# Exploring the Lyra-8 Organismic Synthesizer



## dannthr (Jan 26, 2018)

This week, I Received my Soma Labs Lyra-8 Organismic Synthesizer. It is an 8 voice hardware synthesizer with a complex ecology of intermodulating elements including a self-modulating delay.

The result of this complexity is what I find to be really interesting and compelling textures and noise.







This instrument is fascinating because, as it doesn't have any digital input, does not allow the recording of performances. In this way, every performance is unrepeatable and demands the player go on a journey of exploration and discovery.

In my first session, I explored some of the more immediate and raw textures. The session itself ran amuck with some technical issues, so I only captured some excerpts which you can listen to here:



For my second session, however, I wanted to see if I could achieve a more harmonically stable sound--something more diatonic--and I wanted to hear how the textures would play within some deep reverb, so for tonight's session, I added the following plugins in Cubase:
Steinberg Ping-Pong Delay
QL Spaces
Unfiltered Audio Sandman Pro
2CAudio B2
Fabfilter Pro-L

For this session, I captured the entire session:


At the beginning, you can hear the unprocessed oscillators that I have tuned to an Fm7 chord. In order to maintain harmonic stability, I avoided pitch or tuning modulation on my oscillators and instead relied on the self-oscillating Mod Delay to add additional pitches to the textures.

Let me know what you think, I'm really loving this instrument so far.


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## Phillip (Jan 26, 2018)

Fm7 chord is not exciting enough to click play button.


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## C.R. Rivera (Jan 26, 2018)

"This instrument... does not allow the recording of performances."
You then have two examples to support 'non-recording'.


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## Saxer (Jan 26, 2018)

Strange machine but interesting output! A lot of food for the sampler!


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## funnybear (Jan 26, 2018)

C.R. Rivera said:


> "This instrument... does not allow the recording of performances."
> You then have two examples to support 'non-recording'.



He meant recording of his performance playing the instrument


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## synthpunk (Jan 26, 2018)

We do not need to be rude or obtuse.



Phillip said:


> Fm7 chord is not exciting enough to click play button.


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## dannthr (Jan 26, 2018)

Phillip said:


> Fm7 chord is not exciting enough to click play button.



Hi Phil,

I probably should have clarified.

The Lyra's tuning knobs are very finicky and are not stepped. Essentially, as I have learned, it has 4 pairs of oscillators (bass, tenor, alto, soprano) and each oscillator is capable of an incredible range of fundamental frequencies (the soprano oscillators go from sub-audible ranges on hard left to thousands of hz on the hard right).

Landing on a definite pitch takes a lot of fiddling as small tweaks left or right can swing your fundamental around pretty wildly. 

For this exercise, I thought it'd be best to try to select some initial pitches that would sound harmonious together. I went with a voicing like this:

Bass: F F (separated by octave)
Tenor: F C (separated by fifth)
Alto: F Bb (fourth)
Soprano: Eb Ab (fourth)

Each pitch ascending (except the upper F and the lower F of the Bass and Tenor respectively, which are actually in unison) from the last. The reason is that I can only sustain the oscillators without holding them manually in either the lower or upper registers (or both). So I can "hold" the lower four oscillators by dialing in a knob or "hold" the upper four oscillators with another knob.

To me, this meant that it would be easier to get a harmonious sound if the registers were tuned with compatible pitches.

Straying from that tuning would mean I would have a lot of difficulty returning without sounding like I was 'looking for a pitch.'

For brevity, I just said Fm7, which conveys the gist of the tuning without getting nitty gritty.


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## dannthr (Jan 26, 2018)

C.R. Rivera said:


> "This instrument... does not allow the recording of performances."
> You then have two examples to support 'non-recording'.



Hi C.R.,

I apologize for the confusion. This recording was made in Cubase as audio via the Lyra-8's analog output transferred through a DAC and into my DAW as digital audio.

When I said "digital interface," I was referring to something like (but not specifically) the standard Musical Instrument Digital Interface, which is a fairly common technology that allows people to record a performance as a sequence of events instead of recording it as audio.

This being VI-Control, that was an assumption made on my part in the general experience of the forum users.

