Nashville, Tennessee-based smart instruments developer Artiphon has launched Orba 2, a new version of the company’s flagship device with a completely redesigned sound engine.

Orba 2’s sounds include electronic synths as well as more traditional and acoustic instruments and found sounds. With the Orba 2 app, users can record any sound from the real world and transform it into a playable musical instrument. ‘Try capturing the sounds of the city on your walk to work: turn a jackhammer into a percussion instrument, replay the melody of a songbird, or sample a tone from the street busker so you can play it yourself.’

Loops can be recorded directly on the Orba 2 with an integrated looper with Drum, Bass, Chord and Lead modes. The new version of Orba also has a quantize feature and significantly more memory than its predecessor.

Orba 2 can be used to control MIDI-based software and hardware instruments, via USB-C or wirelessly via Bluetooth MIDI, and works with GarageBand, Ableton Live, Logic Pro, Pro Tools, Cubase, FL Studio and any standard MIDI and MPE-compatible mobile app or hardware.

Artiphon CEO Mike Butera said, ‘We want people to express themselves musically in their everyday lives.

‘We’ve dreamed of allowing anyone to play any sound they can imagine, anywhere they go, without worrying about historical instrument skills or abstract music theory. Orba 2 finally makes that possible.’