ZebraHZ
and
THE DARK ZEBRA
Version 2.9
5. Oct 2020
U-HE • Heckmann Audio GmbH • Berlin
Table of Contents
Introduction 5
The Dark Zebra! 5".....................................................
ZebraHZ! 5"................................................................
Installation! 6".............................................................
Terms of Use! 7".........................................................
User Interface 8
Basic Operation! 8"....................................................
Upper Bar! 9"..............................................................
GUI size! 10"...............................................................
Synthesis Window! 10"...............................................
Main grid! 11".........................................................
Lane Mixer! 12"......................................................
Lane Compressors! 13"..........................................
Performance Window! 14"..........................................
Lower Bar and Lower Pane! 15".................................
Preset Browser 16
Overview! 16".............................................................
Directory Panel (folders)! 17"..................................
Presets Panel (files)! 18".........................................
Preset Info Panel! 20".............................................
Installing Soundsets! 20"............................................
Preset Tagging! 21"....................................................
Search by Tags! 22"....................................................
Search by Text! 23"....................................................
Global Settings 25
PITCH! 25".............................................................
GLIDE! 25"..............................................................
VOICE! 26".............................................................
MICROTUNING! 26"...............................................
SWING! 26"............................................................
2
Generators 27
OSC main panel! 27"..................................................
PHA/SNC (Phase/Sync)! 28"..................................
OSC FX! 28"...........................................................
List of spectral effects! 29"....................................
MIXER! 30".............................................................
OSC Lower Panel! 31"................................................
OSC Wave Editor! 32"................................................
Wave Selector! 32".................................................
GeoMorph & SpectroMorph! 33"...........................
GeoBlend & SpectroBlend! 34"..............................
FMO main panel! 36"..................................................
FMO lower panel! 37".................................................
Noise! 38"...................................................................
VCF! 39".....................................................................
XMF! 41".....................................................................
Diva VCF! 43".............................................................
COMB! 45".................................................................
SIDEBAND! 48"..........................................................
SHAPER! 48"..............................................................
Distortion! 49".............................................................
RING! 51"...................................................................
MIX! 51"......................................................................
FOLD! 52"...................................................................
Modulators 53
List of Modulation Sources! 53".................................
Modulation Matrix! 54"...............................................
ENV! 55".....................................................................
MSEG! 58"..................................................................
LFO! 60".....................................................................
LFOG! 62"...................................................................
MOD MAPPER! 63"....................................................
MMix! 65"...................................................................
Outputs and Effects 66
The FX Grid! 66".........................................................
MODULATION FX! 67"................................................
3
DELAY! 68".................................................................
REVERB! 69"..............................................................
COMPRESSOR! 70"...................................................
EQ! 71".......................................................................
NU REV! 72"...............................................................
RESONATOR! 73".......................................................
Performance 74
Arpeggiator / Sequencer! 74".....................................
Hands-on tutorial! 74"............................................
General Settings! 75".............................................
Per Step Settings! 76"............................................
XY Pad programming! 78"..........................................
Configuration 80
About MIDI CC! 80"....................................................
MIDI Learn! 81"...........................................................
MIDI Table! 82"...........................................................
Preferences! 83".........................................................
Tips & Tricks 85
Motion viewer for modulators! 85".........................
Spectralize! 85"......................................................
Modulation inverter! 86".........................................
Absolute value! 86"................................................
Vibrato under control! 86"......................................
More MSEG points! 86".........................................
Modulation Target Lists 87
Generators! 87"..........................................................
Modulators! 93"..........................................................
Global! 95"..................................................................
Effects! 96".................................................................
Flow Diagrams 101
Delay Modes! 101".................................................
XMF Modes! 103"...................................................
NKS 104
4
TOC INTRODUCTION
Introduction
Just a few sections of the main Zebra2 user guide are missing in this version: There is no
‘Quick Start Tutorial’, as it is assumed that you already know the absolute basics. Neither
the Zebrify nor the Zrev chapters are repeated here, as there are no special versions of
those effect for ZebraHZ. However, all important reference information is included, so you
shouldn’t have to refer to the regular Zebra2 user guide very often, if at all.
The Dark Zebra
The Dark Zebra is a bank of 400 presets, a collaboration between Hollywood composer
Hans Zimmer and u-he’s own Howard Scarr. Practically all Zebra sounds used in the
movies The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises are included, plus a few extras that
were made at the same time but didn’t quite fit in the scores.
New in version 2.9…
All presets now include XY pad control and are NKS compatible. Especially the ‘simpler’
presets benefit greatly from the extra controls!
ZebraHZ
ZebraHZ is Hans Zimmer’s custom version of Zebra2. Many of the following extensions
are required by The Dark Zebra:
•
8 extra filters (4 x highpass and 4 x lowpass) based on Diva models
•
4 comb filter modules instead of 2
•
8 MSEGs instead of 4
•
24 modulation matrix slots instead of 12
•
X/Y pads also appear as regular modulation sources
•
4 polyphonic compressors, one for each lane of the main grid
•
3 Polymoog™-style resonators with additional full-range band
Note: For even more powerful physical modelling capabilities, version 2.9 has twice as
many comb filters as version 2.8, and three Resonators instead of just one.
