Zebra 3.0 - out now

[pdxindy]

Set Vary 2 to Stretch

Yes but it will affect the decay as well

Then you adjust decay lower.

[Christian61KVR]

What app do you use for your screenshots?

Clearshot X (Mac)

[pdxindy]

A company releases the successor of probably the greatest soft synth of all time after 20 years of development, KVR nerds buy synth, make no music with it, and then create a thread 18 pages long focused on custom GUI themes. . Okay, okay, I’m just teasing! I love the GUI discussion actually. No pitchforks please!

It's exactly because it's going to be my most used synth that it's fun to spend some time tweaking the UI (and of course because we can.)

If you want, you can change the logo name to "Pitchfork"

[ksandvik]

I must say, I learned the hard way to stop tinkering plugin UI styles and move that mental energy to music making. But for Zebra3 I need to reinvest that energy to learn how to properlly program sounds with this beast.

[Teksonik]

Teksonik - the 4 corner boxes are probably because you enabled "key control"

Thank you, that is indeed what happened. I'm old and senile, that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.

Maybe that's why the Editor key commands (i, s, p, etc.) were not working for you as well.

Would that make you happy if it was just me being senile? You'll be old one day too, don't mess around with karma.....

Anyway I got it to work in FL Studio and Sonar but it doesn't work until I left click in the empty white area on the right. I don't remember seeing that part in the instructions so.......

To be honest I can't remember ever having to send letter keystrokes to a plugin. Up/Down keys yes but never letters.

[pdxindy]

To be honest I can't remember ever having to send letter keystrokes to a plugin. Up/Down keys yes but never letters.

The editor is there for developer use... they are letting us use it (as is).

[Teksonik]

I must say, I learned the hard way to stop tinkering plugin UI styles and move that mental energy to music making.

I'm sorry that you don't have energy for both. I don't know about you or anyone else but I'm not 100% productive when composing 100% of the time. Sometimes the batteries are just empty or there's a creative block.

That's when I turn my energy to sound design and when my ears need a rest I turn to "tinkering with plugin UI styles". I find that helps recharge the batteries.

I'd say about 80% of the time when I'm in sound design mode I come up with a patch that inspires me to switch to composition mode. For me the worst thing to do is try and force creativity, that's when frustration starts to set in and the block just gets larger. I just have to let it flow....and creativity arrives on it's own time.

It's all just creative energy whether it is sonic or graphic in nature.

[Teksonik]

To be honest I can't remember ever having to send letter keystrokes to a plugin. Up/Down keys yes but never letters.

The editor is there for developer use... they are letting us use it (as is).

Well they are letting us use their plugin as is so why not?

[oobesan]

I must say, I learned the hard way to stop tinkering plugin UI styles and move that mental energy to music making.

I'm sorry that you don't have energy for both. I don't know about you or anyone else but I'm not 100% productive when composing 100% of the time. Sometimes the batteries are just empty or there's a creative block.

That's when I turn my energy to sound design and when my ears need a rest I turn to "tinkering with plugin UI styles". I find that helps recharge the batteries.

I'd say about 80% of the time when I'm in sound design mode I come up with a patch that inspires me to switch to composition mode. For me the worst thing to do is try and force creativity, that's when frustration starts to set in and the block just gets larger. I just have to let it flow....and creativity arrives on it's own time.

It's all just creative energy whether it is sonic or graphic in nature.

same

[VitaminD]

A company releases the successor of probably the greatest soft synth of all time after 20 years of development, KVR nerds buy synth, make no music with it, and then create a thread 18 pages long focused on custom GUI themes. . Okay, okay, I’m just teasing! I love the GUI discussion actually. No pitchforks please!

It's too bad there isn't a music production forum where people interact in helping each other accomplish their music production goals. As in, serious production focus in some kind of collective. That isn't kvr for sure.

It's nice to see the kvr nerds enhance the software though, in their own way. The default is there for those of us that just want to get on with it. And maybe the efforts here will make it more palatable to others?

[Morty-C-137]

I must say, I learned the hard way to stop tinkering plugin UI styles and move that mental energy to music making.

I'm sorry that you don't have energy for both. I don't know about you or anyone else but I'm not 100% productive when composing 100% of the time. Sometimes the batteries are just empty or there's a creative block.

That's when I turn my energy to sound design and when my ears need a rest I turn to "tinkering with plugin UI styles". I find that helps recharge the batteries.

I'd say about 80% of the time when I'm in sound design mode I come up with a patch that inspires me to switch to composition mode. For me the worst thing to do is try and force creativity, that's when frustration starts to set in and the block just gets larger. I just have to let it flow....and creativity arrives on it's own time.

