Zebra's biggest flaw
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- KVRAF
- 4878 posts since 13 Jun, 2002 from Montreal
I love Zebra but I am still a preset user. After all this time I still cannot find the modifications I want for different presets. I invariably destroy them when I mess with the seting in any one part of the synthesis window. What's missing for me is a video tutorial on how to tweak presets in useful ways.
Cheers,
Gordon
Cheers,
Gordon
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- KVRist
- 41 posts since 19 Feb, 2005 from Victoria, Australia
Ahaa - Works! Aftertouch is now as quick as other controllers. Thanks JeeTee, I'd have never figured that out on my own. Urs - does that bring us any closer to the source of the problem?
Does this mean I'm not alone in my laggy aftertouch?JeeTee wrote:Actually, it solves the lag you mentioned when using the Mod Matrix for pitch shift duties... well, OK, it does on my system...
- u-he
- Topic Starter
- 30216 posts since 8 Aug, 2002 from Berlin
Certainly... then there must be something weird going on soemwhere in the VST layer I guess...Chris Jones wrote:Ahaa - Works! Aftertouch is now as quick as other controllers. Thanks JeeTee, I'd have never figured that out on my own. Urs - does that bring us any closer to the source of the problem?
- Banned
- 6129 posts since 9 Oct, 2007 from an inharmonious society
Here are some:Beardedone wrote:What's missing for me is a video tutorial on how to tweak presets in useful ways.
Cheers,
Gordon
http://www.u-he.com/zebra/index.php?item=tutorials
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- KVRAF
- 4878 posts since 13 Jun, 2002 from Montreal
Wow! Thanks Chris!MCnoone wrote:Here are some:Beardedone wrote:What's missing for me is a video tutorial on how to tweak presets in useful ways.
Cheers,
Gordon
http://www.u-he.com/zebra/index.php?item=tutorials
- KVRian
- 518 posts since 28 Dec, 2007 from The Netherlands
Hi Urs,
Zebra is a programmers dream
, thank you for that!
What I would like to see, is "legato" as a modulation source. Legato when not retriggering envelopes or triggering portamento is nice, but legato as a modulation source will give new nice programming possibilities.
Bye and keep up the good work!
Zebra is a programmers dream
What I would like to see, is "legato" as a modulation source. Legato when not retriggering envelopes or triggering portamento is nice, but legato as a modulation source will give new nice programming possibilities.
Bye and keep up the good work!
- KVRAF
- 26977 posts since 3 Feb, 2005 from in the wilds
btw, Zebra 2.5b1 now has undo so it is easier to tweak presets and return to where you were if you don't like your changesBeardedone wrote:I love Zebra but I am still a preset user. After all this time I still cannot find the modifications I want for different presets. I invariably destroy them when I mess with the seting in any one part of the synthesis window. What's missing for me is a video tutorial on how to tweak presets in useful ways.
Cheers,
Gordon
- KVRer
- 22 posts since 30 Oct, 2006 from Sydney
One omission for me is no phase reset on the noise oscillators.
Since there is no sample playback ability ( which you could fake this with ), I'd love to see the ability for the noise oscillators to reset their "phase" each time a MIDI note on is received. Interface wise a simple phase reset on/off switch on the noise module/s would be perfect.
The reason for this is I recently began synthesizing drums in Zebra and have witnessed the most amazing results by bandpass filtering the pink and white noise oscillators.
The issue is that the results are non-repeatable. I imagine you are using something like a linear congruential feedback generator to generate the noise that's seeded on the current playback time of the sequencer, or Perlin noise or something similar. Therefore it should be possible for you to reset this noise generator in a repeatable fashion, to obtain a repeatable result on each drum hit/note.
I'm currently running a base sine-like oscillator through a LPF with enveloped pitch for the body of the kick, noise with bandpass for some "realism" and a click made from a fast volume envelope on white noise, all mixed together, then run through the Redline Reverb, then Soundtoys Decapitator, then the Rocket Compressor then finally the Sonalksis SV-517 EQ. The results are so good ( as in already sounding better than the kicks from any commercial sound library, it's already at Vengeance Sample Pack quality ) that it's worth pushing for this feature to make the results repeatable
Regards, and great work, Zebra is amazing.
Since there is no sample playback ability ( which you could fake this with ), I'd love to see the ability for the noise oscillators to reset their "phase" each time a MIDI note on is received. Interface wise a simple phase reset on/off switch on the noise module/s would be perfect.
