The "Zebra2 plays Virus" challenge

[fgimian]

Keep in mind that those demos may contain production work, and may not be naked patch demos. I own a few of those soundsets, and was doing a few tests to recreate the sound of the demos Manuel showcases on his site. The particular one I tried was the V-Station and the Club4K soundset he programmed for it. There was compression, reverb and effect automation all over the place as well as a multiband limiter & exciter.
So I do believe it's pretty pointless trying to re-create a patch, while comparing it to a processed demo tune.

2 cents

Hmm, then maybe we gotta figure out how he's processed these things!

The hardware he's listed is...

External Gear

Lexicon MPX100
Boss SX-700
Aphex Aural Exciter Type C
SPL Vitalizer Tube mk2

Internal Gear

Powercore
UAD1

http://www.vengeance-mastering.com/eng/ ... About.html

I wonder if it's the UAD working it's magic in these examples

Do you happen to have these particular sounds we are after as presets ? Perhaps you could post some samples of what they sound like unprocessed ?

Fots

[suthnear]

If I still had a virus, I'd buy that soundset, find the preset in question and record the arp.

Then we could all decide if even the virus sounds like the virus

[fgimian]

If I still had a virus, I'd buy that soundset, find the preset in question and record the arp.

Then we could all decide if even the virus sounds like the virus

Having owned it, do you think it is "capable" of sounding like this out of the box?

Fots

[spaceman]

I *never ever* thought about contributing to any such a thread. I mean, I'm a synth-idiot, nothing else. Anyways, I slapped the MIDI file onto something and rendered it down. Three versions of it.
All too bright, the latter two also being rather harsh/bright (even the first one, so, all of them are too harsh - yes, I'm a great synth programmer), then, the files certainly aren't "hyper-sawing" enough (maybe due to the lack of OSCs?), the attack (which, in the original, seems to be modulated to my ears - could've done so, but been too lazy) is way too strong as well - but anyways, here goes:
http://home.arcor.de/s.franck/temp/LameOldArp.mp3
And no, I'm not trying to get any Virus sound simulated - I don't even have a clue about what a Virus sounds like. The only thing I tried was to get a sound that'd probably work "in context". And hey, maybe none of them does. As said, I'm no synth-dude (nor a tarnce musician), just a guitar player playing some blues licks.

sounds fuzzy with distortion

[shogger]

Whoopie!

So, I added all the posted files to the first post in this thread. The original arp, the original arps midi file, etc.

If anything is wrong, if anything is missing, or anything else, please tell me. I'm in a hurry now so I didn't checked it all at the end as I have to go for my daughters birthday now.

Enjoy!

Shogger

[mkastrup]

Whoopie!

So, I added all the posted files to the first post in this thread. The original arp, the original arps midi file, etc.

If anything is wrong, if anything is missing, or anything else, please tell me. I'm in a hurry now so I didn't checked it all at the end as I have to go for my daughters birthday now.

Enjoy!

Shogger

Whooopie!! Great great great Shogger u da man

[suthnear]

Having owned it, do you think it is "capable" of sounding like this out of the box?
Fots

I only spent about an hour trying to recreate the arp in z2 on saturday but I was struck by how much high frequency energy there is in the clip. The virus is not the brightest synth around so I wouldn't be surprised if something like an exciter had been used. Also, there's both delay and reverb being used and, prior to the TI, this wasn't possible. But basically, it has a very virus-y sound about it.

Regardless of what external processing he may or may not have used, I don't think it's extra processing that gives the clip its vitality but rather careful and detailed modulation. He definitely didn't just program some notes and record the filter being opened. There are numerous tweaks to both the sound and the pattern throughout the clip and this presents the most significant obstacle to trying to recreate the sound. The midi file we're using has equal length notes, constant velocity and definitely no streams of controllers in it. This makes reverse engineering a lot harder.

I was joking about even the virus not sounding like a virus, but I do think that it'll probably sound quite a bit less dynamic than the clip without additional work...

[hifiboom]

or maybe just an eq...

[shogger]

Whooopie!! Great great great Shogger u da man

Thanx Michael. Actually you're my hero in this thread. You made the most convincing Virus replica and you did it with Zebra.
I was at your site to get me some more of your cool music and just heard "Return to Eden". Man, was I not ready for this!
It touched me so deep. This is a masterpiece. Very, very good.

Shogger

[Urs]

Here's a pic of the improved & updated u-he workspace:

[pschelfh]

Wow, nice double screens there !

Peter.

[shogger]

Here's a pic of the improved & updated u-he workspace:

Yeah, I want one of those U-HE mugs!

Shogger

[rsmus7]

I had a little try with the midi file,

this is pure Zebra,
but I'm not very contented yet,
I had some problems with my DAW and automation.

So I might post another one later,

for now here is my try:


Zebra arp

[Klemperer]

for now here is my try:


Zebra arp

I'm not even supposed to read this here, as I rather had to sell than buy software, but this sounds extreeemely nice, Stephan!

....and the studio....wow....you should stop coding for just 6 weeks, Urs, and use this nice studio for an album

[Urs]

....and the studio....wow....you should stop coding for just 6 weeks, Urs, and use this nice studio for an album

True!

Funnily, no-one realizes how on-topic that pic is...