It's all just creative energy whether it is sonic or graphic in nature.

That’s me also. And it’s a great way to personalize tools I love.

On Gearspace more so than here I think there can be this sentiment in the way of: “they’re just tools!”

It’s not always so black and white where things always are some means to an end. They can be an end in and of itself. All depends on your perspective and what you can allow yourself to appreciate and enjoy.

[neverbeeninariot]

Photopea (online editor) can edit SVGs I believe.

Thanks I've got GIMP which will edit .svg files but I've never had any luck using it, my fault obviously. I can edit .bmps and .pngs all day long in Paint Shop Pro but for some reason .svg files have always given me trouble.

If case you're unaware of it, Inkscape is a very competent open source SVG editor, or if you don't mind using proprietary (but also free as in free beer) software, there's the excellent Affinity, however will need to create a free Canva account to use that one.

[Teksonik]

That’s me also. And it’s a great way to personalize tools I love.

Exactly! Having a tool that appeals to our personal tastes can only help us use that tool more efficiently. The developers of Zebra know that fact and that's why they allow theming in the first place and why many other developers do as well.

Creating our own themes is not an insult to the default theme it's just an expression of personal taste which varies from person to person.

I don't get the push back and derision against wanting to customize our plugin's appearance. The argument that it's a "waste of time" goes out the window if one spends time in any other manner such as watching a movie, hanging out in a pub, etc instead of composing 24/7.

Anyway I'm glad the feature exists and those who are fine with the current theme are free to ignore the feature so win-win for everyone.

If case you're unaware of it, Inkscape is a very competent open source SVG editor

Thanks, I've had Inkscape installed for quite some time even on my Linux systems but just never had much luck with .svg files. My fault obviously for lacking the skills or putting in the proper time.

My graphics "skills" are pretty much limited to changing colors, brightness-contrast, etc. I don't have the skills or talent to create original images so am left with editing existing ones to my taste. I find it a fun and at times relaxing past time.

Speaking of fun it's time to go into the studio and see what sounds and noises I can get out of Zebra 3 today......

[ptnah]

i love zebra.
something about the grip of the modulations makes it so unique and inspiring and always sets it apart from other synths. with the routing/mixer architecture being so consequently open and free, possibilities truly seem to be infinite, no bottom to be reached. with like no other synth sometimes you are half an hour deep into designing a sound and then just one supersmall increment on one parameter opens up a whole new spectrum. otherworldly. one-of-a-kind.

but back on my topic here and to pick up on some other posts in this thread, i am using zebra for nearly ten years now and i too have to say, the one thing i always get stuck on is that the MSEGs are not usable as "free-running" LFOs (synced to host tempo).
I mean, it is right there! in the most awesome way possible! complex edit tools, bezier, grid, etc.....
it breaks my brain. it truly does.
that i cannot simply click and have them running unaffected by any note/gate-triggers seems to me to be such a limitation.

as it strangely seems to be unclear to the majority here, why this functionality would be insanely useful, let me explain.
the idea is (even the need to mention that seems crazy to me), to have parts of the track automation already included in the patch.
so for example, what i and i am sure others as well, find myself doing often is having a little swell in multiple parameter values towards the end of a 4-(or 8 or 16 or 32)bar section, simply to have a little transition to resolve on the new "1" downbeat, where all the modulation cycles start anew again.
top candidates for this are for example env release or of course cutoff but really any parameter is employable for these little bumps at the end of the respective cycle.

techniques (not even really worth that description, its just so basic) like that are absolutely vital in so much of sequenced dance and electronic music for the last 3 decades. just look at all the tools popping up over the last years that offer exactly that functionality: lfotool, shaperbox, infiltrator, modulation processor from dialog audio, gooey snake, duck, tantra, gatekeeper... clearly there seems to be quite the demand for it.
and of course this is only one use-case among many. in fact, only scratching the surface. having these super tight, super flexible, graphically well represented curves as lfos would expand the overall functionality of zebra by quite a lot, without being more overwhelming.

if i understand it correctly, as they are implemented now, only long held notes can really benefit from the usage of long MSEGs, for a pluck or any plain eighth or sixteenth note there is no use of the possibility of having note-on triggered envelopes being multiple bars long.
for long held notes/chords sure, you can draw in beautiful curves over the duration of the note (or even over the duration of consecutive notes, but only if the first one is being held), but not everybody is trying to be Klaus Schulze these days.

