Zebra 3 Public Beta Revision 20399

[Sleg]

Hi there is it possible to load Zebra3 as effect?

[exmatproton]

Hi there is it possible to load Zebra3 as effect?

no

[misterandy]

https://soundcloud.com/thesoundofmerlin ... ta-patches

The past few weeks I have had lots of fun with Zebra 3. It's a dream come true synthesizer. I love it. This collection are 11 single instance improvisations with my favorite presets I have created so far. Have fun!

Great sounds! Those harmonic arpeggios (or what that effect is called) on the Brassy Fluegel Flute is really cool. Did you use an OSC FX for that? Zebra 2 have an effect called Ripples that i think does something similar.

[sarmad5]

Would it be possible to add an option for the Noise Oscillator rate and duration to sync to tempo as well as operating only in free time? At the moment, I can manually match the rate to the project tempo, but if the tempo changes while other elements in the patch are tempo-synced, the Noise Oscillator falls out of sync and requires re-tweaking.

This is especially noticeable when using modes like multi-hit, rise, bump, and pulse. As a workaround, I can assign a modulator to the noise volume using a constant shape to achieve tempo sync, but having a native rate-sync and duration-sync options would remove the need to consume a modulator slot. Thank you.

You can use an LFO to trigger the single hits.

I think we mostly envisioned the repetitive noise bursts to be independent of song tempo, but I can't remember why.

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I am doing that currently, was thinking if freeing up a modulator could also be an option.

[stippenstoh]

But not seeing clearly enough what’s going on with many modulation sources and targets could be the case in complex patches.

I agree but it was stated a few times that they are aware and working on it, give them some time, we're still at beta 3.0.

[Urs]

We have already implemented a few helpful things that certainly make the scavenger hunt a lot easier - visual clues, quicker ways to select modulators. Currently fixing some bugs, hopeful for a new beta in 2 weeks or so.

[Howard]

you can see in screenshot attached that pan is only going 0-50 in this case despite the attenuator for mapper 1 being turned all the way up. Am i making a mistake here?

Loving Zebra 3! Running into an issue however with bipolar modulation- if I want to send a random to pan for example, I only seem to be getting half-wave/rectified values (e.g. 0-50 or 50-100). I've read the manual and it seems to suggest that I would get values from 0-100 by default but this is not the case. What am I doing wrong?

Working fine here (Mac). Can you post a primitive example preset?

As your modulation source (Mapper) is bipolar, the Pan knob should be in the centre. The coloured arc indicates the modulation amount, not the panning limits.... trust your ears

Map to Pan.png

[stippenstoh]

you can see in screenshot attached that pan is only going 0-50 in this case despite the attenuator for mapper 1 being turned all the way up. Am i making a mistake here?

Loving Zebra 3! Running into an issue however with bipolar modulation- if I want to send a random to pan for example, I only seem to be getting half-wave/rectified values (e.g. 0-50 or 50-100). I've read the manual and it seems to suggest that I would get values from 0-100 by default but this is not the case. What am I doing wrong?

Working fine here (Mac). Can you post a primitive example preset?

As your modulation source (Mapper) is bipolar, the Pan knob should be in the centre. The coloured arc indicates the modulation amount, not the panning limits.... trust your ears
Map to Pan.png

I agree with the poster though, the way the visual indicator is implemented in something like pan is confusing/misleading/counter-intuitive.

The confusing thing is that the coloured arc represents the amount of modulation but the result of the modulation on pan is that the sound goes to both sides. While it might be logic that the arc goes from 50 to 100 to represent the amount of modulation, it would be much more intuitive if it would move from the center outwards to both sides simultaneously.

[jtsterays]

Yup, it should covers both sides, maybe 1 side is darker like how Serum does it.

[Funky40]

Natural Gate has quickly become a staple in our racks.

Ohh, you have Natural Gates !...i have some too. LOVE it.

Now this would be awesome to get a SW equivalent to the Natural gate.
As a VCV Rack Module.......from U-He ? "hint-hint"
a single plugin,
or within Zebra 3

I was hoping to fit Lowpass Gates in Zebra 3 but I'm not at the point yet where I see this as a natural pairing.

I can follow. But with some form of sequenzing ?.....Zebra 3 is doing the right timbres

IF so, please make also a SW Natural Gate outside of Zebra3

[jtsterays]

I'm uneducated, what are the advantages of LPGs? AFAIK it's just filter with a built in env as a single module?

[The Sound Of Merlin]

https://soundcloud.com/thesoundofmerlin ... ta-patches

The past few weeks I have had lots of fun with Zebra 3. It's a dream come true synthesizer. I love it. This collection are 11 single instance improvisations with my favorite presets I have created so far. Have fun!

