Lyra 8 alternatives

I was watching this video and got inspired to do some droney stuff by it. I definitely don’t think I’d get £600 worth of use out of a Lyra. I know that the Lyra 8 is the complete antithesis of software but I was wondering if there was anything out there I could have a play with or if it’s something I’d have to put together in reaktor/vcv rack. I might make a lemur controller for it too. I’ve got a little Akai lpd-8 I was thinking I could use in lieu of the contacts on the Lyra and I reckon it’s doable, but before I go into doing that I thought I’d ask for any VST/reaktor ensemble suggestions. It’s a super weird unit so I doubt there’s much out there, but still. Thoughts are welcome too

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I had a chat via private message with @tumulishroomaroom a while ago about this. I loved his use of the Lyra 8 (check out his soundcloud, good stuff on there) and was curious to hear his thoughts about recreating something similar with VSTs.

Basically, his feedback was the same as the one I got from other sources and can be summed up as saying that since the interactions between the machine’s components are so complex, it would be a considerably difficult job to recreate it via effects chains in your DAW. That being said, if you know you DAW and effects well enough, you can surely analyse the Lyra’s signal path and try to come up with crazy effect chains that provide a similarly engaging output. Setting 8 voices to play from your controller and have the knobs setup to modify effects “macros”, you can get interesting results with some effort. I did some experiments in Ableton Live and while they never led me to anything close to the Lyra 8, it was a refreshing exercise. My advice is to try that first, make experiments on your own since you’re unlikely to find anything completely done already, and see if you still crave for a Lyra 8 or if you found your VST/effect interface extraordinaire through your experiments. If you do, I’d be interested to hear about it :wink:

I ended up buying a Lyra 8 and I don’t regret it. It’s not only about the amount of modulation and the innovative signal path, the physical “interface” of the machine makes it something unique. I know it sounds weird, but I feel a connection to it, as if the way I touch it would define the sound. If I had to explain it, I’d say my brain tries to replace everything I don’t understand about it with human-like traits and in a way, it feels right, the machine feels as if it was designed not to be not understood but rather felt. It’s now the main ingredient of my OT’s and MPC’s diet.

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I had a feeling it would be something like that. Glad I’m not the only one who had the same thought process about emulating it. I totally want it but it seems like such an esoteric synth I’m hesitant. I think I’ll try to make something in the same vein as it rather than trying to recreate exactly what it is. Any clue if there’s a clear signal flow chart out there to try and get whats interacting with what? beautifully written post by the way, much better than I could have expected so quickly. You’ve made me want it much more after reading that.

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Thanks for the compliment :blush:

I don’t know of any clear flow chart but the manual provides some explanation of how it works. I saw a video of the creator saying something along the lines of “I’m not sure myself of how exactly everything interacts”, so it might be tricky.
But again, experimenting with virtual effects is rewarding in its own right, I recommend it regardless of what you decide with the Lyra 8 :wink:

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I can spend hours with the lyra pummelling my brain with random noise that ends up making me feel like I’ve taken some kind of drug. Is any of it musical? I’m not sure. Occasionally it’s beautiful. All of the time it’s intoxicating. I still don’t understand it but I know I love it.

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Yeah I had the same question… I bought a Lyra 8

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I now start wondering how many of us there is :joy:

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I brought a lyra 8 as well this week. Temptation was to strong

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the analog 4 is a good alternative its dose ambient really well though its a bit different to program then the lyra 8 …

Lyra 8 is a hell of a machine. Totally worth it’s money. Glad to know the creator Vlad in person; the unit he gave to my band partner turned out quite complex to get to know (just like a majority of Elektron machines though haha) but after you do, you never regret. The instrument is definitely not just a ‘drone machine’; it can be musical and sound polished as well; the devil is in detail and diligent fine-tuning.

@jb Lyra comes with comprehensive manual which explain a lot about routing and signal adventures, and helps a lot to know what happens under the hood of this muscle synth.

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Definitely intrigued by all of the SOMA products and ethos. I have absolutely no problem in investing in Vlad and his company. The man is an artist and we are better off for it.

