I’m pretty happy with the Elmyra 2. What I especially like:
- The character. It’s never clean, always interesting, and has a wide range for how lo-fi, distorted, crackly, noisy, brutal or ghostly you want to make it. The oscillators are a little dirty, the delay very much so (but unique in its sound), the filter options are all fairly clean and normal allowing you to claw back some control, and then the fuzz section is an absolute beast although a couple of the included modifier cards can take it to a less piercing place.
- Comparing it to the Lyra-8, it feels a lot more intentional and controllable. The CV inputs work like you’d expect instead of basically random garbage; it can be sequenced internally or externally without any trouble, and the four oscillators have enough independence you can combine a drone, a sequence (internal or external) and a couple of manually played voices into a cohesive-sounding whole.
- Plenty of filter options to choose from.
- There’s a quantizer which has some microtonal modes including 7EDO and 9EDO, which I find particularly easy to work with.
What I wish was different, or don’t particularly like:
- The “secret codes” button combos are definitely a compromise. While I appreciate several of the available options, I don’t like having to keep a cheat sheet. I’m planning on making a micro cheat sheet with my label printer to stick onto the front edge of the unit.
- Speaking of edges, I’m not that fond of the pebbly texture of the 3D-printed panels on the front and back edges. That’s getting pretty picky though.
- I wish it had dedicated drone switches or knobs, instead of holding down a multi-function button for > 1 second and not having any visual indicator that it’s enabled.
- Level controls per oscillator would be nice, although one of the “MODP” modes is a lowpass filter and that works pretty well for the job.
- Individual outputs per oscillator would also be nice. There is only one DAC though, and that’s right before the fuzz stage; everything else on the instrument is digital.
- Likewise, the audio input only runs through the fuzz, without the benefit of the unique delay section. The most interesting use I’ve found for that is to offset the signal into the fuzz using an LFO or envelope.
But overall, aside from the cheat sheet thing I find this fits my music and preferred style of music-making to a T. I’m not sure yet where I’m physically going to fit it into my setup — I don’t feel it really needs to be patched to anything else, aside maybe from 0-Ctrl or some sequenced gates on occasion, so it could probably go anywhere. It’s definitely not going to replace my Strega or Minibrute 2S, but I might find a way to get it onto the same stand with them.
Teenage Engineering just announced a medieval version of their EP-133. It features a weirdly Gothic segmented LED display, Latin calligraphy, samples of various medieval instruments and foley, and “cocoa scented paeds.” Okay TE, you do you.
I have to admit I haven’t used my EP-133 very much. Obviously it’s more a tool for making beats than for ambient/drone, but I’ve proven that it can be employed for drones, or for resampling stuff in general. It just doesn’t fit with everything else all that well. I keep thinking I should pull it out and get cozy with using it, but there it sits, batteries removed.
I think I like Harris’ choice for VP, Tim Walz. Not a perfect choice but a good one, like Harris, and they seem like they’ve got some momentum behind them. So hopefully they’ll Walz right into the Oval Office this November.