Orchid is a delightfully retro and approachable hipster synth

The Verge has reviewed the Orchid, a new digital chord organ from Telepathic Instruments made in collaboration with Tame Impala's Kevin Parker. Inspired by vintage electric chord organs from the 1960s, which fell out of fashion in the 1980s as digital keyboards took over, the Orchid aims to revive that simplicity by letting users play full, rich chords at the press of a button without needing extensive music theory knowledge. This makes it particularly appealing to songwriters who want to sketch out chord progressions and focus on lyrics or melody without being bogged down by complex fingering.

Priced at $649, the Orchid features a one-octave keyboard paired with buttons for different chord types, such as major, minor, diminished and major 7th, allowing users to build chords like C major or F#9 with ease. Unlike its analogue predecessors, which were limited by physical reeds, the Orchid is fully digital, meaning it can theoretically produce any chord in any voicing from any scale, and offers a wider variety of tones beyond the traditional droning organ sound. It also includes a key-lock feature, restricting playable chords to a chosen key such as E minor or Bb major, so that almost anything played remains in tune. The review notes downsides including the premium price given its limitations, a single-octave keyboard, and the need to buy additional software to customise sounds.