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My Lyra routes through AH2, with the LFO set to filter pan it works very nicely. I’m finishing an album project now and the Lyra is in every track. I don’t feel I have any mastery of it but when the projects over I’m going to spend time to understand it.

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i bought a lyra8 about a year ago. i was pretty shure i´d sell it soon again even before buying it. but somehow it´s still here.
my thoughts about it:
i think price is really fair. well made, especially the inside !
the interaction of different functions is really interessting, but some of them are not that
unpredictable at all after some time of use. there are quite a few “trademark” sounds it creates.
but again and again it surprises me, i really like what i get out of it.
maybe not the best partner for using it with sequenced and tuned music instruments,
but i run sequenced stuff through lyras ext input a lot and it´s always nice to have the delay and drive section available for … something.
i thought about replacing it too, but it would be the lyra fx eurorack module and …something
downside for me personally is that i get so many nice sounds out of it i´d like to “control” but the machine does it´s own thing :wink:

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I have owned a Lyra for almost two years now. One thing I notice, is that the voice sensors really do react to temperature, humidity, not only of my skin but also the environment. So a patch left untouched changes its sound by nature of those sensors.

Some days she is really loud, some days she is soft with not much bass, some days she is a monster. Lyra lives!

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get a Lyra 4 - that’s what I did ! :wink:
the 4 voices is enough for me - I don’t do any FM stuff on it - it’s really a pretty straightforward drone / weird pad machine that I only use on say every 1 in 5 tracks… For live gigs the Lyra 4 is good too as there’s obviously less to tweak - which I see as sort of an advantage in that environment…

having said that I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a 4 crop-up second hand, but there must be a few more out there…?

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I think with some modular rack in Software you can come up with something different, but it wont interact and sound like the lyra. its because the lyra uses a lot of feedback loops and self modulation on the delay that bring the electrical components in an unstable state. to control this and make it into something musical you need that many direct handson knobs, a midi controller would be to vague.

some software experiment idea:
you might try to take a modular delay from bitwig and put a acoustic feedback plugin from softube in the feedback fx slot of the delay. add lfos and distortion to taste.

edit: I somehow completely ignored that the OP wants software… ups. :wink:

I´ve been thinking about this a little bit, and I had this idea…

I have these"AllFlesh" touchpads-on-a-jack from Landscape.fm kicking around…

Maybe that would be a way to turn an existing Eurorack system in something resembling a Lyra:

take outputs of 2 oscillators and put the contact pads in one of each, then another pad each to an FM input on the oscillators.

now, touching an “output” pad and an “FM” pad at the same time would result in unstable FM’ing… touching 4 pads at once would probably be total chaos, but possibly in a good way… ?
now do that 3-4 times (meaning you´ll want at least 4+ oscillators) and add delay, ringmod, other crazy FX… et voila! :slight_smile:

mind you, this is in no way cheaper than a LYRA8… but it might be a good option for someone who already has a few oscillators etc.

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A Lyra-8 is Lyra-8 is a Lyra-8 is a Lyra-8… :slight_smile:

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If you’ve got an iPad then there’s a LOT of droning apps out there.
Even delve into granular apps like Borderlands with lot of added reverb for drone soundscapes that can be put through effects.

I know a lot of folk prefer hardware to software but actually I find that the iPad touch interface really lends itself to drones, soundscapes etc. Something very satisfying about moving your fingers around on the screen that changes the soundscape.

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Another Lyra-8 user here … :smiley:

IMO most of the unique sounds of the Lyra are created by the “weird” crossmodulation between pairs and groups of oscillators in combination with the delay unit and the modulation of the delay unit. I call it weird, because it’s a kind of FM modulation, which definitely doesn’t work like the typcial analogue FM as I have it in my modular system.

This instrument is reacting quite “organic”. Sometimes it seems predictable, sometimes it seems weird and wild. A small change of one parameter can change a sound dramatically.

This said, I fear, there is nothing else like the Lyra. I would say, if you like the sounds and the fact that you have to learn and study a new instrument, go for it. I have lost hours just sitting with the Lyra on my desk, nothing else, and beeing fascinated …

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