Soften / Warm Up Zebra?

[5Lives]

Hello,

I'm about to purchase Zebra, but have been playing around with the demo and reading the manual to prepare. I really like the flexibility of it - I'm not a sound designer, but it seems to be making me one!

I was comparing Zebra and Sylenth1 this evening (using the demos) - trying to create the same patches in each (much easier in Zebra I found - I like the interface better) when I noticed that although Zebra sounds great, it seems a tad harsher than Sylenth1.

Any suggestions on how to soften or warm up that harshness? I was using a very simple path - 2 saw-silk oscillators through a VCF. I tried shelving the hi freqs using an EQ and that helped a little, but wasn't ideal.

Appreciate the help!
C

[mcnoone]

You have to use the "softener" and "warmer" mods, for that.
Oh...yea those aren't out yet...mmmm
2 teaspoons of regular softener, mixed in warm water.
ehh too messy.
I know. Practice, practice, practice...
Hey...that's not funny!...but, don't knock a guy for trying.

I think the newest beta, has some oversampling function. Maybe that will work for you. To say...warm things up. I don't know, I'm still on 2.3.1.
Are you using 2.3.3? Maybe the oversampling thing will help. Try it.

Is your comparison is done without effects first? Effects can make a difference.
Here is the page to dl the newest beta
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 74&start=0

[djanthonyw]

I tried the new beta hoping I would like the sound, but unfortunately it still doesn't vibe with me. What I think helps the most would be running TriTone's ColorTone over it. Only down side is that you need to install the Pluggo runtime. http://www.tritonedigital.com/product_i ... ccda0a4015

[Jeremy_NSL]

Have you tried all the different VCFs? They all have a different tone.. I really like Vintage1/2.

[bagginz]

Hello,
Any suggestions on how to soften or warm up that harshness? I was using a very simple path - 2 saw-silk oscillators through a VCF. I tried shelving the hi freqs using an EQ and that helped a little, but wasn't ideal.

Appreciate the help!
C

With Zebra2 there's a huge amount of different ways of going about that.

First of all, assuming by harshness you mean excess high frequencies, here's a few:



1. Turn up the drive parameter on the (presumably) LowPass filter a little.

2. Lower the cutoff on the filter

3. Add a second low pass filter in series to the signal path, say the 6db one and set the cutoff to taste.

4. Open the <more oscillators> tab and change the shape of the waveforms - click and drag or try other wave presets.

5. Add a shaper module and turn down the high parameter.

6. Add an XMF filter in series, set to low pass and turn up the bias parameter

7. Enable a second band in the e.q. and cut even more of the high frequencies

8. If you currently have the detune parameter set high with a multiple oscillator mode, turn down either/or the detune amount and/or width parameters.

Etc. etc.

Cheers,
bagginz

[bagginz]

Have you tried all the different VCFs? They all have a different tone.. I really like Vintage1/2.

Agreed.

@ the O.P:

the drive modes of these two filters offer "warm" type saturation.

Also, despite the similar name, both filter's saturations are quite different in character.

cheers,
bagginz

[5Lives]

djanthonyw - I actually really like the sound of Zebra - just wanted to understand how to manipulate it's sound.

bagginz / Jeremy NSL - Thanks so much for your suggestions. I especially liked using the Shaper, XMF, and Vintage1/2 - really did soften the top end. Need to read the manual on those again.

Appreciate the help! Just ordered my license!

[dburns]

I think you'll love Zebra as you get used to it.

Your post caught my attention because I've always felt Sylenth1 was harsher and more "in your face" than Zebra2. Funny how ears differ, eh?

If you like warmth, get Michael Kastrup's Oldskool soundset.

Have fun with Zebra!

[fgimian]

Zebra2 does indeed rock, but it can not sound like every other synth. Sylenth1 sounds completely different (the oscillators, effects, filters .etc). If you do like Sylenth1, it might not be a bad idea to grab that too when you have saved up some more cash. The 2 would compliment each other very very well. There are so many Zebra2 sounds you couldn't even dream of producing with Sylenth1 and vice versa.

Regardless, I think you will love Zebra2

[5Lives]

For me personally, Sylenth sounded big/thick and in your face, but without that shrillness (or digitalness I guess you could call it). Sorry, not sure how else to describe it. Even with just a regular saw wave playing I noticed the difference between it and Zebra. That's what I meant by harsh.

Having said that, based on my own personal comparison, Sylenth sounded sort of one dimensional almost - everything was like trance and it felt like I had heard it all before (even the patches I made myself!). Also, I just could NOT get into the UI or understand it easily - maybe I'm just slow...although I thought Zebra's UI was very intuitive.

Anyway, don't want to start a Zebra vs. Sylenth1 thread. Glad to know that Zebra is flexible enough to allow me to minutely adjust the sound in so many ways if I so desire.

[mkastrup]

The trick to warmer or more air in patches lies within using the EQ. Nearly all synths have a breaking point in the filter where it becomes harsh, the trick is to stay just below this breaking point and then have EQ do the rest.

EQ is very important if you want a patch to get a warm feel.

/Michael

[pedx1ng]

The trick to warmer or more air in patches lies within using the EQ. Nearly all synths have a breaking point in the filter where it becomes harsh, the trick is to stay just below this breaking point and then have EQ do the rest.

EQ is very important if you want a patch to get a warm feel.

/Michael

If it would not be too much trouble, could you perhaps expand on this somewhat, maybe with a simple example? EQ is something I neglect in my own sound design because I don't have the confidence to use it; I feel I would just be stumbling blindly. Thank you.

[Polybius]

You should also get acquainted with the OSC effects (surprised no one has mentioned them yet, they are usually the first thing i go to when designing sounds). Try using the "filter" osc effect together with the "brightness" osc effect. Twist knobs to taste, i'm not sure this will do the trick, but it's worth a shot.

Also, if you can afford it, you can buy Zebra, and buy Sylenth1 later on, i think those two complement each other very well.

I recently bit the bullet and finally bought Imposcar. Really glad i did. I like Zebra heaps, but sometimes i don't want to spend 30 minutes building a patch, so the Imposcar is now my go-to synth for warm/powerfull sounds. If i want more complex sounds i open up Zebra. Both go very well together.

[mkastrup]

The trick to warmer or more air in patches lies within using the EQ. Nearly all synths have a breaking point in the filter where it becomes harsh, the trick is to stay just below this breaking point and then have EQ do the rest.

EQ is very important if you want a patch to get a warm feel.

/Michael

If it would not be too much trouble, could you perhaps expand on this somewhat, maybe with a simple example? EQ is something I neglect in my own sound design because I don't have the confidence to use it; I feel I would just be stumbling blindly. Thank you.

Well its not that complicated just imagine a HIFI amplifier with loudness. Most of us like to add a bit low and high to music, so early on loudness was introduced into amplifiers.

If i want more air in a string patch i dont yank the filter wayyy up but instead i use the EQ to boost frequency which is a tad higher than the filter break point. Usually these frequencies lies around 200 for the lows and 5-8khz for highs.

By break point i mean the point in the filter where it starts to sound harsh.

The area around 250 to 800 hz usually defines the body of a patch. This is where the warm feel is enhanced using EQ.
/Michael

[mkastrup]

Here is an example:

http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/filterbreak.zip

OSC 1 is standard
OSC 2 is tweaked using EQ

/Michael