Online resources
For downloads, news and support, go to our website
For heated debates about u-he products, go to our forum
For friendship and informal news updates, go to our facebook page
For u-he presets (paid or free), go to our patch library (PatchLib)
For video tutorials and more, go to our youtube channel
For personal pics and a few videos, go to our instagram page
For audio demos of soundsets, go to our soundcloud
presets global generators modulators outs+fx perform config targets 5
TOC INTRODUCTION
Installation
Double-click the installer (Mac or PC) and follow instructions.
Important: If you are updating an existing ZebraHZ installation, please either use the
same paths as the original and select the same set of plug-in formats, or remove the old
version before installing the new one. To avoid crashes or other “strange behaviour” while
loading presets, please do not mix old and new versions.
Serial Number: ZebraHZ uses the same serial number as Zebra2. Load ZebraHZ, rightclick on the data display then select enter serial number. If you can’t find your Zebra serial
number, go to u-he.com/my-licenses/ and follow the “request” instructions.
Default Paths
Windows
Presets (local) C:\Users\*YOU*\Documents\u-he\ZebraHZ.data\Presets\ZebraHZ\
Presets (user) C:\Users\*YOU*\Documents\u-he\ZebraHZ.data\UserPresets\ZebraHZ\
Preferences C:\Users\*YOU*\Documents\u-he\ZebraHZ.data\Support\ (*.txt files)
MSEG/OSC C:\Users\*YOU*\Documents\u-he\ZebraHZ.data\Modules\
Microtuning C:\Users\*YOU*\Documents\u-he\ZebraHZ.data\Tunefiles\
macOS
Presets (local) MacHD/Library/Audio/Presets/u-he/ZebraHZ/
Presets (user) MacHD/Users/*YOU*/Library/Audio/Presets/u-he/ZebraHZ/
Preferences MacHD/Users/*YOU*/Library/AppSupport/u-he/com.u-he.ZebraHZ…
MSEG/OSC MacHD/Library/Application Support/u-he/ZebraHZ/Modules/
Microtuning MacHD/Library/Application Support/u-he/Tunefiles/
Formats, Support
•
ZebraHZ supports AU, VST2 / VST3. You can run Zebra2 and ZebraHZ in parallel, as
they are separate plug-ins.
•
ZebraHZ and Zebra2 both require a serial number issued after mid-2009. If your Zebra2
serial is older, go to u-he support and request a new one. If your email address has
changed since then, please let us know. If you can’t remember when you purchased
Zebra2, please retrieve your original serial number before installing ZebraHZ. If you
start Zebra2 with an obsolete code, it will ask you to contact support@u-he.com so we
can send you a new one. No worries, you really can’t break anything!
Updates
As a combination of soundset and plug-in, The Dark Zebra cannot be directly downloaded
from its product page. In general, u-he soundset updates can only be downloaded after
you have requested a license email: If you ever need an update, go to the My Licenses
page at u-he.com and enter the e-mail address you originally used to purchase The Dark
Zebra. Our system will reply with an e-mail containing all your u-he plug-in serial numbers
(including the one for Zebra2) plus temporary download links for any u-he soundsets you
currently own, including the latest Dark Zebra / ZebraHZ installer.
presets global generators modulators outs+fx perform config targets 6
TOC INTRODUCTION
Terms of Use
1. Before using this soundset, you must have purchased a legitimate license for Zebra2
as well as for The Dark Zebra soundset.
2. The Dark Zebra may not be distributed without the written consent of the copyright
holder, Heckmann Audio GmbH.
3. You may not distribute resampled or otherwise replicated parts of The Dark Zebra in
any product, commercial, free or otherwise. This includes, but is not limited to, sample
libraries and sample-based synthesizers. You may, however, create such derivates for
your own musical works as long as these derivates are only distributed in the context of
the musical work.
4. The Dark Zebra / ZebraHZ can only be resold together with your Zebra2 license.
Heckmann Audio GmbH, Berlin
Imprint / Impressum
Team (late 2020)
•
Urs Heckmann (boss, concepts, big code)
•
Jayney Klimek (office management)
•
Howard Scarr (user guides, presets, grump)
•
Rob Clifton-Harvey (IT admin, backend development)
•
Sebastian Greger (graphic design)
•
Jan Storm (framework, code)
•
Alexandre Bique (all things Linux)
•
Oddvar Manlig (business development)
•
Viktor Weimer (support, presets, the voice)
•
Thomas Binek (QA, bug-hunting, presets)
•
Henna Gramentz (office supervision, support)
•
Frank Hoffmann (framework, browser)
•
Alf Klimek (rock-star vocals, studio)
•
Sebastian Hübert (media, synthwave)
•
David Schornsheim (more code)
•
Stephan Eckes (yet more code)
Special thanks Brian Rzycki for maintaining PatchLib.
presets global generators modulators outs+fx perform config targets 7
TOC GUI
User Interface
Basic Operation
Although operating ZebraHZ is fairly intuitive, there are a few points worth mentioning…
Standard controls
Values are adjusted via click-and-drag, with fine control by holding
down a SHIFT key. The knobs are either bipolar like Pan in this
image, or unipolar like Volume. Most bipolar knobs are centre-
zero, but there are exceptions e.g. the Delay times.
