Zebra Food: Free Soundbank

[SuperFly76]

Thanks for all the kind comments. I really appreciate your
feedback. Sorry for the CPU hits, sometimes I got carried away
On the other hand, I've used modular synths where you only
have 1-3 voice polyphony max. So in that respect, Zebra isn't
too bad.

- Menno

I don't mind the cpu hot at all if they sound this great! Good audio is worth it.

[Menno Meijer]

There's so many gorgeous patches here. It's difficult to choose favourites, but right now I really like Soda Pop, Falling Down, Cee-Es-Eighty, Stars End, Muted Trumpet, Noisy Flute and I could go on. Without doubt the best free Zebra Soundset. Thanks Menno.

My pleasure

I'd be interested to hear how he goes about building his physical models. I'm guessing that to some extent there is an analytic approach at work there. The eqing in the Violin patch, for example, seems to come close to the frequency response of an energised violin body - so was this planned, or has Menno perhaps got a very good ear and an intuitive understanding of how to arrive at a particular sound?

It's more of the latter, I think. My approach to synthesis is mainly
intuitive. I'm not a very technical type of guy. I hardly ever read manuals. I like to dive straight in. Exploring and experimenting is a big part of the fun. I just take a bunch of modules and tweak the hell out of them. But it does take time to create good sounds. Most of the patches I do, develop over a longer period of time. I save my favourite experiments, come back to them at a later time with fresh ears, and adjust them a little bit further. Then I just keep repeating this process for as long as it takes. And at a certain point the patch will get closer and closer to the sound I hear in my mind.

An advantage of softsynths is that you can store endless amounts of patches on your hard drive. So I sometimes create dozens of mutations of a patch, and let them compete with each other. After a while I will pick out the one that stands out from the rest. Although this can be a challenge in itself

I think that in the end, using your imagination and careful listening, are the most important aspects of sound design.

- Menno

[hakey]

I'd be interested to hear how he goes about building his physical models. I'm guessing that to some extent there is an analytic approach at work there. The eqing in the Violin patch, for example, seems to come close to the frequency response of an energised violin body - so was this planned, or has Menno perhaps got a very good ear and an intuitive understanding of how to arrive at a particular sound?

It's more of the latter, I think. My approach to synthesis is mainly
intuitive.

Well I find the results you get all the more impressive for all that!

I've managed to make a few reasonable physical model sounds by following analytic methods as detailed in the Synth Secret's series I found in SOS's online archive - but without that guidance I don't think I'd have known where to start.

An advantage of softsynths is that you can store endless amounts of patches on your hard drive. So I sometimes create dozens of mutations of a patch, and let them compete with each other. After a while I will pick out the one that stands out from the rest. Although this can be a challenge in itself

It's nice to know I'm in good company - I've been doing just that. I've got half a dozen kettle drums on the boil at the moment

Thanks again Menno.

[grymmjack]

wow, what a generous gift. thanks, these sounds are incredible!

[koalaboy]

Thank you so much for this gift, Menno. It's great !

Happy new year.

[shogger]

Happy new year to all and especially to Menno and all Zebra lovers!

Man Menno, these sounds are really cool. Thank you so much for these great presets. I didn't hear them all yet because I love to use the ones I have explored until now.

Shogger

[spritex]

Finally downloaded this, and I must add to the choir - really nice work.

Especially the SFX bank is really cool and several standouts in other categories as well - for example the Stars End pad is subtly beautiful.

Thank you!

[Guenon]

Yep, one of the finest free patch collections I've heard. Thank you for the gift!

The joy of tweaking stuff, "forgetting" it for a while, and coming back to it (like you described, Menno) shines through very positively in this one . It definitely gives an impression it wasn't done in a hurry; instead, it sounds like the result of enthusiastic experimentation and love for the sound.

[HunterKiller]

It's more of the latter, I think. My approach to synthesis is mainly
intuitive. I'm not a very technical type of guy. I hardly ever read manuals. I like to dive straight in. Exploring and experimenting is a big part of the fun. I just take a bunch of modules and tweak the hell out of them. But it does take time to create good sounds. Most of the patches I do, develop over a longer period of time. I save my favourite experiments, come back to them at a later time with fresh ears, and adjust them a little bit further. Then I just keep repeating this process for as long as it takes. And at a certain point the patch will get closer and closer to the sound I hear in my mind.

An advantage of softsynths is that you can store endless amounts of patches on your hard drive. So I sometimes create dozens of mutations of a patch, and let them compete with each other. After a while I will pick out the one that stands out from the rest. Although this can be a challenge in itself

I think that in the end, using your imagination and careful listening, are the most important aspects of sound design.
- Menno

LOL yeah, I'm swamped in a mountain of patches myself. TG for HD storage.
It's gets ridiculous once you reach 50-100 variations of one patch.

I use the same sort of patch building method as you, developing it over a gradual period of time. The fun thing is that a lot of the time new things spring from the original patch and you end up with a whole host of new side patches. And you're definitely right, quality comes at a price of time.

[Menno Meijer]

LOL yeah, I'm swamped in a mountain of patches myself. TG for HD storage.
It's gets ridiculous once you reach 50-100 variations of one patch.

You should see some of the temporary patch names I use. It looks something like this:
'Funky Bass 19b4Xd3X'

Where X stands for the final version. Of course you can always try to improve the final version...

- Menno

[zqxwcevr]

MM, improve on them? Not possible! Finally got a chance to listen to the full bank and its made my day! Much appreciated & thank you.

[lazerkind]

Finally got time to try these out (Got caught in some Uhbik...)
Really nice stuff!
And I learned a lot from them as well.
Big thanks for sharing this Menno
//L

[Gucky]

Thanks for the fantastic sounds!!!

[1-2-Many]

I was also finally able to load these up - very nice work Menno - Thank You for the mountains of your time you've just given us

[zircon]

Absolutely awesome. Thank you so much for this. Do you have a donation link anywhere...? The synth brass are some of the best I've EVER heard from a synth. Amazingly accurate.