The Orb vs BambooSilk

The Orb is a formant filter plugin that simulates the characteristics of the human voice. Featuring a set of three band pass filters, The Orb can transform any sound into a vowel-like formant-filtered sound. With the three LFOs you can modulate the Vowel, the Emphasis/Resonance of the formants, and the Drift, which can shift up or down the frequencies of each formant. You can also create your own set of vowels by changing the name and frequency for each vowel/formant.

Play 12 traditional Chinese instruments, record a phrase, shape your audio, and continue in a compatible AUv3 host. A breath moves through bamboo. A fingertip wakes a silk string. Bronze rings, a drum answers, and a melody begins. BambooSilk was created for that first musical moment—when an idea is still small, immediate, and alive. Touch the instrument, follow the phrase, record it, then carry it into a larger production without leaving its character behind. FROM ONE TOUCH TO TWELVE INSTRUMENTS Open the app and begin playing. Twelve traditional Chinese instruments are arranged in four families: • Strings: Guqin, Guzheng, Yangqin • Winds: Dizi, Xiao, Suona • Plucked: Pipa, Zhongruan, Sanxian • Percussion: Tanggu, Bianzhong, Paigu Each instrument has its own performance surface. Play multiple notes at once, move between techniques, change octave, and capture a take directly from the portrait interface. Connect a USB MIDI keyboard or pair a Bluetooth MIDI controller to play the selected instrument with velocity, sustain, and pitch bend. A quiet Guqin phrase, a bright Dizi line, a rapid Pipa figure, or the pulse of Paigu can all begin beneath your fingers. LET A RECORDING FIND ITS SPACE Sometimes the story begins outside the app. Import a WAV, AIFF, M4A, or MP3 recording from Files and see it unfold across the waveform. Scrub to the exact moment, listen before and after, then shape warmth, tone, stereo width, echo, resonance, and wet/dry balance until the performance sits naturally in its own space. Your installed AUv3 audio effects can join the same workspace. Scan compatible effects, switch plug-ins, compare with bypass, open a plug-in’s native interface, or use a generic parameter view when needed. TAKE BAMBOOSILK INTO YOUR HOST The standalone app is only the beginning. Three included AUv3 tools let the same musical language continue inside a compatible production host. BambooSilk Effect Give an audio track warmth, tonal shape, stereo space, echo, and a natural tail. Ducking keeps the original performance clear while the effect returns between phrases. Parameters support host automation, preset recall, Mix Lock, A/B comparison, bypass, and state restoration. BambooSilk Instruments Perform all 12 included Chinese instrument timbres from MIDI. It supports 16-voice polyphony, sustain, pitch bend, performance techniques, and an on-screen audition keyboard. Use the MIDI modulation wheel for expressive vibrato on Dizi, Xiao, and Suona. BambooSilk MIDI Scales Turn incoming notes toward Gong, Shang, Jue, Zhi, or Yu pentatonic modes. Choose the root and target instrument, then shape transpose, quantize strength, velocity, timing, variation, and note probability. The chosen instrument can travel downstream through MIDI Program Change. A COMPLETE PATH FOR A MUSICAL IDEA Begin with touch. Save the performance. Refine a recording. Then continue arranging and automating in compatible hosts such as GarageBand, Logic Pro, Cubasis, and AUM. AUv3 availability and routing options depend on the host. An interactive in-app guide helps you get started with touch performance, USB/Bluetooth MIDI, audio polishing, and plug-ins. From bamboo breath to silk resonance, BambooSilk gives traditional colors a place in a modern music workflow. Supports English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and French.