Orbita

Getting started

TouchMe

Playtron

New devices

Synths & Software

Troubleshooting

Orbita is an interactive rotating musical sequencer that makes music tangible. Developed by Playtronica, Orbita lets you compose by placing and moving magnets on its spinning surface, creating rhythms and melodies in real time. Whether you are a musician, educator, or sound experimenter, Orbita brings a playful, hands-on approach to music creation.

How It Works

1. Place the magnets. Each magnet represents a note in the sequence

2. Rotate Orbita. The spinning platform triggers notes as magnets pass the sensors

3. Experiment & create. Move magnets, adjust tempo, and layer sounds to craft unique compositions

Orbita connects via USB & MIDI, allowing it to work with DAWs, synthesizers, and other music software.

Web settings page

https://playtronica.github.io/WebMidiOrbita/

Note mapping

Orbita has four magnetic tracks (circles) and magnets of seven primary colors. Each color can be mapped to a note; every track can have a different color mapping. By default, Orbita will sound in C major, with 4 octaves. That means the same color on a different circle will represent the same note in different octaves. If you are working with a sampler app like Koala, you can reset to Chromatic mode or set the MIDI note numbers manually (MIDI numbers are a generic standard; see them here).

Track parameters

For each track, you can specify the note length and velocity. Each track can be remotely muted and unmuted. You can also set a probability parameter. If it is set to 100%, it will play all the notes, and 50% will play only half of the notes, randomly selected, different on each revolution. That is, if you want to avoid repetitiveness of your sequence and collaborate with chance.

Motor controls

You can turn on and off the motor and even change its speed. Also remotely using CC midi mapping

Save settings

You will be able to save settings to Orbita so that it will work in the same manner next time you turn it on, even without the web remote controller.

Experimental features

One of the exciting new features of Orbita is the ability to translate colors into MIDI CC values instead of MIDI notes. CC values allow you to control various effects or instrument parameters, such as echo amount or volume. When activated, the selected channel sends CC values based on the scanned color's HUE (red=0 to purple=127 on the color wheel). You can create any color sequence on paper, a collage, a 3D print, or sticky notes attached to Orbita's turntable and interact with your music in a new way. In this mode, the CC values are continuously transmitted even when there are no magnets present and Orbita is stationary.

For example, here… https://www.instagram.com/p/DF_lHKfI45L/

Another experimental feature is to have the velocity changed by chance. https://www.instagram.com/p/DF_lt45oAdM/

Looper

The Orbita looper lets you record when each track turns on or off, so you’re not stuck with the same short loop repeating. This way, you can create longer, more interesting sequences that change over time instead of just playing the same thing over and over. Press (A) button to enter the Looper mode and start recording mute/unmute gestures. Press (A) again to stop recording. Pressing the third time will cancel the Looper mode.

Tablet / iPad app https://www.koalasampler.com/

Web piano https://dotpiano.com/