Being able to record a performance as a sequence of events allows the author (or anyone, really) the ability to modify or edit the actual performance, and then replay that performance over and over again. They can, as sometimes is desired, capture that performance as audio and in the audio domain implement effects or edits that are audio related. However, editing audio and editing a recording of events results in completely different outcomes.

In my case, the convenience of being able to edit my performance later on and then re-record the sequence is not possible. The Lyra-8 has no digital input that will allow it to replay a sequence of events or modulation.

I suspect that is a design element, part of the philosophy of the instrument that you cannot repeat a performance.

If you'd like to learn more about that technology, you should check out this wikipedia article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIDI


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## dannthr (Jan 26, 2018)

Saxer said:


> Strange machine but interesting output! A lot of food for the sampler!


Definitely!

This is why I was so interested in it. I love the idea of discovering sound, capturing that, and then perhaps building a library of interesting or unusual sounds that I can then mine for more structured musical production/composition.

However, my experience so far has been unexpected. As I play the instrument, I find myself getting into a focused, almost meditative state, and I gain an appreciation of a sound event not as a one-off sample, but rather as the result of an accumulated performance. Every tweak of a knob or toggle of a switch was a stepping stone that brought me closer to that sound and if I were to attempt to walk that path again, I would never be able to get everything right again.

Like a Tibetan Monk's Mandala, at the end of the session, that particular configuration and movement of knobs and switches is gone--it was a moment in time--and you just appreciate the ephemeral nature of the sound, the music, the noise.

I'm really digging it!


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## dannthr (Jan 26, 2018)

synthpunk said:


> We do not need to be rude or obtuse.


Hah!

It's an interesting criticism, I am intrigued now to think about how I can achieve a greater diversity of harmony within the constraints of the instrument's design.


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## C.R. Rivera (Jan 27, 2018)

dannthr said:


> Hi C.R.,
> I apologize for the confusion. This recording was made in Cubase as audio via the Lyra-8's analog output transferred through a DAC and into my DAW as digital audio.



Hi Dan, where abouts in Seattle are you? I used to live in Portland when working on my MA in the 80s. I started then with MIDI with the Commodore 64 to push it thru their systems with the SC sequencer and Dr T. hardware..is that pre-school these days? 

My wife complained about me taking over the basement.

Cheers

CRR


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## dannthr (Jan 27, 2018)

C.R. Rivera said:


> Hi Dan,



Hi C.R.,



> where abouts in Seattle are you?



East side.



> I used to live in Portland when working on my MA in the 80s. I started then with MIDI with the Commodore 64 to push it thru their systems with the SC sequencer and Dr T. hardware..is that pre-school these days?



Cool, bro. Then it sounds like you're already familiar with the concept of an event-based communications protocol and your previous confusion might be best re-classified as feigned naiveté or an attempt at snarky humor--all of which I'm totally for, if there is of course something you actually wanted to contribute to the topic.

As far as working with the Commodore 64, there are probably a host of better ways to introduce programming to children, and while I would certainly encourage youngsters to explore programs and programming for the C64 as a kind of computer appreciation (game and game audio appreciation included), the hardware will not be as easy to come by as an emulator.

With that said, as you might have guessed, the SID chip is quite popular on its own and Elektron is famous for repackaging harvested SID chips as a SID Station, which you might be able to find if you're feeling nostalgic for your youth (or whatever stage of life you might have been in when you worked on your MA).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektron_SidStation

So while I don't know exactly what the computer and computer music curriculum looks like for pre-school these days, I am not confident that it involves a C64.



> My wife complained about me taking over the basement.



That sounds rough, man, I hope you were able to work things out.



> Cheers
> 
> CRR



Cheers.


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## dannthr (Jan 29, 2018)

Another session,

This one I tried to play with a more diverse tuning while still trying to preserve harmony in the pairs and quads, so a lot of pairs separated by 4ths or 5ths.

I also went into some pitch modulation with the LFO and some FM mod between the oscillators. Some of it works, some of it is what it is. I'm not always sure what's going to happen when I try something, so sometimes I don't have a good idea on how to introduce it, but I'm learning.

