Telepathic Instruments Orchid review: What’s not to love?To best understand Telepathic Instruments’ Orchid, it’s important to establish the many things it is not. It is not a keyboard, though it has an octave-worth of chromatic keys. It’s not a portable workstation, like the TE OP-1, though it does have built-in speakers, onboard effects and can capably loop. It’s not a MIDI controller, though it can punch very hard in that department, too.

READ MORE: “I’m doing it for something bigger than me”: Telepathic Instruments’ Orchid is Kevin Parker’s dream synth — he hopes it’ll be yours, too

Above all, despite Telepathic being founded by Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, it is not the official Tame Impala synth, though one wonders if the connection isn’t encoded into the letters ‘TI’. And I’d be lying if I hadn’t found myself making some highly Parker-esque noises with it straight out of the gate.
So, what is it? The introduction to the Orchid’s manual puts it well: “[The Orchid’s] primary feature is its unique, intuitive chord-generating ability,” it says, offering “multiple ways to shape, arrange, and modify chords.” Indeed, the best way to describe the Orchid is as a chord generator, or perhaps better still, an ‘ideas machine’, and its layout is geared toward this purpose above all else.
It’s about the width of your laptop, and lightweight — a sleek beige and black backpack-sized machine. You won’t need your backpack, though, since it comes in a rather beautiful orange flight case of its own. It also comes with a blank notebook named ‘For Chords’, a paper quick-start guide and a cute-looking postcard. Combine this with some tongue-in-cheek promotional videos, and one might describe the whole package as style over substance— if there wasn’t so much substance.

The right side of the Orchid is occupied by an all-black octave of musical keys, while the left side presents a set of eight large buttons. These represent different chord voicings: the top row constitutes chord types: diminished, minor, major and suspended. The bottom row constitutes chord extensions: 6th, minor 7th, major 7th and 9th.
It’s primarily in the combination of these three elements that the workflow of the Orchid takes place— hit a note, choose a chord type and choose an extension, Chain a few such ideas together, and in no time at all, you’re not just playing but composing. In this functionality alone, the Orchid performs exceptionally.
It strikes me within the first few minutes of playing the Orchid how similar its workflow is to aspects of the Suzuki Omnichord, which has a strum plate on the right side and similar chord buttons on the left. I can testify that on many occasions, hitting chord buttons at random and strumming the Omnichord can yield surprisingly creative results, as can doing the same on an acoustic autoharp, Lorenzo organ or even an accordion, for that matter. In this sense, the Orchid is not reinventing the wheel, but is instead taking that wheel and stripping it down to its most streamlined essentials — not to mention making those essentials incredibly quick to access.
Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
Beyond this basic operation are a handful of playing modes that employ — and stretch —different aspects of those three elements’ interplay. There are various ways of expressing chords beyond held notes: there’s an arpeggiator, for instance, various iterations of strumming, or preset sequences. And yes, these can be applied to other synths in your setup via MIDI, opening up some very exciting playing potential. In fact, even if it had no onboard sounds at all, I’d say the Orchid would be worth considering as a controller alone.
There are three tiers of complexity when it comes to assigning chord voicings: Simple, Advanced or Free, the latter allowing things to get really dissonant (complete with an onscreen ‘WTF’) if desired. Then there’s Key Mode, which automatically generates chords from the keyboard based on the selected key.
In the middle of the Orchid are two knobs: one for bass, a nice feature for adding depth to a chord whose synth engine operates independently of the main engine. The onboard speakers struggle with these lower sounds, but they sound great through headphones or other speakers. The other, larger knob is for chord voicing, which usefully inverts chords in either direction to help it better work with a particular sound or bring out different characteristics.
Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
Once happy with a progression or melody, it’s possible to start a jam using the onboard looper, which can loop to a BPM or freely. I’m disappointed to discover that it’s not possible to store loops, since the notion of jamming with an Orchid on the move feels incomplete without being able to store ideas, but I suppose that explains the included ‘For Chords’ notebook.
The Orchid’s synth sounds themselves are not editable, but there are many of them— fifty, at the time of writing. This instinctively feels like the right call, encouraging quick preset-surfing to serve a melodic idea and not the other way around. Plus, there’s a generous slew of effects on offer, from delay to overdrive, which provides a decent dose of sound-crafting potential. I’d wager that further firmware updates may bring more editability to the synth engine (Telepathic are already offering more sounds), but I hope this remains slim.
If you have read my interview feature with Kevin Parker and the Orchid team, you’ll have gathered that the idea for the Orchid initially stemmed not from any money-making business enterprise but from Parker’s desire to have a chord machine for his own use. It follows that it has a distinctly ‘by-musicians-for-musicians’ feel, and this is mightily welcome. Take its I/O, for instance: it has a USB port, a 1/8” headphone output and a DIN MIDI output. Just ask any Teenage Engineering OP-1 user how much they wish it offered a simple TRS MIDI port to get a sense of how handy this is, or any Roland SP-404 MKII user how much they wish they could charge its battery with USB.
Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
One design question did hover: I find its layout incredibly intuitive, using my right hand for the keys and left hand for chords— but I’m right-handed. I wonder if the Orchid might be quite as intuitive for a southpaw, or if a mirrored layout was ever on the R&D table, as with a left-handed guitar? Only user feedback will tell.
In many ways, it’s almost impossible to play the Orchid without composing from the moment you touch the thing. This might frustrate you: it simply doesn’t allow for very much playing in the conventional sense, not least because its keyboard is so small. This segues into possibly its greatest strength, however, which is its balancing act between limitation and scope.
This said, one or two choice extra functions would be appreciated: saving loops, for instance, as a way to recall ideas without grabbing a phone or pen and paper, or the capacity to send or receive MIDI clock, but even these absences didn’t hugely hinder things, and besides may well be addressed in future firmware updates, (note the phrase ‘not at this stage’ in answer to the corresponding questions on the Orchid’s online FAQ section). In this regard, it might feel on the pricy side for some at $549 (Telepathic has warned this might increase for US customers), but I posit that, for what you’re getting, this is a reasonable RRP.
The Orchid is, at its heart, a machine designed to be as accessible as it is useful, and in this regard, it’s a resounding success, able to cater to musical novices and established artists alike. Playful enough to encourage exploration but sleek enough to command respect; Parker has had hits before, but this might be a very different kind.
Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
Key Features

Polyphonic chord-generating synth
Battery powered with onboard speakers
USB-C and MIDI connectivity
Buttons for triads (major, minor, dim, sus)
Buttons for extensions (6, m7, M7, 9)
Five performance modes (Arpeggiator, Strum, Slop, Pattern, Harp)
Onboard effects (Reverb, Chorus, Delay, Flanger, Phaser, Overdrive)
Loop Mode
Voicing wheel
Bass voicing
Animated display

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