A go at some Wavestation-style sounds in Zebra

[Sendy]

http://soundcloud.com/sendysynthdemos/w ... s-in-zebra

Inspired by the sounds of the Korg Wavestation, I've had a go at making pad sounds where vastly differing waveforms are crossfaded together to create slowly sizzling padscapes. Mostly this is done by setting up wild wave modulations with the spectral and waveform modulations, and then reducing the "resolution" control until the sound is frozen into regular snapshots which crossfade into eachother.

There was talk about emulating Wavestation type sounds in Zebra in another thread. Getting the sample element down seems quite self-defeating (and what better way to sequence strings of samples than with a sampler and a DAW ), but I was quite impressed by those slowly sizzling pads, so I had a quick go at it.

[aaron aardvark]

Interesting/good patch. You sampled the Zebra to alter the gate or ???

[3ee]

Sounds great!
the resolution control is modulate-able as well.

Imagine if we could morph between oscfx

[Sendy]

No sampling, it's just one oscillator of Zebra, with chatotic wavetable animation and a low "resolution" setting.

Since it's just one oscillator, you could have four of these going, and do vector mixing between them. Or use highpass/lowpass filters to transition between one and the other. The possibilities with Zebra are just mind boggling...

[News From The Sky]

http://soundcloud.com/sendysynthdemos/w ... s-in-zebra

Sounds great!

Getting the sample element down seems quite self-defeating

Not sure what you mean by this - are you referring to reducing the resolution control? The WS can crossfade smoothly if you max out the crossfade times, but the "steppier" sound is more recognizable.

(and what better way to sequence strings of samples than with a sampler and a DAW )

You'd think, but I find that quite tedious, actually. One nice thing about the Wavestation is that it's just a question of dialing up different waves from a list and then setting the durations and crossfades. If you could load user samples (and it had better filters, snappier envelopes, and syncable LFOs) it would be in high demand instead of the cult classic it is now. Unfortunately the UI of the software WS is fairly painful to use - I'd pay good money for a modern update, soft or hard.

I know vector synthesis is not a favorite of Herr Heckmann, but I'd like to see Zebra 3 expanded to provide a complete superset of Wavestation features (namely, more than 16 waves in a wavetable, easier wave editing and management, and a proper vector envelope for the X-Y mixer).

[Sendy]

http://soundcloud.com/sendysynthdemos/w ... s-in-zebra

Sounds great!

Getting the sample element down seems quite self-defeating

Not sure what you mean by this - are you referring to reducing the resolution control? The WS can crossfade smoothly if you max out the crossfade times, but the "steppier" sound is more recognizable.

(and what better way to sequence strings of samples than with a sampler and a DAW )

You'd think, but I find that quite tedious, actually. One nice thing about the Wavestation is that it's just a question of dialing up different waves from a list and then setting the durations and crossfades. If you could load user samples (and it had better filters, snappier envelopes, and syncable LFOs) it would be in high demand instead of the cult classic it is now. Unfortunately the UI of the software WS is fairly painful to use - I'd pay good money for a modern update, soft or hard.

I know vector synthesis is not a favorite of Herr Heckmann, but I'd like to see Zebra 3 expanded to provide a complete superset of Wavestation features (namely, more than 16 waves in a wavetable, easier wave editing and management, and a proper vector envelope for the X-Y mixer).

By self-defeating, I was referring to the impossibility of trying to get Zebra to put out a sample (or at least something resembling one), let alone a sequence of them. Once you accept that, you're left with the possibility of single-cycle waveforms, which, unlike samples, is Zebra's strong point. It's like a fish in water

WS synthesis has been overlooked by me, personally, because ultimately I saw it as just crossfades. A synthesis method based on the technology of a DJ mixer didn't seem that appealing, even if there was a sequencer tied into the whole thing. But it turns out, crossfades are better for some types of sound than spectral/waveform morphing is. It has a subtler, more "creeping" kind of effect, and if the waveforms are chosen carefully (or processed nonlinearly after mixing), you can get some interesting effects which sound more interesting than just one thing getting louder while another gets quieter.

