Buchla and Friends 2026: Terraphones Nymira is a new hands-on digital Synthesizer built around the circle of fifths.
A Synthesizer is an instrument like any other. It needs to be played to produce sound, traditionally with a keyboard. A major advantage over guitars and other instruments is that synths can be played with a variety of traditional and unusual interfaces.
The young US company Terraphones is showcasing the Nymira at Buch and Friends 2026 this weekend. It’s a unique Synthesizer built around the circle of fifths.
Terraphones Nymira
Special is not just the concept of the Terraphones Nymira Synthesizer; the design is also very lovely and striking. According to Thomas Adam Billings, every part of Nymira is ethically sourced, assembled by hand, with solid walnut sourced and milled in the US.
The developer described it as a standalone harmonic instrument/Synthesizer designed around the circle of fifths and the Western harmonic theory.
The interface consists of two areas: a circle with numerous buttons, and a control panel for operating the engine. It also offers quite a lot. Although I prefer to write about the engine first, let’s focus first on the interface that makes this instrument so special.
It’s all about the circle. It features major and minor triads on the outer ring of the circle. Major triads are on the large, inward-facing triangle buttons, while minor triads can be found on the smaller, outward-facing triangle buttons.
Additionally, you have star keys in the inner ring whose functions change depending on which other buttons are pressed. Any star key pressed by itself will yield a diminished triad.
Pressing both a minor triad key and the star key below it will convert the minor triad into a major triad. Check out the visual representation to get a better overview of the chord mappings.
Don’t worry, you are not fixed to triads. Using the shift button, the chord buttons become root notes, and you can play any chord on Nymira. If you want to rediscover music theory with Triads, this interface is certainly exciting.
Multi-Synthesis Engine
Playing the circular Triads interface of Terraphones Nymira triggers sounds. These are generated by a digital multi-synthesis engine.
Three distinct synthesis methods are available to explore: additive FM synthesis, subtractive virtual analog, and granular synthesis.
The additive FM synthesis is based on the first seven overtones of the harmonic series. You can control the seven oscillators with seven faders on the right of the interface. Plus, you detune the partials and work with frequency modulation (FM) on the fly.
Then it offers a unique two-stage filter envelope interface, allowing you to control the attack, cutoff frequency, decay, and the slope of t. Plus, you have built-in reverb with two controls: decay time and dry/wet mix.
The sound engine is easily switchable to a subtractive one that features a triangle, PWM, saw, and sine/FM oscillator joined by a low-pass filter.
Unlike in the additive mode, the seven faders let you control various classic controls like oscillator amount, PWM, and FM amount, and more.
The third mode is the granular engine, which consists of four overtones and a fully controllable granulator with spray, grain size, and jitter controls. The latter allows you to create “drunk” rhythms, “Dilla Time”, and all-out random rhythms.
Extended Playability
The Nymira doesn’t just limit you to simply pressing triad buttons. It also offers very inspiring play modes, more precisely three different ones: immediate trigger (standard mode), bass line, and arpeggiator.
Arpeggiator-only for example gives you the full control of each note being played by moving the arpeggiator. Pressing a chord button will not play any notes; only moving the arpeggiator produces sound.
That’s not all. It also hosts a unique manual arpeggiator that lets you turn Nymira into a guitar- or harp-like strumming instrument with different speeds and some neat additions. There are two strumming modes and a quantization option available.
There is also a MIDI output that makes it very useful as a teaching tool and thus you can use it also with other gear.
Terraphones Nymira First Impression
A fascinating Synthesizer that stands out primarily due to its interface and play concept. The engine isn’t the most extraordinary thing I’ve heard of, but it’s nice that there’s a selection of engines, which makes the instrument more versatile.
Terraphones Nymira is available now for pre-order for $1200. 50 units are available for pre-order. They are hand-made and thus there is an expected lead time of 6-10 weeks.
More information here: Terraphones
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