Everything Timbre Dock can do

2. Connecting

1. Turn the Orba 2 on and plug it in (or pair it over Bluetooth in the app's connection panel).
2. Open Timbre Dock. Tap the gear icon at the top right of the Play screen to open the control panel.
3. Under Connection, choose USB or BLE and tap Connect. The header shows the connection type and a dot when the instrument is live.
4. On first connection the app reads the instrument's library — its songs, sound packs and per-instrument sounds. This takes a few seconds and shows a spinner in the Library.

If the instrument stops responding (for example after it restarts), open the control panel and connect again.

3. The Play screen

The Play screen mirrors what the Orba 2 is doing right now.

1. Song and sounds. The title at the top is the song currently loaded on the instrument. Below it, the four parts — Drum, Bass, Chord, Lead — show which sound each part is using. Tap a part to make it the active part on the instrument.
2. Key, scale and octave. The tuning-fork readout shows the current key, scale and octave (for example D3 m). Tap it to change them; the instrument follows immediately.
3. Tempo. The BPM readout is the instrument's tempo. Tap it to set a new one.
4. Metronome. The metronome button switches the Orba 2's click on and off.
5. The pad ring. The eight petals light up as pads are played — on the instrument or from a loop — using the exact pad-to-note map of the kit currently loaded, so a custom kit lights the right pads too. For melodic parts the ring is a chromatic circle, so you can see which notes a loop is playing.
6. Transport. Play and Stop start and stop the Orba 2's looper. Recording is done on the instrument itself with its own record button; the app's record indicator only mirrors that state.
7. Mix and grid (sliders icon). For the active part: volume, pan, reverb and delay; the part's quantize mode (Off, Grid, Groove); and the scale type.
8. Save this loop (download icon). Saves the loop you have recorded on the instrument — which only exists in its memory until saved — as a named song with a cover photo, both on the Orba 2 and in your phone's library. There has to be a recorded loop: press Rec on the Orba 2, play a few bars, stop, then save. Saving needs the USB connection — over Bluetooth the instrument does not write the loop into the file. See chapter 6.

4. Library

Tap Library in the bottom bar. Three tabs:

4.1 Songs

One list of every song you can play: those stored on the Orba 2, those saved on your phone, and those on both. Each row shows the cover photo (if it has one), the title, and where the song currently lives.

• Tap a row to make that song the active song on the instrument.
• Photo icon — give a device-only song a title and cover photo; this also keeps a copy on your phone.
• Grid icon — open the song's drum loop in the Beat editor. Shown for every song that contains a recorded loop.
• Save as music (waveform icon) — records the Orba 2 playing the song for exactly one full loop and saves it as an M4A in Files → On My iPhone → Timbre Dock → Music. See chapter 8.
• Cloud icons — push a phone-only song back to the instrument (USB only), or pull a device-only copy down to the phone.
• Trash — delete from the phone, from the instrument, or both. Deleting from the Orba 2 is permanent.
• Sort — the instrument does not say which entries contain a recorded loop, so the first time you may see an unsorted entries button. Tapping it reads each unsorted file once and files it under Songs or Sound Packs. It is only ever done once per file.

4.2 Sound Packs

The Orba 2's factory sound packs — four matched sounds with no recorded loop. Tap one to load the whole pack.

4.3 Sounds

Every sound stored on the instrument, by part: Drum, Bass, Chord, Lead. Tap one to switch just that part's sound, mixing packs freely. Sounds you recorded yourself appear here alongside the factory ones.

• TD sounds — Timbre Dock ships with its own sound sets, marked with a TD badge: a synthesised kit, sub bass, glass lead and keys, plus instruments played and recorded for the app — acoustic guitar (lead and chord), electric bass, kalimba (lead and chord), handpan (lead and chord) and a classic drum set. They are part of the app, like the Orba 2's factory sounds are part of the instrument: always in your library, ready to upload, and they cannot be deleted from the phone. A TD sound you have uploaded to the Orba 2 can be removed from the instrument again.
• Trash — remove a sound you created: from the phone, from the Orba 2, or both. Factory sounds and sound packs cannot be deleted; they belong to the instrument. Deleting from the Orba 2 is permanent.

5. Sample — record your own sounds

Tap Sample in the bottom bar to turn the iPhone's microphone into a sampler for the Orba 2.

1. Choose a sample type: a drum kit, or a Lead, Chord or Bass sound.
2. Record — or import a file with the folder icon (a GarageBand export, a WAV from Files, AirDropped audio). Anything the phone can read is converted to the instrument's format and treated exactly like a recording. For a drum kit you record up to nine slots — Kick, Snare, Closed Hat, Open Hat, Low Tom, “Yea”, Cymbal, Shake and Side — one per pad plus the side tap. For melodic sounds you record a single note; the app detects its pitch and shows it (for example ≈ C3, 130.8 Hz) so it can be tuned across the whole scale. Chords have two modes: Simple (one tone the instrument stacks into chords) or Advanced (record all eight chords yourself).
3. Play All auditions your recordings in order. For a melodic sound, Play scale plays it across the part's eight pads, pitched the way the Orba 2 will pitch it — so a wrong octave shows up before you save.
4. Save keeps the set on your phone under a title. Saved sets also appear in the Files app under On My iPhone → Timbre Dock → Samples.
5. Upload to Orba 2 (USB only) turns the set into a real sound on the instrument. It arrives as a new entry — nothing already on the instrument is overwritten — and is selected on the part it belongs to, so you can play it straight away. Custom kits use their own pad notes; the Play screen and the Beat editor both follow them.

