Continuing the theme of exploring the capabilities of the Soma Lyra 8, so what else can I plug into the Lyra 8? It has a mono audio input which then goes through it's mod delay and drive section. The Lyra 8 is quite a modern and experimental sounding instrument, how well it fair if I plug in a traditional blues harp harmonica, with the help of a Sure 520DX Mic and an L.R. Baggs Para Acoustic DI?
I was after a distorted sound for the harmonica, the Lyra 8 did deliver. I wanted a raw gritty rhythm and blues sound. I fed the Lyra 8 into the Soma COSMOS for a bit of space and reverb, then off to my six track digital recorder FindTheBeat. The Soma Enner also got a look in, providing mainly the rhythm section, reminiscent of a cargo train on an old track, crossing the rail joints. The Enner rhythm parts were done with a combination of drum brush and hand tapping on the Enner front face plate picked up by it's piezo electric pickup. The Lyra 8 also provided an ebbing in and out of chords that could be imagined as an electric guitar or the roar of a distant approaching train driven by a powerful loco. The Enner has a white noise bar, perfect, imitates a wash board.
So that is track 1. The Enner rhythmic section was recorded on a separate track, so I decided to experiment with this track some in the FindTheBeat six track recorder, which allows play back speed changes, twice the speed gives quite a different feel. I then improvised on the Lyra 8 using track 1 chords as a starting point, add some new material, then just go wild improvising the dials. The Lyra 8 was fed into the Soma COSMOS, but this time I played the COSMOS with a more active role, feed in and out ideas in rhythmic mode #8 (COSMOS acting as a memory station) and playing the COSMOS Blur and Drift dials. Psychedelic!
Two very contrast tracks but with a common thread, the rhythm.