u-he

Sleepwalker · Post by **Sleepwalker** » Wed Feb 05, 2014 12:20 pm

So im considering a Zebra purchase!

I already have Ace and Diva. I have demoed Zebra a couple of times in the past and it sounds amazing, but the whole modular consept is a little dawnting for my type of use. I have a habbit of not purchasing something if im not sure im going to be using it. Like many musicians im often more creative when im constraind. Optimally I like to not having to look at the computer screen at all and have all favorite parameters acessible on hardware, and nothing that I frequently use hidden in menues. In that sense the posibilities of Zebra blows my brain when I need the opposite: focus. Especially in a jam with others you cant stop the music flow, patching and digging through menues. That would ruin the flow of the jam completely. (I heavily use lfos when I jam)

But then it came to my mind: what if I build my favorite synth jam setup in Zebra, and map it to a dedicated hardware controller? The best hardware synth layout ive ever played is the Virus B. (Ive had all the Virus models) Its just so incredibly fast to make sounds with the B as all of my favorite parameters are layed out in the simplest and quickest way possible to reach.

Within that vision could I make a preset like this for Zebra? I guess so. It shold have a few pre-mapped lfos.

In the spirit of the Virus B, roughly something like this:
2 oscilators, each with midi assignable wave shape, pitch and volume/mix. Sub oscilator with midi assignable volume and pitch. Noise volume. 2 midi assignable serial filters, and assignable filter types. Assignable filter envelope and volume envelope.
Lfo 1 to osc pitch, lfo 2 to osc volume, lfo 3 to filter cutof, lfo 4 to fm, and maybe 4 more highly usable lfos. Midi assignable sync on/off, shape, speed and depth for all lfos. Then maybe some more cool stuf if it could fit on a hardware keyboard controller, but I guess this already eats up a massive ammount of knobs and fades. The virus B has only 2 lfos and still it has a ton of knobs.

Maybe if it can have 3 serial filters, have the first one locked to an envelope, the second locked to an lfo, and the third free.

Any thoughts on this?

Cyoon · Post by **Cyoon** » Wed Feb 05, 2014 12:59 pm

try the demo maybe? this should all be possible tho..

Sleepwalker · Post by **Sleepwalker** » Wed Feb 05, 2014 1:09 pm

I already demoed it a couple of times in the past. Admitedly only a few days, but I was going from morning to night. I dont mind spending time on it once more, however im fully occupied with productions and live performances for a while now and dont have many free days to experiment with new configurations.

If I got a simple yes from a user out there, maybe it will motivate me to sacrifice some time to try this.

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Wed Feb 05, 2014 6:54 pm

That would all be possible...

Personally, I wouldn't want to restrict myself to such a fixed setup... and one that does not make use of the various other modules at ones disposal in Zebra.

What Zebra has are the 4 X/Y performance controls. Regardless of the individual patch structure, you can assign the pertinent parameters you want to control for that patch to the X/Y's

For example, you can dedicate the first X/Y to say filter cutoff and resonance in all your patches. With this sort of setup you can have some consistent controls while at the same time have different patch structures.

If what you want is really another fixed architecture synth, it seems a waste to try to shoehorn Zebra into that.

Sleepwalker · Post by **Sleepwalker** » Wed Feb 05, 2014 7:56 pm

Well im not you.

A fixed hardware synth with a vst engine is exactly what I want. I will dedicate a big controller keyboard to it, like the Akais etc. I dont know if there is any softsynth out there with such great sound that can be custom configured like that. Lets say I want 8 lfos, 3 filters and a ton of other great futures. Actually I think this is a good idea for what I look for!

A great vst synth with a great lightweight hardware controller. That is exactly what I wanted for ages. Virus TI did not give me this. The lfos are hidden in menus since the C. Oh, and I hate dongles, id like to be able to free myself from all hardware exept the laptop, and still be able to use the synth if I so desire.

There are other options:
Omnisphere: way to ram and disk heavy, clunky UI.
Surge: great layout but not good enough sound.
Waldorf Largo: Meh..not interested.