6. Saving the loop you are playing

The Orba 2 keeps the loop you are recording only in memory. To keep it:

1. On the Play screen tap the save icon.
2. Enter a name and, if you like, pick a cover photo.
3. Connect with USB — over Bluetooth the Orba 2 does not write the loop into the saved song (a hardware limitation), so the app asks for the cable here. The loop stays in the instrument's memory until you save.
4. Tap Save to Orba 2. The app builds a complete song from the instrument's live state — its tuning, sounds, mix and every part's loop — and stores it on the instrument and on your phone. Saving never changes what you hear.

The song then shows up in the Library's Songs list, and in the Beat editor when it is the active song.

7. Beats — the drum loop editor

Tap Beats in the bottom bar. Every section has a ? button with a short explanation; this is the overview.

7.1 What you see

1. The editor opens on the song that is active on the Orba 2, with its drum loop on the grid — what you hear is what you edit. A song that has no drum part yet opens at the song's own length, ready to be filled in. Clear empties the grid if you want a fresh beat. You can also open any song from the Library's grid icon.
2. Rows are the Orba 2's eight drum pads plus the side tap, in the kit that is currently loaded. Columns are steps in time. A brighter cell is a harder hit.
3. A dashed outline marks a hit that does not sit exactly on the grid — normal for a loop you played by hand. Quantize pulls those onto the nearest step.

7.2 Building a pattern

1. Rhythm — six starting points: Rock, Funk, Disco, Blues Shuffle, Swing, Waltz. Tap one to fill the grid, then change anything. Rock, Funk and Disco sit on a straight grid; Blues Shuffle and Swing are swung; Waltz puts three even beats in the bar. Those three switch the grid to Triplet automatically.
2. Tap a cell to place or remove a hit. Press and hold a hit to cycle its velocity: Soft, Normal, Accent. The Velocity selector sets the level for new hits.
3. Bars — 1, 2, 4 or 8. A rhythm repeats across every bar.
4. Grid — Quarter, Eighth, Sixteenth or Triplet. This only changes how you see the pattern; it never alters what is recorded.
5. Two different drums can share a step. The same drum twice on one step is not allowed — the Orba 2 would play both — so the editor never creates that.

7.3 Hearing it

1. Play previews the loop; tapping a cell plays that pad.
2. The label next to the play button says where you are hearing it: Orba 2 when the instrument is attached (the preview plays on its real kit), Phone when it is not (sketch drum sounds synthesised on the phone — good for judging rhythm and dynamics).
3. Tempo changes take effect while the preview runs; type a BPM or use the − / + buttons.
4. Drum kit picks which of the instrument's kits the loop plays through — every kit on the Orba 2 is listed, including your own. Choosing one switches the instrument to it at once, so the preview and the sent song both use it.

7.4 Sending it to the Orba 2

1. Type a name and tap Send to Orba 2. Sending needs USB: over Bluetooth the button is inactive and a note explains why — building and previewing work over Bluetooth, only the send needs the cable.
2. The loop arrives as an ordinary song: the instrument treats it like a loop you recorded yourself, so you can overdub bass, chords and lead over it, and read it back here later to change anything.
3. Every send is a new song on the instrument — nothing is ever overwritten. If the name already exists, the app numbers the new one (A1 v2) and tells you so before sending.
4. After a successful send, Save to My Songs with a photo keeps it in your phone's library with a cover, exactly like a recorded song.

8. Backing music for videos (iMovie)

Save as music turns any song on your Orba 2 into an ordinary audio file on your phone, which makes writing your own backing track for a video about as easy as it gets.

1. Get the loop you want: record one on the instrument, or build a drum pattern in Beats, send it over and overdub bass, chords and lead on top.
2. In the Library → Songs list, tap the waveform icon on that song's row. The Orba 2 plays the song for exactly one full loop while the app records it.
3. The recording is saved as an M4A in Files → On My iPhone → Timbre Dock → Music.
4. In iMovie, open your project and choose + → Audio → Files, then pick the recording. Since it is exactly one loop long, you can repeat it under a longer clip without an audible seam, and trim the last repeat wherever the video ends.

The instrument must be attached, and the recording is taken from the phone's current audio input — the microphone, or a USB audio interface if one is connected. Save as music works over both USB and Bluetooth.

The same file works anywhere else that reads the Files app: GarageBand, Voice Memos-style editors, a video app of your choice, or AirDrop to a Mac.

9. Tips

• USB for transfers. Sending songs (including from the Beat editor), saving loops and uploading samples need the USB connection. Over Bluetooth you can play, change settings, browse the Library, pick songs and sounds, and build and preview beats — the app tells you when a step needs the cable.
• Custom kits and factory kits use different pad notes. The editor follows whichever kit is loaded. A hit placed under one kind of kit may show as “off the grid” under the other — that is the editor being honest, not a fault.
• Nothing is overwritten. Every save and every send creates a new file with a fresh identifier on the instrument. Use the Library's trash icon to tidy up.
• If the instrument restarts (its lights sweep and it goes quiet for a moment), reconnect from the control panel before doing anything else.