Zebra Oldskool Demo Presets & Competition [Finito]

[Echo Voodoo]

My first entry:
How Seldom They Do (1:30 long, 2.1MB 192kbps mp3)
6 Oldskool demo patches (no modifications).

[Echo Voodoo]

Second entry:
Inborn In Us (2:40 long, 3.7MB 192kbps mp3)
8 Oldskool demo patches, no modifications, some X-Y automation.

[mkastrup]

HiEnergy - Contest Entry

Nice kick, perhaps add a tad chest umph. Very nice job with the bass automation. A tad too long without new stuff added, i know its supposed to be that way but still... The quark frog sound distorts sometimes in right speaker. Might be mine, hope not heh heh Good job (Might consider posting it as a mp3) I can host it if you like, its no problem.

Echo - How seldom they do

Nice mid 80 feel to it except for the gated synth. That period made heavy use of the slapbas. The kick and snare could benefit from a tad volume raise and the bass a tad down. Also the kick could benefit for the umph (in your chest) freq around 200 Hz to give it more body. Nice stereo spread and good job


Echo - Inborn in Us

Nice intro and really like the granular movement. The brass kinda sound coming in at 1:19 feels like one octave too low. Bass sounds to synth'ish compared to the other things going on, perhaps lower the VCF freq so its more dark in tone. Nice stereo spread and good job

Great job guys

/Michael

[mleghorn]

Michael,

Here's my submission:

http://www.box.net/shared/wv1y4ly0co

At least the title is clever: "The Staple Gun Unmastered". I hope Boulez doesn't press charges. It uses nine patches from your demo sound set. I didn't use any external effects. The only modifications I made to the patches are 1) I removed the delay; 2) I added a litte reverb.

I hope you enjoy it!

[Echo Voodoo]

Echo - How seldom they do

Nice mid 80 feel to it except for the gated synth. That period made heavy use of the slapbas. The kick and snare could benefit from a tad volume raise and the bass a tad down. Also the kick could benefit for the umph (in your chest) freq around 200 Hz to give it more body. Nice stereo spread and good job


Echo - Inborn in Us

Nice intro and really like the granular movement. The brass kinda sound coming in at 1:19 feels like one octave too low. Bass sounds to synth'ish compared to the other things going on, perhaps lower the VCF freq so its more dark in tone. Nice stereo spread and good job

Thanks for the comments and suggestions, Michael. Here are the two tracks re-done with your suggestions implemented:

How Seldom They Do (v.2)

Inborn In Us (v.2)

One of the things I love about Oldskool vols. 1+2 is the range of 80's-esque sounds. My musical sensibilities were formed in the 80's, so it's no wonder I find those sounds so irresistable.

[mkastrup]

mleghorn - The Staple Gun

As usual this is very unique and tickels the brain, in a way its very alien and then again its not. I do however dont agree on some of the scales you use later on but thats probably just me and my taste for scales. Good job - food for the brain, it really makes me see the patches in a totally different light.


Echo - How seldom they do

Right, hmmm you did as suggested but now is clutered heh heh didnt realize the drums did this much. Now its like the bass and drums fights to be the one who dominates. So there are two choices, make the drums simpler or the bass simpler. In my case i like the drum programming better than the bass, hmmm perhaps try early type synth bass using pwm like something depeche mode. I would think that sound can be made from something in the poly or pad category played at low key with less release and attack fully down. Kinda like a buzzy feel to it.

Echo - Inborn In Us

Spot on, those little details made the overall balance better

[mleghorn]

I think program notes for my piece, "The Staple Un-Mastered" http://www.box.net/shared/wv1y4ly0co will help shed some light:

This piece is about three minutes long. The structure is A-B-A, with a brief introduction. The theme of the introduction is also used to link the A part to the B part, and is used at the end. The A part is light and whimsical and is in 4/4 time. Both occurrences of the A part are identical. The B part contrasts sharply with the A part, in that it is dark and mysterious, and is in 3/4 time.

The flute is the main character in this piece. Note how its mood changes going from the A part to the B part. In the A part it sounds out confidently and unhindered. In the transition to the B part it plays a descending arpeggio, first in sharp staccato, then slow legato (accompanied by low brooding chords in the strings). It then loses itself in the depths of the B section, intertwining with two themes played by the dark trumpet in the Poly-Chords patch. Here, in this dark B section, the dark and mysterious Poly-Chords instruments are highlighted. This is a wonderful patch with many facets to explore. The higher notes on the keyboard give you a trumpet sound while the lower notes give you strings layered with what sounds like a clarinet recorded backwords. You can still hear the flute playing the descending apeggios in this section, but with broken rhythm. As a final touch, to reassure us of its importance, the flute gets to play the final note of the piece.

