we have a small group of EM producers here in colorado that get together once a month to share tips and techniques and whatnot. last night i gave a presentation on zebra at denver university to the group.
unfortunately i brought the wrong VGA adapter, so i had to use someone else's machine - thus didn't have my demo patches or anything so i just kinda winged it.
overall it went very well, judging by the reaction of the group. it was also a neat experiment for me to have to "explain" what i do with zebra to other people and it actually opened my eyes to even more of the seemingly endless possibilities of this beast.
anyway, i wanted to share a comment from a post to the group's list today after my presentation:
"BTW, I got home, downloaded the latest beta of Zebra and stayed up way too late. Man, that thing is amazing, the multi-stage envelopes, waveform morphing, all those freaking modulation sources. I must have sat there for hours just tweaking stuff.
I'd read that about Zebra before, that once you have it, and understand it, you don't really need any other synth, but I didn't really get it. After Bug's presentation, and seeing what it's capable of, I mean, shit, you could almost compose a whole track entirely in Zebra! Sooooo many possibilities.
Actually what I meant to write was, you could almost compose a whole track entirely with ONE preset, and NO external sequencer, just Zebra by itself. It's that powerful."
remembering back to my first exposure to zebra, and looking at the faces last night, the initial look at zebra can be so damn intimidating. but once a few basic things are understood, it really clicks. i am really looking forward to howard's book. i think that would probably help a lot of people get over that first hump. or maybe some good youtube demos - that would be a nice companion to the patches sticky thread here!
i also praised this forum as one of the most civilized and helpful i have ever seen (tips, amazing patches, all that stuff). and of course praised urs for being so responsive and mad-skillzed. i feel that i actually had a say in the MIDI program change addition (THANK YOU!!!!)
so thanks to everyone on this list and to urs. i luv you guys *sniff*.
i did a zebra presentation...
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- KVRian
- 930 posts since 21 Mar, 2006
Is there a video of this presentation, by any chance? As you say, some videos on Zebra would be really helpful, to old and new users alike, and I'd love to see yours.
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- KVRian
- 649 posts since 18 Dec, 2004
Can you summarize some of your explinations here? Thanks.amoeba wrote:it was also a neat experiment for me to have to "explain" what i do with zebra to other people and it actually opened my eyes to even more of the seemingly endless possibilities of this beast.
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- KVRer
- 1 posts since 10 Mar, 2008
I have a problem with Zebra2, that i can't fix . Sometimes i am listening a sound, like an arpegiated lupin, and for no special reason, the sound start's to go from the higher notes to the lower notes.
help me here !
Thanks!
help me here !
Thanks!
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 103 posts since 12 Jan, 2007
@Mighty Pea
taping these sessions has been discussed. hopefully that will actually happen in the future.
@chardin
all i really did was explain how the module matrix works, how to follow the signal path, what each module does, how modulations are done, MSEGs, XYs, etc. basically, i covered all the things that tend to not make any sense upon first glance. once those basics were out of the way, zebra started to make perfect sense to everyone there.
if there is group interest, i would like to go into more of how i create a patch based on what i have in mind - more of a synthesis tutorial using zebra as the environment. maybe i'll get a screen capture program and post some vids. that would be pretty fun to do, although i know there are people way more advanced in synthesis and/or zebra than i am.
really, my original goal was to de-mystify zebra - everyone has heard amazing things about it, but a common statement that i hear is "i didn't get it". i really think by explaining the usage (how to start the engine, adjust the seatback, and tune the exhaust) people can the easily take off and drive in their own natural manner without any problems. this of course is true of most any hard/software, but i hate to think people write off zebra just because of an initial "oh jeez what the hell is going on here".
taping these sessions has been discussed. hopefully that will actually happen in the future.