Double-click resets a knob to its default value. If your mouse has a scroll wheel, hover
over any control then roll the wheel. For finer control, hold SHIFT.
Assignable controls
Most of Zebra’s modules include freely assignable controls that directly
modulate important parameters. Select a source by clicking the label (or the
knob if unassigned). The target is the knob above or to the right, indicated
by a small triangle.
Note that both assignable controls in the VCF module affect Cutoff. Also,
what appear to be assignable controls in the envelopes are actually pre-attack and post-sustain options (see ENV).
Parameter locking
Right-click on a control and select ‘Lock’. The lock only prevents the value
from changing when you switch presets, it does not prevent you from
adjusting the value directly. To unlock, right-click again and untick ‘Locked’
in the menu. Example: Lock both Microtuning options to audition various
presets, all with the same non-standard tuning.
Note: Right-clicking a knob also lets you assign XY control – a quick alternative to the
more flexible method described in the XY Pads chapter.
Switches and the mouse wheel
Most of the rectangular buttons open drop-down menus. However, most of them will
also react to the mouse wheel – which is particularly useful in the ARP CTRL panel.
If your mouse wheel is rastered i.e. it has noticeable ‘ticks’, you should check that the
Mouse Wheel Raster preference is switched on (see Preferences). This ensures that
each tick will correspond to a sensible step, usually an integer.
presets global generators modulators outs+fx perform config targets 8
TOC GUI
Upper Bar
SYNTH, PERFORM, PRESETS
The buttons on the left select the 3 main windows.
DATA DISPLAY
The central display has three jobs: Firstly, it shows the preset name. You can step through
the presets by clicking on the triangles to the left and right. Clicking on the name opens a
list of all presets in the current directory – a convenient way to load a preset without having
to open the PRESETS window. Since version 2.9.1 you can even load a preset by dragging it from your desktop (or any system window) onto the data display.
Secondly, it shows the value of the parameter being edited. Watch the display whenever
you need to set specific values. After about 2 seconds, it reverts to the preset name.
Thirdly, right-clicking on the display toggles between compatibility mode 2.3 (a faint ‘2.3’
appears on the right) and the regular 2.5+. While editing 2.3 presets, remember that this
mode does not support some more recent features and improvements. Also, the sound
can change when you switch from 2.3 to 2.5, mainly due to the improved XMF module.
A small indicator at the bottom left lights up whenever MIDI data is being received.
INITIALIZE (init)
At the top of the context menu (right-click on the display) is a simple template called init
you can load whenever you want to program from scratch. The main grid contains an oscillator and the effects grid has an inactive Chorus/Phaser (ModFX1).
UNDO / REDO
The curved arrows to the left of the data display can be used to fix recent ‘mistakes’. Although the number of steps in the undo buffer is limited, you can even undo a change of
preset so that switching presets before saving doesn’t mean losing your work.
SAVE
Stores the preset into the currently selected folder or the ‘User’ folder, depending on the Save Presets To setting. To select a different folder, click on
PRESETS and navigate in the directory. Then click on [SAVE], give your preset a name and enter the details you want to appear in PRESET INFO area
of the browser. Please avoid using the characters \ / ? % * : " > < =
Right-clicking on [SAVE] opens a menu with a choice of file formats. The recommended
h2p option is our normal cross-platform format (editable text), while h2p extended includes
extra readable information. The native option is the standard format of your system (.fxp
for VST and AAX, .aupreset for Audio Units). If you have loaded the VST2 version you will
also see the option nksf: See the NKS chapter towards the end of this document.
BADGE
Clicking on the u-he badge opens a popup menu containing links to this
user guide, to the documents folder, to our company homepage, to our
KVR support forum as well as to our presence in various social networks.
presets global generators modulators outs+fx perform config targets 9
TOC GUI
GUI size
Right-clicking anywhere in the background of the control bar or lower pane opens a menu
with options for GUI sizes (as percentages and as width x height in pixels). Sizes larger
than the current screen will appear disabled (greyed-out).
A more permanent GUI size setting is available in the Preferences.
Synthesis Window
Click on the SYNTH button in the upper bar...
areas of the
SYNTH window
Generators rack
The area to the left contains control panels for each active module in the main grid (see
the next page).
Modulators rack
The area to the right contains panels for all control signals (envelopes, LFOs etc.) currently in use. Modulators automatically appear as soon as they are used anywhere.
If the rack isn’t tall enough to show all active panels, a scroll bar will appear. Right-click
in an empty area of each rack to choose auto scroll – the rack scrolls (if necessary) to
reveal the panel belonging to the module selected in the grid, or selected on top – the
module selected in the grid moves to the top of the rack.
