Zebra 3 feature suggestions

[QLNE]

As long as I get the same “holy s__t!” reaction as when I first played a note on Diva, I will be a happy camper.

AF

[Joe Leidigkeit]

It would be nice to have some midi FXs per lane.
E.g. a quantizer, transposer, a note divider/skipper, a note range (like the VCV Fence module from OrangeLine), a midi echo, a midi delay, something like round robin and so on.
So for example lane 1 reacts to every incoming note (normal), lane 2 just to every third plus a midi echo, lane 3 has a midi echo but will skip 3 of 5 notes and lane 4 plays a simple chord on top.
As an example Hy-SeqCollection2 has a bunch of midi FX and it makes this seq so much more powerful to have everything together in one package.
I think there will be conflicts with the Grid mixmodule and the arpeggiator, but hey, you are u-he - you'll find a way.

[Urs]

Well, as I wrote somewhere, the lanes in the Grid are not the spot to do this. But yes, pitch sources with different quantization and s&h options and trigger sources with more than just keyboard gate input are pretty high up on the list.

Nevertheless, polyphony requires some sort of overall voice control by key/gate. That can not be avoided in a voice based environment, unlike VCV for instance which does not inherently have a voice concept (not regarding user built voicing).

[pdxindy]

It would be nice to have some midi FXs per lane.
E.g. a quantizer, transposer, a note divider/skipper, a note range (like the VCV Fence module from OrangeLine), a midi echo, a midi delay, something like round robin and so on.
So for example lane 1 reacts to every incoming note (normal), lane 2 just to every third plus a midi echo, lane 3 has a midi echo but will skip 3 of 5 notes and lane 4 plays a simple chord on top.
As an example Hy-SeqCollection2 has a bunch of midi FX and it makes this seq so much more powerful to have everything together in one package.
I think there will be conflicts with the Grid mixmodule and the arpeggiator, but hey, you are u-he - you'll find a way.

I don't think it is really in the concept of Zebra to try to shoehorn fully modular approaches into what is a poly synth... even though a very flexible one.

I hope Zebra stays first and foremost, a synth. For the kind of thing you are describing, I think that should stay the place for fully modular environments. There are plenty of places to do that.

Zebra's special niche is synthesis and being able to do/combine a variety of synthesis types with relative ease. I believe Zebra 3 should play to its strengths, not try to become things it's not. Of course my opinion is biased as I am more interest in synths than full modular.

[Dirtgrain]

The more modular-like things Zebra 3 can do, the better, so long as it can fit nicely in the semi-modular structure. I wouldn't avoid something just because it had previously been only something modular synths could do, as long as it can be implemented well. I love to hear all the ideas--even seeing that Urs has thought of most of them, if not all of them, already--to see the thinking behind it all. It's cool.

[gentleclockdivider]

Just get your 90s VA hardware and be done with it.

It is too expensive for me and lacks usability of virtual synths (many copies at once, etc). And also you need good converters to record it (which are not cheap too)...

ZebraHZ then. Diva filters inside.

Just don't like how it sounds. The problem not in filters i think, but oscillators...

No, you don't. Just like how many, many, many Diva and Zebra patches by Howard Scarr show.

I better know what i need for my music))) I don't write soundtracks or that old analoguish synthwave and stuff. I write dance music with massive use of complex modulation and x1000500 unison on almost every sound.

150 MHz not KHz. Also they are completely different CPUs with different instruction sets. Your computer's CPU is a general-purpose device that runs many more things simultaneously besides your softsynth. So, your OS and all the services it's running and all the background programs eat up into that CPU usage. It's just a different thing.

Hmmm my cpu usage when it idle is about 0 to 1 %.
About what "background tasks" do you say?

What you need to understand is that by and large those old VAs used quite naive DSP algorithms for things. JP-8000 has a ton of aliasing, simply because it doesn't even do bandlimiting. You have this oscillator copied to its exactness in Diva.

Not exactness. Even with HQ turned off it is sounded DULL compared to the real one... For me it is a HUGE diffrence!

The whole history of softsynths is trying to achieve that sound.
Withous success (well, almost). For 20 years.
If it is so simple and use naive algos, why here is no any authentic sounding softsynth, like jp8000, Nord, Virus? Such synth would instantly become a bestseller!

I think your ears are broken, quite plain and simple, if you call Hive's sound lifeless

Glad for you! If you like that type of sound, just turn on any vst synth and be happy!

