What makes U-he Zebra so loved?

[ontrackp]

Zebra can be as simple (1 or 2 osc, 1 filter, a couple of envelopes) or as complex (anyone with zebra knows what I mean) as you want. It covers the full range and sounds great. Also, the 4 lane building block arrangement is nothing short of genius.

Super fast to make great sounds, but if you're in the mood to experiment and tweak the horizon is limitless.

[Gyu]

results in generative patches like this one...

https://soundcloud.com/bryan-lake/weird-sisters

Do you mean that this track is generated by playing a single note ?

Sort of. The attack you hear at the beginning of the track is a brief snippet of white noise feeding a series of delay lines with very short delay times tuned by the Mod Mappers, which contain notes in a scale. A series of LFOs, all of which are modulating each other, randomly select those notes. On occasion, the cross-feedback of the delay produces sudden, howling resonances. You don't really have to play this patch. All you have to do is press a key and let it do its thing. The "Pitch Offset" and "Filters" XY pads in the Perform Section will make everything just a little more "weird".

Enjoy

Amazing patch!
Thanks so much for sharing!

[stromkraft]

still these presets sound thin and uni-dimesional, "soft-synthish". I may find some preset which makes me think "well, that's sort of nice" but then I load, e.g., Diva, or Bazille/Repro demos next to Zebra and I'm like "wow, this is how a great synth should sound".

Exactly how I feel, though also from a programming standpoint, and is why I never got Zebra. And I'm in love with TyrellN6, so one would think I have taste for U-he. My functional replacement for Zebra has become Waves Element 2 and Madrona Labs Aalto, both which may not be similar to Zebra, but their sound is why I got them. I am looking at possibly getting into Diva, which might be my cup of tea.

[fanodu1]

It does sound more "neutral" than other u-he synths, but I actually think that's a strength because it doesn't sound very obtrusive and that's why it blends so well with other synths.

[recursive one]

It does sound more "neutral" than other u-he synths, but I actually think that's a strength because it doesn't sound very obtrusive and that's why it blends so well with other synths.

I think it depends on indivual tastes, chosen genres, mixing approaches etc. I've bought Bazille and Repro this weekend and both already found their place in my current psytrance project. Repro provided pretty nice goa-like lead which easily stands out in a dense arrangement made of various sounds mostly recored from my Virus. Bazille was used for some SFX sounds wich also blend nicely with the Virus and the other synths. On the other hand, when I'm using Zebra I always have troubles to get it sit properly in the mix and often have to use more external processing compared to other synths.

Overall, I have the impression that people who love Zebra are more into more mellow sounding music, like ambient, downtempo, or just pure sound design.

[fmr]

Overall, I have the impression that people who love Zebra are more into more mellow sounding music, like ambient, downtempo, or just pure sound design.

Well, if you consider things like "The Dark Night Rises" and "Blade Runner 2049" mellow sounding music then yeah, I guess that's it

[recursive one]

Overall, I have the impression that people who love Zebra are more into more mellow sounding music, like ambient, downtempo, or just pure sound design.

Well, if you consider things like "The Dark Night Rises" and "Blade Runner 2049" mellow sounding music then yeah, I guess that's it

I didn't watch any of them (sort of interested in the Bladerunner but after Alien/Covenant my hopes are not very high).

I found a vid called "Dark Knight Rises" on youtube but is sounds more like a symphonic piece, is it supposed to be all Zebra?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojQabzlM22s

[fmr]

Overall, I have the impression that people who love Zebra are more into more mellow sounding music, like ambient, downtempo, or just pure sound design.

Well, if you consider things like "The Dark Night Rises" and "Blade Runner 2049" mellow sounding music then yeah, I guess that's it

I didn't watch any of them (sort of interested in the Bladerunner but after Alien/Covenant my hopes are not very high).

I found a vid called "Dark Knight Rises" on youtube but is sounds more like a symphonic piece, is it supposed to be all Zebra?

Not "all" Zebra, of course, but Zebra is featured there, especially in the piece "The End"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltSJVLAQ0Do

[fmr]

And here is Blade Runner 2049 soundtrack. My favourites are the two final tracks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xtOOFevOeg

[recursive one]

Overall, I have the impression that people who love Zebra are more into more mellow sounding music, like ambient, downtempo, or just pure sound design.

