zebra2

[spaceman]

it's not as flexible as my G2 though..

Urs!!! can you make it as flexible as my G2?
..and make it sound like a 303 and a minimoog?

Hmmm, last time I saw a G2, it was pretty solid. I couldn't fold it, nor bend it in any way. It's made out of strong plastic, not out of rubber or anything flexible.

Have you bathed it in resolvent ot thinner to make it flexible?

Urs

it's metal actually.. but when I heat it the cables melt and no sound comes out anymore

I've got so much to learn about this audio business

[machinesworking]

Just to add. I own a lot of synths, and only a few make it to almost every song. In the past the big ones that kept coming back were Reactor and Absynth, followed by Zebra, Filterscape, FM7 and PPG Wave.
Not that I'll never touch the others, but as a member of Urs beta team, I've already replaced synths I play live with, with Zebra 2! It's just that great sounding, and it will replace all of those for a good portion of what I do. I really liked the filters in Filterscape, and never was too happy with Zebra's, Z2 on the other hand!

[Urs]

Just to add. I own a lot of synths, and only a few make it to almost every song. In the past the big ones that kept coming back were Reactor and Absynth, followed by Zebra, Filterscape, FM7 and PPG Wave.
Not that I'll never touch the others, but as a member of Urs beta team, I've already replaced synths I play live with, with Zebra 2! It's just that great sounding, and it will replace all of those for a good portion of what I do. I really liked the filters in Filterscape, and never was too happy with Zebra's, Z2 on the other hand!

Hehehe... I hope you feel the urge to port your Z1 preset bank over to Z2, no?



Urs

[beej]

I started to have a look at porting my 1.5 sounds to 2 last night, but I think I'll wait until a few more features make it across (er.. like a preset convertor )

There are many modules in 1.5 that don't have a direct replacement in Z2, but instead work in different ways or have different parameters (or are at least *named* differently.)

So in the meantime I'll work on new stuff, possibly try to recreate some of my favourite older stuff (and maybe improve them in the process) and see if Z2 can import the other stuff at some later date...

To be honest the new stuff I'm doing in Z2 sounds *way way way* nicer, but oh my gosh I'm killing my processor. Hmm, gonna have to lay off those three-osc "quad" layers, long releases, multiple filters and long reverbs...

...but it sounds sooo good....

[suthnear]

Thus if you are searching for analogesque sounds in Z2, it isn't for you.

Urs, I'm going to have to disagree with you there. Zebra actually sounds more like my moog voyager than vaz does...

[Urs]

There are many modules in 1.5 that don't have a direct replacement in Z2, but instead work in different ways or have different parameters (or are at least *named* differently.)

Yeah...

... don't worry. All shapers will make it over. And I'll write a small whitepaper on replacing the "Dissonant" waveforms by combinations of OSC & FMO.

If I'm in good mood, I'll even add the infamous "Grain Flanger" back into the comb filters, although I think it sounds crap.

One thing I'm really missing is the Flute preset that was made of noise, comb and bandpass filter, with a little AM from the oscs. The flutes I have now are all cold sounding in comparison. I guess the combs may get a special model just for that! - But I won't add that AUX module again. It promised more than it could keep, so I improved the quality of comb filters rather than allowing for cirular structures.

I won't waste a tear on the Ramp modulator though.

And I'm still thinking about the best way to get back the other MultiStage modes...

But one thing is really causing me headaches: Preset converters... d'oh... this is just close to impossible. What I can think of is a special version of Zebra1.5 that exports in a format that Z2 understands. And then you could load it into Z2 and apply the modifications necessary, i.e. replace the former LineMix modules with the now IMHO more elegant routing in the Grid.

We'll see what's possible before final launch and we'll see what's going afterwards. Because Z2 has become an extensible platform that simply begs to be filled with new modules every now and then.

Cheers,

Urs

[Urs]

Thus if you are searching for analogesque sounds in Z2, it isn't for you.

Urs, I'm going to have to disagree with you there. Zebra actually sounds more like my moog voyager than vaz does...