Anyway, I added the following plugins:
Steinberg Ping-Pong
QL Spaces (with some Dry modulation in the middle)
Valhalla FreqEcho



Comments about the tracks or the synth or my approach (or really anything pertaining to the topic which is sounds I am making with the Lyra 8) are welcome!


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## dannthr (Feb 24, 2018)

An opportunity for another session tonight:
This session, I tuned all the oscillators AND I tuned the delay line so I could create tuned feedback on a fundamental.

Bass osc and delay line tuned on low F, then the rest of the oscillators were tuned by 5ths (C, G, D, E, A, B).

"Melody" section was created by FModulating the upper register against each other.

FM on the Lyra is really unpredictable, seems like lots of things influence the modulation including wave-shape. The Melody/solo section was performed by manipulating modulation amount and wave shape (which somehow resulted in pitch changing).

Additional Effects:
Unfiltered Audio Sandman Pro (Delay Effect)
2C-Audio B2 (Reverb Effect)


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## dannthr (Mar 3, 2018)

I had a really long workday on Thursday and got home super late, tired but a bit wound up after my long commute; so I decided to do another Lyra-8 session (again, unedited performance).

This time I tuned the Oscillators as:
F, F, C, G, Ab, Ab, Eb, Bb

Which I think was successful as it let me hold the registers without too much dissonance at the same time giving me some harmonic flexibility within an F dorian palette.

I admit to getting "into the zone" a bit on this one, so my performance changes are a bit lower energy/slower to move, but I like the way it turned out for the most part.

I might try to set up a video recording of these performances some time.


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## ziggi (Dec 14, 2019)

Hey Dan
I just wanted to congratulate you for creating these amazing soundscapes. I'm afraid I fall in love with this instrument. Eerie, unexpected, unsafe, ephemeral, taming an inner monster, ;D Definitely one of the most inspiring instruments lately.


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## dannthr (Dec 27, 2019)

ziggi said:


> Hey Dan
> I just wanted to congratulate you for creating these amazing soundscapes. I'm afraid I fall in love with this instrument. Eerie, unexpected, unsafe, ephemeral, taming an inner monster, ;D Definitely one of the most inspiring instruments lately.



Hi Ziggy, thanks for the kind words! I have really enjoyed this instrument. Definitely recommend it for people looking to push a little sideways on a synth experience.


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## ag75 (Dec 27, 2019)

I'm loving this! Super interesting. Thanks for sharing.


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## dannthr (Dec 27, 2019)

Thanks, @ag75!


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## CGR (Dec 27, 2019)

dannthr said:


> I had a really long workday on Thursday and got home super late, tired but a bit wound up after my long commute; so I decided to do another Lyra-8 session (again, unedited performance).
> 
> This time I tuned the Oscillators as:
> F, F, C, G, Ab, Ab, Eb, Bb
> ...



Really interesting stuff Dan - huge sounds. Looking forward to hearing more.


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## Sunny Schramm (Nov 7, 2020)

Got mine today - build like Nuclear Control Board from Russia (well - its from Poland) 😃






First try on it reminds me heavily on this Spaceship-Sound from "Bladerunner 2049":


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## dannthr (Nov 7, 2020)

Hell ya! Congrats! Also sick sounds! I really love my Lyra, really isn't anything quite like it!

I'm on the waiting list for a Pulsar 23.


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## Sunny Schramm (Nov 7, 2020)

THX  

Yes, its an incredible machine! Will print the manual tomorrow and sit down with it and the machine on my couch - having a good time and recording everything. Maybe some unique cool sounds and atmospheres will coming out of it 👍

The Pulsar 23 is also very interesting. Let us know when it arrives


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## Sunny Schramm (Nov 7, 2020)

BTW: this video is amazing!


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## cuttime (Nov 7, 2020)

There is a Reaktor simulation. I'm not making any claims about authenticity, but the price is right:






ENTRY







www.native-instruments.com


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## dannthr (Nov 20, 2020)

That's pretty cool!

The Reaktor user community is amazing! Love to see things like that. 

For me, playing the Lyra is very meditative. I am trying to figure out a setup right now with all my hardware where I have maximum control when my DAW is loaded, but have the capability of just running everything without turning the computer on at all.

For me, playing on the Lyra is an opportunity to explore sound without a computer.


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