Note that the order of panels in the generators rack will seldom reflect the patch structure as it is defined in the grid. However, you can swap the positions of adjacent panels
by clicking in the narrow space between them.
presets global generators modulators outs+fx perform config targets 10
UPPER BAR
GENERATORS
RACK
MODULATORS
RACK
LOWER BAR
LOWER PANE
MAIN GRID
LANE MIXER
TOC GUI
Main grid
The center of the Synthesis window is a grid consisting of four vertical lanes. This area
is used for connecting generators together, whereby the signal flow is top to bottom.
To add a module, click on an empty cell and select from the list. Drag modules around
the grid, deactivate via double-click (or Mac: cmd+click, Win: alt+click), specify input
routing or remove the module via right-click. Clicking on a module will highlight the corresponding control panel in the generators pane.
IMPORTANT: Oscillators and noise generators (as well as FMOs in certain modes) do
not process audio, so when placed on top of one another in the same lane, the signals
are simply mixed together.
Lane 1 Lane 2
In the above example, both OSC1 and OSC2 flow into XMF1 (cross mod filter). The
XMF1 output is then mixed with (not processed by!) OSC3, and the mixture flows down
lane 1. OSC4 flows down lane 2 as well as modulating XMF1 cutoff (the red arrow).
Routing between lanes
Any module can route signals between the
lanes. Right-click on a module to select the
source (‘Input’) lane.
In this example, OSC1 is processed by the
Comb module in lane 1. Both OSC1 and
Noise1 are filtered by VCF1 in lane 2.
Note that the vertical position can matter
when routing between lanes: If Noise1 is
moved to where VCF1 is now, it will take its
input from Comb1 instead.
Note: For the sake of simplicity and brevity,
the names of modules as they appear in
the grid, which often differ from the panel
titles, are used throughout this manual.
presets global generators modulators outs+fx perform config targets 11
OSC1 OSC2 OSC4
OSC3
XMF1
Lane 1 Lane 2
TOC GUI
Lane Mixer
Below the main grid is what looks like a 4-channel mixer. This is where you adjust the
pans/volumes and select envelopes as well as route signals to the FX grid.
main grid
mute button
fx bus select
L/R pan or balance
pan/bal modulation
amp envelope
volume
volume modulation
MUTE
A handy mute button for each lane. In the image above, lane 2 is muted.
FX Bus Select
Selects an output for each lane:
main
............ route to the lefthand lane of the FX grid (MASTER)
bus1
............ route to the center lane of the FX grid (R1)
bus2
............ route to the righthand lane of the FX grid (R2)
PAN / MOD
Pan position knob plus assignable modulation knob. Right-click on a PAN knob to toggle
between Pan and Bal (balance) modes. Remember that balancing to the left means
fading out the righthand channel of your stereo signal, while panning to the left means
moving it over to the left.
Amp Envelope
Selects an envelope for each lane’s amplifier.
Gate
.............a simple on/off envelope, but with enough release to avoid clicks
Env(n)
.........envelopes 1 to 4
VOL / MOD
Lane volume knob and assignable modulation knob. Modulation here scales the volume
from 0% through 100% (centre) to 200%. In the example above, the modulation wheel
fades lane 1 down to silence, irrespective of the VOL value (which is about 70 here).
Note: If you want a unipolar modulation source to fade a lane in from zero it’s best to
use the modulation matrix instead.
presets global generators modulators outs+fx perform config targets 12
TOC GUI
Lane Compressors
Each lane in the main grid has its own polyphonic (per voice) compressor. All controls
appear in the lower area, like the Diva VCF modules.
Click COMP1-4 in the lower bar…
On/Off
To save CPU, lane compressors can be switched off.
GR
Gain reduction indicator
Mode (the vertical 3-way switch)
ECO
original lo-fi version, with low CPU-hit. .................
SMOOTH smooth compression, the best choice for most situations. .......
STRONG very powerful compression, best for bold percussive sounds. .......
ATTACK
The time it takes for the compressor to fully work after the threshold has been reached.
Attack can affect the brightness: very fast values cause the compressor to reduce gain
immediately, which can dull the attack of the original sound. When ATTACK is set to
zero, it is only one sample long.
RELEASE
This adjusts the recovery time i.e. the time the compressor takes to return to unity gain
after the input signal has fallen below the threshold. Very short release can distort lowfrequency input, overly long release can ‘clamp’ the sound down and not release
enough before the next ‘attack’ arrives. When RELEASE is set to zero, the release is
only one sample long.
INPUT
The input level before the signal reaches the compressor.
THRESHOLD
The level above which compression is applied and below which it is released. Lower
THRESHOLD values result in more compression than higher values.
COMP
The amount of compression – think of this as a dry / wet crossfade.
OUTPUT
Compensates for any loss or gain resulting from the compression.
presets global generators modulators outs+fx perform config targets 13
TOC GUI
Performance Window
Click on the PERFORM button in the upper bar to open the Performance Window. The
four X/Y pads can simultaneously control up to 16 parameters each…
Performance window, with a different ‘XY’ panel selected below
•
Click to jump to a new position – find different variations of the sound
•
Click and drag to move smoothly – for realtime morphing
•
Double-click to reset to the center
Next to each pad is a large field where you can add a functional description (double-click).
