I use a free app on the ipad for tuning (just via the mic of the ipad). IMHO you can use almost anything including your ears.
Basic tuning itself isn’t hard. But due to the possible cross modulation features the tuning may not stay where you want (at least within the oscillator pairs).
I have that tuner on the cue out of the OT, I can send the lyra there if I want to tune to a specific tone (or any other instrument coming from the mixer).
If I want to play melodic stuff on the Lyra together with other tuned instruments, tuning is mandatory … I trust my ears, but a tuner is fine as well.
Consider that playing the Lyra like a traditional tuned instrument doesn’t use its full potential. IMO using the various options for cross-modulation in combination with the delay-FX and feedback lead to the true spirit of the instrument.
I disagree. I play Lyra in a band with a saxophone. It doesn’t seem to matter if I tune up or not. The end result always sounds good.
Depends on the type of music I guess.
I use one of these, it’s fantastic. One of the best things I ever bought https://www.petersontuners.com/products/strobostomphd/
Here’s a multi-layered Lyra-8 track…
I got my Lyra8 yesterday and it was even more fun to play with than I expected. Lost myself easily for two hours in those sounds, it’s been a while since I had that. Would really like to score a movie with that thing.
I had the lyra 8 for a good 6 months and still getting amazing sounds and ideas out of it. I used it for an app on the Berlin wall and a lot of tracks I sneaked it in to ad some texture and mojo. Still working on getting it into some live pa performance…
I’m really tempted by the raw, hard-to-tame analog appeal of this thing. I feel the same way I did when buying my Sherman Filterbank, which I think would pair up well with it, along with my sampler at the ready. I’ll have to make a decision when it comes back in stock on Perfect Circuit…
If you have the chance to test it somewhere it will probably convince you to get one. I was using it again yesterday and was just blown away, this thing sounds so incredibly big I had a big smile on my face while using it with the Model: Cycles and running it through the Digitone for some FX. I will bring this to the venue I work at and test it on the big PA one day. Super fascinating machine and the sound you can get out of it is just beyond words… very very happy with this purchase.
When using on-stage, I seem to mostly be riding the delay feedback. I might start trying - feeding another synth into the feedback, to see what happens. 
I also have the Soma Ether and ran it through the Lyra and both work very well together creating a thick wall of sound. I love it.
This is the way of the gods.
I’ve watched many Lyra videos that showcase the synth’s noise+screech+drone abilities. How are you all using it in music that has rhythm, melody, and harmony?
I saw a couple examples in this thread, such as @Dataline’s liveset: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyJyUeGnqaw
I’d love to hear more!
this is another good example. he has some more good vids on his channel. that video is what gave me the final push to order it:
really enjoyed it
Hey everyone, im contemplating getting a Lyra.
I wouldn’t get it because there is a gap in my sonic palette (AK & DT got that covered)
It would be for:
If you think there is a better piece of kit for these functions let me know.
Something else that could do all these things would be a Folktek nano garden.
Opinions please!
My vote definitely goes to the Lyra. Where the Folktek nano garden is mainly an effects unit (which, btw, puts an horrible noise floor on everything you route through), the Lyra is a complete instrument which ticks all the boxes of your list.
Of course, if you are already in modular stuff the nano garden may make more sense, but as a standalone unit the Lyra “wins” hands down.
Ok excellent
That’s stokes my confidence.
Didn’t know about the noise floor issue with the nano garden either
One last thing, im seeing a lot of similar sounding videos online. Do you know of any that sound radically different or showcase some special ingenuity besides feeling the noise with the touch interface.
I hear a lot of glassy/glacial sounds in most videos which I like a lot, but I’m waiting to hear something different too.
That’s mainly, because most of the videos just showcasing what happens when you more or less randomly operate the device. You can compare this to someone who just got a violin without any previous experience and makes video of the first steps (without even tuning the instrument).
With the Lyra that may already sound nice (depending on what you expect), but to get more as some random “ambience” out of it, you at least need to tune (some of) the oscillators to a scale and - of course - you need to learn how everything is interconnected.
It’s not that complicated, but you need to invest at least some time, before the results won’t sound anymore like most of the videos available.
Sorrily I can’t supply some more advanced video links. There are definitely a few out there, but I forgot to bookmark them when I did my research before buying one - … these videos are like a needle in the haystack … 