u-he

pbajzek · Post by **pbajzek** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 2:55 am

I've just started using Zebra and I believe it will replace everything else I own. However, I have one frustration with the otherwise-brilliant arpeggiator section:

Many synths with which I'm familiar (JP8000, Nord Lead 3, Reason, Live) have arpeggiators with a "Hold" function, so that I can input a chord and release the keys, and the arp will continue playing until I play a new chord. Unless I am missing something, Zebra does not seem to haver this function. I can hold a chord using MIDI CC#64, but then I need to toggle the CC every time I want to change chords, which is not very practical or musical.

I use this approach extensively and don't know how I can get by without it. Am I overlooking some Zebra feature, or is there another way to achieve this result? Thanks.

mcnoone · Post by **mcnoone** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 3:17 am

Your correct. It doesn't have the hold feature.
You can of course use Live to do this, with the midi notes played for those lengths you want in a sequence.

dburns · Post by **dburns** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 3:20 am

MCnoone,

I'm new to Live...how do I do this? I've used the Note Length plug, but it maxes out at one minute.

Thanks!

mcnoone · Post by **mcnoone** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 3:29 am

dburns wrote:MCnoone,
I'm new to Live...how do I do this? I've used the Note Length plug, but it maxes out at one minute.
Thanks!

No. I was just saying to record a midi track for the length of the note you want the arp to play, say...4 bars. Then you can just cut and paste that note to different notes and bars for a sequence.

If you look in live for the midi effects, it has an arpeggiator. With some settings you can click the "hold" button, then you won't have to hold down the keys for the time you want it to play.
Zebra's arp doesn't have this feature.
You can just use Live's piano roll to click and drag to make a note as long as you need it, then copy/paste in different notes.

dburns · Post by **dburns** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 3:38 am

Thanks. I thought maybe I'd missed something.

pbajzek · Post by **pbajzek** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 3:56 am

Yeah, I've been trying all sorts of workarounds with Live, but it's not quite the same. Live has the "Hold" command, but Zebra has... all the other good stuff.

Of course entering MIDI clips will trigger Zebra's arp the way I want, but my aim is to do this stuff for live playing, so Live clips aren't an option.

xh3rv · Post by **xh3rv** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 4:11 am

[e] Sorry, misunderstood the thread. Here's an option though, would it work to use a dummy clip in the synth track in Live that toggles the 'hold' feature?

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 7:46 am

pbajzek wrote:Yeah, I've been trying all sorts of workarounds with Live, but it's not quite the same. Live has the "Hold" command, but Zebra has... all the other good stuff.

Of course entering MIDI clips will trigger Zebra's arp the way I want, but my aim is to do this stuff for live playing, so Live clips aren't an option.

Have you tried a sustain pedal?

Urs · Post by **Urs** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 9:18 am

It's something I've had on my mind for a while. Unfortunately I can't estimate the amount of work involved. The arpeggiator is a tricky section that I'd rather leave untouched

Maybe I can work on this some time after releasing 2.5

dburns · Post by **dburns** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 11:20 am

A sustain pedal doesn't work for me, because you have to hold it down.

I use the long MIDI note approach for now. For me, I want a note to run for several minutes, or longer, so I create a long MIDI note. This is not so good if the note stops, or I want to replay a piece from the middle, because the note won't start unless I go back to where it is intially played. If I'm two minutes into the song and want to go back a few bars, I can't without hitting that note again.

I want the sound to continue evolving, and I want to be able to modulate it with the x-y pads or other controls as it plays. Latch is great because I can just hit the key and forget it while I play other parts. This is for live performance, not recording.

For now, I use Live's Note plugin, set it for the max (60 seconds) and retrigger it before it stops.

Thanks Urs. If you add latching sometime it would be nice.

pbajzek · Post by **pbajzek** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 1:13 pm

Thanks for the reply, Urs. I can understand not wanting to tweak the arp section. But maybe this can be a separate sort of MIDI filter that happens before the arp? Anyway, thank you for considering the suggestion.

In the meantime I will try playing with Live's Note function as mentioned above, but I've never quite gotten it to do what I want.

SayersWeb · Post by **SayersWeb** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 1:12 am

I too really wish for a hold feature on the arp... It can be very useful when tinkering with sounds and can be a very creative tool. I use it very often on the Virus TI.

pbajzek · Post by **pbajzek** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 3:24 am

SayersWeb wrote:I too really wish for a hold feature on the arp... It can be very useful when tinkering with sounds and can be a very creative tool. I use it very often on the Virus TI.

Yes, it's very useful that way; I love the latching arp on my NL3. I like to get an arp going in the bass so I can play over it with another patch. A latching arp is much more flexible than a pre-made clip, as I can change up the notes and improvise on the fly.

u-he

KVR Audio

Zebra arpeggiator question/suggestion