Note: NKS hardware owners might generally prefer to use the 8 knobs instead of the pads,
as the X and Y dimensions are independent. The Dark Zebra presets, however, are
geared towards 2D control.
Clicking on the [+≣] icon at the top right of each pad toggles between the
the pad and a list of X/Y assignments. You can also make assignments
here without having to open the XY panel in the lower area. Drag & drop
assignment also works (as in the above image), but as the generator and
modulation racks are not currently visible, this is mainly useful for assigning XY to the lane
mixer and effect parameters.
For details, see the section about programming XY Pads in the PERFORMANCE chapter.
presets global generators modulators outs+fx perform config targets 14
TOC GUI
Lower Bar and Lower Pane
The lower bar switches the contents of the lower pane:
GLOBAL
Output levels, the FX grid and FX panel, miscellaneous preset settings. Go there
OSC1 to OSC4
Wave Editor, oscillator load/save, miscellaneous oscillator settings. Go there
FMO1-4
Additional settings for all 4 FMOs in a single panel. Go there
MSEG1-8
The 8 Multi-Stage Envelope Generators. Go there
XY1
For programming the X/Y pads. Go there
ARP CTRL
For programming the arpeggiator / sequencer. Go there
MM1-12 / MM13-24
Two pages of modulation matrix slots (1 to 12 and 13 to 24). Go there
DIVA VCF
The Diva filters. Go there
COMP1-4
The 4 lane compressors. Go there
Note: The lower bar and lower pane remain active in all window modes.
presets global generators modulators outs+fx perform config targets 15
TOC PRESETS
Preset Browser
Overview
You can load a preset in the current folder by clicking on the data display, or step through
them by clicking on the arrow symbols either side of the data display…or even drag a preset file from a system window or your desktop and drop it onto the data display. But of
course Zebra also has a powerful preset browser – click PRESETS in the upper bar:
Layout
Folders are on the left, presets in the centre and information about the currently active
preset on the right. If there is no PRESET INFO panel on the right, click on the [≡] button
in the top righthand corner and tick Show Preset Info. The same menu also offers Show
Tags in Pr es et Info – untick if you prefer not to see any tags there.
Default, init
When ZebraHZ starts it checks whether Local contains a preset called default. If so, this
is loaded instead of Batcave Syncing Down. If you want a simple template every time
you start a new instance, right-click on the data display and select init. Then select the
Local folder and save it under the name default (which does not appear in the browser).
If a fresh instance doesn’t load your new default, it probably landed in User, in which
case you should change Save Presets To in the Preferences and repeat the above.
PATCH FORMAT
At the bottom right of the browser you can specify the format in which your patches will
be saved. The default is .h2p (recommended). To save in the plugin version’s own format, select native. The .h2p extended format can include comments for each line.
SAVE ONLY ACTIVE MODULES
Unused modules will not be saved with the preset. Activating this option causes newly
created modules to adopt settings from previously loaded presets.
presets global generators modulators outs+fx perform config targets 16
TOC PRESETS
BYPASS EFFECTS
Mirrors FX BYPASS in the GLOB/FX panel. Click to temporarily deactivate all effects in
the grid. This switch is truly global – you won’t hear any effects until you deactivate it!
Directory Panel (folders)
Local and User Folders
Dark Zebra patches are sorted into 9 folders, and there’s an untagged ’best of’ selection
in the ‘Local’ root. At the bottom of ‘Local’ is the entire Zebra2 factory library. After selecting a preset you can step through the others using the cursor keys.
‘Local’ is meant primarily for factory content, so you should save all your own creations
into the ‘User’ folder (see the Save Presets To preference).
MIDI Programs
‘Local’ also contains a special folder called ‘MIDI Programs’. When the first instance of
ZebraHZ starts, all presets in that folder (up to 128) are loaded into memory so they can
be selected via MIDI Program Change message. Important: To ensure a fixed order it
is important to rename them e.g. ‘000 rest-of-name’ to ‘127 rest-of-name’.
‘MIDI Programs’ can contain up to 127 sub-folders, switchable via MIDI Bank Select
messages (CC#0). Send Bank Select first, then Program Change. ‘MIDI Programs’ itself
is bank 0, while sub-folders are addressed in alphabetical order starting with bank 1.
Important: The content of ’MIDI Programs’ cannot be changed on the fly. Any changes
there will only be updated when the host application is restarted.
Smart Folders
These are not regular folders, but the results of querying a database of all presets. The
content is therefore dynamic; it will change whenever the underlying data changes.
Search History is a list of past searches. To make them more permanent, right-click and
select Save Search… To empty the list, right-click on ‘Search History’ and select Clear.
Saved Searches contains any ‘Search History’ entries that have been saved. To remove
entries here, right-click and Delete. Items dragged from ‘Saved Searches’ and dropped
into the ‘Local’ or ‘User’ root will create a folder containing real copies of all the listed
presets. This is quite a powerful tool for reorganizing your presets, but requires care!
