Zebra 3 Public Beta (final beta)

[Urs]

We have all the hosts, no worries, and people who know how to do things in them.

[Teksonik]

We have all the hosts, no worries, and people who know how to do things in them.

Things like catching the Drag and Drop issue?

I was just trying to be helpful because many of the plugin developers I have contact with had never heard of Waveform. I don't think it has a huge user base like FL Studio or Live but it's not as obscure as say Mulab. Waveform can be a bit quirky.

[Urs]

Thank you of your help. The issue has found its way into our bug tracker and will be dealt with.

[glokraw]

Great sounds in the latest beta, and the arp-like capabilities are well represented Great brass sounds, among many others. Running the pluk and EP sounds in CamelCrushers 'British Clean' amp is quasi Zebra 4

As using the windows version in windows Reaper in linux via wine/wineasio is many kilometers from the planned use case, it is certainly testament to the quality of coding under the hood

[morphex]

I’m curious if the custom patches that I’m making with this 3rd beta version, will sound the same after any upcoming updates.

I’ve set aside a decent amount of time for programming, but it seems that Zebra 3 is still continuing to develop. If anyone has any insight or tips on this, I’d certainly appreciate it.

[Teksonik]

the arp-like capabilities are well represented.

Arp-like being the key words. I still miss a real conventional Arp if for no other reason than it's easier to use. The MSEGs and Mappers are great but it's just not the same thing to me.

Yes I get it we can use an external Arp plugin but I often use multiple Arps in a patch triggering different OSCs and that can be very difficult or downright impossible to duplicate in your DAW without using multiple instances then it just starts to get messy.

If I had a magic wand I would take the Arp from DIVA (or something even more capable) and make it a module that could be dropped on any or all of the 4 lanes. But I'm probably in the minority with that wish so I wouldn't expect it to happen.

An Arpeggiator is something that needs to be played from a keyboard to be fully appreciated. Having multiple Arps going in different directions and/or at different speeds triggering different OSCs can yield some amazing sounds that I have spent countless hours joyfully playing in synths that have such a function.

I invite anyone who owns Pigments to use its excellent built in Arp/Seq to drive Zebra 3 then tell me you wouldn't want something similar in Z3.

Again I'm probably alone in my wishes and to be fair I do have synths that allow multiple Arps, some of which allow more than I have ever found a use for so I'm not missing out on anything but every time I work with Zebra 3 I do miss a conventional Arp.

[Igro]

A conventional ARP is definitely needed.

[Tj Shredder]

I prefer virtual instruments without arp or even worse sequencers. That encourages sound designers to create ARP or SEQ presets. I hate them, I have to skip those presets always...
I am not against arps, but prefer to place an arp in front of the instrument if I want it, there are enough decent arps in the world...
No its not needed, as its covered already... I can live with such an annoyance though...; - )

[Teksonik]

No its not needed

It's needed by those who want it and can be ignored by those who don't. That goes for any feature in any synth.

For example, I find Macro knobs completely useless for my needs since I make patches to be played not played with but most synths have them and I can simply ignore Macro Knobs so win-win for everyone.

I prefer Arps to be part of a patch and not something tacked on as an afterthought since internal Arps can interact with other components of a synth much better and in ways an external Arp can't. By your thinking Filters are not needed in a synth because there are so many third party filter plugins that can be tacked on....see where I'm going with this?

I've made hundreds and hundreds of patches that use Arp/Seqs and many of them multiple Arps/Seqs. I've spent countless joyful hours just playing those patches and using them in almost every project I've done.

At any rate DIVA, Hive 2, Zebra 2, Repro, Bazille, all have some form of Arp/Seq so wanting one in Zebra 3 is not an unreasonable or unusual request and again anyone can simply ignore the feature if they wish.

As for presets if I use them, I dislike many of the presets in every synth and have to "skip over them" but that's not a herculean task especially if presets are properly pre-tagged or in named sub-folders.

No synth is 100% perfect for 100% of the people but the more features you remove the fewer people will find the things they want and need.

[pdxindy]

I invite anyone who owns Pigments to use its excellent built in Arp/Seq to drive Zebra 3 then tell me you wouldn't want something similar in Z3.

Again I'm probably alone in my wishes and to be fair I do have synths that allow multiple Arps, some of which allow more than I have ever found a use for so I'm not missing out on anything but every time I work with Zebra 3 I do miss a conventional Arp.

An Arp is definitely coming to Zebra 3. That is certain.

[Teksonik]

An Arp is definitely coming to Zebra 3. That is certain.

Well then I'm a happy old man.

This is how much I love Arp patches, just one folder in one synth in my collection.

Arps 2.png

[glokraw]

the arp-like capabilities are well represented.

Arp-like being the key words...
every time I work with Zebra 3 I do miss a conventional Arp.

Fully agree, and I also enjoy the creative surpises that arp tempos and directions provide, as they hit a variety of instrument sounds with diverse characteristics.

[Teksonik]

Well said and I concur.

One thing I hope for is that an Arp in Zebra 3 comes as a module rather than a Mode as it is now in Zebra 2.

I often like to send some Oscs through an Arp and some to bypass in order to have a filter sweep or pad going on either behind the Arp or in front of it in sound priority.

For example this allows Arps to run behind Pads as elements of motion to bring a depth and complexity to the sound that I just love.

As I said before I'd love if an Arp module could be dropped on each lane. That would allow Arps to run at different speeds in different directions trigging different Oscs and sounds which is something I do all the time.

I'd be as happy as a child on Christmas morning if that were to happen but the complexity of adding such a feature may make it impractical to implement. So all we can do is hope and see what the future holds......

[Seluvis]

Well said and I concur.

One thing I hope for is that an Arp in Zebra 3 comes as a module rather than a Mode as it is now in Zebra 2.

I think I understand what you mean, I own a few flagship Synths and all have Arps built in, some Synths like Ana2 have excellent Arps with chord memories so yeah it does seem strange that currently Zebra 3 is reliant on msegs which are fiddly and remind me of Reveals Spire. Having said that Zebra is still in beta so anything can happen. As you say external Arps can't quite get to the low level you require. I find Dune 3 from Synapse interesting in you can do some very cool things with it. Ultimately though for low level Arps imo nothing comes to close to Bitwigs grid in the hands of tech-head.

[Teksonik]

Well the thing is even if Arp(s) were added to Zebra 3 you could still use Bitwig's Grid (or any third party Arp plugin) if you wanted.

Arps would add functionality without taking any other method away. Win-Win.