I can't see samples ever being supported in Zebra. But you never know (Actually, I'm fairly sure I do know, but, you never know (Actually, I'm fairly sure I do know, but, you never know (Actually, I'm fairly sure I do know, but, you never know (Actually, I'm fairly sure I do know, but, you never know ... ) ... ))))

I agree, the Wavestation softsynth is horribly anachronistic, and has far too many heirarchical layers that depend on eachother on a global level. It must have been a nightmare to program a sound (on the real board), only to realize the next day that you've totally ruined several other sounds you've used in other tracks. Overall the Wavestation had lofty goals and somewhat attained them, but was a bit ham-fisted in the process. Truely, a modern version is much needed!

[News From The Sky]

By self-defeating, I was referring to the impossibility of trying to get Zebra to put out a sample (or at least something resembling one), let alone a sequence of them. Once you accept that, you're left with the possibility of single-cycle waveforms, which, unlike samples, is Zebra's strong point. It's like a fish in water

Ah, gotcha. Yeah, trying to bodge samples into Zebra does seem fairly pointless. I've always preferred single-cycle waves over samples, they're more amenable to mangling.

WS synthesis has been overlooked by me, personally, because ultimately I saw it as just crossfades. A synthesis method based on the technology of a DJ mixer didn't seem that appealing, even if there was a sequencer tied into the whole thing. But it turns out, crossfades are better for some types of sound than spectral/waveform morphing is. It has a subtler, more "creeping" kind of effect, and if the waveforms are chosen carefully (or processed nonlinearly after mixing), you can get some interesting effects which sound more interesting than just one thing getting louder while another gets quieter.

Well, assuming the waves are pitched the same, crossfading is basically just morphing the harmonic levels, and if the adjacent waves are chosen right it can sound like additive synthesis (as if each of the waves are just snapshots the synth moves between). It's a lot simpler than FM or waveshaping (or real additive synthesis), but it can be great for long evolving sounds.

I can't see samples ever being supported in Zebra. But you never know (Actually, I'm fairly sure I do know, but, you never know (Actually, I'm fairly sure I do know, but, you never know (Actually, I'm fairly sure I do know, but, you never know (Actually, I'm fairly sure I do know, but, you never know ... ) ... ))))

HEHEHEHEHEH...

I agree, the Wavestation softsynth is horribly anachronistic, and has far too many heirarchical layers that depend on eachother on a global level. It must have been a nightmare to program a sound (on the real board), only to realize the next day that you've totally ruined several other sounds you've used in other tracks. Overall the Wavestation had lofty goals and somewhat attained them, but was a bit ham-fisted in the process. Truely, a modern version is much needed!

It didn't feel so bad on the hardware, but maybe that's because program management was so limited - I tended to just build up from scratch and rarely re-used patches. I was hoping the software WS would have a much more open library approach to program management, but it's basically just emulating the constricted bank hierarchy of the hardware.

I need to play around more with Zebra...

[Spitfire31]

I know vector synthesis is not a favorite of Herr Heckmann, but I'd like to see Zebra 3 expanded to provide a complete superset of Wavestation features (namely, more than 16 waves in a wavetable, easier wave editing and management, and a proper vector envelope for the X-Y mixer).

Hear, hear!

/Joachim

[Erkenfresh]

Can't you just wire up an X-Y pad to do alter the volumes of the four OSCs? Bam, there's your X-Y mixer.

[Howard]

Can't you just wire up an X-Y pad to do alter the volumes of the four OSCs? Bam, there's your X-Y mixer.

Sendy wrote vector envelope.

[hollo]

Would that be an A,B,C,D envelope?

We could have a great use for that outside vector synthesis too.

At first i also thought we could wire up an XY pad, but this is way much more!