June 16, 2025
Orchid Visualizer
I'm always excited for any opportunity to combine design and music. Orchid Visualizer is a web app that displays MIDI data from the Orchid synthesizer by Telepathic Instruments.
The app uses MIDI to visualize the chords and notes the synth is outputting. This helps you "see what you hear", and visually understand how the synthesizer is working in real-time.
The visualizer was created as an open-source project by Gabe Othman, a fellow Orchid owner.
I redesigned and coded the frontend in Windsurf using Claude and GPT, writing around a quarter of the code by hand. I documented a basic design system in the GitHub repo covering typography, color, and other basics to help contributors scale it consistently.
Orchid Visualizer (requires Orchid synth)
Orchid Visualizer on GitHub