Has Tame Impala Started a Synthesizer Company? The Orchid Chord Machine Revealed!
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Telepathic Instruments Orchid · Source: Telepathic Instruments
The upcoming Telepathic Instruments synth? · Source: Telepathic Instruments
[19 November 2024] Kevin Parker’s Telepathic Instruments reveals Orchid, “a new kind of instrument that helps songwriters and musicians find what’s on their mind.” So yes, Tame Impala has started a synthesizer company.
Has Tame Impala Started a Synthesizer Company? Telepathic Instruments Orchid Revealed
Today a cheeky email appeared in my inbox from Telepathic Instruments. Hey, that’s Kevin Parker‘s instrument company. Is the Tame Impala frontman finally going to reveal the instrument he’s been teasing all year? Well, yes and no.
Yes, in that there’s a name (Orchid) and a video. No, in that there’s no actual information or price. “Orchid is a new kind of instrument that helps songwriters and musicians find what’s on their mind,” the email copy says. Intriguing.
Looking at the video, Orchid is definitely a chord machine. It has eight buttons on the left for chord types (major, minor), an OLED screen displaying chord names, and a chord voicing knob. On the right there’s a single-octave keyboard with black-on-black keys. Across the top there are nine knobs, labeled Sound, Perform, FX, Key, Bass, Loop, BPM, Options, and Volume. I’m guessing this is a digital affair but we shall see.
Is it the 21st-century equivalent of a Bontempi organ? We’ll find out when Telepathic Instruments releases more information.
Are you disappointed in Orchid? Excited? Let us know in the comments.
Has Tame Impala Started a Synthesizer Company? First Look Update!
[1 August 2024] The answer to the question has Tame Impala started a synthesizer company seems to be YES. First look and listen to Kevin Parker’s upcoming mini synth.
Ever since the Tame Impala-associated Telepathic Instruments Instagram channel dropped, people have wildly speculated about what it is. Most comments on the posts lean towards the “Kevin new album now!” variety. I myself was leaning towards bitcrusher pedal given that many of the posts feature bitcrushed audio and pixelated imagery (see below).
However, today a new post appeared with what appears to be an actual telepathic instrument. It’s hard to see with Kevin’s big back in the way but careful screenshotting reveals a small keyboard instrument with one octave and a number of knobs. Interestingly, there’s a jog dial that seems to change arpeggiator modes when twiddled.
The sound itself is on the heavenly side, less synth than early 1980s Casio Fantasy or like something from an Omnichord. As for the bitcrushing? Perhaps that’s an effect accessed from one of the knobs.
Kudos to Kevin for debuting a new instrument on Moog Day. Hopefully, we’ll know more on this soon.
- Telepathic Instruments Instagram page
Tame Impala Started a Synthesizer Company?
[28 June 2024] I certainly didn’t have “Kevin Parker of Tame Impala starts synthesizer company” on my 2024 synth bingo card. Did you?
This is what appears to have happened though, with a mysterious new brand called Telepathic Instruments suddenly appearing on Instagram and the world wide web.
Telepathic Mysteries
How do we know Tame Impala started a synthesizer company? The bio on the Instagram page says so: An electronic instruments company founded by @tameimpala and friends. The logo supports this, with a stylized graphic of four piano keys.
This is followed by a link to a website, telepathicinstruments.com. The splash page is all black with white letters asking, “Are you listening?” When you enter the site there’s a field to type in your email address, followed by the message, “We’ll be in touch soon. You’ll know it when you hear it.” Cryptic. I love it.
Telepathic Bitcrushing
Both the site and one of the Instagram posts feature a loop of some unusual music. What sounds like a synthesizer or perhaps organ plays in the background, while the foreground is dominated by a bitcrushed formant filter-type sound. It’s honestly very Aphex Twin and much more experimental than we’ve come to expect from the festival-friendly psychedelia of Tame Impala. Is this the kind of music we should expect to be able to make with Telepathic Instruments instruments?
Tame Impala Started a Synthesizer Company
It’s no secret that Kevin Parker loves synths. His sound has gotten progressively more electronic over the years, evolving away from his early Todd Rundgren-style guitar rock. Kevin has talked about the Sequential Pro-One, Roland JV-1080 and Juno-106 before. Could his new company be working on retro-style synths? Instruments and effects with an ’80s and ’90s flavor would make sense if Tame Impala started a synthesizer company. The freaky music loop on the site and Insta suggests something a little more esoteric though. The less I know the better?
Whatever Kevin and friends decide to give us, I’m sure it will be interesting. And this news almost makes up for the long wait for a new album.
Almost.
More Information
- Telepathic Instruments Instagram page
- Telepathic Instruments home page
- All about synthesizers
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3 responses to “Has Tame Impala Started a Synthesizer Company? The Orchid Chord Machine Revealed!”
Thank you!
So all we got is a 3D render video and a price from reddit, not really anything reveald yet 😬 So I guess see you at namm 2026 😎
1 octave? wtf