Bank lists presets according to origin, as also shown in PRESET INFO (3rd line down).
Favourites are 8 colour-coded folders (see Presets context menu below). The context
menus includes a function which removes that particular Favourites status from all presets at once (Remove Favourite n from Presets).
Junk shows all ‘junked’ presets (see Presets context menu below). Presets dropped on
this folder will disappear from the browser unless you make them visible via show Junk.
The context menu (right-click) includes a function which lets you clear the Junk status
from all presets at once (Remove Junk from Presets).
Tags contains smart folders for each Categories, Features and Character tag. Presets
dropped onto these folders will adopt the corresponding tag. Presets dropped onto the
‘Untagged’ folder will have all Categories, Features and Character tags removed.
Author displays a folder for each author name (as defined when presets are saved).
Presets dropped onto these folders will adopt the new name.
presets global generators modulators outs+fx perform config targets 17
TOC PRESETS
Directory context menu
Right-clicking on any folder within Local or User will open this menu:
Refresh: Updates the browser. Windows users might need to call this function whenever
files have been moved, added, deleted or renamed in Explorer. Refresh is seldom necessary on the Mac.
Create New… Insert an fresh, empty subfolder.
Rename… Edit the folder name.
Open in Finder / Explorer: Opens the clicked folder in a system window. Hold down op-
tion (Mac) or ctrl (Windows) to switch this to ‘Show in Finder / Explorer’, which highlights
the folder instead of opening it.
On Open Expand to: Determines which nested directories will appear in the directory
whenever the GUI is loaded. The final option reveals all folders, however deeply nested.
Show Folder Icons: Show or hide symbols to the left of each folder.
Presets Panel (files)
The central area of the browser shows all presets in the current directory. Click to load.
Presets context menu
Right-clicking on a preset opens a menu containing the following options:
presets global generators modulators outs+fx perform config targets 18
Refresh
Create New…
Rename…
Open in Finder *
Move to Trash
On Open Expand to
Show Folder Icons
Mark as Favourite
Select All
Deselect
Show Junk
Rename…
Duplicate
Show in Finder *
Convert to h2p
Move to Trash
Mark as Junk
Mark as Favourite
Mark as Favourite
Mark as Favourite
Mark as Favourite
Mark as Favourite
Mark as Favourite
Mark as Favourite
TOC PRESETS
Mark as Favourite: Choose one of eight ‘favourite’ marks. The selected entry will be replaced with unmark as favourite.
Mark as Junk: Instead of deleting unloved presets, you can mark them as ‘junk’ so they
disappear from the browser…
Show Junk: Junk appears, but is marked with a STOP symbol.
Select All, Deselect: See ‘Multiple Selection’ below.
Rename: Rename the most recently selected preset.
Duplicate: Selected presets are copied with a number appended to the name. Like ‘Auto
Versioning’ (see Preferences), this is incremented to prevent presets being overwritten.
Show in Finder / Explorer: Opens the enclosing system window and highlights the selected preset.
Convert to native / h2p / h2p extended / nksf: Selected presets are converted to the
format specified in the [SAVE] button context menu or in the PATCH FORMAT field.
Move to Trash / Recycle Bin: Send selected presets to the system ‘trash’.
RESTORE
At the top left of the Presets panel is a [RESTORE] button which lets you audition presets to your heart’s content without losing track of the one that was loaded before you
opened the browser: Clicking on [RESTORE] navigates to that preset and reloads it.
Scan / Ready
Progress indicator for Refresh (see Directory context menu above). It is best not to
close the plug-in (or the host) while a scan is in progress.
Multiple selection
A block of adjacent presets can be selected via shift+click, and individual presets can be
added to the selection via cmd-click (Mac) / alt+click (Win). Presets can be moved to a
different folder via drag & drop (see the next paragraph). To deselect, either click on an
unselected preset or choose Deselect from the context menu.
Drag & drop
To manage your own presets more comfortably you can drag presets and folders between the browser and your desktop or any system window.
On the Mac, most Finder operations will automatically update the browser. It might not
update instantly when using multiple formats or multiple host applications, but all it usually takes is a click on the GUI or in the directory tree, which sets the focus to that plugin instance. On Windows, a manual refresh is required more often.
Export smart folders
Drag any smart folder onto the desktop to create a new folder containing those presets.
Drag an entry from your Search History, or the Category ‘Duo’, or one of the Authors...
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TOC PRESETS
Export favourite status
Shift+click and drag the ‘Favourites’ folder or any subfolder onto the desktop to create a
file called Favourite (n).uhe-fav. Such files can be imported into the ZebraHZ browser
on a different computer, via drag & drop anywhere in the ‘Favourites’ folder.
Note: Importing .uhe-fav files from another computer will only work 100% correctly if all
preset names and locations are identical on both computers.
Preset Info Panel
The panel to the right shows information about the selected preset. If you can’t see this
panel, click on the triple bar [≡] button in the top right corner and tick Show Preset Info:
Below the preset name you should see its path (from /Local or /User), the Bank and the
Author. DESCRIPTION and USAGE text is entered immediately before saving a preset.
