Hi,
Here's a review of ORB COMPOSER 1.5 / 1.5.1 after 4 months.
My conclusion: wait for a few years, if they survive.
3 VERSIONS
- Demo is fully functional but shuts down after 2 hours
- Artist S 1.5.1: only 4/4; only pop, rock, piano, electro, ambient; only major & minor (149€)
- Pro S 1.5.1: all time signatures, also orchestra & strings, all modes (399€)
I bought version 1.5 in Nov 2019 with the Black Friday deal. I have been using it on both a Mac and a PC for 4 months.
GOOD
- Certainly very comprehensive for people who can read and write music
- The midi editor is quite good
- You can upload your own melody for orchestration (midi files only)
- Very flexible, sometimes too much (articulations, midi editing, melody / motif / bass / chords / arpeggio, voices, polyphony, etc.)
- The menus on the left make it very easy to add instruments, blocks, chords, chord progressions,
- Youtube channel with lots of videos
BAD
- you need a minimum of 64GB of RAM to use quality sample libraries because you will be loading dozens of instances of Kontakt (or whatever software you use)
- Interface is quite complex for beginners, there is no “simplified mode”.
- The logic is hard to grasp at first (which is OK) BUT there is no help file with an index for reference, only videos on some aspects (The “help” menu is just a short "what’s new in the latest version". (I asked them about this and they said, I quote “Yeah. We are aware that we have a significantly lacking software manual.”)
- Many - many - display problems (interface is crammed / the different visualisations of the same blocks are not aligned / windows overlap without being easily distinguishable / on a PC popup bubbles or right click menus appear for 1/10th of a second). And many more problems...
- The website is extremely slow and buggy; connections are dodgy, display is a massive pain. I stopped using it
- Orchestral arrangements are not realistic: too many notes, and too many blocks that need to be changed entirely with so many options
- Changing one little thing will often completely change all your patiently composed blocks, even if they are “locked”!
- You cannot create new templates that will appear when you open Orb or start a new file.
- when you add instruments to an empty file in order to create a template, importing a midi melody with result in nothing in the blocks.
- Sample libraries are not included (except piano): you need to link Orb with an external application like Kontakt, etc. And a full orchestra loaded in Kontakt linked with Orb will freeze or crash the system (I quote “it’s a known bug”)
- Presence on Discord is limited, maybe because the forum itself is quite empty. No other online community that I know of
- With midi import, the tempo and meter of the original file are not respected (I quote “This isn't a bug as much as it a feature”: ?!?!). For example, uploading a simple 6/8 tune at 200bpm will produce an orchestration as a 4/4 tune at 120bpm, which does not recognize the structure of the tune at all and is 100% useless
- Crashes often, both on Mac and PC (eg 1/ on Windows 7, once had to completely reinstall after deleting all Orb references with regedit; eg2/ on Mac, crashed when clicking on a clip after importing a very simple midi file)
- Staff is really not helpful even for paying customers (I have seen so many times: “it’s a known bug”). And bugs don’t seem to be seriously tackled over time.
- Very complex integration with Logic and other DAWs (even if templates are provided, still very complex); staff not very helpful again (I mentioned a problem on Logic and was told: “I don’t have access to a Mac”).
- clicking on the left arrow (at the top) to go back to the beginning doesn’t bring the display to the beginning.
- Nothing for SONAR / Cakewalk-BandLab
- Full version is 399€!
- Doesn’t seem ready, more like a Beta v0.5.
- Staff refuses to acknowledge the problems.
ANNOYING STUFF
- No warning to save when you open another file with midi import
- Never opens in full-screen mode on Win. You cannot change this.
- When Orb is opened or a new file created, it is automatically in loop mode. You cannot change this.
- Cannot change the musical mode after midi import (eg from C to C Dorian) or else, it changes the chords you have chosen. You cannot “lock” the chords.
- No general “solo off button” and “mute off button”
- Many functions that open a folder do not go to last used folder (but systematically to Library/Music on Win and Music on Mac): you need to create your own shortcuts/aliases
- Undo and redo (in the edit menu) do not name the operations in question (eg undo paste, undo delete block, etc.)
- for some reason, the first note of your imported melody will disappear most of the time
- the space bar will start playing, as in every serious music software, but the 0 key does not take you to the beginning of the track
CONCLUSION
+ Very comprehensive and flexible
- The learning curve is quite steep, needs a very powerful computer, direct staff support is almost non-existent and certainly not helpful, very expensive.
Aimed at pro composers with a solid experience in composition. But they will need to seriously rethink their software and listen to customers if they want to survive.
CONTEXT
I wanted to learn about orchestration. I’m 55 and I’ve had a digital home studio since 1988 (Atari + Steinberg Pro24). I can’t read nor write music but I play a couple of instruments and I can explain what D Dorian means.