The reason for this is I recently began synthesizing drums in Zebra and have witnessed the most amazing results by bandpass filtering the pink and white noise oscillators.
The issue is that the results are non-repeatable. I imagine you are using something like a linear congruential feedback generator to generate the noise that's seeded on the current playback time of the sequencer, or Perlin noise or something similar. Therefore it should be possible for you to reset this noise generator in a repeatable fashion, to obtain a repeatable result on each drum hit/note.
I'm currently running a base sine-like oscillator through a LPF with enveloped pitch for the body of the kick, noise with bandpass for some "realism" and a click made from a fast volume envelope on white noise, all mixed together, then run through the Redline Reverb, then Soundtoys Decapitator, then the Rocket Compressor then finally the Sonalksis SV-517 EQ. The results are so good ( as in already sounding better than the kicks from any commercial sound library, it's already at Vengeance Sample Pack quality ) that it's worth pushing for this feature to make the results repeatable
Regards, and great work, Zebra is amazing.
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- KVRist
- 174 posts since 6 Apr, 2005
why no beefy distortion tools in Zebra?
the wave shape tool & some of the filter modes get you half way there, but....
any plans to add to the dirt factor of Zebra?
Ben
the wave shape tool & some of the filter modes get you half way there, but....
any plans to add to the dirt factor of Zebra?
Ben
whats a sig?
- u-he
- Topic Starter
- 30216 posts since 8 Aug, 2002 from Berlin
Yes. A distortion module is pretty ready here but hasn't made it into 2.5, because fine tuning cost too much time. I'd expect it to appear in 2.6Beno. wrote:any plans to add to the dirt factor of Zebra?
However, the XMF filters may already offer a great deal of distortion...
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- KVRist
- 174 posts since 6 Apr, 2005
thank you for the replyUrs wrote:Yes. A distortion module is pretty ready here but hasn't made it into 2.5, because fine tuning cost too much time. I'd expect it to appear in 2.6Beno. wrote:any plans to add to the dirt factor of Zebra?
However, the XMF filters may already offer a great deal of distortion...
new distortion sounds GREAT!!
the XMF do offer some punch but for D&B i always have to add distortion externally
i hope you did not take my post as a complaint!!
i have owned Z2 since the pre release offer & felt i got a great deal for the price i paid, loads of great new free updates have come since then & as a customer i would like to thank you for the great service you have given me for the small price i payed all those years ago
so
Thank You
but im still looking forward to hearing the new distortion 2.6 update
any ideas on when there will be mp3 demos out of the new distortion?
Ben
whats a sig?
- u-he
- Topic Starter
- 30216 posts since 8 Aug, 2002 from Berlin
that's the thing... I was hoping to do a year without Zebra updatesBeno. wrote:any ideas on when there will be mp3 demos out of the new distortion?
(can't say for sure though... anything is possible...)
- KVRAF
- 26977 posts since 3 Feb, 2005 from in the wilds
Beno. wrote:thank you for the replyUrs wrote:Yes. A distortion module is pretty ready here but hasn't made it into 2.5, because fine tuning cost too much time. I'd expect it to appear in 2.6Beno. wrote:any plans to add to the dirt factor of Zebra?
However, the XMF filters may already offer a great deal of distortion...
new distortion sounds GREAT!!
the XMF do offer some punch but for D&B i always have to add distortion externally
i hope you did not take my post as a complaint!!
i have owned Z2 since the pre release offer & felt i got a great deal for the price i paid, loads of great new free updates have come since then & as a customer i would like to thank you for the great service you have given me for the small price i payed all those years ago
so
Thank You
but im still looking forward to hearing the new distortion 2.6 update
any ideas on when there will be mp3 demos out of the new distortion?
Ben
I too started with Zebra with the pre-release offer of Z2 and it has been such a good value with Zebra being improved tremendously with no extra cost.
I too look forward to a distortion module whenever that arrives. It is nice to have it within Zebra instead of using external...
More Modmappers is my main request cause they are so versatile and useful that 2 is nothing like enough. Modmappers can be used for parameter randomization, allow highly controllable keyboard scaling very helpful for controlling the sound over a broad keyboard range especially with comb modules, are quick draw envelopes when the mseg takes a lot more time to draw and lots more... of all the synths I have or have used, the modmappers in Zebra are my favorite tool!!
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- KVRist
- 420 posts since 29 May, 2005 from Central Ohio, USA
Minor suggestion - if there were a portamento switch (on/off), it would make it easy to turn portamento on/off via a physical foot switch. But anything that improves the control of Zebra via MIDI messages would be positive.