The title of the piece is my attempt at humor, and provides no clue to the listener of what to expect. It's a reference to Boulez's "Le Marteau sand maitre", which is French for "The Hammer Un-mastered". The fact that Stravinsky praised it as "the only truly significant work of this new age" makes my title all the more silly. A more appropriate title for my piece would be "Intermezzo".

Patches used:

Drum-hihat
Drum-other
Emulation Brass
Emulation Ethnic
Emulation Flute
Poly-Arp
Poly-Chords
Pad-Stack
Pad-Strings

[mkastrup]

The title of the piece is my attempt at humor, and provides no clue to the listener of what to expect. It's a reference to Boulez's "Le Marteau sand maitre", which is French for "The Hammer Un-mastered". The fact that Stravinsky praised it as "the only truly significant work of this new age" makes my title all the more silly. A more appropriate title for my piece would be "Intermezzo".

Now i know why i was a bit unhappy with the scale at certain places... im supposed to be unhappy heh heh kinda like making a key stroke which create slight disharmonic for adding tension. People around here mostly use a chainsaw FX (Glitch) for that Anyways, i'm baffled by this approach to the patches and i'm trying to relocate my jaw Thanks for the insight.

/Michael

[mabian]

Ok, this is my submission.

Different

I'd say this is crossover, could not define very well the kind of music - I just got where the sounds brought me.

Congrats for the patches, very usable and inspiring - I love in particular the clean lead and the acoustic emulations.

13 instances of Zebra playing, each with its own different preset.

The presets have been changed very slightly, I think well within the rules:

- Increased a tad the attack of the snare to smooth it.
- Decreased the delay "mix" to make the dry sound more present in the mix and bring some mud out; this was made on a couple of presets
- Increased internal high shelf EQ gain on the snare to give it a little more brightness
- Turned off the arpeggiator in a synth preset
- Increased internal low shelf EQ gain on the kick to give it more bass

I just played with automation and sequencing (when I automated XY I used the already defined parameters)... hope you like it. Suggestions, feedback and so are very welcome.

- Mario

[Echo Voodoo]

Echo - How seldom they do

Right, hmmm you did as suggested but now is clutered heh heh didnt realize the drums did this much. Now its like the bass and drums fights to be the one who dominates. So there are two choices, make the drums simpler or the bass simpler. In my case i like the drum programming better than the bass, hmmm perhaps try early type synth bass using pwm like something depeche mode. I would think that sound can be made from something in the poly or pad category played at low key with less release and attack fully down. Kinda like a buzzy feel to it.

How Seldom They Do (v.3)

Replaced the bass with Poly-Digital w/ release reduced, an octave down. It's much more subtle than the Bas-Natural patch, but seems to let everything else come through.

[Echo Voodoo]

Ok, this is my submission.

Different

That's going in my 'keepers' folder - very nice.

[mabian]

Ok, this is my submission.

Different

That's going in my 'keepers' folder - very nice.

Thank you, then remember me when participants will have to vote - when and how will it happen?

- Mario

[mkastrup]

Ok, this is my submission.

Different

I'd say this is crossover, could not define very well the kind of music - I just got where the sounds brought me.
- Mario

I think this one came out pretty good with no suggestions other than MAYBE a thicker snare with less release/decay and about 2 octaves lower. BUT that will require lots of EQ'ing. Good job Mario

How Seldom They Do (v.3)

Replaced the bass with Poly-Digital w/ release reduced, an octave down. It's much more subtle than the Bas-Natural patch, but seems to let everything else come through.

Yap i like this better, gives more room. BTW, the T O M S originates from which patch ? I like em a lot

/Michael

[mabian]

I think this one came out pretty good with no suggestions other than MAYBE a thicker snare with less release/decay and about 2 octaves lower. BUT that will require lots of EQ'ing. Good job Mario

/Michael

Thank you Michael, I was expecting more comments - maybe the song ended up with a good overall sound for real .

2 Octaves lower for the snare? R U Sure? Maybe you mean two semitones ot two tones?

- Mario

[dacaumodo]

Ok, this is my submission.

Different

I'd say this is crossover, could not define very well the kind of music - I just got where the sounds brought me.

- Mario

I like your track. Like the violin-like parts. Your kick is just right IMO. I might have done the snare brighter myself, rather one octave or to up than down.

I might have panned the melodic parts a little more, but I'm really nitpicking. Really like what you did here.

I like how it fades out in the end too.

To me it's instrumental synth-pop...

great stuff!

d