LYRA-8 Organismic Synth (for soundscapes, FXs, pads, complex textures)

Has anyone here done mods to the Lyra? I have seen some on other forums, but none that I am exactly hoping to do. I want to be able to send CV out from the LFO and can’t imagine this would be a very challenging modification. A little more out there, but I have always wished the Lyra to have a built in spring reverb and consider one day trying to make this happen.

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I really enjoyed reading your account of owning three Lyras. I owned a used white one, sampled it a lot then sold it as I needed the cash for something else. I miss it sometimes. Will probably end up with another. I too got a pre-owned Pulsar-23 in October/November of 2021 and man oh man do I love it. Often think it would be nice to have a Lyra to drone in the background but then I turn on my tiny Korg Monotron Delay and patch that into the Pulsar-23. :smiley:

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Wow this is great ! Love it. Big fan of Plaster. Glad I discovered this label.
Good to know there are differences between Lyra batches.

Is there a difference with the Pinky Lyra sound wise?

I’m also interested in modded Lyra’s. Care to share witch forums and what you found ?

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yes very much so… the lyra is like barely controlled blissful chaos where you are very much a part of the instrument… as other have said it’s really a experience one you either love(I do) or hate, where as the plinky is more a interesting take on a traditional synth that can give you some beautiful soundscapes…

I think for how I make music since having the lyra like I mentioned in a previous post, I wish I had more control over it and the plinky would give me that… if I could get my hands on one(and I am not paying for the second hand rip off prices right now)

Oh wow i am surprised, I ll drop an email to Vlad as i thought they all sounded the same, the color was just cosmetic

I think there’s a confusion with the Plinky

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Lyra-8 haunting sounds used in track:

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It’s not a matter of colour but I think it’s a matter of different batches that are slightly different one to another. It’s just part of the fact that Soma’s products are handmade and so each one is unique in its own way. Probably, you will find differences between Lyra’s of the same colour too.

I had a white one from about March to August of 2021. Every time I played it, I would be amazed but I just didn’t use it enough. I sold it and of course I wish I hadn’t but, it’s all in the game. I have plenty of recordings from it if I want to revisit or am looking for some Lyra atmosphere to go in a track. I almost bought another one but got an Mpc 1000 instead. There’s nothing quite like Lyra 8.

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The Lyra DIY post on I think Muffwigglers (or whatever more tasteful name its going by now) is where I saw it. It has admittedly been a while since I’ve rummaged through it, but searching post by people that built it up for a kit is the way to find the mods that have been done

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Here is the site for the expansion PCB’s and front panel. I just ordered mine though I don’t know if I am going to edit my original or try to just order a set of PCB’s from SOMA and build a second one…

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Ok, now I want to share a note concerning Lyra’s tuning.
So, yesterday I was showing off Lyra to a friend of mine who plays cello in a professional orchestra. Side note: the girl has almost perfect pitch.
First thing she tried was tuning the thing and I was like “yeah don’t worry about it, the oscillators have a huge range and they are not stable enough”. I didn’t even finished the phrase that she was tuning by ear the third oscillator a minor seventh above the first with instant precision, as if she knew where the notes would be. I was, like, completely shocked. I told her “how the hell did you do this, it’s black magic”. And she answered “hell no, you never tried tuning a cello”.

So, then I remembered something Vlad is saying in the manual and in the videos about how he thinks his instruments like acoustic instrument and how he wanted to make a synth that had more in common with a violin than with a traditional synthesizer.
I think what I am trying to say is: you don’t learn how to play these instruments overnight. You need practice, and effort and a highly developed ear to be able to play them properly. Don’t give up. Or, maybe, give up and keep playing what you know. Or just random drone the hell out of it.

Have fun.

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Just got the PCB’s from SOMA today. Now all I need to do is finish collecting all the parts and find the time to build… Should be fun!

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Oh man! Such a difficult project. Once I was already to purchase the kit but I gave up the last minute. But could you found all the components? I remember that some parts was impossible to be found.
Wish you could luck. Looking forward to see it complete

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Honestly I work in a electronic lab so it not a difficult project by my standards at all(thankfully… thought it would be fun to do a “old school” project like this as I have always used SMD’s), and even the parts count is not scary(try a board to acquire readout of ultra high performance CCD for a ground based telescope to look for dark matter(3000+ parts)… or all the front end electronics for the TRT in ATLAS)

As for part acquisition I would say for the average hobbyist it would be very hard, but everything is available(even got a hold of the USSR cap you don’t have to use), but available and cheap are two different things and nothing is cheap anymore… again my work could help in this as I have been the finder for parts in my group for about 20 years…

the one thing slowing my down is $$ for the rest of the parts(have all the R and C’s), and time as I never seem to have enough(or I am very lazy…). Also the fact I have a SOMA build black one helps with the urge to hear it(though I really think the Tweaks make it a much more powerful instrument). I will keep everyone updated but don’t expect anything for about 30 days at a minimum :frowning:

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I just received the Soma Bag, the one with room for two, maybe three Lyras. I wasn’t shocked to discover a total absence of padding, despite the Soma sales text claiming “Protection – 1 cm hard foam made from Cordura.”

My plan is to use a large laptop sleeve as padding between the Lyra and my bony frame. I’d love to hear what others have used to keep their Soma devices safe in this bag.

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The color is entirely cosmetic.

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A lot of the demos I’ve seen show off the beautiful atmospheric soundscapes that the Lyra-8 can make, but there’s not too many showing what you can do with some of the control inputs. The GATE input in particular opens up a whole different world… so I put together this video talking about it/showing it off.

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