TERRA by Soma Laboratory

yeah, that could be. it’s supposed to be a multi-timbral synth under the hood, so maybe there’s some type of preset loading mechanism. i wouldn’t be surprised at all if it didn’t work that way, though. we shall see.

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Horrible hippie shit. They peaked at Lyra, everything since has been useless gimmicks

The Pulsar-23 is one helluva useless gimmick then

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This is the first soma product that I’m really really interested in… I think it looks amazing… I would much rather have a metal box version though I think. I also hope it has a built in realtime sequencer… that would be pretty insane.

I still don’t really understand though the difference in this and a normal poly synth though… I mean on both you are either playing a note, or turning a parameter, or both… but that is kinda the limit… and on both you can do all that… so what’s the difference between playing notes and twiddling knobs, and hitting the metal thing and twiddling as you play the note? You still are limited by having only two hands right?

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Right, well that was a good one.

i don’t think they’ve mentioned anything about a sequencer and highly doubt they’ll include one. it’s meant to be a playable instrument, which is kind of why the midi surprised me. the sauce is in the haptic controls. i don’t know why you’d want to sequence something like this unless the VA engine underneath is truly special. it does seem unique, but i also wonder if one couldn’t achieve similar results with a similar VA synth like the micromonsta 2 and a capable MPE controller.

Same here. I’m intrigued by the combination of polyphony/pitch range/pitch resolution, and tactile/immediate microtonal retuning—almost regardless of the sound engine or aesthetics… I don’t know if I’ll end up with one, but I’m keeping an eye on it for sure.

I think Kreimer said in one of the Superbooth videos that there will be two versions: wood for over $1000, and metal for under $1000. (Can’t find this at the moment)

that seems accurate. in that facebook thread, they mention targeting production price for the wood version at 1k euros.

Since the Pulsar-23 though… Yeah, I know what you mean. I’d like them to bring out their take on a digital drum synth for example, as their digital bass synth in the Pulsar-23 was the most organic sounding I’ve heard. Or maybe a stripped-back Pulsar designed as a smaller desktop unit. Or maybe a polysynth designed around that lovely digital bass voice. I dunno, something more tangible and less experimental? Still, I’m glad to see them making anything at all.

same here, x2. i hope they don’t release it till 2023 because i pledged not to buy anything in 2022, and all my hardware is sitting around unused anyway. i don’t need this at all, but it looks like a really interesting instrument. in the mean time, all my gear money is going toward piano lessons. if this ever sees the light of day, and if reviews look good, maybe it’s worth considering adding it to the collection.

I really love the design and sound of this. It sounds amazing, and I love the microtonal potential and interface.

The dismay in this thread over using a slice of tree is interesting. Fun fact, humans have been using living beings to make music instruments for some time now. There is the pervasive belief among many traditional cultures that the plants and animals thus used have their “voices” live on and “sing” through the playing of the instrument.

I haven’t checked, but I would hope that Soma will use salvage wood (normally waste or culled due to disease or other purpose, etc). Also, if I was a tree, and humans were going to cut me down anyway, I’d much rather be a music instrument living on in someone’s creativity than so many other things that people cut trees for.

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You wait til they find out that all the drinking straws are made of trees now too…

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I want a synthesizer that’s made out of a slice of a tree, but then with plastic cheeks on the sides, so it looks cool on Instagram with RGB lights

Nah, I’d push for quality: wooden body synth with steel end cheeks. Something with some heft :thinking:

Always nice to see unique instruments.

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I just realized… it is made to look like the bisection of a tree, but it is not… the lines are going straight across… So why not just make a circle?

Perhaps he wants to have a more organic shape/look like a bisection of tree while being much stronger than a bisection.

Still not sure if it is for me, but that is a hell of a demo here!

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That is cool! I can totally see this being popular with electronic folk artists and in jam sessions for new-age types (read: hippies), which I think is great.

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Somebody will play one at High Zero Festival in Baltimore in the near future. Guaranteed.