Well, if you consider things like "The Dark Night Rises" and "Blade Runner 2049" mellow sounding music then yeah, I guess that's it

I didn't watch any of them (sort of interested in the Bladerunner but after Alien/Covenant my hopes are not very high).

I found a vid called "Dark Knight Rises" on youtube but is sounds more like a symphonic piece, is it supposed to be all Zebra?

Not "all" Zebra, of course, but Zebra is featured there, especially in the piece "The End"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltSJVLAQ0Do

This sounds gorgeous (of course), but it is just what I'm talking about - an ambient piece mostly based on soundscapes and long pads. Also I think it is drenched in some expensive reverb - at least I'm not sure Zebra's built-in one can sound like that - and maybe some other processing was used to beef the sound up.

[fanodu1]

Overall, I have the impression that people who love Zebra are more into more mellow sounding music, like ambient, downtempo, or just pure sound design.

Well, if you consider things like "The Dark Night Rises" and "Blade Runner 2049" mellow sounding music then yeah, I guess that's it

I didn't watch any of them (sort of interested in the Bladerunner but after Alien/Covenant my hopes are not very high).

I found a vid called "Dark Knight Rises" on youtube but is sounds more like a symphonic piece, is it supposed to be all Zebra?

Not "all" Zebra, of course, but Zebra is featured there, especially in the piece "The End"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltSJVLAQ0Do

This sounds gorgeous (of course), but it is just what I'm talking about - an ambient piece mostly based on soundscapes and long pads. Also I think it is drenched in some expensive reverb - at least I'm not sure Zebra's built-in one can sound like that - and maybe some other processing was used to beef the sound up.

Actually I think it was mentioned somewhere he was using a new, yet to be released u-he reverb that may be built into Zebra in a future update.

[yellowmix]

Overall, I have the impression that people who love Zebra are more into more mellow sounding music, like ambient, downtempo, or just pure sound design.

Aggressive electronic music is all about sound design. Sure, some headliners are using romplers, but someone designed the patch. And what of other synths? Are those patches not designed?

If you want an example, PluginGuru has some aggressive EDM sounds for Zebra here: https://www.pluginguru.com/products/toxic-zebra/

When I browse through my presets I'm going from angelic pads to hardstyle screeches, mellow e-pianos to dubstep growls, indigenous flutes to twisted neuro leads. Then there are the vintage synthwave patches, cinematic drums, physically modelled string plucks, and everything inbetween. It's hard to have a "character" sound when it can make pretty much anything. That's not a negative characteristic.

[stromkraft]

I didn't watch any of them (sort of interested in the Bladerunner but after Alien/Covenant my hopes are not very high).

These two films don't compare at all in my mind. Bladerunner 2049 actually lives up to expectations, which is a very hard feat considering the magic place the original story has in my heart.

I remember whining that the soundtrack was a bit on the digital side, but maybe this was the sound of the theatre. Or Zebra…was it? There were many sounds I did like, so just a few that took me the wrong way.

[stromkraft]

It's hard to have a "character" sound when it can make pretty much anything. That's not a negative characteristic.

This is actually not true. That Zebra can make many types of sounds doesn't mean it can do them well nor that the instrument doesn't have a 'character'. I prefer instruments with some character and a design philosophy that isn't overcomplicated. You can be very advanced and not overcomplicated.

[ATS]

I didn't watch any of them (sort of interested in the Bladerunner but after Alien/Covenant my hopes are not very high).

These two films don't compare at all in my mind. Bladerunner 2049 actually lives up to expectations, which is a very hard feat considering the magic place the original story has in my heart.

I remember whining that the soundtrack was a bit on the digital side, but maybe this was the sound of the theatre. Or Zebra…was it? There were many sounds I did like, so just a few that took me the wrong way.

Bladerunner sequel was amazing. Sad thing is though I believe a lot of people didn't like it. Audiences nowadays are use to a movie holding your hand the whole time. This movie makes you think for yourself and figure out what is going on.

BTW I bought Zebra and Dark Zebra in the marketplace.