U-HE Zebra 3 Alpha Prototype Developments

[e-theory]

(I have a hunch though that we're still discussing Zebra 3 as if it was a wavetable synthesiser where somehow arbitrary data can be used as a waveform. But this is not the case. The strength of Zebra 3 lies within the abstraction of spline based curves, which have the advantage of seamless morphability. It will always be better to use few points and high controllability over complex waveforms derived from sources that are less suited for morphing and control through human interaction.)

I totally get what you mean, but I'm quite curious about using inputs like fractals, and they'd be easier to enter via code. And they can also be more efficiently represented using control points than wavetables, so they'd be a good fit.

[KIMCHRISTOPHER]

Is it just me or do many people follow this forum just out of curiosity? I really have no idea what is being discussed at many times. It sounds like NASA engineers talking... Even so, I love following it and maybe one day I will learn.

[_al_]

Is it just me or do many people follow this forum just out of curiosity? I really have no idea what is being discussed at many times. It sounds like NASA engineers talking... Even so, I love following it and maybe one day I will learn.

Same. I just rest assured that if these people are talking in a Zebra thread, then Zebra is where we need to be
Or something...

Actually, I'm more excited for Serum.
That might change on Z3 release though.
Probably be the only two synths I'll ever need tbh

[agharta]

I'm not a zoologist but still expect to be be able to appreciate Zebra 3.

[gentleclockdivider]

Actually, I'm more excited for Serum.
That might change on Z3 release though.
Probably be the only two synths I'll ever need tbh

Just watched the serum 2 vid , and honoustly I don't see anything unique at all , it just adds more of everything the same
Zebra 3 otoh has some unique stuff not found elsewhere , the combination of osc fx with the new splines-guides for spectral damping etc..awesome
Zebralette 3 has been out for almost a year now and It makes me wonder how many people have actually delved into it ?
It's a absolute marvel and a soundesigners dream ,the range of sounds is Phenomenal .
I never understood the serum hype ( but that's just me )

[KIMCHRISTOPHER]

I believe that Serum was one of the first soft synths (non-analog) that people (musicians) could really understand. You had waveform visualization, etc...
Just like ProTools was the first DAW to really deliver decent computer recording. Then they became the standard.

[gentleclockdivider]

I believe that Serum was one of the first soft synths (non-analog) that people (musicians) could really understand. You had waveform visualization, etc...
Just like ProTools was the first DAW to really deliver decent computer recording. Then they became the standard.

I kindly disagree , you're basically saying musicians are stupid
Serum became popular because of twitter-instagram etc..targeting a new young demograph , in full wavetable hype .

[KIMCHRISTOPHER]

I believe that Serum was one of the first soft synths (non-analog) that people (musicians) could really understand. You had waveform visualization, etc...
Just like ProTools was the first DAW to really deliver decent computer recording. Then they became the standard.

I kindly disagree , you're basically saying musicians are stupid
Serum became popular because of twitter-instagram etc..targeting a new young demograph , in full wavetable hype .

It may have seemed that way, but it's not quite like that. I didn't mean to say that musicians are stupid, not at all! But historically, all equipment that is very successful among musicians tends to be easier to use. LA2A, Tube Screamer, Minimoog are some examples. Sometimes the musician just wants to make his music and not necessarily have to program sounds or configure things... That's what I meant and I assumed that this may have been a well-used approach to the serum.

But he certainly could have used the marketing capabilities of social media.

[_al_]

Just watched the serum 2 vid , and honoustly I don't see anything unique at all , it just adds more of everything the same
Zebra 3 otoh has some unique stuff not found elsewhere , the combination of osc fx with the new splines-guides for spectral damping etc..awesome
Zebralette 3 has been out for almost a year now and It makes me wonder how many people have actually delved into it ?
It's a absolute marvel and a soundesigners dream ,the range of sounds is Phenomenal .
I never understood the serum hype ( but that's just me )

Oh wow, I didn't even know there was a vid lol.
Well Serum is my most used synth, by far. And not because it has a wealth of advanced features.
Because it's extremely fast to throw into a track, and get something done without any hassle. It's low CPU, so I can throw it into any situation and get things done fast.

