Zebralette 3 Modulation Section Discussion

[jooster]

Could we have different looping modes in MSEG? At the moment this is left to right and repeats left to right (saw-tooth like). Would be nice to add a mode where by looping returns from right to left (triangle like).

[psychichotline]

Is there any plans for a way to control the shape of the ADSR curves? A simple one-knob control that goes from full linear to full exponential, with a good "set and forget" setting for the center of the knob would do a lot for more sound design. For any spiky transient sounds I can only use the MSEG for a sharp modulation.

Also, could we get a single shot mode for the LFOs?

[hakey]

Is there any plans for a way to control the shape of the ADSR curves?

Put the ADSR in a mod matrix slot and use the expanded/compressed modifiers?

[pdxindy]

Is there any plans for a way to control the shape of the ADSR curves? A simple one-knob control that goes from full linear to full exponential, with a good "set and forget" setting for the center of the knob would do a lot for more sound design. For any spiky transient sounds I can only use the MSEG for a sharp modulation.

Also, could we get a single shot mode for the LFOs?

You can modulate the ADSR with itself... well, individual stages.

[psychichotline]

Is there any plans for a way to control the shape of the ADSR curves?

Put the ADSR in a mod matrix slot and use the expanded/compressed modifiers?

Genius, that is probably the move to make.

[AtomOfScent]

I'd love it if Zebra(lette) had an envelope follower for sidechain audio as a modulation source.
That way it can be continually evolving/responsive to other elements in a track in ways that would be cumbersome to program (and less likely to be useful in different contexts.)

It's fairly common to stack virtual instruments on a track to create a cohesive sound, so being able to use the primary input (as well as SC) would be useful when blending sounds.

This isn't very hard to set up in Reaper (and I'm sure other DAWs can do similar), but that isn't much help for patch designers.

A mode that folows the pitch envelope for monophonic input (rather than amplitude) would be like having "KeyFollow" as a modulation source but for a vocal etc.

Speaking of KeyFollow, I'd really like KeyFollow3 that tracks MIDI input from a dedicated channel (ignored by the rest of the synth). For example, send a copy of a melody/bassline MIDI on channel 16, set mod source as KeyFollow3 and that's it! There's many pitch tracking plugins that output MIDI so this could substitute for native pitch following.

Related to audio mod sources, even if Zebra3's effects/filters sections had no improvements it's already capable enough that users might want to use it to process external audio. Instead of a dedicated FX version consider allowing external audio as a noise* source like Pigments 5. That way an FX version is as simple as a blank instance with a noise generator (while retaining the ability to use it as a synth.)

External audio processing
A top user request has been for Pigments to process external audio (from a track or live
input) through its filters and effects. This is now a reality, thanks to an alternate mode for
the second noise source in the Utility engine

(*Custom noises like Serum, Vital, Pigments, Dune etc. are stable stakes for any modern synth so if there haven't been many users requesting that it's only because it's so obvious they couldn't imagine needing to.)

[pdxindy]

This isn't very hard to set up in Reaper (and I'm sure other DAWs can do similar), but that isn't much help for patch designers.

Super easy to set up in Bitwig. But even if it were available in Zebralette 3, that doesn't really help patch designers cause they would still have no control over what audio the envelope follower is following.

[AtomOfScent]

This isn't very hard to set up in Reaper (and I'm sure other DAWs can do similar), but that isn't much help for patch designers.

...even if it were available in Zebralette 3, that doesn't really help patch designers cause they would still have no control over what audio the envelope follower is following.

You say that like it's a bad thing.
They also don't have any control over the notes people play, and effects developers have no control over the input either. It would certainly help patch designers if the envelope following isn't dependent on how DAWs implement it, they don't need to explain what parameters are intended to be automated for each patch, or explain to to set it up for each host.

Each preset has a description field for outlining how it's intended to be used, reference levels, tips etc, but the same guidelines apply as any other situation: If it sounds bad, change the input or change the settings.

Unique and unexpected are kinda the point of something like this. It's not like there's a drought of predictable sounds and predictable synths.

[dj_sleestack]

Vibrato ... I feel like I must be missing something obvious. I'm modulating oscillator tune with an LFO to get vibrato and only maybe the 3 or 4 lowest modulation depth settings are usable, everything beyond that is way too extreme. It can be tamed a bit using LFO depth mod, but seems sub-optimal for such a standard modulation (hence my feeling like I'm not seeing some special setup for it like Zebra3 has.)

[Viktor [TUC]]

Hi sleestack, ah yes your question (from that other thread) was for Zebralette 3, makes sense.
So the thing is, usually we have a dedicated Vibrato amount knob in our synths, its full range being +- 2 semitones or so. But keep in mind this Zebralette 3 is basically a cutout of a bigger synth, so some of those "full synth" features aren't included here, it's just an oscillator with a few extras. The single pitch modulation amount slot needs to cater to all kinds of modulations, be it from an LFO or from envelopes, so it covers a range that's usable for various types of sources. It's not a dedicated vibrato modulation slot.
But I gather your question could as well be a feature request for a dedicated Vibrato control knob. That I could pass on to the team, no promises though.

Viktor
u-he team

[tasmaniandevil]

I'm modulating oscillator tune with an LFO to get vibrato and only maybe the 3 or 4 lowest modulation depth settings are usable, everything beyond that is way too extreme.

You can use the Shift key to get a finer control over the modulation amount.

[Howard]

... or simply tap in .1 for the Tune modulation depth.