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Getting Started Guide
Document ver. 3.0 | Aug 12th, 2021

Table of Contents
I. Introduction - What is Orb Producer Suite?

II. Installation

III. Basics

IV. Plugins Overview

V. Global Themes Parameters

VI. Tonality Tab

VII. Chords Tab

VIII. Variables Tab

IX. Velocity Tab

X. Drag and Drop MIDI

XI. Using the Harmonizer

XII. Using the MIDI Editor

XIII. Renaming a Theme

XIV. Playing Chords Into Themes

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I. Introduction - What is Orb Producer Suite?

The Orb Producer Suite are four MIDI + Audio plug-ins for the musical roles
• ORB CHORDS
• ORB BASS
• ORB ARPEGGIOS
• ORB MELODY

All plugins are synced together just like a band. As of update 3.0, the official color of each plugin has
changed.

Each plugin also contains a separate wavetable synth. This lets you generate and edit compositions
rapidly and get inspired by the music and sound engines built into the plug-ins.

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II. Installation

Drag and drop the .vst3 files into one of the following paths and set your DAW to search for plugins the
respective path.

MacOS:

Library/Audio/Plug-ins/VST3

Windows:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steinberg\VstPlugins

or
C:\Program Files\Steinberg\VstPlugins

III. Basics

Open your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) and first drag an OP CHORDS plug-in onto a free track. The
CHORDS plug-in is the master that coordinates all others, so it needs to be created first. After that, feel
free to add the BASS, ARPEGGIOS and MELODY plug-ins, each on their own tracks.

As Orb Producer will already generate a composition, feel free to start right here. Otherwise, play with
all the musical parameters before you hit the ORB button located in the center of the parameter space.
This button will regenerate all the musical context of the role you are editing. Hit as many times as you

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want!

IV. Plugins Overview

Top Header
A. Solo/Mute (affects MIDI and Audio)
B. Sound volume
C. Synth Preset
D. Link / Unlink Blocks
E. Playhead (Synced with all plugins)
F. Disables the plugins Playhead to enable the Playhead directly from the DAW. That means the
DAW Play/Stop will control all Orb plugins.
G. Switches between the Midi and Synth view. (Shortcut S). You can mute the Orb MIDI part if you
only want to use Orb Synth.
a. Enables/Disables the Synth. Disabling the Synth is useful if you want to route the Midi
notes to an external VST or Synth hardware.
H. Undo/Redo
I. Settings / Version

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V. Global Themes Parameters

A. Only recreates the selected chord of the current block

B. Recreates all chords for the current block
C. Enables SPLIT to allow multiple chords per Bar. Ctrl + click creates directly new splits.

VI. Tonality Tab

The Tonality Tab gives 5 parameters to change the key / mode of the current theme.

1. KEY - Changes the root note of the primary scale

2. SCALE - Changes the mode of the current key

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3. TIME SIGNATURE - Changes the current time signature
4. BARS - Changes how many bars are in the theme
5. CHORD PROGRESSION - [optional] Changes to a preset chord progression in the current key /
scale

VII. Chords Tab

The song chords represent the current chord progression for the selected Theme. To access these, click
the “Chords” tab on the right side of the plugin.

Each chord can be selected and then displays 3 different characteristics (yellow arrows) :
● The Chord key in the scale
● The Chord Type (Maj/min/Sus2/Sus4/dim/aug)

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● The additional chord colors to enrich the chord are intervals. (7th/9th/11th/13th)
Chord Inversions (INV) allow the user to set what note is in the Bass of the chord being edited. To change
a chord inversion, change the number in “INV” for the inversion that you want to set.

VIII. Variables Tab

Orb Producer Suite helps you produce music, but also comes with a built-in synthesizer. You can
switch between the MIDI and SYNTH view via the two tabs on the plug-in header. By default you
will find yourself in the MIDI tab where you generate and edit your music. The musical
parameters around the generation are divided into three sections.

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The FRAMEWORK section allows you to adjust / select 3 primary frameworks for rhythm and melodic
lines.

● RHYTHMIC RULE - sets a default requirement that every X a note will be generated.
● POLYRHYTHM - changes the rhythm of the current plugin to a different time signature than the
current theme time signature.
● LYRICAL MELODY (only applies to Melody plugin) - creates a slower melody with no gaps
between notes such that the notes can be played lyrically.

The PARAMETERS section are high level musical parameters that allow the user to reset the direction
of their music.

