Zebra 3 Public Beta Revision 20399

[Funky40]

my wish ´d be:

that if i open the preset browser, it would show the "right now active" preset sound.
Means, highlight ( and open) the specific folder where the preset sitts, highlight the preset.

As is now:
- i have to open the preset folder manually
- though, the preset itself is then shown as highlighted. ( so, this one is there already)


adding to aboves wish:
- that the macs/PCs arrow key will be immediately functional vs. stepping thru presets.
Now that would be very welcome



I see that such a setting could be unwanted vs. some use cases.
So, in case you folks decide to work along that wish, best would probably be to create a menu point in "settings"

my use case is:
the creation of live play patches in GP ( Host)....then dabble, play, perform with these.

[M32]

I think key follow needs a checkup, it doesn't seem consistent and doesn't do anything on certain parameters, or the ranges are off (way too small even when depth is at 100) Also i wish there was a way to set the 'tilt' note/key point

Lfo sample and hold seems totally unsynced even when the lfo is set to 'sync'

Some syncs seem to be relative to the timing of the first note, some seem to be the 'grid' of the daw clock running. This makes for very wonky sounds unless you are playing exactly on time, sometimes (especially if you are trying to generate rythmic sequences with lfo's, mappers and looped MSEGS)
One thing that could help is to have the option in the lfo's for two versions of sync: 'sync' (related to note on event) and 'clock' or 'sync to clock' (following the daw clock grid)

[Urs]

LFO "Sync" is related to host "grid" while playback is on, and related to first note while the host is stopped. One can't do this any other way because the plug-in does not get host transport information while the host is stopped. So this is the mode for where it's in sync with host, as best as is possible.

The trigger mode that always starts on first note is called "Single", and that is already available, too.

Key Follow (and Pitches) map MIDI Notes 0-127 evenly between about -1 and +1, with an octave spanning exactly 0.2, or 5 octaves each direction. This is pretty in sync with the very common +/- 5V modulation range and volt/octave tuning in analogue synths.

If you assign Key Follow to LFO Rate at 100%, LFOs track keyboard. Same with Envelopes when using Stretch as modifier. Anyhow, a modulation range that spans 100% for each octave would exceed the common range of values by 5 times, thus simply only be usable in a very narrow range of keys. To circumvent this dilemma, many modules have built-in tracking, e.g. filters, envelopes.

In most u-he products, LFO Random waveforms traditionally follow the perceived pitch of square waves, which have two steps per cycle. So while technically weird, I always preferred this over just one step per cycle, which has a perceived average pitch one octave lower than other waveforms. A quick remedy is to set LFO Rate to -1.00 (or lower by 1.00) for half the rate.

[jtsterays]

Pretty sure I can't do feedback like Diva, Repro or Massive 1 & X right?

[Amøbe]

This has been such a Christmas gift, thank you so much Zebra has never been easy to understand, but I find that there's so much potential in each rabbit hole I've gone down, so even if I don't fully grasp its capacities (never really figured out how to utilise the resonators properly) each corner of the synth has always had the potential of a singular synthesizer (Diva - which I still use a ton - is sort of the opposite, in that it is rather easy to figure out most of what you can do with it, and that's very much its strenght, because it is also a fast tool to get some classic analogue sounds).

One thing - and it might be me that hasn't really become comfortable with the osc editor yet - I sort of miss, is that in Zebra 2, I found it very easy to draw wavetables in the mode, where you don't draw a waveshape, but make these pillars of overtones (brain is not working), in a way where you could do some very sort of fragile and crystal-like tones. When I edit the current osc-editor it very easily becomes complex, but I find it a bit fiddly to get something more minimalistic and sparse out of it. Is there a specific approach in editing the oscillators that I should look into, if I want to use it like this?

The stuff I found zebra 2 amazing at (among a gazillion things) was making sounds like the sustained synthtones in the beginning of this song and then let zebra scan slowly scan between different shapes.

[nrosko]

Congrats on Zebra 3. Was never a huge fan of Zebra UI mainly the clunky modular grid. So i have put off buying it all these years & thought i would wait for Z3. I was honestly a bit disappointed that the design was pretty much the same. Fortunately the opportunity to try the beta has swayed me to finally buy it. The power of the oscillators & sound of the filters I was achieving some genuinely unique & beautiful sounds. The sense of playfulness & curiosity I feel at the possibilities whenever i load in this synth it's definitely worth the purchase.

