Kyma questions

I am considering buying a basic Kyma system and Gary Morrison
suggested that I post here for comments and opinions.

I am interested in it more for sound design than alternate tuning,
although I would do that as well.

Please let me know what your experiences are with this system.

Private replies are preferred.

Bill Meadows
mrbill@oakhill.sps.mot.com

Bill,

I had the pleasure of working with a Kyma system for two years at the
University of Iowa. The learning curve for simple processes isn't bad,
but can be daunting for more complex "systems." Overall, it is a
tremendous system that offers just about any type of signal processing
you could imagine, and in real-time (including real-time granular
synthesis). With regard to alternate tuning systems, Kyma is at least
"capable." I did a lot of experimenting with 13-tet of 3/1, 8-tet of
the Golden Mean, as well as some ethnic tunings taken from the "Tuning
In" book recently mentioned on this list. I do remember having
difficulty getting Kyma to map the keyboard correctly (regardless of the
"pseudo-octave", an octave on the keyboard came out as an octave, not a
3/1 or a 1.618, etc.), but I found a work around, and there have been a
couple software/firmware revisions since then, so it may all be ironed
out.
In all, I loved the Kyma--pretty well open architecture (even allowed a
sample to be FM'd by another sample--imagine a trumpet being modulated
by a bell!)

If you have any questions about specifics, I may be able to help,
though it has been a year since I used it.

Cheers,

Jon Southwood