What makes a machine sound organic?

When Vlad Kreimer described the Lyra 8 as being Organismic, he talked about the patterns of modulation and feedback within the Lyra to some extent mimicking the neural behaviour of living organisms. This is at least partly marketing bollocks, but also gives a good initial impression of what he was trying to achieve when designing the Lyra.

This is all well and good when inventing novel words and descriptions for things, as one can simply say that Organismic means like an organism. The term is tied exclusively to a single context.

The problem with using words like Organic to describe something is that, without some sort of specific and detailed context, the description is vague at best. For example, a sound designer might use the word organic to describe the small variations and imperfections inherent in analogue sound, whereas a classical cellist with little interest in synthesizers might describe the exact same sound as being somewhat artificial, or Inorganic.

All subjective, innit.

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Organic here doesn’t mean made out of flesh you know.

The Cylon Raiders are made of flesh.

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Reverb!

I often dream of a synth made of flesh and bone

Sounds macabre! Besides, the sound would probably go off pretty quickly.

Leather electric guitar? With a bone nut of course.

Great now we are going to have leather synths aren’t we

Keys would be toes, tickling gives vibrato

That’s called a “singer”.

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Only if you can play them like a fiddle

Probably wouldn’t be very musical. Most sounds from nature, which perhaps we can all agree are organic, are rarely musical in the sense of rhythmical and melodic structure. But organic sounds can be mechanized to render them musical, e.g. a field recording looped to give rhythmical consistency and coherence.

I was talking about a synth made out of living flesh with toes as the keyboard

The Hostbody Frankensynth. You can’t drop this and not provide a proto illustration.

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I’ll start working on a prototype, stay tuned for a demo

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Please don’t post any photos…I have a thing for (against) feet and not in a warm n fuzzy way.

@hostbody did you do the sound design for Human Centipede?

Damn, this thread may even lead to a tangible result!

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I donate my body, for posterity. And science.

Edit - ‘stayed tuned’ - I c what u did there

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Dead or alive?

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Dealers choice

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