[Urs]

Pretty sure I can't do feedback like Diva, Repro or Massive 1 & X right?

Yep, pretty sure you can't

Feedback requires all modules to be processed one sample after another. But Zebra's whole concept is based on "how modular can we go with block based processing", which has compelling advantages for CPU performance. So each module is like plug-in within a plug-in and processes little chunks of samples. A feedback loop would have too much delay and thus sound rather horrible. We tried.

Diva and Repro process the full chain of mixer, filter, VCA, output in a single process with less than a sample of delay.

[jtsterays]

Pretty sure I can't do feedback like Diva, Repro or Massive 1 & X right?

Yep, pretty sure you can't.

Feedback requires all modules to be processed one sample after another. But Zebra's whole concept is based on "how modular can we go with block based processing", which has compelling advantages for CPU performance. So each module is like plug-in within a plug-in and processes little chunks of samples. A feedback loop would have too much delay and thus sound rather horrible. We tried.

Diva and Repro process the full chain of mixer, filter, VCA, output in a single process with less than a sample of delay.

Damn that's a shame, I just revisited Massive X and the feedback on that was gnarly.

[Urs]

[...] make these pillars of overtones (brain is not working), in a way where you could do some very sort of fragile and crystal-like tones. When I edit the current osc-editor it very easily becomes complex, but I find it a bit fiddly to get something more minimalistic and sparse out of it. Is there a specific approach in editing the oscillators that I should look into, if I want to use it like this?

Yes, this is one of the few things where the "Blend" mode in Zebra 2 was handy and good. But for Zebra 3 we decided to go all-in on the Curve based approach ("Morph" in Zebra 2).

I do have a plan for making it easier to do something similar in the new Zebra 3 editor. Basically a tool that lets one edit the Curve like a drawbar along the Harmonic Grid. I'm not sure when I have the time to implement it though, but the request is so popular, I'm sure it'll happen.

There are OscFX that immediately help "sparsing out" the spectrum. One is even called "Sparse", and it does provide for instant glassy sounds, but they do have a bit of randomness about them. Spectral Focus isn't necessarily glassy, but some of it may be pretty "crystally". Other options are a bit more involved.

[Urs]

and then let zebra scan slowly scan between different shapes.

btw. this works pretty well with the Posterise OscFX. We should make a tutorial on that...

[Amøbe]

and then let zebra scan slowly scan between different shapes.

btw. this works pretty well with the Posterise OscFX. We should make a tutorial on that...

Thanks for returning I’ll go back to exploring the depths of this new beast!

[OdoSendaidokai]

Some basic explanations about splines, curves, morphing and the two use cases for the guides

English



German

[exmatproton]

Congrats on Zebra 3. Was never a huge fan of Zebra UI mainly the clunky modular grid. So i have put off buying it all these years & thought i would wait for Z3. I was honestly a bit disappointed that the design was pretty much the same. Fortunately the opportunity to try the beta has swayed me to finally buy it. The power of the oscillators & sound of the filters I was achieving some genuinely unique & beautiful sounds. The sense of playfulness & curiosity I feel at the possibilities whenever i load in this synth it's definitely worth the purchase.

i have to agree here. I'd rather see more of the modules, then that big grid in the middle which i hardly touch. Weird design decision. However, apart from that, it is such a inviting synth otherwise. It feels like a real playground Love it

[ffx]

Could you also add a key range (start key, end key) to each pitch lane? This would be nice e.g. for midi controlled, harmonic ring modulation or fm, where you then can control osc pitches individually by midi notes. Seems to me a low hanging fruit, hehe, and the GUI also stil has space left here.

[Stelvio]

Hey all, I grabbed the beta when it was first release (maybe there's a new one by now) and finally getting some time to test. I'm on 13" I use a scaled display on my macbook air (I'm old). I have looks "like 1280x800 selected" but in that display mode, Zebra 3 won't allow to pick different UI sizes, the default one is too big for the screen and the next one that's not greyed out is 70%, so very very tiny and difficult to use.