Thanks, man!

It wasn't intended to sound anything like it, but if that's a byproduct, yep, that's cool

Urs

[beej]

Thanks Urs - one of these days you'll be able to sit back and go: "there. It is done. Zebra 2 and all associated work is finished."

And it will be a very good feeling indeed!

Until you go: "Right then. Zebra 3..."

[paradiddle]

Woah! This is really some amazing synth. No wonder it took you so long to get it out. This was worth the wait.

Fantastic work Urs!

[machinesworking]

Just to add. I own a lot of synths, and only a few make it to almost every song. In the past the big ones that kept coming back were Reactor and Absynth, followed by Zebra, Filterscape, FM7 and PPG Wave.
Not that I'll never touch the others, but as a member of Urs beta team, I've already replaced synths I play live with, with Zebra 2! It's just that great sounding, and it will replace all of those for a good portion of what I do. I really liked the filters in Filterscape, and never was too happy with Zebra's, Z2 on the other hand!

Hehehe... I hope you feel the urge to port your Z1 preset bank over to Z2, no?



Urs

I'll try, but it's much more fun to come up with new ones!
( This reasoning is why I have 30+ old songs, but only want to write new stuff for my vocalist!! )

[Foxglove]

Man, I just can't get away from this synth. The sheer size of different sounds that can come out of this thing is mindblowing. I'll have a nice bank of presets to send your way in a couple of days.

Two questions;

1) being that Zebra 2 is modular by nature, are there any plans to add new components with point updates?

2) Any plans to implement a randomizing function?


...BTW, you are my new hero!!!

[Notron User]

I already asked about a randomize function...

It's kinda difficult to implement since there's so much stuff going on. (Hmmm...wonder if there could be a randomize per osc or randomize per module feature?)

[Benedict]

If Z2 doen't do 'analog' then what actually does?

Most of the VAs sound not so good at analog (despite the marketing) but Z2 does manage 'analog' quite well so be pleased Urs.

[suthnear]

There's a problem with z2, though. I have been trying to make patches for z2 in the analogue style by copying some of my moog patches. I can get pretty close, but there are always differences, particularly with multiple oscillators. The interplay of multiple oscillators on a real analogue is something that even the best VAs struggle to replicate. Now, z2 has all these wonderful tools for messing with the shape and phase of the wave and I have taken to employing these to try and replicate, to some degree, the drift and interplay between multiple analogue oscillators. And this is where the problem comes in: as I try to narrow the gap I usually end up getting further away as z2 effortlessly goes where no analogue (well, no analogue that isn't an enormous modular anyway) can follow.

But this is the best kind of problem to have

[Urs]

Man, I just can't get away from this synth. The sheer size of different sounds that can come out of this thing is mindblowing. I'll have a nice bank of presets to send your way in a couple of days.

Great!

Two questions;

1) being that Zebra 2 is modular by nature, are there any plans to add new components with point updates?

Yes. That's the purpose. I have some really crazy plans here, but it's too early to talk about these. Until final release you'll see some extra modulators and some extra effects but not necessarily any new audio modules.

2) Any plans to implement a randomizing function?

Yes. As Notron User points out, it's difficult to make, but there's gonna be a spiffy trick:

I'm going to implement a fully text based preset format in addition to .fxp and .aupreset. This preset format will be editable in a normal text editor, such as WordPad. So, it's basically a simple script that lets you select modules followed by setting parameters within that module. But instead of just assigning numerical values to parameters, you can also fill in random ranges. This way I (and everybody else) can create patches that load with a definable degree of randomness.

From that point on, there can be presets that create totally randomized patches, random patches in categories ("random synth bass" anyone?) or that just hold a bunch of random parameters for certain modules, i.e. random XY assignments, random filter settings, random arpeggios, random waveforms, whatever. Or just any kind of arbitrary subpatch.

And who knows, maybe this script format gets strong enough one day for some kind of intelligent scriptability with pop up windows and palettes. But that's scifi for now.

...BTW, you are my new hero!!!

Urs