I really like the Uhe sound. I want the best sounding vst with a ton of lfos and other great futures so I can build my dream hardware vst combo synth.

Cool, so then I will give it a go when I get some time at airports, and in air etc.

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Wed Feb 05, 2014 11:07 pm

Sleepwalker wrote:Well im not you. A fixed hardware synth with a vst engine is exactly what I want.

Get a Prophet 12

Btw... one of the great things about Zebra is that the demo does not expire and you can load and save presets. So you could work on creating your setup before you ever purchase. Zebra only has 4 LFO's but it also has 4 MSEG's which loop so you can use them as LFO's with the right setup.

Also, there is Bitwig coming out soon. Apparently it has a great user API for configuring controllers. It also has a fairly modular instrument/modulator/effects setup (fully modular in v2). You could create a setup with Diva and a few additional LFO's

ontrackp · Post by **ontrackp** » Thu Feb 06, 2014 1:51 am

I also have ACE and DIVA, but to be honest, Zebra is my go-to synth for quick programming of complex and rewarding sounds. Even with your fixed hardware setup you will not be disappointed with Zebra's incredibly flexible oscillators and robust filter choices. Modulation is easy -- it takes just a short time to get used to the interface, but it's incredibly rewarding. My advice is go for it -- you won't look back!

Sleepwalker · Post by **Sleepwalker** » Thu Feb 06, 2014 3:55 am

Get a Prophet 12

Why dont you go to the north pole and make a snowman!

Btw... one of the great things about Zebra is that the demo does not expire and you can load and save presets. So you could work on creating your setup before you ever purchase.

That is indeed fantastic! Didnt know that.. Awesome.

Zebra only has 4 LFO's but it also has 4 MSEG's which loop so you can use them as LFO's with the right setup.

Alright.. Thats still 8 "lfos" which id like to have. Thanks for the info!

Also, there is Bitwig coming out soon. Apparently it has a great user API for configuring controllers. It also has a fairly modular instrument/modulator/effects setup (fully modular in v2). You could create a setup with Diva and a few additional LFO's

Thats cool and all but I will not fully trust a new live perfomance daw before it has atleast 2 or 3 years on its back. I trust in Ableton. Imagine having a system breakdown in front of 5000 people prime time. It happened to me.

It wasnt Lives fault though, but NI's soundcard. (Yeah I had a backup) However im definitly not bringing something on stage that isnt 110% tested, tried and tuned!

But I will definitly try Bitwig at release, and likely purchase it at some point. All those futures looks very tasty. Good thinking to extend Zebras lfos with Bitwigs! That doesnt work for me with Max 4 Live. I dont like how M4L lfos operate, it locks the parameters its assigned to. It also adds latency, and I dont trust it in a live setting either.

Zebra has only 4 lfos? Thats funny, I though it was limitless! Surge is perhaps my favorite vst synth. It has 12 lfos that also can be envelopes. But Uhe synths sound soo much better!

I hope Uhe will release modules for Bitwig 2's modular system: Oscilator modules, envelope modules, filter modules, fx modules. Imagine that! Hah, that would blow my mind to orbit.

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Thu Feb 06, 2014 4:52 am

Sleepwalker wrote:
Zebra only has 4 LFO's but it also has 4 MSEG's which loop so you can use them as LFO's with the right setup.
Alright.. Thats still 8 "lfos" which id like to have. Thanks for the info!

Actually, there are also 2 more global LFO's as well... so 10 it is!

Sleepwalker · Post by **Sleepwalker** » Thu Feb 06, 2014 4:54 am

ontrackp wrote:I also have ACE and DIVA, but to be honest, Zebra is my go-to synth for quick programming of complex and rewarding sounds. Even with your fixed hardware setup you will not be disappointed with Zebra's incredibly flexible oscillators and robust filter choices. Modulation is easy -- it takes just a short time to get used to the interface, but it's incredibly rewarding. My advice is go for it -- you won't look back!