● DENSITY
○ Set a low density for a calm phrase or a high density for a more energetic musical phrase.
○ A density of zero (0) in 2.0 and above indicates that the note will take up the entire bar.
When lengthening a bar, the note will still take up the entire bar.
● COMPLEXITY
○ Complexity defines how sophisticated the generated rhythm will be.
● BAR LENGTH
○ The bar length is set in bars and defines how many bars the musical phrase will span.

The MODIFIERS section are modifiers that let you sculpt the generated notes precisely without
regenerating the musical context.

These are the modifiers:

● OCTAVE
○ Shift the notes up or down several octaves with the OCTAVE parameter.
● SYNCOPATION
○ Pull or push the notes off the beat by turning the SYNCOPATION knob.
● SILENCE
○ Introduce rests by shortening the notes either from the left or right side by adjusting the
SILENCE parameter.
● POLYPHONY
○ Set the number of voices with POLYPHONY to create denser music.
● HUMAN TOUCH (non-chords plugins) or SPREAD (chords plugin)
○ HUMAN TOUCH lets you introduce rhythmic variations for a more human feel.

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IX. Velocity Tab

The new Velocity Panel in Orb Producer allows the user to instantly create custom velocity mapping.
Velocity controls can be accessed by clicking the VELO button next to NOTES.

There are seven (7) total editable parameters in the Velocity panel [1 - 5], 2 additional buttons [A, B] for
controlling which of the top or bottom are being edited, or to randomize [C].

1. This knob changes the overall velocity of the entire theme. This parameter is applied before all
others.
2. Strong Beat - In common 4/4 time, beats 1 and 3 are strong beats.
3. Weak Beat - In common 4/4 time, beats 2 and 4 are weak beats.

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4. Offbeat - An offbeat is a beat in music that is not accented by either a strong or weak beat.
5. All parameters on the bottom correspond to the deviation applied to the above parameters.
Changing any of these parameters applies a random deviation between zero (0) and X (the
deviation amount set) to the velocities of the parameter above it.
A. When disabled, this button will prevent the randomizer button [C] from changing the set
velocities of Strong, Weak, and Off Beats.
B. When disabled, this button will prevent the randomizer button [C] from changing the deviation
amount.
C. The “Magic Button”. This button randomizes all parameters above [1 - 5 and A - B]. Using buttons
A/B will prevent some parameters from being changed when pressing C.

X. Drag and Drop MIDI

You can copy the MIDI sequence created in Orb Producer Suite by dragging and dropping the rectangle
at the bottom right directly into your DAW.

XI. Using the Harmonizer

The MIDI Harmonizer in Orb Producer allows the user to import any MIDI file. A user can import files that
contain a Bass line, Chords, Melody only, or a mixture of all. To access the MIDI editor, click the

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“Harmonize” button located below the theme list.

To begin, you can click “browse” in the top right of all Orb Producer plugins to locate MIDI to import, or
simply drag and drop MIDI into this area. After this, you will see a popup containing the following
information:

1. Click BROWSE to locate the MIDI (.mid) file from the computer
2. Select the type of MIDI file
a. Mixed - a mixture of melody, bass, chords
b. Melody - only a melody
c. Bass - only a bass line
d. Chords - only block chords
3. The time signature, number of bars, key, and scale type are automatically detected, but if
incorrect, can be changed using these parameters.
4. Tonality allows you to change the default key of the MIDI that has been imported. At the top
right, you will see the chords that have been recommended / detected by the AI on import.

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XII. Using the MIDI Editor

The MIDI Editor in Orb Producer allows the user to edit some of the MIDI in all themes. To edit MIDI,
simply click on a MIDI note, and move it to the note the user wishes. The user can also add new notes
by double clicking on the MIDI editor window.

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Please note that if a user changes the chords, or regenerate with any of the parameters, Orb will likely
lose all edited MIDI notes.

XIII. Renaming a Theme

Renaming a theme can be done by right clicking a theme and

selecting “Rename”.

The user will then be prompted to type into the theme block
their desired theme name.

To save the new name after typing, click ENTER / RETURN, or simply click away from the window.

XIV. Playing Chords Into Themes

There are two buttons that will enable playing chords into themes using a MIDI device. These buttons
can be toggled On and Off from the “Orb Chords” plugin.

Clicking the piano button will enable playing chords with a MIDI device, and the user can also play
directly from the DAW using MIDI data sent into Orb Chords.

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To send MIDI data or play notes into Orb Producer, the user must follow their instruction manual for
their respective DAW to change the INPUT for the plugin.

The arrow icon will enable the “next chord” option. This means that after a chord is played or recorded
from MIDI, Orb Producer will automatically go to the next chord in the theme.

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