Great sounds! Those harmonic arpeggios (or what that effect is called) on the Brassy Fluegel Flute is really cool. Did you use an OSC FX for that? Zebra 2 have an effect called Ripples that i think does something similar.

I used the modulation wheel to control the pitch offset of a comb filter set to the "blown" mode. This function mimics, as it were, the natural tones that a trumpet, for example, can produce when you do not use valves. I use the comb module as a resonator which has been fed by an oscillator.

[misterandy]

https://soundcloud.com/thesoundofmerlin ... ta-patches

The past few weeks I have had lots of fun with Zebra 3. It's a dream come true synthesizer. I love it. This collection are 11 single instance improvisations with my favorite presets I have created so far. Have fun!

Great sounds! Those harmonic arpeggios (or what that effect is called) on the Brassy Fluegel Flute is really cool. Did you use an OSC FX for that? Zebra 2 have an effect called Ripples that i think does something similar.

I used the modulation wheel to control the pitch offset of a comb filter set to the "blown" mode. This function mimics, as it were, the natural tones that a trumpet, for example, can produce when you do not use valves. I use the comb module as a resonator which has been fed by an oscillator.

Aha, that’s the one. Thanks! Someone hasn’t read the user guide with a fine tooth comb (pun very much intended ):

IMG_2350.jpeg

[Urs]

I'm uneducated, what are the advantages of LPGs? AFAIK it's just filter with a built in env as a single module?

They are an economic choice. Not only are they cheap to build (even if Buchla's pricing scheme suggests otherwise), but they also wrap VCF, VCA and envelope into a single, simple module. The usage as all 3 is limited, but it sounds good for many percussive instruments.

So a LPG typically has 3 operation modes: LP, VCA and LP+VCA. A single knob controls both cutoff and VCA. So they are always linked.

There's one input and output for the audio signal, and another for the cutoff/VCA. Some manufacturers add more features, such as trigger inputs or resonance control.

Because the circuitry uses photo resistance ("Vactrols") instead of transistors, the control signal is smoothed with the characteristics of LEDs: They go bright quickly, but then have some after glow when the current drops. The longer current was up, the slower it drops. Short pings create fast decays, long gates can result in seconds of decay. LPGs with trigger input turn this into a reliable envelope often compared to the envelope of a Bongo.

Like the Minimoog envelopes on short Attacks, LPGs "stack up" when triggered fast. This sound every alive and dynamic.

All in all, they are just super useful and quick to work with, and in a modular environment, an LPG lets one add a complete voice by tapping some oscillator here and a trigger there.

The hottest thing on the market is the aforementioned Natural Gate. It's a dual channel LPG which has independent control for Decay and VCA/Cutoff, plus 3 different "character" settings. It's got the snappiest sound for all the typical applications and very well balanced parameter ranges.

We have no plans to make a digital copy of the Natural Gate, as this is a contemporary unit. We want to focus our emulation skills on vintage units that are otherwise lost.

[Sound_Trace]

Hi- Just a follow up, managed to resolve and thanks for the comments. Just a quick message in total agreement with the below: in the case of bipolar modulation it would be much much more intuitive to see this moving outwards in both directions. As an extension, it would be lovely to see a visualisation of the parameter within the lighting of the knob itself (e.g.the param values of a mapper dynamically changing within the knob itself for immediate visual feedback) rather than having to return to the source to see these changes. Whilst doing so with simple modulation is not always needed (e.g. an alternate modulation source being sent to pan), it would certainly be helpful for more complex modulation. Thanks again for all your work!

you can see in screenshot attached that pan is only going 0-50 in this case despite the attenuator for mapper 1 being turned all the way up. Am i making a mistake here?

Loving Zebra 3! Running into an issue however with bipolar modulation- if I want to send a random to pan for example, I only seem to be getting half-wave/rectified values (e.g. 0-50 or 50-100). I've read the manual and it seems to suggest that I would get values from 0-100 by default but this is not the case. What am I doing wrong?

Working fine here (Mac). Can you post a primitive example preset?

As your modulation source (Mapper) is bipolar, the Pan knob should be in the centre. The coloured arc indicates the modulation amount, not the panning limits.... trust your ears
Map to Pan.png

I agree with the poster though, the way the visual indicator is implemented in something like pan is confusing/misleading/counter-intuitive.

The confusing thing is that the coloured arc represents the amount of modulation but the result of the modulation on pan is that the sound goes to both sides. While it might be logic that the arc goes from 50 to 100 to represent the amount of modulation, it would be much more intuitive if it would move from the center outwards to both sides simultaneously.