Earning my stripes

[jjcDrummer]

Urs,

Zebra looks really nice. I didn't have the time to try it out last month, so I'm getting into it now.

I'm very much a newbie with the soft synths, though. I'm a Logic user, and have been mostly messing with audio, and the samplers. Off the computers, I've been a drummer for a long time (a mac user even longer). I'd like to learn some synths, but Zebra looks way too deep to start with.

Do you recommend looking elsewhere first, at other instruments, or is there a way this beast can be approachable to someone just starting out? Will you be writing an introductory tutorial or some such for it? (if yes, do you want native english speaking help?)

[fucanay]

I can say, not being very schooled in the ways of synths, that this one is one of the easier ones I've used. I believe Urs designed it with this in mind. While it is very powerful, it also is pretty easy to tweak even if you don't know a lot about synths.

Also, many of the presets have X/Y controls already, so you could think of that as many extra presets.

i come from a very similar background as you and I am not overly confused by it. Give the demo a go and see how you do with it. I'll bet you'll be surprised.

fucanay

[Urs]

Well, I think fucanay is right, Zebra is designed for easy use.

You can always start with the "initialize" preset, which gives you a raw synth tone, and then you can start tweaking things and learn what they do.

Also, Zebra does not require you to go into it's depths. You do not need to use the Spectrum editor, the Modulation Matrix and the XY stuff at first, and yet you get a whole world of sounds. - The "Synthesis" panel alone provides you with everything (and not way more) a decent virtual analogue Synth offers, with all the standard elements (VCO-VCF-VCA + Modulations), while the other views of the interface hold the tools that go beyond the average.

Well, hehe, a manual is in the works, of course.

Another synth that is fun and free to use, is Zoyd. In some respect, Zoyd is limited (monophonic etc.), but in respect of learning stuff, it has some nice features and, almost as much as Zebra, a fat and characterful sound.

Cheers,

Urs

[jjcDrummer]

Zebra is definitely easy to use. But that's not the problem I'm facing.

What I was really driving at was ease of understanding. Zebra does expose everything--I mean, it's all there in the open, right?--but the question of how to build a sound is complicated, and in that respect just tinkering with Zebra is not going to cut it.

I think I probably need to find something that explains analogue synthesis, instead of expecting to find what I want only in Zebra and its (soon coming) documentation.

Any recommendations?

[Urs]

Well, hmmm, I think there's a whole lot of that on the web.

I'd ask in the instruments forum, maybe there are some people who learned that stuff this way. (I learned Synth stuff 20 years ago, so I can't really recomemnd anything...)

But: There's a super nice, very basic Synth called BuzZer. It's freely available here:

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/20330

Check it out!

Hope this helps,

Urs

[stiwi]

There's a super nice, very basic Synth called BuzZer.

Hi Urs, thank you very much. Now i know why suddenly so many K-v-R users are visiting my site!

bis denne,

stiwi