ZEBRA midi assignation is a nightmare

[sylvainmoreau]

hi

how do you do midi assignation ?
other softares you can right clic and "learn" makes it super simple and straightforward.
i understand uhe stores assignations for all instances wich make it hard to use.
if you want modwheel to control different things in different instances.
X/Y is a pain to program as a simple learn would be more effective.

for sound design you want to assign specific range of CC to multiple parameters to play at once. i offen endup playing 8 sliders to give pitch, accelerations, filter gates etc in fraction of seconds to folow some animations. but i will never use this configuration again ! it's just that this sound worked great for those CC for this animation.

--edit sorry i deleted my first post thinking i found the solution.. but i didn't there's no way to do that easily. i really don't understand the strategy behind that.

[parricide]

i have never noticed this, but dont do much "live". maybe you could use the X/Y controls and link those to MIDI controls? that limits you to 8 mods though.
i forget if MIDI CC can be used in the mod matrix, but thats potentially another solution if its possible

[zvenx]

It isn't only u-he stuff that behave like this, quite a few other developers use this method (which personally I like).
I think midi cc was made to emulate what happens in the hardware. That is if I have a Prophet 5 in front of me, turning Filter Cutoff will always only do the same one thing.

There are other ways to get for instance modwheel to control filter cutoff and or distortion in zebra without using midi learn.


For instance...the mod matrix as mentioned above or even some modules allow modulation from within like the filter.


rsp

[sylvainmoreau]

but,
if you have multiple filters in your zebra ?
is your controller going to control them all ? or do you want your filter button on you rcontroler to control filter A and say CC2 to control filter B ?
beeing stuck in a CC configuration on a modular base system is impossible.

even for DIVA it doesn't- make much sense as it is highly modlable synth but on zebra..

[zvenx]

hi

how do you do midi assignation ?
other softares you can right clic and "learn" makes it super simple and straightforward.
i understand uhe stores assignations for all instances wich make it hard to use.
if you want modwheel to control different things in different instances.
X/Y is a pain to program as a simple learn would be more effective.

--edit sorry i deleted my first post thinking i found the solution.. but i didn't there's no way to do that easily. i really don't understand the strategy behind that.

to this question.. the mod matrix is your friend.
rsp

[zvenx]

but,
if you have multiple filters in your zebra ?
is your controller going to control them all ? or do you want your filter button on you rcontroler to control filter A and say CC2 to control filter B ?
beeing stuck in a CC configuration on a modular base system is impossible.

even for DIVA it doesn't- make much sense as it is highly modlable synth but on zebra..

You can map them individually.
remember like I mentioned many modules you can do the mapping directly in the module.
rsp

[bhinton]

I don't understand the problem. Instead of right-click you just click the gear and map or learn to your heart's content. Even better (especially for those of us who use 14-bit controllers) you can modify the type and designate the resolution per midi tick for each mapping (granted only three options - FEATURE REQUEST TO ALLOW US TO CUSTOMIZE THIS!!! It would save SO much custom programming with Bidule, OSC etc) - but that's SO much better than most softsynths.
And it's no problem to assign one CC to multiple controls, or multiple CCs to one control.
The one negative - and yes, it's a big one, but not uncommon - is not being able to easily save multiple midi configs or wed them to specific patches (FEATURE REQUEST #2!!!!!).
XY assigning is just right-click and choose. XY params can have custom ranges and ARE specific to each patch, as is the mod matrix. Assign a mod mixer as the source for multiple mod matrix slots and the matrix becomes then equivalent of a bunch of extra assignable midi slots.

Admittedly, having only one official midi assign doc, or manage multiples manually in the file system, is indeed a huge pain - is that where your problems lie?

