New Orba Players Welcome! : Artiphon

Adam McHeffey

started a topic over 4 years ago

Hi there and welcome to the new Orba forum!

Please introduce yourself, and let us know what you think. We’re eager to hear your thoughts.

If you come upon an issue, the fastest way to find a solution is by contacting support@artiphon.com. Though we do our best to always respond, your post in this forum could get lost in the more high-volume threads.

You can also feel free to start a new forum thread if you have an interesting discussion point. It could be about anything – the sounds, the industrial design, the app as it continues to be developed, or anything else!

Rock and roll,

Adam from Artiphon

ZUrlocker

said about 4 years ago

Here's an obvious suggestion: Would be nice if the Orba app had some sample songs, or at least pre-made drum tracks as a song starter since putting down drum tracks seems to be harder on the Orba than it should be. e.g. a basic rock groove in 4/4 time maybe with a walking bass part. A "motorik" drum beat perhaps with some chords in the spirit of Kraftwerk or Neu!... a jazz or blues shuffle beat with bass. Anything that makes it easy for people to then lay on some lead instruments or chords or delete the bass track and add our own.

Also, would be nice to know from Ariphon if there is some ETA of when improvements or new functionality is expected to be added. It doesn't have to be a hard commitment, but it would be nice to know if ya'll plan on making it better, or you think it's good enough.

Perhaps I've missed it, but does anyone from Artiphon read these postings?

Nick Lowe

said about 4 years ago

Yes, i you look around in other threads, you'll see Artiphon not only read and respond but have said quite a bit about specific upcoming features. I'm sure won't want to offer any hostages in the form of estimated timelines – they've been burned quite badly enough on that front – but they've made it clear that they have big plans for upcoming features, and that a lot of the most-requested features are already in the roadmap. The Instrument 1 dropped its amazing CC1 tilt feature months after release without any warning, but it had obviously been in the works all along, while the Smart Strum came directly out of a user suggestion on this (well, the previous) forum. It's only going to be more so with the Orba. (And I completely agree on sample songs!)

R

Rainer Neugebauer

said about 4 years ago

I just got my Orba, updated the firmware (if only that was possible using iOS!), and everything seems to work as advertised.

I was also wondering about sample songs, and would like to know

* Can songs be shared? Is there a place to download sample songs?

I found the tones assigned to the 8 keys intriguing, but have no clue which tones were selected, and why. (Hint: I am not a musician, at least not in the modern meaning of the word). I read that the tones can be changed, but I am missing detailed instructions on how to reprogram the presents, and how to get the originals back.

* Where do I find detailed instructions on changing the tone settings of my Orba, can there be a library of such settings, and is the original set-up part of that library?

R

Ricardo Tavera

said about 4 years ago

@ Rainer Neugebauer, You can download the Instruction manual from the website, or you can do a search here for the PDF and you should find the pdf here as well

S

Steven L

said about 4 years ago

@ Rainer Neugebauer, yeah check the official manual, but basically you need to use the app (the one you used to update the firmware). Here you can change our instrument presents, change the key your song is in and allegedly save songs you’ve made (I haven’t don’t this through app yet, just been recording elsewhere).

Nick Lowe

said about 4 years ago

And to save searching, here are direct links to the online manual and the PDF version.

C

Charles P

said about 4 years ago

The changes you can make to the 4 tracks are only using a handful of pre-made sounds in the app.

It would be really nice if we could supply our own note samples, including letting us map individual sounds (e.g. wav files) to each key. This would also allow us to make/use our own scales (Dorian, Lydian, etc) and microtonal scales too.

B

Ben

said about 4 years ago

Hi Adam,

Just got my Orba, having a blast already.

Are there any plans to allow for pausing individual loops? Maybe a slide from the play/pause button to the desired track?

V

Van Tang

said about 4 years ago

I received my Orba this week in Bangkok. My daughter and I are having a blast playing with it!

K

Kevin W

said about 4 years ago

Just got mine yesterday- I was one of the last preorders. Supply chain stuff for startups is a bitch (but you're getting better!). The only thing worse is building support activities.

Wish for: - a mute for each track in the sequencer, or a volume control. Perhaps use the A+Mode+Volume buttons for track volume?

Am I correct that now you can't do that unless you delete the track and re-record on the fly?

Congrats on this so far! KW

Jeremy Bennett

said about 4 years ago

Hey Kevin,

Great suggestion. The development team is taking this into consideration for a future update

T

This is Fig

said about 4 years ago

Just got mine delivered (in Australia)! Very exciting, and a little frustrating at the same time.

I'm not a muso or current loop maker so no idea what I'm doing.

Some things I've noticed:

the sound cuts out halfway through the intro videos in the app (phone and desktop)
playback issue with the intro videos in the phone app - I couldn't stop and rewind sections.
I'm unsure how to delete (or turn off) a loop without turning the whole device off. The Rec + A (5 sec) doesn't work for me.
Would be great to have some follow along videos to create a few different loops for us beginners (e.g basic drum and bass, etc)

Andy Callaby

said about 4 years ago

Hiya, Had my Orba here in the UK for a week or so and really enjoying it hooked up via Bluetooth midi to Ableton Live and Maschine. Feel that there is lots of potential here to be explored with the apps and there needs to be lots more sounds. Is there going to be a quantise option for recording? Could you also use the lights as a way of giving it a step sequencer input option? Just a few thoughts. Congratulations on an inspiring device.

F

FHJ Beiler

said about 4 years ago

I received the Orba a week ago in the Netherlands.

And have tried everything with the Orba + Orba app.

Because it is not possible to save something via the orba app, I run into limitations.

It's nice to make some music with the Orba, but I still want more than the standard presets.

Perhaps because I am not very familiar with making electronic music.

I play the flute, recorder, oboe, clarinet.

Somehow I try to make some music with the free Bandlab software and the Orba together, but here too I get stuck because I can't manage to connect the Orba with the Bandlab software.

Is this possible due to Windows10 limitations?

Or is it the Bandlab software limitations or the Orba options? I have no idea.

It would be so nice to use the Orba to take over the sound of an mixed oboe .

Or to have the Orba play in and with Bandlab instruments so that I can continue editing and adding music.

Until now I like the Orba as an instrument but too limited if it is not possible to edit all the music I make on it.

Perhaps and I hope for good tips for this.

Jeremy Bennett

said about 4 years ago

Hey FHJ,

Song saving will be back in the app soon :) Regarding Bandlab, you should be able to connect to Bandlab and play their instruments with Orba (I just had a go with it myself, actually!)

Are you using a cabled connection to connect to your PC? It's important to note that Windows does not support MIDI over Bluetooth, so only a cabled connection will work with programs like Bandlab.