Telepathic Instruments’ Orchid songwriting tool might be one of the most sought-after pieces of technology in the music industry.
Its first two releases sold out in a heartbeat. There’s a third release coming on October 10, and while you wait to add one to your cart, you can at least familiarise yourself with it by watching Jemaine Clement teach Matt Berry how to use one.
The new tutorial skit, released on the Telepathic Instruments YouTube channel last night, stars Clement in the role of the omnipresent help video narrator. At the same time, Berry fiddles along with the Orchid, only loosely following Clement’s instructions. Those powerhouse capabilities can already be heard in Kid Cudi’s “Submarine” from his 2025 album Free, and Don Toliver’s “Call Back”, plus releases from Janelle Monáe, Diplo, Ryan Tedder, Fred Again, Joy Anonymous, Madison Beer, Logic, Mark Hoppus, Murda Beatz, Gracie Abrams and Sarah Landry.
By its third release, Orchid has realised its full potential, coming a long way from the sketchbook of its creator, Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker. Feature-wise, the device’s latest additions include several pre-programmed beats created by Parker, a dedicated cutoff frequency, quantisation to keep loops on time, the ability to save sounds to the device directly, new rhythmic controls and over 10 new sounds created by Parker.
Additionally, Parker’s original 60 sounds created for the device are now available in plugin form, giving users access to a wider library of sounds, an external platform to create and save your work via two-way synchronisation. Titled Pitsil, the sound editor will be available as a separate plugin for $129 USD or bundled with the Orchid for $699 USD.
Orchid Drop 3 will be available exclusively on Telepathic Instruments from 10am AEST on Friday, October 10. Previous units have sold out in minutes, so be ready to add it to your cart. Or, sign up to The Garden on Patreon to unlock early access to the release.
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