SOMA Laboratory Lyra-4
Soma Laboratory's Lyra-4 is the little sibling to everyone's favorite organismic drone synthesizer, the Lyra-8. As its name suggests, the Lyra-4 delivers four of the eight voices in its expanded counterpart, alongside the same modulation and effects. Lyra-4 provides a compact instrument capable of rich analog waves, chaotic cross-modulated behavior, and dark, saturated, and spiraling delays. Easily fitting into your portable rig for touring musicians and anyone looking to create rich drone timbres on the go, the Lyra-4 is a fantastic addition to any experimentalist's arsenal.
The tone generation section of Lyra-4 is identical to half of a Lyra-8, with four voices divided into two pairs. Four sets of contacts provide interfaces to trigger envelopes for each voice, with fast and slow release modes and a central Hold control which adjusts the initial level for all voices. The tuning of each voice can be adjusted individually or with the Pitch control, which scales all voices together while keeping their interval relationships constant. The Sharp control shapes the voice waveforms from triangle to square, adding richness up to a sizzling buzz. Mod controls each voice pair's modulation depth, with mod source selected by the FM modulation switches. Finally, a Vibrato switch offers pitch modulation, while Total FB mode selects Lyra-4's output as its modulation source, creating a dense network of interacting feedback modulation.
Shape these sounds with modulation and effects to create expansive drone textures, gnarly feedback, and wonderfully warm saturation. The Hyper LFO creates complex waveshapes by performing logic functions between two waves, with the option to add subtle FM between each. Route this modulation source to control a lovely and dark delay effect, or flip the switch to have the delay modulate itself for added feedback fun. To shape your skronk-worthy tones at the output, a powerful overdrive effect can be mixed with the dry signal to create dense saturation or add subtle enhancement.
The Lyra-4 continues the beloved chaos of the Lyra-8 into a more portable form factor. With the additional CV inputs for voices and delay automation, Lyra-4 fits into many set-ups, bringing its organismic feedback control into the broader ecosystem of your studio. If you've been curious about exploring the chaotic and complex world of Soma devices, or simply need a more compact version of your trusty drone synth, the Lyra-4 is a wonderful way to bring the enchanting sounds of Lyra wherever you go.
Lyra-4 Features
- Four-voice analog organismic drone synthesizer
- Four touch sensitive contacts for expressive playing
- Four oscillator voices with independent tuning controls
- Oscillators divided into pairs that share envelope and modulation
- Waveshaping and FM capabilities from subtle modulation to total feedback, where the entire synth is modulated by its output
- Vibrato control adds pitch warble to all voices
- Hold knob creates static drone amplitude and interacts with envelopes
- Hyper LFO combines two waves with selectable modes to create complex modulation shapes
- Mod Delay adds warm and dark repeats with modulation and rich saturation
- Distortion with dry/wet mix control
- CV inputs for modulating voice and delay
- Headphone output
