Song, which you can save to the BROWSE page and load again later.

To save a song, click the pencil icon at the top of the app window.

You'll be able to give your song a name and assign other metadata. Clicking on the Cover image lets you pick custom artwork!

Once you've clicked SAVE TO BROWSER, your song has been saved to your library.

Loading Sounds

On the far left of the App's interface, you can click to open the BROWSE page. This is where you can load sounds and access songs that you saved. 

The BROWSE page opens to the SONGS tab. Clicking on a Song's artwork lets you send it to your Orba. 

The Songs tab begins with Artiphon-curated Sound Packs, but as you create and save your own Songs, they will appear here as well.

The PRESETS tab lets you send Sounds to individual parts, so you can mix and match sounds from different sound packs.

Want to create custom sounds to send to your Orba? Check out Preset Creator!

Updating Firmware

To update firmware on your Orba 1, navigate to Settings by clicking the Artiphon logo in the top-right of the app window. If a firmware update is available, the firmware update icon will be colored white. If not, it will be greyed out.

Click the firmware update icon to update your firmware. Firmware can only be updated with a cabled connection.

Settings

From the Settings page, you can control hardware settings like whether your Orba turns off automatically and whether haptics are activated. You can also select your Orba's MIDI mode and adjust pitch bend scaling. See MIDI Implementation.