Zebra 2.3 Released!

Official support for: u-he.com
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Urs wrote:everything seems to be working fine now so I can finally start to deal with other things than just bugfixes! 8)
there's even more to come? :o

i hope this beta is as stable for everyone as it is for me (so far) :D

Subz
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Al.Kamala wrote:I just installed the last Beta of Z2 in AU format, and I'm unable to find the midi program folder, tough it seams to work: when I run files with midi change settings, my initial instrument settings are changed and setted to instruments of the Local folder menu.
Yeah, the Mac version doesn't come with an installer. But the first time you run the new version, it creates this folder:

Mac HD/Library/Audio/Presets/u-he/Zebra2/MIDI Programs/

Once you put your favourite presets in there and restart your host, these presets can be switched through by MIDI Program Changes.

Interestingly, the patch switches are very fast - muuuuch faster than the once in the GUI - which have to actually load the file. Maybe I should make this a general option...? For those with lots of RAM...? Who just browse patches rather than save them...?
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Seems to be working fine here URS. I love the new resizeable GUI, though I do wish there was one more setting inbetween normal and large.
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Tarekith wrote:Seems to be working fine here URS. I love the new resizeable GUI, though I do wish there was one more setting inbetween normal and large.
Yeah. Unfortunately we're bound to certain aspect ratios such as 3:2, 2:1 and 5:2. Something inbetween like 5:3 is hardly doable at the moment.

Btw... there's another new feature that goes almost under the radar:

One can customize the list of automatable parameters! - So that i.e. Live users can "drag" filter parameters and stuff into the first 128 parameters. In that go, parameters can also be renamed, i.e. from just "Cutoff" to "VCF1 Cutoff".

I'll post a recipe for that soon!

Cheers,

;) Urs
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Urs, these features are amazing. All synths should offer program change features IMO, it makes live performance a cinch... I don't have the money for zebra yet, but I think I will soon.

Actually, I'm just being a lazy bastard. I have a jar with almost $200 in change that was originally my filterscape savings, but I've never gotten around to rolling them.

I have a hardware synth that might quality for the dino crossgrade (it's digital, but it's over 10 years old and reasonably well regarded) and with that I could roll my coins by buy me a zebra.
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Yes this midi change program is a nice thing, but how do you remove it? I tried to reverse it with reinstalling the official Z2.2, but it goes on working, and all the projects I have that where primarely written for midi synths sound very weird. Help please! On the other side, if you implement this in the future, it would be very handy to have a switch button to able/disable this feature.
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OMG that's the coolest minor patch update bugfix thing I've ever seen.
Can't wait to try it out tonight.

One thing that strucks me though is that the program change patches are bound to a fixed folder. I think it would be way more handy if each Zebra instance could have it's own patch collection.
Maybe it's possible to make program change work simply on the currently selected folder? That way I could create a program change folder for each instance.
Not very nice but a simple solution.
(A virtual program change folder would be great).
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Oh just read the thing about the 'patch database'...
Well then we're probably really stuck with those 128 patches.

(sorry for the negative energy, I'm still really happy about this :wink:)
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Urs wrote:
Al.Kamala wrote:I just installed the last Beta of Z2 in AU format, and I'm unable to find the midi program folder, tough it seams to work: when I run files with midi change settings, my initial instrument settings are changed and setted to instruments of the Local folder menu.
Yeah, the Mac version doesn't come with an installer. But the first time you run the new version, it creates this folder:

Mac HD/Library/Audio/Presets/u-he/Zebra2/MIDI Programs/
Mhhh..not here, osx 10.4.11 and live 7.0.2
Not in the main library and not in the user library...can't find that folder..
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raikard233 wrote:Mhhh..not here, osx 10.4.11 and live 7.0.2
Not in the main library and not in the user library...can't find that folder..
Hmmm... then you either don't have the latest version, or your Permissions are screwed... you can of course create that folder by hand. Or simply make the Presets directory writable for your user! 8)

Cheers,

;) Urs
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attackmode wrote:Oh just read the thing about the 'patch database'...
Well then we're probably really stuck with those 128 patches.

(sorry for the negative energy, I'm still really happy about this :wink:)
Actually, I'm contemplating to activate "MIDI bank Select". Banks would be subfolders within the MIDI Program Structure.

Each patch currently is between 1-20 kB of memory. Thus I guess we can easily hold 2000-5000 without much trouble. They are also shared among Zebra instances. A Zebra easily takes 10 MB alone, so that another 5 MB or something won't hurt much.

Why using a separate folder? - Easy: Unlike a hardware synth you store patches as files on a hard drive which dynamically change their order depending on their file name. If Program Changes worked on arbitrary folders, many many users would end up with song projects that have incompatible Program Changes whenever an update adds or changes patches.

I honestly don't want to create esoteric meta file databases for this feature (as in: "tag files for mdidi usage"). If you need it it will come in handy, if you don't then don't.

;) Urs
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Al.Kamala wrote:Yes this midi change program is a nice thing, but how do you remove it? I tried to reverse it with reinstalling the official Z2.2, but it goes on working, and all the projects I have that where primarely written for midi synths sound very weird. Help please! On the other side, if you implement this in the future, it would be very handy to have a switch button to able/disable this feature.
The feature is switched off if no preset is in the Midi Programs directory (when the host is started). Program Changes only have an effect if a program is defined. Otherwise just nothing happens.

If you still experience Program Changes after clearing the directory and restarting the host, they must come from your host software (i.e. Racks in Live).

Cheers,

;) Urs
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What's also noteworthy: This is the very first implementation. We're testing if the basic principle works or not. Afterwards there are several options to extend things. Including global preferences to disable it!
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Urs wrote:
raikard233 wrote:Mhhh..not here, osx 10.4.11 and live 7.0.2
Not in the main library and not in the user library...can't find that folder..
Hmmm... then you either don't have the latest version, or your Permissions are screwed... you can of course create that folder by hand. Or simply make the Presets directory writable for your user! 8)

Cheers,

;) Urs
Not sure of what you mean with last, just downloaded the last 2.2 from your website and replaced the component and vst with the one one the first post of the thread...
Btw, will try creating the folder manually..


Edit:
Ok, works fine in ableton live 7.0.2 through session clips by setting the "Program" under the Notes controls.
Very cool!!
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If you still experience Program Changes after clearing the directory and restarting the host, they must come from your host software (i.e. Racks in Live).

Cheers,

;) Urs[/quote]


This can be usefull for other users: if it doesn't work by just cleaning your directory, restart your computer and everything should become normal again.

Otherwise, for the AU version, I had effectively to create the MIDI Program directory manually.
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