Tame Impala’s Telepathic Instruments teases first product, the Orchid

Telepathic Instruments — a new audio hardware company from Kevin Parker, frontman of Tame Impala — has shared a new teaser for its first product, the Orchid.

The new 21-second YouTube video, which you can watch below, shows the Orchid as a chord generating machine similar to that of the classic Omnichord. It features what looks like a one-octave keyboard and buttons to dictate the type of chord that will be generated including Dim, Sus, M7, Maj and more.

Elsewhere on the device, there’s a basic screen outputting info about what chords are being played, what looks like a control wheel to dictate the chords’ voicing for both the chord itself and its root note, BPM control — although it’s not clear what that would be for — a bass knob, potentially for dialling in a sub oscillator root note below the selected chord, and an FX knob for dialling in some character. There are also controls for selecting the type of sound that the Orchid will play. 

As is in keeping with Tame Impala’s retro vibe, the Orchid has a ’70s-style burnt yellow casing and simple, vintage looking knobs. From the short snippet on the Telepathic Instruments’ YouTube channel, the Orchid also seems to channel the more throwback sounds of the Omnichord, which was famous for its strumming panel that let the user dictate the speed at which a chord was played. There’s no info yet on what connections the Orchid will feature, or what it may cost.

We’ll have more info on the Orchid once it’s available — for now watch the YouTube clip below to see it for yourself.