CATEGORIES, FEATURES and CHARACTER are the tags for the currently selected
preset. You can remove or add tags directly here (see Tagging via Preset Info below)…
Installing Soundsets
All soundsets we distribute ourselves now have the extension .uhe-soundset, and third
parties are encouraged to use this format for their own commercial soundsets.
Note: You can install any Zebra2 soundset in ZebraHZ.
Standard Method
To install, simply drag & drop the .uhe-soundset file into ZebraHZ – anywhere will do.
The soundset folder will appear within the ‘User’ folder. If a folder with the same name
already exists there, the older versions of any modified files will be backed up and the
location of the backup will be displayed.
Alternative Method
Soundsets in .uhe-soundset format can also be installed by clicking on the u-he badge,
selecting Install Soundset... and navigating to the desired file. This option is especially
useful for Linux users, as u-he plug-ins for that platform do not support drag & drop.
Regular Folders
Folders containing Zebra2 or ZebraHZ presets can be copied or moved into the ‘User’
folder. You might have to refresh (see Directory context menu) before they appear.
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Show Tags in Preset Info
Show Preset Info
TOC PRESETS
Preset Tagging
Tags are elements of metadata, information that you can add to presets so that they can
be found more easily.
IMPORTANT: Tags are updated immediately, so clicking on [SAVE] isn’t required. The
main advantage is that presets don’t have to be saved each and every time you edit a
tag. The main disadvantage is that you should only edit tags AFTER saving your preset. If you start editing tags while tweaking a preset, perhaps with the intention of saving
it under a new name, be aware that you are changing the tags in the original preset!
The Tagging Window
Right-click on the [SAVE] button and select Tag this patch:
CATEGORY describes a preset by analogy to instrument types or typical usage, and each
has a more or less appropriate set of subcategories. FEATURES are technical classifications, and CHARACTER tags are pairs of opposites from which you can choose just one.
When you are finished, click on the [CLOSE] button at the top right of the window.
Tagging via Preset Info
In the PRESET INFO panel, right-click on CATEGORY, FEATURES or CHARACTER
labels and select / unselect tags in the context menu. If you right-click on an individual
tag, the first option in the menu becomes Remove Tag…
The function Create Search from Tags finds all presets with the same set of category,
features and character tags (or any subset thereof). Tip: This function can be used to
locate duplicates with different names.
Tagging via Smart Folder
You can tag presets by dragging them onto any of the Tags subfolders in the directory.
To remove all tags from presets, drag and drop them onto the no Tags subfolder.
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Pads
Leads
Keys
FX
Drums
Seq+Arp
Other
Bass Acoustic
Analogue
Digital
E-Bass
FX Bass
Plucks
Rhythmic
Vocal
Sub
Dist+LoFi
Dry
Soft Attack
Chord
Mono
BPM
Slow Release
Percussive
Glide
Natural
Phat
Soft
Constant
Bright
Clean
Aggressive
Moving
Dirty
Thin
Dark
Synthetic
Poly
Duo
Synth
Sync
CHARACTERFEATURESCATEGORY
Modulated
FM
Comb
TOC PRESETS
Search by Tags
Click on the TAGS tab to open this view. The buttons here let you specify search criteria
with just a few mouseclicks:
Below the Search field are 4 sets of buttons (CATEGORIES, FEATURES, CHARACTER
and FAVOURITES). The first 3 correspond to the tags in the tagging window (see the previous page), while the bottom row lets you find presets you have marked as Favourites.
Clicking on the [^] icon to the right of each heading hides the options for that set of tags.
Categories and Subcategories
Here are a few bullet points to get you started. Especially for CATEGORY tags, following a
step-by-step tutorial is much easier than studying a complete technical description.
Each category has its own set of subcategories. Not selecting a subcategory here means
“show me presets tagged with any subcategory”.
You can select multiple categories without specifying a subcategory if you hold cmd (Mac)
or alt (Windows) while clicking. The number of hits can increase dramatically!
Selecting a subcategory with the same name as the main category means “show me all
presets in the category that do not have any subcategories defined”.
Complete category+subcategory tags appear below the subcategories as buttons so that
you can add other main categories by simply clicking on them. Click the [X] to remove.
For a more detailed walkthrough, please refer to the standard Zebra2 user guide.
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TOC PRESETS
Search by Text
The Search field lets you find presets according to a string of characters i.e. text. If you
remember that the preset you’re looking for has the word “clock” in either its name or its
description, simply enter clock into the Search field and hit Return…
Search normally looks into the preset name, author, DESCRIPTION and USAGE (see the
PRESET INFO panel). Searches are not case-sensitive and quotes are not required unless you want to include spaces between words.
If you want to restrict the search to a particular path e.g. Local/Drums + Clocks, double
click on the Drums + Clocks folder. This path appears below the Search field instead of the
preset folders. You will only see smart folders plus any subfolders within the specified path:
The [^] button to the left moves the search path up one level (in this case to /Local). The
[X] button to the right sets the search path to include all presets (i.e. Local and User), and
the regular preset folders reappear.
