Telepathic Instruments Orchid Review: A Cool Quirky Chord Synth Built For Inspiration

When I first saw the Telepathic Instruments Orchid, I wanted it. Immediately. The design looks like something from the 90s had sex with something from the 70s, and you get a Mac/WORProcessor/IBM typewriter-looking thing with one octave worth of keys, some knobs, and a lot of mystery. Even the marketing was mysterious; you couldn’t tell if you were the joke, it was the joke, or it was a legitimate device. So when I was at ADE back in October and saw the Telepathic Instruments Pop Up store, I walked in and purchased within five minutes. I’m thrilled I did. Let’s talk about this thing, and hopefully I can illuminate you a bit on what it does and why you might want it, or not want it. Some synths, like the Korg Minilogue XD, want you to master them. Others want to get ideas out of your head before they evaporate, like many of the grooveboxes out there. The Telepathic Instruments Orchid is wedged between these two mentalities. This is a portable chord synth, creative MIDI controller, and songwriting instrument designed less like a traditional keyboard and more like a harmonic idea generator that happens to make sound. Telepathic Instruments Orchid Review At A GlanceBuild quality and designWhat Orchid actually is: a chord synth first, everything else secondSound engines and presets: do the onboard sounds hold up?Studio use: Using Orchid as a creative toolUpdating: modern, mostly painlessWho Orchid is for (and who it isn’t)Is the Telepathic Instruments Orchid worth the price ($650 US)?Final thoughts It’s also impossible to talk about Orchid without mentioning its origin story. Telepathic Instruments was co-founded by Kevin Parker (Tame Impala), and Orchid is something Parker has publicly described as an idea he’s been carrying around for over a decade. That context matters, because Orchid feels like it was built by someone obsessed with chords, voicings, and emotional movement—not by someone trying to win a spec war. If it makes sense, it feels very Tame Impala-ish. The Orchid is a chord-based synthesizer for producers, songwriters, and electronic musicians who want to get to interesting harmony fast, you could think of it as healthy fast food. I call it an idea machine with secrets. If you are deficient in musical theory and barely know where middle C is, then you are going to love this machine, and it might even help you learn some piano, with the assistance of the ROLI Piano and Airwave. The Telepathic Instruments Orchid in Magnetic Magazine Studios Build quality and design: The Orchid is designed to live everywhere; it’s a machine that wants to be seen and almost commands it. It’s compact, has an onboard battery, and even some decent built-in stereo speakers. It’s meant to be moved around, although my one big grip is that for that kind of money $650 US, it should have come with a carrying case. The Orchid is something you can pop out on the airplane, or at the coffee shop, and start noodling on with your headphones on when creativity strikes, but be warned, someone is going to creep over, oogle it, and then ask you about it. The single-octave keyboard is velocity-sensitive, but it’s clearly not meant for traditional two-handed playing; it’s something to be noodled on. The real action happens above the keys, where Orchid’s chord buttons, voicing controls, and encoders live. The OLED display is clean and readable but a bit dull, the knobs feel deliberate and a little toy-like in the best possible way, and the overall layout encourages exploration instead of muscle memory. This isn’t “luxury boutique metal slab” territory, but it also doesn’t feel disposable. The build matches the philosophy: sturdy enough to move around, light enough to invite use, and designed to reduce friction between idea and output. If you mess with the Sound, Perform, FX, and Key buttons alone, you are going to come up with some cool riffs guaranteed. Telepathic Instruments Orchid What Orchid actually is: a chord synth first, everything else second At its core, Orchid is a chord generator. You choose a root note on the keyboard, select a chord type, and then layer extensions and modifiers on top. Two dedicated voicing controls for lead and bass let you walk through inversions one note at a time, turning voice leading into something tactile rather than theoretical. For those of us who don’t know how to play piano, it’s fantastic to see the chord and key flash on the screen, which in turn helps you develop a better ear. From there, Orchid adds motion through performance modes like arpeggiation, strumming, pattern playback, and harp-style cascades. These aren’t just effects slapped on top; they fundamentally change how the harmony behaves rhythmically. That’s why Orchid often feels like it’s “suggesting” melodies rather than forcing you to program them. There’s also a dedicated bass section, which means Orchid can sketch out harmonic structure and low-end intent simultaneously. It’s surprisingly effective for quickly blocking out full musical