It for sure is subjective but i dont need 8 (!) note-on triggered envelopes for my (mostly on the shorter side, sub 1/2 note) sequenced sounds. I'd rather have 8 lfos (or more)! or even better the ability to switch between env/lfo-functionality according to the task at hand.


on a related note, i saw with some sadness that the global lfos were cut out of the zebra 3 release.
so we now have only 4 true cyclical modulation sources.

sure, i can have the mappers "triggered"/modulated by an lfo (or external cyclical source via ABCD) to have them run as stepseqs/lfos, but that means basically sacrificing said lfo/ext source for having that mapper run cyclically, as lfo and mapper then have of course the same tempo division and only a "ramp up"-waveform functions as reliable trigger for a simple unidirectional step sequencer function.
once more, not being able to simply click to have the mappers run as true simple step sequencer loops, is to me such a limitation. with the possibilty to have up to 128 steps a rudimentary automation/arrangement could already be included in the patch! again, it is right there!

is trigger-agnostic cyclical modulation somehow looked down upon in the more scientifically-oriented synth community or frowned upon as too simple or too "new school" (which it isnt!)?
true cyclical MSEG-functionality "not rooted in actual sounddesign needs", "is only for the sake of having it", "not thinking how it can be useful"??? (paraphrased qoutes from this very thread)
gentlemen, please...

for now, i enable these additional cyclical functions with external modulation sources (cubase modulators) via the ABCD-knobs (that awesomely became automateable since the last beta release, thank you!) but the point of sacrificing stands here as well, these knobs could be used for more advanced modulation purposes than simple lfo tasks. still, it is at least a way to get to the functionality and i am glad about that!

of course, all that could be accomplished via MidiCC or host automation but then you have the problem of the parameter being no more accessible via the respective knob on the GUI. much better to have it included internally in the instruments own excellent mod system. also of course it keeps the patch portable across platforms.

for any user saying it is already possible to reach true note-agnostic functionality with the MSEGs, no it is not. the "single"-trigger option doesnt cut it, it is still note-on dependent.
but i ll be happy to learn otherwise. i have a 4/4-bar with say 5 discrete 16th-notes spread across it and want to increase say the env release exponentially over the second half of the bar via an MSEG (i know there are other ways, eg via velocity etc, but that is not the point here). how?

and just to be clear, MSEGs are of course amazing as they are as note-triggered envelopes, this text here is just a pledge to expand their functionality.

so, to sum it up: if the MSEGs and Mappers would be able to run as independent cyclical lfos/stepSeqs (preferably with length up to 64 or even 128 bars!), i would welcome it soo much, it would be heaven for me. HEAVEN!
-----> please Urs, can you make it happen some day?



while i am here all wishlisting away, i cant resist to mention three more items i'd love being implemented:

- having individual outs for the 4 out mixer channels (Main/1/2/3).
would save me so much time, as now i often record the layers individually in multiple passes, having one armed while the others are muted (in the signal mixer). individual outs would enable multitrack recording in one go. (many synths would benefit from such a feature)
having the layers as individual audio tracks is highly valuable for arrangement/mixing purposes, a bit less so when using the 1/2/3 as sends, but even then.

- mute buttons for the out-mixer channels (post-fader/knob).
would be helpful for setting/comparing levels, as due to the complex possibilities of interconneting the channels of the two mixers sometimes muting a lane in the signals mixer doesnt mute enough or mutes too much of the out-mixer channels content and one has to resort to turning the respective level knob to zero, which then has to be set again, creating some sort of levels whack-a-mole. clean separated mutes at the end of the 4 chains would solve this.

- 2 more compressors to then have 4 available, one for each of the 4 mixer channels (the compressor is one of the best ones implemented natively in any synth i know btw, although i liked the beta design a bit more for having the gain reduction more exactly readable)


to round it out, some few possible inconsistencies i came upon (cubase 15/windows10):
- curve mod in OSC/MSEG is no longer accessible via the little grey triangle, was very intuitive that way, now only accessible via the knob.
- modulation source value in the mod matrix has inversed mouse-wheel behaviour, scroll-up reduces value
- secondary modulation source value in the mod matrix defaults to 100 when activated, should be zero as with the primary modulation source


this is my first KVR post, although obviously i follow these subjects for a very long time, it was that much a matter close to my heart that i had to chime in but it also is primarly a true ask for the described functionality, which would improve working with zebra so much for me.

i hope the post is comprehensible and not too convoluted with all the brackets and insertions. as you know, zebra is a super complex creation in itself and one has to try to be exact when writing about it.

thank you and cheers!

[Sampleconstruct]

Jesus, get a life.