@chardin
all i really did was explain how the module matrix works, how to follow the signal path, what each module does, how modulations are done, MSEGs, XYs, etc. basically, i covered all the things that tend to not make any sense upon first glance. once those basics were out of the way, zebra started to make perfect sense to everyone there.
if there is group interest, i would like to go into more of how i create a patch based on what i have in mind - more of a synthesis tutorial using zebra as the environment. maybe i'll get a screen capture program and post some vids. that would be pretty fun to do, although i know there are people way more advanced in synthesis and/or zebra than i am.
really, my original goal was to de-mystify zebra - everyone has heard amazing things about it, but a common statement that i hear is "i didn't get it". i really think by explaining the usage (how to start the engine, adjust the seatback, and tune the exhaust) people can the easily take off and drive in their own natural manner without any problems. this of course is true of most any hard/software, but i hate to think people write off zebra just because of an initial "oh jeez what the hell is going on here".
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- KVRian
- 743 posts since 14 Apr, 2004
Check the sticky post about zebra getting out of tune..Pedro7 wrote:I have a problem with Zebra2, that i can't fix . Sometimes i am listening a sound, like an arpegiated lupin, and for no special reason, the sound start's to go from the higher notes to the lower notes.
help me here !
Thanks!
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- KVRian
- 649 posts since 18 Dec, 2004
I'm interested!amoeba wrote:if there is group interest, i would like to go into more of how i create a patch based on what i have in mind - more of a synthesis tutorial using zebra as the environment. maybe i'll get a screen capture program and post some vids. that would be pretty fun to do, although i know there are people way more advanced in synthesis and/or zebra than i am.
Screen captures would be great; videos even more so.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 103 posts since 12 Jan, 2007
thanks chardin, i'll see what i can do. i'm a bit more time-crunched than i'd like to be right now, but i think it would be really fun...
above all else, i think one of the best things you can do is find patches you like, and pick them apart to see what's going on. right-clicking on a module to de-activate it really helps - do everything you can to isolate parts and analyze what happens with each of them. keep in mind the same module can do many different things depending on how it's used or where it is at in the chain.
a very helpful thing to do is deactivate everything downstream. start with just the source or first module. tweak things just a bit to learn more about the effect they have. make mental notes (ore even physical ones!) about the character of the sound, and what happens depending on what you tweak. this is the best way to learn what each module and each parameter does.
as you start to feel comfortable with what's going on, activate the next module downstream. repeat the process. it can be a good idea to insert a different module instead and analyze the differences from the original.
one of the really beautiful things about zebra is the ability to isolate things in such a manner, or fully replace pieces in the chain. i can't think of many fixed-architecture synths (hard or soft) that allow this luxury. take advantage of it!
urs is definitely doing some special things here, but zebra is similar enough to classic modular analog systems that it is probably one of the best synths to really learn on. plenty of books about subtractive synthesis out there to learn the fundamentals, and zebra would make a perfect companion to any of them.
above all else, i think one of the best things you can do is find patches you like, and pick them apart to see what's going on. right-clicking on a module to de-activate it really helps - do everything you can to isolate parts and analyze what happens with each of them. keep in mind the same module can do many different things depending on how it's used or where it is at in the chain.
a very helpful thing to do is deactivate everything downstream. start with just the source or first module. tweak things just a bit to learn more about the effect they have. make mental notes (ore even physical ones!) about the character of the sound, and what happens depending on what you tweak. this is the best way to learn what each module and each parameter does.
as you start to feel comfortable with what's going on, activate the next module downstream. repeat the process. it can be a good idea to insert a different module instead and analyze the differences from the original.
one of the really beautiful things about zebra is the ability to isolate things in such a manner, or fully replace pieces in the chain. i can't think of many fixed-architecture synths (hard or soft) that allow this luxury. take advantage of it!
urs is definitely doing some special things here, but zebra is similar enough to classic modular analog systems that it is probably one of the best synths to really learn on. plenty of books about subtractive synthesis out there to learn the fundamentals, and zebra would make a perfect companion to any of them.
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- KVRist
- 119 posts since 31 Dec, 2004
[/quote]
I'm interested!
Screen captures would be great; videos even more so.[/quote]
+1
I'm interested!
Screen captures would be great; videos even more so.[/quote]
+1