I’ve been using Kyma for 20 years, and I wouldn’t want to be without it. It’s a crucial part of my studio.
Don’t plan on mastering it in a single lifetime, and you don’t need to. Kyma has been in ongoing development for many decades and as such is a vast environment with a seemingly unlimited number of possibilities. You won’t use them all, but whatever you need is probably there or can be made with the available tools.
If you are comfortable writing code, you’ll have a leg up, but it isn’t at all necessary. I don’t and I’ve never run out of ideas or inspiration. Kyma offers many possibilities for using expressions, but there is a large library of pre-made expressions available, plus good contextual help functions.
Don’t expect to find a bunch of included pre-fab emulations of famous synths - or even a bunch of complete devices with all the bells and whistles, such as you find in something like Reaktor. Most of the factory ‘patches’ (they’re called ‘Sounds’ in Kyma) are designed to do a single job or type of job, i.e. “Sum of sine Flanged”, “Filtered Saw”, or “Sample Reshuffler” (I’m paraphrasing, but you get the idea). There are some full-blown synths and effects in the user library (including a few rudimentary creations of my own), but the focus is on giving you the tools to complete a task efficiently and without comprise. Kyma is a favorite among Hollywood sound designers, and that shows in the sorts of things on offer.
Which isn’t to say there aren’t plenty of things available for the electronic musician - there are! They range from low level tools (if you know Smalltalk, you’ll be right at home) to one-click instant gratification devices that can transform the humblest sample into a deep ambient soundstorm.
Kyma is ideal for sonic experimentalists, though it also makes a good jack-of-all trades for the studio owner.
Like a lot of graphical programming environments, Kyma works on two levels. On one level, you patch together your Sounds and the user interface you desire, then send them off to the hardware, where that Sound can be manipulated in realtime via the widgets you’ve designated - you can control it with an iPad, Linnstrument, Continuum, or any MIDI controller you have,
Definitely not. Symbolic Sound are a small but open and friendly company with very helpful users. However, it is not the sort of system that appeals to a massive user base. You can’t buy it in stores, and it isn’t cheap or immediate. Because of that, there are simply fewer Kyma users out there than there are, say, Elektron users and many people that use Kyma are professional sound designers for the film and game industry who are focused more on meeting deadlines than promoting themselves on Youtube or whatever. This is, admittedly, one of the drawbacks. There aren’t a lot of tutorials (but those that are out there are pretty good, if a bit niche), and there aren’t a lot of examples or demos. That makes it a bit difficult to figure out if it’s right for you.
As for the hardware - yes, you can get a lot of older hardware. A Paca or preferably a Pacarana would go quite far. I rarely hit the wall with my Pacarana and when I did, I could make a tweak or two to the Sound, and stay on track. However, it must be said that the Pacarana is now 15 years old, so keep that in mind. A Pacamara Ristretto would be a better bet, but it’s only $500 less than the full Ristretto Pro. I personally see no reason not to pony up an extra few hundred buck to get the far more powerful Pro version when you’re already spending over $3k.
I could write reams on Kyma. I truly love it. It’s not for everyone, though. It is a labor of love for its creators and it is designed to do work, not to appeal to the eye. It’s interface is utilitarian, to put it mildly, however, once you get used to it, it’s quick and friendly and, most of all, fun and inspiring.
Make sure you budget for a compatible interface. I use a Focusrite Scarlett to get audio and MIDI in and out of my Ristretto Pro (it also has USB ports into which you can plug a MIDI controller).
Whew. I hope that helps. Excuse any typos. I am way too lazy to go back and proof read that!
thank you for writing this, i definitely am more like yourself than any “pro” so it’s great to hear your feedback regarding the community. Sounds like my kinda peeps!