Artiphon Chorda - Blue

Chorda: A Musical Instrument for Everyday Life

The smart synth, looper, and MIDI controller that adapts to the way you play.

What if you could play any sound in the world, everywhere you go? You could make beats over breakfast, strum your favorite song on the subway, or compose a symphony in the park.

What if making music became an essential part of your everyday life—a little lunch break distraction, a playful karaoke with a friend, or a relaxing way to unwind at the end of the day? With Chorda, you can create any music imaginable on an instrument that adapts to the rhythms of your life.

Chorda is an incredibly versatile instrument. In fact, it’s like having many instruments in one! You can play Chorda flat like a keyboard or drum machine or pick it up and strum like a guitar or ukulele. Explore many instrument styles like guitar, piano, drums, synths, and more—all on the same interface. And you can mix and match your playing style and sounds, so you can strum any sound in the world. 

Chorda lets you play music intuitively, whether you’ve never picked up an instrument or if you’ve played your whole life. With feather-sensitive “capacitive touch” sensors, it picks up even the slightest (or the wildest!) movements so you can express yourself instantly and explore your favorite music in new ways.

Chorda’s 12 pads are the same width as piano keys, always stay in tune, and respond to the intensity of your finger movements in multiple dimensions.You can tap, press, radiate, and use vibrato just as easily as using the trackpad on your computer.

And Chorda has a bridge that lets you add even more expression. With the bridge, you can strum any sound instantly, with automatic chords that are always matched to the music you’re playing. If you can swipe a phone screen, now you can strum a guitar—or a piano, or a drum kit, or a tuba, or even your own voice! (more on that in a bit).

Features

• 12 capacitive-sensing pads respond to even the lightest velocities and enable per-note expression in multiple dimensions
  
• Bridge with six triggers for individual note articulation using familiar gestures like strumming, tapping, and pressing
  
• Onboard synthesizer and sample engine, and built-in speaker offer an immediate, standalone playing experience
  
• Accelerometer and gyroscope capture a range of multi-dimensional movements
  
• Use the built-in looper to easily layer Drum, Bass, Chord, and Lead parts
  
• Connect to the cross-platform Artiphon app for more sounds, songs, and settings
  
• Connect via MIDI over Bluetooth or USB-C, and use MIDI Polyphonic Expression (MPE) to play your synths and music software in dynamic new ways
  
• Use the 1/8" (3.5mm) output to listen on headphones, speakers, and amps
  
• Multicolor LEDs respond to the way you play
  
• Embedded haptic engine offers vibration feedback
  
• USB rechargeable battery with 4+ hours of battery life

Chorda has everything you need to play and record a song; no other studio gear required.

Four Playing Modes: Chorda has four main ways to play: Drum, Bass, Chord, and Lead. Each of these has unique capabilities, with hundreds of sounds to choose from. You can switch between these with the tap of a button and load Songs as collections of presets that sound great together.

Loop and Layer: Chorda’s built-in looper lets you record multiple parts easily so that you can build beats and songs in seconds. Start with a quick Drum beat, add a groovy Bass, and jam along on Lead for as long as you’d like. Each loop can be up to 5 minutes long, so you can even make full songs to share with the world.

And a bag of chips: With a speaker, built-in sounds, and a rechargeable battery, you’ll find creativity in places you never thought possible.

How does it sound?

Chorda features an audio engine that plays any sound you can imagine using a unique blend of synthesizers and real-world audio samples. You can play instruments like electric guitars, upright pianos, string orchestras, vocals, and even custom artist beats and songs. There are over 100 presets available in the Artiphon app, with many more to come.

Sample Your World

Chorda players can also capture or import their own sounds to create unique instruments. With a button in the Artiphon App, any sound can be turned into a Chorda preset. For example, a bicycle bell, a bird in a tree, and your roommate’s singing can all be played, looped, and shared as a musical melody.

The smart tech in our app will automatically crop your sampled sound and retune it to match the key of the song you’re working on.

Instant Beats & Melodies

Chorda lets you create instant rhythms and generative melodies with an amazing arpeggiator that’s unlike anything else out there. Because Chorda has so many sensors that pick up on your finger movements, we designed a way to map these gestures to patterns.

In short, you can just place your fingers on the pads and move them around, and Chorda will take care of the rest! Every time you play, you’ll find new grooves and hooks that might become your next big hit—or more likely, you’ll just keep boppin’ your head and enjoying the musical moment.