used a lot in movie making but wondered whether anyone uses it for electronic music
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nah but im interested in all that spectral morphing biz. Looked into it but the VSTs dont sound as great and im never gonna spend that much on trying it so its out of my reach unfortunately
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Hit up Scot_Solida if he doesnāt pop in here. Heās an owner and long time user as I recall.
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Speak of the devil. Watcha wanna know?
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just interested to know if it is relevant in an electronic music production sense, ie ambient, house, progressive genres
and what type of sounds you could get out of it to adapt to a tune
There arenāt many sounds you canāt get out of a Kyma system, and there are quite a lot of users who have used them for various genres over the years. Amon Tobin is but one example of someone using Kyma in a contemporary way.
I myself donāt make anything resembling popular music, but I do use it in very much a musical fashion. While it is a wonderful playground for wild experimentation, it is just as good with tonal, pitched music.
The thing to consider about Kyma is that it feels like it is aimed primarily at working professionals - i.e. sound designers, producers, people who need to get a specific job done. As such, many of the included factory presets ('Sounds" in Kyma-speak) are sort of limited to their intended purpose. Things like fully-featured ācompleteā synth constructs are much rarer (I myself have made a few that can be downloaded from the community site). This often leaves newcomers a bit befuddled (or even disappointed if they are accustomed to vast prefab collections like those associated with Reaktor).
Also, though it has also recently been given a bit of a makeover, Kymaās GUI can be charitably described as āacademicā in nature. It isnāt concerned with looking pretty, only getting the job done well.
Having said all of that, you are on the Elektron forum, and that means you are a forward-thinking musician who isnāt afraid to experiment. This is where Kyma shines. If you can imagine it, you can probably do it with Kyma. It has every form of synthesis you can think of and a few youāve likely never encountered (Slipstick synthesis anyone?). There are effects galore and all sorts of ways to introduce controlled and uncontrolled random stuff. You can build whole songs in new ways using the Timeline (one of my favorite ways to remix tracks) or you can even build your own crazy multipart beat/sequencers/choppers/processors all in sync with one another (if you so desire). You can import a sample and let Kyma generate a nearly infinite number of tools and toys around it. You can analyze audio and resynthesize it in a nearly infinite number of ways.
Now, it must be said - it isnāt for those looking for instant gratification. If the Octatrack seems like a head-scratcher, youāll want to stay very, very far away from Kyma. If you are comfortable with things like Reaktor and Max, Kyma will be a breeze - if you are up for a bit of coding (using a variation of Smalltalk), youāll have infinite control. Me, Iām no code writer, so that stuff is a bit out of my league - yet in 15 years, Iāve never run out of ideas and inspiration when using Kyma (and fortunately, there are loads of included pre-fab expressions).
Kyma isnāt immediate - doing anything with it takes forethought and preparation - kinda like patching an infinite modular synth with intent. However, if you can deal with the learning curve (one that thankfully never ends!) Kyma will repay you in inspiration and joy.
Iāve said it before, and Iāll say it again: Kyma is the holy grail of sound design. Itās expensive, yes, but much less today than it used to be, and you can start with a basic Paca system and add on as you like.
My recommendation is that you research - a lot. It took me years to convince myself to buy it. Buy the Kyma X Revealed manual. Itās a bit out of date, but itāll give you a good idea of what to expect, and if you decide it isnāt for you, itās a very small price to pay compared to buying a Paca or Pacarana.
Kyma is most definitely not for everybody, and I wonāt recommend it out of hand, but for some of us, it is indispensable.
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Great info thanks Scott
Sounds very interesting although probably not what I was expecting.
So it sounds like Reaktor is the closest thing in vst
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Kinda, yeah, maybe more so Max or PD. Itās heady stuff, but worth it. I canāt imagine being without it.
Found these tutorials on Vimeo for Kyma 7 which it appears is the newest version https://vimeopro.com/symbolicsound/kyma-7-tutorials/video/116291355. Maybe these would give you a better idea of what you are in for? This thing seems insane but I imagine if you master it you are basically creating your own instrument kind of like a modular or Max for Live. Also on their website the highest end model is called āWormholeā and the description is āfor tearing the fabric of the universeā. Fantastic.
wormhole / rabbithole by the sounds