Z2 is even lower CPU on my system, but Zebralette 3 is pretty high atm, so that kinda dampens my enthusiasm a bit.

[Urs]

At least on IntelMacs, next Zebralette 3 will be in the vicinity of 20 times faster on worst case scenarios, and probably something like half or a quarter the CPU when it's an economical patch. This should scale to Windows as well, but we need more and more reliable testing. Fewer gains on Apple silicon, where it's already quite efficient.

Serum has influenced me a lot. Apart from some of the cool features, it's a well thought out design (like Virus and Sylenth1 before it) which I appreciate for its focus and consistency. At first glance I'm glad that Serum 2 does not lose focus. I'm mostly surprised it's putting more emphasis on generators than it does on filters, UI-wise. I guess that's where most of the work went into.

In our own designs we're taking a route towards less rather than more. Where Steve seems to favour complexity in LFOs, I have started to favour taking it down a notch. At the same time complex LFOs become somewhat monolithic, whereas our strive for simplicity encourages the combination of simpler parts. Former is suitable for tabbing int the UI, latter is a strength of not tabbing.

I like how Steve added a mixer page. I first thought it was means to reduce clutter in the main page (which is a lot busier now), which is a topic we have as well. The architecture lends itself to it, but it's nothing that can easily be done in a modular architecture like Zebra. We added a Pitch page instead, because that's where a lot of shit happens in Zebra 3 that one can't find elsewhere, and which has extremely de-cluttered Z3's UI.

Looking forward to give it a try, but I'm too busy with our own stuff right now.

[Fannon]

Will there be a next Zebralette 3 release first, or a Zebra 3 Alpha / preview?

Just played a little with Serum 2 demo and the UI is really well thought out. It feels like it picked a lot of Pigments features, but with a less busy UI and improved some things. A lot more filters (quite a few were added). The Lorenz attractor LFO has a nice nerd factor, but cannot judge how much value it really adds.

I'm still more excited about Zebra 3 and its innovations. There's nothing in Serum 2 which I haven't seen elsewhere - but they do put it together in a good package / UI / workflow. It's a great product for sure.

[briefcasemanx]

Serum became popular because of twitter-instagram etc..targeting a new young demograph , in full wavetable hype .

I was under the impression that Serum became popular because

1. Dubstep and Bass music was all the rage at the time and it usurped Massive (the previous synth people flocked to for those types of sounds) in capabilities and workflow.

I could easily be wrong though because I don't care about that type of music.

2. It was an earlier version of the "Supersynths" that combined a ton of functionality with a very high degree of modulation, and arguably the best/most feature packed Supersynths at the time of release while still having a somewhat easy UI/workflow.

It seems to me that both of these things got it a lot of users and attention, which then made the preset ecosystem very robust, which created a feedback loop which caused it to become even more popular and have even more staying power.

Again, anyone can feel free to correct any inaccuracies here, but this was my impression.

[Urs]

Will there be a next Zebralette 3 release first, or a Zebra 3 Alpha / preview?

There'll be a Zebralette 3 beta soon. We just posted a Tyrell N6 beta, and our QA is juggling Tyrell N6 responses, Zebralette 3, Uhbik, Cen2rion (hardware module scheduled for production). Putting something out requires careful planning, it may seem slow at times. OTOH we've been pumping out more betas/releases in the past 12 months than ever before. This phase should come to an end soon, and then we'll pretty much only have Zebra/Zebralette 3 in the pipeline.

[e-theory]

One thing I'd like to see in Zebralette 3 is the ability to be able to set the waveform edit grid-snap repetitions. I can't see a way of doing it, but a finer grid would be super useful thanks Urs! Or the ability to be able to set it manually.

[Urs]

You can set the number of grid lines in the large editor.