I think everyone ears is broken, including many software developers))
In my opinion there is great synths in sound aspect: Diva, Re-Pro series, Legend, Obsession, Ob-Extreme, Tyrell, Tal UNO Lx (in some tests sounds better than original btw;)), Diversion (but totally unusable due to very high cpu use), Cypher/Cypher2 and Strobes. That's all. Sylenth1 is good but dirty in hf, Spire is good but thin sounding overall, same for dune.

But here is one main problem - almost all that really good sounding soft synths has lack of features and not as versatile like spire etc. And HUGE cpu hogs!

Btw, Tyrell sound engine is good enought, maybe some filter and oscillator models include in Zebra3? (But it is a cpu hog also )
I think with some additional modulation features and unison that Zebra architecture delivers it can be my dream synth and a REAL competitor to that classic VA synths!
So this is my official feature request for zebra 3!

Btw, I read that Tyrell in first was a hardware VA Project, heh...
So i really biased towards that type of sound. Just add cpu optimisations, extended mod matrix, polyphonic stereo unison with detune knob and supersaws, and this thing became my dream synth...

Set zebra's osc's to crisp , and get TALmod
They complement each other verry well.
Or , get Tranzistow , change the colour scheme , pull out your hair whilst learning it's structure and gazzilion tabs , it's really one of the best modular soft synths ever created ...and don't forget to donate

[r1_000]

I would like to see a more extensive microtuning feature. The ability to microtune each note while the synth is playing would be very helpful. A good example of microtuning done right is in the korg minilogue/monologue synths. Importing .tun files is a great feature but a bit cumbersome.

Also an option for oversampling would be nice.

[EvilDragon]

That just means supporting MTS. And that won't work in DAWs that don't do sysex...

[r1_000]

That just means supporting MTS. And that won't work in DAWs that don't do sysex...

Native instruments absynth and fm8 can do user defined microtuning. I don't see why it wouldn't be possible in zebra.

[EvilDragon]

Well in theory you could then also use a modmapper in Zebra to do that, already.

Also FM8 implementation of microtuning is really quite rudimentary and only supports 12-tone scales. Absynth is closer to Zebra's implementation with 128 values.

[r1_000]

Well in theory you could then also use a modmapper in Zebra to do that, already.

Also FM8 implementation of microtuning is really quite rudimentary and only supports 12-tone scales. Absynth is closer to Zebra's implementation with 128 values.

I'll take your word for it. I have no idea how you would do that with the modmapper. If you feel like sharing a preset of how it could be done, it would be much appreciated.

[EvilDragon]

Set modmapper to 128 steps and Key mode, then use mod matrix to route it to each oscillator used in the patch. Now the modmapper is a +/- offset from 12-TET (of course the range of modmapper adjustments is decided by the modulation amount in the mod matrix.

It IS a bit fiddly, granted, but it's what you can do today, now.

[r1_000]

Set modmapper to 128 steps and Key mode, then use mod matrix to route it to each oscillator used in the patch. Now the modmapper is a +/- offset from 12-TET (of course the range of modmapper adjustments is decided by the modulation amount in the mod matrix.

It IS a bit fiddly, granted, but it's what you can do today, now.

Thanks I'll give it a try

Edit. I have the microtuning working as you explained, thanks again.
I've been using Zebra for a long time and never knew this was possible.

My feature request now is keep this feature in Zebra3

[NothanUmber]

Nevertheless, polyphony requires some sort of overall voice control by key/gate. That can not be avoided in a voice based environment, unlike VCV for instance which does not inherently have a voice concept (not regarding user built voicing).

Afaik newer versions of VCV support up to 16 voices for "poly cables". There are also some modules that e.g. convert MPE MIDI to poly CVs. One of the advantages of digital thingies
https://vcvrack.com/manual/Polyphony

[Henry Von Wilheimer]

I would like to see additive synthesis with full flexibility. So controlling each partial's amplitude, phase and frequency over time.

Are the .uhm scripts capable of doing so in Hive 2?

Replicating or making your own "oscillator character" is interesting to me. Let's say i wanted to make Zebra 3's oscillators sound similar to an RSF Polykobol. It seems i should be able to somewhat replicate it with additive if i had the relevant sound information. Or just tweak the partials to find your own sweet spots. Then apply those peculiarities to non-classic waveforms in additive fashion for more versatility in timbre.

Even though filters are important in an anolog synth's sound, oscillators seem far more important. I've tried using Cytomic's filters on various synths and although it improves the sound, they still sound pretty flat. And giving the waveform itself imperfections like in some classical synths helps minimally. I'm thinking there must be some unique ways in which the amplitude of the partials stack relative to each other. Maybe also some partials changing amplitude over time more than others.

Anyway, i'm not knowledgeable on this stuff. Just putting some thoughts out there.