Zebra Rush

[Gino Cortesi]

Ok, so I'm helping a good friend of mine with synth programming to play Rush tunes using Zebra.

I've been doing good on many of the basic sounds, but this latest one has me scratching my head.

At the beginning of Distant Early Warning there is a very particular synth sound:

I started by focusing on the "ufo" like sound when it stabilizes, and here is a clip of that: http://www.box.net/shared/qyd7zk0irt

I'm very interested in how someone would go about re-creating a complex voice like this, other than breaking out the sampler

FWIW - I've been using this scope as an insert effect:
http://www.rs-met.com/software/freebies ... alyzer.zip

Best regards,

Gino

[3ee]

Highly inaccurate... but the modules used seem to take in the right direction. Hope this helps a bit.
http://www.box.net/shared/3kzj3uyvtx

[edteneyck]

3ee's sound modules sound in the right direction.

I've made an attempt. Not accurate though. Middle C

http://www.box.net/shared/rh07q1ns9i

[Urs]

Pity! The video is not available in Germany...

[Vectorman]

other than breaking out the sampler

Pretty much what I did when we did the song in a cover band way, way back when, LOL. Would be impressive if somebody actually managed to recreate this.

I have no idea how the original sound was done. I'm assuming they must have taken some kind of noise source and run it through some outboard stuff to shape it. I don't think you'd get that sound spit out as-is from the PPG, Jupiter 8 or OB-Xa that Geddy Lee used on the album.

[opus_diaboli]

Pity! The video is not available in Germany...

There are still some working YT tunnel. Try this one:

https://youtubeproxy.org/

[Gino Cortesi]

Thanks guys!

These are certainly solid attempts. I'll take a closer look at how you put them together, thanks again for contributing.

The approach I was taking was to use an LP filter to look at just the left channel to see if there was an obvious underlying waveform. You can certainly see that this is not a sampled sound, and definitely a synth.

Then I do an HP filter, and then use the BP filter to see if I can find any regular patterns. This approach sounded rational, but trying to hear patterns is harder than it sounds (pun intended).

I'll keep at it, and if I think I've got something decent I'll post it up here.

Best regards,

Gino

[Gino Cortesi]

Pity! The video is not available in Germany...

Urs, if you listen to the sample I posted it has all you need.
http://www.box.net/shared/qyd7zk0irt

EDIT: I uploaded a longer WAV that has the "garbled" part:
http://www.box.net/shared/jifuf2nfpa

I'd want to know how you would reverse engineer a sound like this for Zebra.
What technique would you use to "walk it down" and nail the sound?

Best regards,

Gino

[Gino Cortesi]

other than breaking out the sampler

Pretty much what I did when we did the song in a cover band way, way back when, LOL. Would be impressive if somebody actually managed to recreate this.

I have no idea how the original sound was done. I'm assuming they must have taken some kind of noise source and run it through some outboard stuff to shape it. I don't think you'd get that sound spit out as-is from the PPG, Jupiter 8 or OB-Xa that Geddy Lee used on the album.

My guess it that it's the PPG wave, and the "garbled" part is walking through the wavetable.

I agree it would be impressive if we could get an accurate replica!

Best regards,

Gino

[Gino Cortesi]

OK, here is what I came up with:

"Distant Early Zebra"

Preset: http://www.box.net/shared/fib2la3555
MP3: http://www.box.net/shared/ky20plislr

Original MP3 from the song: http://www.box.net/shared/jifuf2nfpa

Best regards,

Gino

[Howard]

OK, here is what I came up with:

Slow down the "garble" and take out some high frequencies, and you're almost there!

[1-2-Many]

SOunds like the orig has a phaser on it too

[AnalogGuy1]

My take on it is here