Thanks..Yeah I know. Soo many people say the same thing. Ive been having Zebra in the back of my mind for atleast 5 years. The thing is the Uhe Synth UIs does unfortunately not "click" perfectly with me "out of the box". (the effect vsts does though) Same thing with Elektron hardware. Actuslly thouse Elektron devices are downright counter intuitive to me. (to be fair ive only had the Monomachine, but oh my god what a time consuming rabbithole) Im weird like that. Regarding Uhe synths I guess its because they typically mimic hardware in a software world. Its the road they chose and im fine with that. And the sound is amazing, oh my god! Best in class. It just seems like you have to climb walls, read manuals, watch tutorials, study and memorize it like it was the 70ties all over again.

My brain is like a gold fish. In contrast I got my head arround Surge in a day. Its semi modular with 12 lfos/envelope combos. But this says a lot more about me then the different UI's ofcource.

Btw the developer of Surge is one of the brains behind Bitwig.

Still, Uhe is great, nothing like it. Amazing sound, amazing support, amazing products.

I firmly belive that if you want something spesific in life you have to make it yourself. Im not going to even think about trying to code vst synths. But I could use a modular vst to build what I want..after all isnt that one of the main ideas with modular systems? Ive also herd Zebra is the most functional modular in the vst world. That counts a lot!

Sleepwalker · Post by **Sleepwalker** » Thu Feb 06, 2014 4:56 am

pdxindy wrote:Actually, there are also 2 more global LFO's as well... so 10 it is!

Great!

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Thu Feb 06, 2014 4:58 am

Sleepwalker wrote:
But I will definitly try Bitwig at release, and likely purchase it at some point. All those futures looks very tasty. Good thinking to extend Zebras lfos with Bitwigs! That doesnt work for me with Max 4 Live. I dont like how M4L lfos operate, it locks the parameters its assigned to. It also adds latency, and I dont trust it in a live setting either.

I avoid using M4L where I can... and I don't like the M4L LFO device... it makes editing Zebra patches annoying cause it is always on even when transport is stopped.

Sleepwalker · Post by **Sleepwalker** » Thu Feb 06, 2014 5:08 am

Ive started sketching up what id find usable in a jam situation. When I have narroved it down some more I will start to look for controller keyboards that fits the best to what I want. From there on there would liklely be more adjustments to the limitations of the hardware.

Here is the first (far from completed) list sketch:
(Havent looked at Zebra for 5 years)

ZEBRA HARDWARE

2 OSCILATORS + 1 SUB + NOISE
Mix osc 1/2, volume sub osc, pitch osc 1, 2, fine tune osc 2, wave shape/form osc 1, 2
lfo 1 master volume: depth, speed, sync on/off
lfo 2 master pitch: depth, speed, sync on/off
lfo 3 fm: depth, speed, sync on/off
lfo 4 waveshape osc 2: depth, speed, sync on/off

5 SERIAL FILTERS
Env filter 1 -> lfo 5 s&h filter 2 -> lfo 6 sine filter 3 -> mod env filter 4 -> free filter 5
Filter 1 env parameters: type + A, D, S, R
Filter 2 s&h parameters: type, depth, speed, sync on/off
Filter 3 sine parameters: type, depth, speed, sync on/off
Filter 4 mod env parameters: type, depth, speed, sync on/off
Filter 5 free parameters: type, depth, speed, synch on/off

3 ADSR ENVELOPES
Pitch: A, D, S, R
Volume: A, D, S, R
Noise: A, D, S, R

1 MOD ENVELOPE
Custom curves
To filter 4
To master pitch

1 STEP SEQUENCER
Mapped to hardware buttons/pads

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Thu Feb 06, 2014 5:21 am

Sleepwalker wrote: I firmly belive that if you want something spesific in life you have to make it yourself. Im not going to even think about trying to code vst synths. But I could use a modular vst to build what I want..after all isnt that one of the main ideas with modular systems? Ive also herd Zebra is the most functional modular in the vst world. That counts a lot!

Zebra is only semi-modular in that it has a fixed set of modules... but yes, I find Zebra to be the best combination of ease of use and modularity plus excellent sound quality

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Thu Feb 06, 2014 5:22 am

Gonna use an XMF filter?

u-he

KVR Audio

Considering Zebra purchase