Zebralette 3 Oscillator Effects Discussion

[Ah_Dziz]

I'm not exactly positive if this counts, but I'd very very much like a simple switch for swapping the order of spectral FX 1&2. They wouldn't have to be relabelled or anything but it would save some time while making sounds especially if one has already spent a bunch of time assigning modulation and such to one of the slots. I guess this could also be handled with module presets but this has been something I've noticed many times already and I've only been playing around with this for a day.

[Hanz Meyzer]

I would like to suggest an additional mix amount for each osc fx. Currently and usually it is all or nothing. But imagine you could subtly mix in the fx as an overtone strucutre instead... I think this at least would be a worth a test version.

[Hanz Meyzer]

...of course mix amount doesn't make sense for all current types of fx. But for all those which drastically alter the waveform, like sync. Ringmod and sync are mixed in to the original signal in quite a lot of synth, e.g. korg radias.

Do you think this makes sense conceptually?

[Urs]

It's probably doable for a few effects, but indeed not for all of them.

[Hanz Meyzer]

Another idea for the curve filter fx: compression/expansion mode

It might also have a "scale" mode, so the guide graph is not only moved to left/right (lower/higher) on the frequency spectrum, but instead would be compressed towards the fundamental frequency or expanded away from it. I think in that way you could do interesting stuff, like custom comb filters... Or there could be a third mode "guide comp" / "guide scaling".

The normal filter could be easily improved: IMHO it would drastically be improved, if there also was a resonance parameter. In that way, you much more precisely design it (also being able to have less resonance than the default one now). It also would benefit from more modes: bandstop, highshelve, lowshelve.

The curve filter also would highly benefit from a mix amount, at least in my opinion. Imagine you use it as a phaser, but only want it subtly... But I don't know if that is possible due phase alignment or so?

Spectral noise sounds good, but needs more options. How about a second knob like "quantize" or "reduce", so the higher, the more blocky the noise will be, on the frequency spectrum / x-axis? Also a LP-BP-HP like knob would make it much more precise, e.g. only wanting this kind of variation on the mid range, etc. Or some kind of tilt like.

Not sure about spectral decay, is the speed of the transition in any way controllable? If not, IMO needs a third parameter.

Wrap & Zap: What about a tilt like knob, too?

[pdxindy]

Not sure about spectral decay, is the speed of the transition in any way controllable? If not, IMO needs a third parameter.

You can use the Guide for that. Put both points to the top and there is no decay


Which brings me to... the Y axis scaling of decay could be improved. To make the decay very slow, you have to put the points very close to the top and it snaps and you cannot control it easily.

[jooster]

Not sure about spectral decay, is the speed of the transition in any way controllable? If not, IMO needs a third parameter.

You can use the Guide for that. Put both points to the top and there is no decay


Which brings me to... the Y axis scaling of decay could be improved. To make the decay very slow, you have to put the points very close to the top and it snaps and you cannot control it easily.

Awww, how does this work? A bit more description puleaze, or is there a description in the manual?

[pdxindy]

Awww, how does this work? A bit more description puleaze, or is there a description in the manual?

By default, Spectral Decay is using Guide 1. Set the depth to 100. Then go to Guide One which by default is a downward ramp. When you play a note, the fundamental will keep playing and the harmonics will fall off quicker the higher the frequency.

Now drag the right point to the top. With a straight 100% line across the top, the depth knob will do nothing. Drag both points to about 95% and the whole spectrum will slowly fall off.

What the Guide allows you to do is control falloff rate across the spectrum. 0 is the fastest decay and 100 is no decay.

[jooster]

Awww, how does this work? A bit more description puleaze, or is there a description in the manual?

By default, Spectral Decay is using Guide 1. Set the depth to 100. Then go to Guide One which by default is a downward ramp. ..... What the Guide allows you to do is control falloff rate across the spectrum. 0 is the fastest decay and 100 is no decay.

Got it! With 2 guides and a velocity and/or keyboard follow to morph between this effect is absolutely lovely, I feel like applying it everywhere haha.

[jooster]

After lots of play with spectral decay, I wish there also was a "spectral recovery" FX i.e., the opposite of decay.

[Urs]

After lots of play with spectral decay, I wish there also was a "spectral recovery" FX i.e., the opposite of decay.

There's a way to do that: Just use a Modulator to lower the OscFX depth parameter. That recovers the decay, and when you increase the depth parameter, the decay starts again.

I'm open to discuss more complex envelopes in the future, or maybe some kind of AD envelope with adjustable ratio between A and D.

I just don't want to off individual envelopes per harmonic, as that is what should be done by morphing through the Curve Set in the first place.

[jooster]

After lots of play with spectral decay, I wish there also was a "spectral recovery" FX i.e., the opposite of decay.

There's a way to do that: Just use a Modulator to lower the OscFX depth parameter. That recovers the decay, and when you increase the depth parameter, the decay starts again.

Cool, yep got it. Messing around with MSEG to modulate the depth parameter gives some very pleasant harmonic changes that are fairly controllable.

I'm open to discuss more complex envelopes in the future, or maybe some kind of AD envelope with adjustable ratio between A and D.

I just don't want to off individual envelopes per harmonic, as that is what should be done by morphing through the Curve Set in the first place.

No problem Urs, I was just after a simple reverse of "decay" - using a mod parameter is a bit more complex but gives many more musical opportunities.

[aero+]

After lots of play with spectral decay, I wish there also was a "spectral recovery" FX i.e., the opposite of decay.

I'm open to discuss more complex envelopes in the future, or maybe some kind of AD envelope with adjustable ratio between A and D.

The west coast style envelopes (or better, function generators) in Hive are fantastic, perhaps those could implemented in Zebralette 3 or Zebra 3? However one could argue that with mseg you could get similar results, the interaction would be different though.

[AtomOfScent]

The effects slots should have next/previous buttons and respond to keyboard shortcuts with last focus.
Often I just want to browse through them, and opening a menu every time is annoying.

[underscoreraven]

The effects slots should have next/previous buttons and respond to keyboard shortcuts with last focus.
Often I just want to browse through them, and opening a menu every time is annoying.

I'm 99% sure you can use your mouse wheel to scroll through them. You can do this in probably every menu like that in every modern enough u-he plugin.