Kim Bjørn and co-author Chris Meyer at the launch of PATCH & TWEAK at Dutch Modular Fest in 2018
Bjooks, the publisher of beautifully designed music technology books, returns to Dutch Modular Fest this Saturday at WORM in Rotterdam — the very event where the acclaimed PATCH & TWEAK book was originally launched in 2018.
Now, Bjooks is back to celebrate the growing PATCH & TWEAK Club community.
Festival attendees will have the chance to meet Bjooks founder and author Kim Bjørn, who will be on site for meet & greets and to personally sign copies of Bjooks titles, including PATCH & TWEAK, The Minimoog Book, and Synth Gems 1.
This is a unique opportunity to speak with the mind behind the movement and collect signed editions in an inspiring, creative atmosphere.
Polish SOMA laboratory was founded by Vlad Kreimer in 2016 after success with the LYRA-8 synthesizer, an interesting concept that he called“Organismic”, meaning that LYRA uses some principles that lie in the base of living organisms. "The way how LYRA’s modules interact between each other and the behavior of the instrument resembles a live digital conversation."
New colors added to the original white and black versions
While LYRA-8 was based on eight generators, Soma re-launched this as LYRA-4 as a 4-voice version and the latest news is that they added a bunch of flashy colors for the fans... They now added green, pink, orange, and Zanzibar blue to its cast of colors.
Their design is not like any traditional subtractive synthesis VCO.
Instead of having a linear or logarithmic dependency on control voltage, they resemble the tone generators in old electric organs. Hence the use of the term “voices” instead of “VCOs”.
Lyra uses non-linearity a lot, and the voices are constructed in such a way that allows for non-linearity to express itself.
It even comes in pink now! <3
The voices are divided into two pairs (12, 34), creating tree-like structure.
The voices can function either in an electric organ mode or in an FM synthesis mode with each of the voices and its envelope acting as a separate FM operator. The voice’s impact on FM synthesis will decrease along with the decay of its envelope.
LYRA-4 also has the next blocks:
The HYPER LFO is a complex low-frequency generator, whose waveform is synthesized from two simple LFOs by summation or multiplication of their frequencies. It also has a sync mode. The LFO can modulate the selected pairs of voices and the MOD DELAY.
The MOD DELAY consists of delay with feedback. The delay has a unique possibility of self-modulation where the output signal modulates the delay sample rate, creating cool effects.
The DISTORTION is last in the chain, after the delay. It enables the delay to also influence the distortion.
For all its experimental character, LYRA is a professional instrument. Its output dynamics and frequency response are balanced and ready for a live performance or studio recording without any additional processing.
On the other side of the color spectrum, the company is offering a special “Rusting SOMA” limited-edition bundle containing the PULSAR-23, LYRA-8, and COSMOS. Not just another color, the special bundle's housing utilizes the highest level of production by using a unique technology and not just an artificial aging of each product.
While each product is being offered individually, each order of a complete set of the Rusting SOMA bundle comes with matching serial numbers for each product.
Each new color variant, including Rusting SOMA, is already shipping. LYRA-4 is priced at €360 The PULSAR-23, LYRA-8, COSMOS bundle is priced at €2,700 (add €300 for Turret version)
The Bob Moog Foundation hosted a special livestream on YouTube yesterday of a 2005 panel featuring synth legends Bob Moog, Tom Oberheim, Dave Smith, and Marcus Ryle, moderated by Roger Linn.
Video: Synth Legends (2005): Bob Moog, Tom Oberheim, Dave Smith, Marcus Ryle, Roger Linn
During the one-hour and thirty-eight-minute symposium, all four innovators reflect separately about their unique histories and innovations before the group answers a series of questions collectively.
The event, originally filmed in front of a live audience, was later released on DVD in limited quantities.
This was the first time it aired in its entirety, with masterful audio enhancement of the camera mics provided by Harold LaRue Mastering.
It was Bob Moog’s final public appearance before his passing, and it’s being broadcast in full for the first time on August 21 at 8PM EDT, marking the 20th anniversary of his death.
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