Improvements!

[symplectiq]

Damn I want so badly more MSEGs. And LFOs to be switchable from bipolar to unipolar mode. Is it possible to make pitchshift effect or will it be quite cpu hungry? Urs you need to recruit more people to your team

I havn't bothered with pitch shift yet. A frequency shifter (as in MFM2) would be easy though.

Unipolar LFOS are pretty high on the list

More MSEGs? I'll happily compile a version with 20 MSEGs for you. But one would to really have to convince me that more MSEGs (8?) musically make a significantly meaningful difference if I was to officially put in more. I always suspect that too many too complex elements rather hinder creativity than let it prosper... dunno... convince me!

Urs

20 is too much. Then you'll need to add more oscs But 8 sounds like fun. I'm a big fan of pressing one key to get almost a complete track playing. It's that I sometimes run out of MSEGs when creating something rhytmical where LFO's stepper function doesn't sound as natural as MSEG. Anyway I thought that Zebralette is the simple synth and when you grow out of it you move to being decapitated horseman (zebraman?) I could be wrong.

[kodama]

I sometimes wish for Midi learn per preset that overrides the global midi learn. Like how iTunes can have globabl EQ or EQ setting per song or playlist.

That way I could have a simple VA patch setup for my X-Station controller and a simple FM synth for my BCR-2000, etc...

[liars&ashes]

I havn't bothered with pitch shift yet. A frequency shifter (as in MFM2) would be easy though.

----A frequency shifter sounds cool, although admittedly, I'm not sure how that would meaningfully translate as far as effecting the Z2 sound. Would it be like the Moog Bode Shifter thinger ? (Yeah yeah, I already admitted I dunno about it, just asking eh. )

Jeff

[Urs]

Midi learn per preset

Might happen - along with the general Midi CC overhaul (various settings/patches, constraints, Midi Channel assignments, visual feedback etc.)

A frequency shifter sounds cool, although admittedly, I'm not sure how that would meaningfully translate as far as effecting the Z2 sound. Would it be like the Moog Bode Shifter thinger ?

It's pretty much the concept, yes. Put simple, in a pitch shifter, frequencies are warped exponentially, like a sampler does on a keyboard - like a note is transposed to another note. In contrast a frequency shifter shifts each frequency by a fixed number of Hertz - which results in rather metallic sounds.

Urs

[kodama]

Where is the Freq Shifter in MFM2?

[Urs]

Where is the Freq Shifter in MFM2?

It's in the Feedback FX... the two slots at the bottom of the circle...

Urs

[kodama]

Ahhh, now I see those.

My fave is soft clip, nothing soft there!!!

[Urs]

Ahhh, now I see those.

My fave is soft clip, nothing soft there!!!

Well... softclip @ +48dB -> pretty hard clip, right?

[liars&ashes]

A frequency shifter sounds cool, although admittedly, I'm not sure how that would meaningfully translate as far as effecting the Z2 sound. Would it be like the Moog Bode Shifter thinger ?

It's pretty much the concept, yes. Put simple, in a pitch shifter, frequencies are warped exponentially, like a sampler does on a keyboard - like a note is transposed to another note. In contrast a frequency shifter shifts each frequency by a fixed number of Hertz - which results in rather metallic sounds.

----That sounds pretty cool, if you put your own twist on it, or maybe all your crazy mseg modulators would allow some crazy tricks, then it might be a cool feature. It certainly sounds interesting at least.

Jeff

[zircon]

Urs, any chance we could get more time unit possibilities for MSEGs? For example, I have a patch with a cool MSEG that is a bit too slow, but I don't want to redraw all the points to make it 2x as fast (it is currently in time unit 'quarters'). But I don't want to put it into sixteenths, as that makes it TOO fast - 4x faster. Having eighth notes as an interval would be great.

[bmrzycki]

Urs, any chance we could get more time unit possibilities for MSEGs? For example, I have a patch with a cool MSEG that is a bit too slow, but I don't want to redraw all the points to make it 2x as fast (it is currently in time unit 'quarters'). But I don't want to put it into sixteenths, as that makes it TOO fast - 4x faster. Having eighth notes as an interval would be great.

Can't you adjust the speed of the MSEG via the 3 knobs Attack, Loop, Release? It adjusts from -4 to +4 in .1 increments. This allows for differing speeds in the same MSEG as well. If you want to adjust a 1/4 note mseg to 1/8, leave the time unit in quarters and set Attack, Loop, Release all to +2.

Or am I misunderstanding the request?

[Urs]

Urs, any chance we could get more time unit possibilities for MSEGs? For example, I have a patch with a cool MSEG that is a bit too slow, but I don't want to redraw all the points to make it 2x as fast (it is currently in time unit 'quarters'). But I don't want to put it into sixteenths, as that makes it TOO fast - 4x faster. Having eighth notes as an interval would be great.

Can't you just right-click and chose "half size" from the menu? -> this will redraw the whole thing for you at double speed, just by a single click...

Other than that, here's a table of the Attack/Loop/Release multipliers:

Code: Select all

value	factor		quarter

-4		16:1		4 bars
-3		 8:1		2 bars
-2		 4:1		1 bar
-1		 2:1		1/2 note
 0		 1:1		1/4 note
 1		 1:2		1/8 note
 2		 1:4		1/16 note
 3		 1:8		1/32 note
 4		 1:16		1/64 note

So, setting everything to 1.00 makes 1/8 notes out of quarters!

Cheers,

Urs

[zircon]

The 'half size' thing works just great. Thanks!

[zircon]

One thing I've noticed using Z2 is that the oscs tend to have less high end content then other synths I have used. Is there some sort of LP being applied automatically? For example, a plain saw with no filter of any kind sounds noticeably duller than an unfiltered saw in Pro-53, Synth1, 3xOsc, Wusikstation, etc. The "Brilliance" osc effect definitely increases high end content.. but not VERY high end content. It sounds brittle, rather than sharp and clear. This isn't just a psychoacoustic effect, either; running it through a spectrum analyzer, the very high end freqs are simply not as powerful as those in other synths. Same waveform otherwise.

Now, this isn't necessarily a BAD thing.. but there are times I want a really bright sound out of Zebra (think the 'Vanguard' sound) and the only way I can do it is to manually EQ the low frequencies out, leave only the highs, then turn up the volume. Which is a pretty roundabout solution.

[Urs]

One thing I've noticed using Z2 is that the oscs tend to have less high end content then other synths I have used. Is there some sort of LP being applied automatically?

This is what others point out to be realistic analogue emulation...

The heights of my stuff are pretty clean and mostly aliasing free which may sound thinner than many other digital solutions but IMHO it also sounds more pleasing and natural, as in analogue.

Interestingly, when Zebra first came out in 2003 it was among the synths with the richest heights. Others meanwhile have learned their lessons in anti-aliasing to get higher up in the spectrum and stay yet clean enough, but I think they overdo it a bit...

Another issue is that in naive anti-aliased oscillator approaches (constant amplitude design) the bass gets attenuated quite a bit. My approach is using a constant amplitude for each harmonic, thus higher notes may sound more quiet than in other synths, but that would IMHO be a flaw of the other synths.

If you want to get the high end up, you could probably just use a filter with peaking or high shelving setting?

Other than that... I've already worked on a new oscillator model to be added some time... not in 2.2 but not too far in the future either... highly hooveristic

Urs