Zebra2 oscillator 'drift' questions

[DynaMoHum]

I've been having a blast the last couple of nights really geek in' out on Zebra 2.

I set up 2 lanes with an FMO and OSC1 and OSC2, respectively, in each of their own lanes (OSC and FMO).

I changed the 'order' - and pitch relationships - of 'carrier' and 'modulator' and also played around with sines, triangles, wave morphing of the OSC's, and also the 'OSC restart' (or not) buttons on the left of the OSC controls. Played with all the options on the FMO controls - then, added XMF's to the mix! Good times!

Now the question: I noted that 'drift' is ON or OFF as an option - but no page for 'how much' drift, or which OSC's, etc. Can anyone shed light how how best to use OSC drift in Zebra 2?

Thanks!

[bmrzycki]

There are a few things worth noting about the global drift setting:

1. (As far as my ears and a spectrum analyzer tell) the drift setting applies to all pitched sound-producing devices (OSC, FMO, Comb, etc). My guess is the algorithm creates tiny variations in the selected note frequency at note-on. For example, let's say you press and release the note A4 three times in a row. Zebra generates the following frequencies: 440.12Hz, 399.97Hz, 440.03Hz.
2. The drift does not change for the duration of a held note. In the above A4 example if you press and held A4 once, you would generate a pitched sound at 440.12Hz that would hold the pitch until you release A4.
3. There is no way to tell Zebra how much or how little drift you want if you enable it.

Based on these observations you might think drift is somewhat limited in Zebra and depending on your needs you may be right. However, like most of Zebra, there's more than one way to accomplish analog-like drift. If you require more control over drift, simply do it yourself:

1. Right-click on the "..." knob to the right of Tune on your OSC/Comb/FMO.
2. Select your modulator: use an LFO or MSEG for unstable tunings over time or an MMap a user-defined per-note drift map.
3. Now, change the setting for the newly-labeled knob by a very small positive or negative amount. I recommend nothing more than +/- 0.05. You can change the knob in small steps if you hold down the Shift key while adjusting.
4. Repeat for some/all of the remaining OSC/Comb/FMOs. You can detune them all to the same value or to different values. Use your ears and remember a little goes a long way here.
5. Set up your modulator source exactly how you want. Maybe you want a chorus-like effect so you select an LFO sine wave or maybe you want some instability so you select LFO rand glide. Or maybe you want lower notes to be slightly more detuned than high ones, so you use an MMap.
6. Don't forget to try enabling oscillator reset to see if you prefer the sound with or without it.

It's really up to you where you want to go with this. You can set up an FMO pair that have perfect tuning while layering a pair of slightly unstable OSCs. Or vice versa. Thanks to Howard to giving me this idea from his tape delay Zebra tutorial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icGAZqEkx-I

[DynaMoHum]

Thanks for that! I had a 'clue' that it had more to do with note-on voice allocations (which would explain your note-on pitch variation) because of the way the 'per voice' LFO's work - as well as the single/dual/quad/eleven and few/many/(forgot the last one) options.

This is still WAY cool, because when you set up velocity 'mapping' (however you want to get there - nested LFO's, enveloped LFO's, matrix, etc., there are a minimum of 4-6 ways by my count) to a velocity-driven speed up or slowdown of the LFO(s), you can get some FANTASTIC things happening - each individual note within spread or 4-way close voicings - with really expressive playing!

I'm nearly to the point of contributing what I have to the 'repository' here, after I get a few more - and refinements - to what I have so far.
You guys, and especially Howard, are exceptionally skillful patch architects - I want them to be at that calibre, though!

Thanks very much for the clarification/insights!

[DynaMoHum]

If this 'attach' works, here are a couple of my initial efforts to look at. They're sort-of 'in your face' and doesn't take a lot of velocity for big changes, but I wanted to clearly see 'what did what.' My patches will never be for "one-finger-plonkers"

[hollo]

Nice one, love also the tail fading/panning away.

BP as DynaMoHum ?

Cheers,
Joseph

[DynaMoHum]

'Glad you liked it, Joseph!

Yup...BP are my initials - should have put more thought into my handle before joining...lol!

I'm a total Zebra2 'newb' right now, so was trying to "hack at the big pieces" (sculpting) to get a better handle on what controls what. Lots to work with, in this beast!

Since I use velocity to shape sound a LOT, I'm getting better results now by setting the cutoff, envelopes, etc. (whatever I want to modulate/shape) wIth little to no velocity FIRST - within a +/- 20% or so threshold of my intent - and THEN go for the refinements.

I'll be a few *months* out, before I have the "sculpting chops" to be consistently getting what I want out of Zebra2!

[hollo]

I guess you'll have a very nice time with the Beast!

[aaron aardvark]

Interesting video.