Lyra-8 Organismic Drone Synth (Green)

SOMA Laboratory Lyra-8

The SOMA LYRA-8 is an Organismic synthesizer, perfect for drones and soundscapes. What is an Organismic synthesizer? Organismic refers to the fact that the LYRA-8’s modules are all connected in non-linear feedback paths that resemble the organs and systems of a living being. It features eight voices each with pitch knob, envelope generator, and touch plate for triggering the voices. By being able to adjust the notes for the eight voices this allows for non-traditional tuning and scales completely designed by the user. Each voice has its own dedicated LFO tuned to a specific frequency which adds movement to the voices. All voices have waveform knobs that smoothly morph the triangle wave into a square wave. The two groups of four voices have a hold knob for drones and a transpose knob to set the master pitch the two groups of oscillators are synced to. The LYRA-8 has frequency modulation available whose routing is controlled by four three-way switches. Modulation can come from the HYPER LFO or one of the neighboring voices and has an amount knob to set the depth of modulation.

The HYPER LFO is comprised of two LFOs that have independent frequency control, that are either summed or multiplied against each other to create a new more complex waveform for modulation. The two LFOs can also be synced to each other. The MOD DELAY has two independent delays that can be modulated by one of HYPER LFO’s waveforms. The delay time can also be modulated by its own output signal which leads to unpredictable effects, even being able to act as its own separate synth voice. The DISTORTION section has two controls, mix, which sets the mix between the dry sound and the distorted sound, and drive, which adds distortion to the incoming signal. On the back of the unit there are CV inputs including CV voice, CV delay, hold gate, and an external input. Great for atmospheric drones, eerie sound design, or melodic organ-style lines, the LYRA-8 is a great little machine.

Lyra-8 Features

• Eight voice desktop synthesizer
• Organismic design and routing of feedback
• Eight tunable voices with touch pads
• LFO per voice
• HYPER LFO complex modulation source
• Two independent delays
• Distortion
• FM control with routing controlled by switches
• Hold knob for droning the voices
• CV inputs