Here's a review of ORB COMPOSER 1.5 / 1.5.1 after 4 months.
My conclusion: wait for a few years, if they survive.
3 VERSIONS
- Demo is fully functional but shuts down after 2 hours
- Artist S 1.5.1: only 4/4; only pop, rock, piano, electro, ambient; only major & minor (149€)
- Pro S 1.5.1: all time signatures, also orchestra & strings, all modes (399€)
I bought version 1.5 in Nov 2019 with the Black Friday deal. I have been using it on both a Mac and a PC for 4 months.
GOOD
- Certainly very comprehensive for people who can read and write music
- The midi editor is quite good
- You can upload your own melody for orchestration (midi files only)
- Very flexible, sometimes too much (articulations, midi editing, melody / motif / bass / chords / arpeggio, voices, polyphony, etc.)
- The menus on the left make it very easy to add instruments, blocks, chords, chord progressions,
- Youtube channel with lots of videos
BAD
- you need a minimum of 64GB of RAM to use quality sample libraries because you will be loading dozens of instances of Kontakt (or whatever software you use)
- Interface is quite complex for beginners, there is no “simplified mode”.
- The logic is hard to grasp at first (which is OK) BUT there is no help file with an index for reference, only videos on some aspects (The “help” menu is just a short "what’s new in the latest version". (I asked them about this and they said, I quote “Yeah. We are aware that we have a significantly lacking software manual.”)
- Many - many - display problems (interface is crammed / the different visualisations of the same blocks are not aligned / windows overlap without being easily distinguishable / on a PC popup bubbles or right click menus appear for 1/10th of a second). And many more problems...
- The website is extremely slow and buggy; connections are dodgy, display is a massive pain. I stopped using it
- Orchestral arrangements are not realistic: too many notes, and too many blocks that need to be changed entirely with so many options
- Changing one little thing will often completely change all your patiently composed blocks, even if they are “locked”!
- You cannot create new templates that will appear when you open Orb or start a new file.
- when you add instruments to an empty file in order to create a template, importing a midi melody with result in nothing in the blocks.
- Sample libraries are not included (except piano): you need to link Orb with an external application like Kontakt, etc. And a full orchestra loaded in Kontakt linked with Orb will freeze or crash the system (I quote “it’s a known bug”)
- Presence on Discord is limited, maybe because the forum itself is quite empty. No other online community that I know of
- With midi import, the tempo and meter of the original file are not respected (I quote “This isn't a bug as much as it a feature”: ?!?!). For example, uploading a simple 6/8 tune at 200bpm will produce an orchestration as a 4/4 tune at 120bpm, which does not recognize the structure of the tune at all and is 100% useless
- Crashes often, both on Mac and PC (eg 1/ on Windows 7, once had to completely reinstall after deleting all Orb references with regedit; eg2/ on Mac, crashed when clicking on a clip after importing a very simple midi file)
- Staff is really not helpful even for paying customers (I have seen so many times: “it’s a known bug”). And bugs don’t seem to be seriously tackled over time.
- Very complex integration with Logic and other DAWs (even if templates are provided, still very complex); staff not very helpful again (I mentioned a problem on Logic and was told: “I don’t have access to a Mac”).
- clicking on the left arrow (at the top) to go back to the beginning doesn’t bring the display to the beginning.
- Nothing for SONAR / Cakewalk-BandLab
- Full version is 399€!
- Doesn’t seem ready, more like a Beta v0.5.
- Staff refuses to acknowledge the problems.
ANNOYING STUFF
- No warning to save when you open another file with midi import
- Never opens in full-screen mode on Win. You cannot change this.
- When Orb is opened or a new file created, it is automatically in loop mode. You cannot change this.
- Cannot change the musical mode after midi import (eg from C to C Dorian) or else, it changes the chords you have chosen. You cannot “lock” the chords.
- No general “solo off button” and “mute off button”
- Many functions that open a folder do not go to last used folder (but systematically to Library/Music on Win and Music on Mac): you need to create your own shortcuts/aliases
- Undo and redo (in the edit menu) do not name the operations in question (eg undo paste, undo delete block, etc.)
- for some reason, the first note of your imported melody will disappear most of the time
- the space bar will start playing, as in every serious music software, but the 0 key does not take you to the beginning of the track
CONCLUSION
+ Very comprehensive and flexible
- The learning curve is quite steep, needs a very powerful computer, direct staff support is almost non-existent and certainly not helpful, very expensive.
Aimed at pro composers with a solid experience in composition. But they will need to seriously rethink their software and listen to customers if they want to survive.
CONTEXT
I wanted to learn about orchestration. I’m 55 and I’ve had a digital home studio since 1988 (Atari + Steinberg Pro24). I can’t read nor write music but I play a couple of instruments and I can explain what D Dorian means.
