It feels like there’s always been an unwritten rule that no synth or MIDI controller should have fewer than 25 keys on it, but PIanni could be about to break that with the Orphea.
Featuring just one octave’s worth of keys (plus an extra C at the top, giving you 13 in total), this has the advantage of being barely larger than a smartphone, so is certainly portable. It also features a built-in multi-wave synth engine, a rechargeable battery, speakers, a 3.5mm audio output and MIDI I/O.
The not so good news is that the keys aren’t velocity sensitive, which will limit the amount of expression you can generate, and although it’s possible to shift the keyboard up or down three octaves, there’s no getting away from the fact that there’s not a great deal of serious playing you can do with just 13 notes in front of you. Even simple basslines could be tricky, and you can forget about forming anything other than basic chord shapes.
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In fairness, it looks like the Orphea is primarily being aimed at kids who simply want to “explore melody and composition,” but even absolute beginners might hit a creative wall with it pretty quickly.
The people will be able to make a judgement, though, when the fate of Orphea is determined via a soon-to-be-launched Kickstarter campaign. No news yet on how much the device will cost or when it could potentially ship.
