Getting Started

Orbiter is a generative ambient instrument built around three physically modelled sound sources — a handpan, a gong, and a singing bowl. Play the pads by hand, hand the reins to the built-in generative sequencer, or both at once. Orbiter runs as a standalone app on the web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android, and as a VST3, CLAP, and Audio Unit plugin (instrument or audio effect) inside any compatible DAW.

The instruments aren't trying to be literal recreations of their acoustic counterparts. They're inspired by the real-world objects and grounded in the same physical modelling techniques used to simulate them, but Orbiter happily steps beyond what's physically possible — bending the pitch of a handpan note, sustaining a gong indefinitely, or driving a bowl with a drum loop are all things you can do here even if you couldn't on the bench.

Web App

The fastest way to try Orbiter is in the browser; no installation or account needed.

• The full app — all three instruments together with the generative sequencer — is at the Orbiter home page. It opens in the Orbit view; tap the sun to start playback, or tap Explore to enter the Instruments view.
• For just one instrument on its own (no sequencer, no other instruments), visit the per-instrument pages: Handpan, Gong, or Sound Bowl. These embed the same engine but filtered to a single instrument so you can audition it in isolation.

Standalone app and DAW plugins

Download the latest installer for your platform from the downloads section. Every desktop download ships the standalone Orbiter app — same UI as the web app, with the generative sequencer — alongside whichever DAW plugin formats the channel allows.

• macOS — direct .pkg download ships the standalone app + VST3 + CLAP + AUv3 plugins.
• macOS — Mac App Store build is sandboxed and ships only the standalone app + AUv3 plugins (App Store distribution rules don't permit VST3 / CLAP).
• Windows (.msi) ships the standalone app + VST3 + CLAP plugins.
• Linux (.deb) ships the standalone app + VST3 + CLAP plugins.

See Plugin Formats for the per-platform format matrix.

Plugin Installation Paths

After running the installer, plugins are placed in the standard system directories:

macOS

Windows

Linux (Debian / Ubuntu via the .deb package)

Load in Your DAW

After installation, rescan plugins in your DAW. Orbiter appears as six plugins — three instruments and three effects:

• Orbiter Handpan — Modal synthesis handpan with 8 factory scales
• Orbiter Gong — Physically modelled gong with nonlinear mode interaction
• Orbiter Bowl — Singing bowl with strike and rub excitation
• Orbiter Handpan Resonator — Handpan model as an audio-effect resonator
• Orbiter Gong Resonator — Gong plate model as an audio-effect resonator
• Orbiter Bowl Resonator — Bowl model as an audio-effect resonator

iOS and Android (beta)

Orbiter on iOS and Android is in beta testing. Both are full standalone apps with background audio support. The iOS app additionally exposes the six individual plugins (Handpan / Gong / Bowl synths, plus their three resonator audio effects) as AUv3 Audio Unit extensions, so any iOS host that loads Audio Units — GarageBand, AUM, Cubasis, BeatMaker, etc. — can load them on instrument or effect tracks alongside its own plugins. The standalone app's full Orbiter experience (the generative sequencer, scene presets, all three instruments together) isn't itself a plugin.

See the downloads section for current TestFlight (iOS) and Play Console (Android) beta links.

Sharing and Collaboration

From any platform, you can share a URL that encodes your entire setup. In the web app, shared links also enable real-time collaborative sessions.