[sylvainmoreau]

"is not being able to easily save multiple midi configs or wed them to specific patches"
yes this is my problem the map to assign cc is good but i can't use it as it's for all zebra instances.
i'm left with the XY wich is powerful but waste of time to assign because there you have sub menus and scroll to your paramater.
sometime you just tweak a knob and want to CC it . so you have to go to xy page, clic a slot, search the parameter.. look through aaaaall the menu because for some reason it's not in alphabetic order now clic the parameter and start to work...

i understand why people like the 1 assign for all but why not letting people have the option is not convinient. Don't remeber who said many softwares work like that.. can't think of any i'm using. none from all NI, not spectrasonics, swam's, vienna.. UVI, pianoteq dam i can't think of anyone except uhe

another question related if you might help :
i installed lemur and a preset for zebra 2
guide says to drop the "com.u-he.Zebra2.midiassign.txt" to my ...\Zebra2.data\Support
i did but each time i open a zebra2 instance this file is not red but gets overwritten by zebra..
anything i do wrong ?

(again why isn't there a search load for those Zebra2.midiassign.txt ? save preset assignation does not look crazy.

[Urs]

(again why isn't there a search load for those Zebra2.midiassign.txt ? save preset assignation does not look crazy.

It's on our ToDo list, but it hasn't reached a top priority slot, yet.

The reason MIDI Learn is "hidden" behind the Cogwheel is simple: For years we had right-click assignments on knobs. But then people accidentally assign MIDI CCs to parameters, often without noticing. So then they reopen their projects and the sound is different. There were days when we had two or three users running into this. Changing the assignment to the way it is now has changed the situation. No more accidental MIDI Learns. I'm sorry that it makes the workflow more difficult for you, but it has solved a very serious problem.

[zvenx]

"..........Don't remeber who said many softwares work like that.. can't think of any i'm using. none from all NI, not spectrasonics, swam's, vienna.. UVI, pianoteq dam i can't think of anyone except uhe

.......

That was me.
Synapse audio (dune2, legend), Tone 2 (Icarus, Electra2, Saurus 2 et al), Camel Audio Alchemy, Reveal Sound Spire, Lennar's Sylenth et. al.
Plus u-he of course..

but yes options would be the best.. Synthmaster1 allows you to choose whether it is a global midi learn or instance midi learn as you are midi learning.

rsp

[sylvainmoreau]

I don't have other one but camel audio ?.. really naa idon't remember that.
Anyway yes. Is it such a problem for dev to do that ?

[zvenx]

I don't have other one but camel audio ?.. really naa idon't remember that.
Anyway yes. Is it such a problem for dev to do that ?

He answered above.
rsp

[zvenx]

I don't have other one but camel audio ?.. really naa idon't remember that.
...............

Figure this is easier than doing a video.
But yes... alchemy midilearn under camel audio was global.
rsp

[parricide]

(again why isn't there a search load for those Zebra2.midiassign.txt ? save preset assignation does not look crazy.

It's on our ToDo list, but it hasn't reached a top priority slot, yet.

The reason MIDI Learn is "hidden" behind the Cogwheel is simple: For years we had right-click assignments on knobs. But then people accidentally assign MIDI CCs to parameters, often without noticing. So then they reopen their projects and the sound is different. There were days when we had two or three users running into this. Changing the assignment to the way it is now has changed the situation. No more accidental MIDI Learns. I'm sorry that it makes the workflow more difficult for you, but it has solved a very serious problem.

ive never known people to accidentally "MIDI learn" parameters. im not saying youre wrong, you guys have done much more research than me
if they do that accidentally thats their own fault i say

[pdxindy]

(again why isn't there a search load for those Zebra2.midiassign.txt ? save preset assignation does not look crazy.

It's on our ToDo list, but it hasn't reached a top priority slot, yet.

The reason MIDI Learn is "hidden" behind the Cogwheel is simple: For years we had right-click assignments on knobs. But then people accidentally assign MIDI CCs to parameters, often without noticing. So then they reopen their projects and the sound is different. There were days when we had two or three users running into this. Changing the assignment to the way it is now has changed the situation. No more accidental MIDI Learns. I'm sorry that it makes the workflow more difficult for you, but it has solved a very serious problem.

ive never known people to accidentally "MIDI learn" parameters. im not saying youre wrong, you guys have done much more research than me
if they do that accidentally thats their own fault i say

It used to come up in the forum all the time... someone would say something like "Zebra is broken, the filter keeps jumping to a value I didn't set!!"