Try it: Enter three or four letters then hit Return. For instance, star would find all files containing the text string star (e.g. mustard or starters). Entering "star wars" (with the quotes!)
would find e.g. Battlestar Warsaw if such a preset exited.
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TOC PRESETS
Syntax
Scope
You can limit the search to just the preset name or parts of PRESET INFO by using name,
author, desc (description) or use (usage) followed by a colon. For instance, author:the
finds all presets by authors whose names include ‘the’. Similarly, desc:space will find all
presets with the word space in the description.
An alternative syntax lets you use ? (a single letter) and * (any number of letters), but the
scope name, author, desc or use must be specified, followed by ‘=‘, and logical operators
are not allowed.
Logic
The AND operator specifies that presets contain both words surrounding it. AND is implicit,
but can be written explicitly if you prefer: For example, star AND wars (or simply star wars)
will find presets that contain both star and wars.
OR only requires that presets contain one of the words surrounding it. For example, star
OR wars will find presets that contain star as well as presets that contain wars. Or both.
NOT excludes presets containing the following word. To find all presets that contain star
but do not contain wars, enter star NOT wars.
Examples using regular syntax
brass OR string ‘brass’ or ‘string’ appear in the Name, Author, Description or Usage
brass string both ‘brass’ AND ‘string’ appear somewhere in the preset
use:vibrato ‘vibrato’ appears in the Usage
"at =" aftertouch usage is mentioned in the Author, Description or Usage field
(Note: ’=’ is not a valid character for preset names)
“hs s” ctrl #Mono All monophonic factory presets starting with an ’s' that use at least one
of the A / B performance controls
Examples using alternative syntax
desc=*trin* e.g. ’string’ or ‘Patrington’ appear in the Description
author=*ow?e would find "Howie", "That old Howie", but not "Howie S”
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TOC GLOBAL
Global Settings
To open this panel, click on the GLOB/FX tab in the lower bar.
The global parameters
PITCH
TRANSPOSE
Shifts incoming MIDI notes within a range of +/- 24 semitones.
FINE TUNE
Shifts all oscillator and filter pitches by +/- 100 cents (relative to 100% keyfollow).
- BEND +
Sets pitch bend ranges independently from 0 to +/- 48 semitones.
GLIDE
MODE
time
....... The duration of the glide is constant, irrespective of the note interval.
rate
........ The duration of the glide is proportional to the note interval.
RANGE
Lower values shift the beginning of the slur closer to the target note.
GLIDE, GLIDE 2
A smooth pitch transition between consecutive notes. Glide affects the Key Follow modulator, so it is applied to all modules that include this parameter (OSCs, FMOs, Combs,
VCFs and XMFs). Glide2 is a bipolar offset for the even-numbered modules. The modulation source KeyFol2 is the same as KeyFol, but includes the Glide2 offset.
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TOC GLOBAL
VOICE
MODE
Poly
Normal polyphonic. ........................
Retrigger Monophonic – each new note triggers the envelopes. ..............
Legato Monophonic – envelopes are retriggered after spaces between notes. ...................
Allows for more interesting musical phrasing.
Arpeggiator
Polyphonic – triggers, pitches etc. are defined in the ARP CTRL panel. .........
Duophonic Emulates an interesting feature of old analogue synths which offered ...........
both low note AND high note priority. Odd-numbered OSC, FMO,
Comb, VCF, D-VCF and XMF pitches and cutoffs follow the lowest note,
while those of even-numbered modules follow the highest note.
VOICES
You can reduce the maximum number of notes that Zebra2 will try to play at once:
few = 4 notes, medium = 8 notes, many = 16 notes. Due to intelligent voice allocation,
these are all approximate values.
SMOOTH ATTACKS
Instantaneous attack times can mean audible clicks at the start of each note. Switching
this on removes all such clicks. Tip: If you do want clicks (consistent ones), leave this
option off, activate RESET in the oscillator panel(s) and adjust PHASE/PW.
VOICE DRIFT
This causes each new note to be slightly detuned, emulating the imprecise pitch of
classic analogue oscillators. Switch off for more precision.
MICROTUNING
ZebraHZ supports standard .TUN microtuning tables. Literally thousands of these are
available online, and most of them are free. Click the ON button, then the selector (likely
to be ‘default scale’) to open a floating directory where you can choose a table. Note:
This window works like the main browser, including the drag & drop functionality.
Alternatively, right-click on the selector and choose a table from the current folder. Near
the top of the same menu is Show in Finder / Explorer, which opens a system window
for the location of microtuning files… you can put more .tun files in there.
SWING
In most synthesizers, ‘swing’ is only applied to the arpeggiator and/or mini-sequencer. In
Zebra2 and ZebraHZ this parameter also affects synchronized LFOs.
BASE / PERCENT
Click on the BASE selector, choose a bar division, then adjust the swing factor using the
PERCENT knob. Note that the indicator will stop flashing if PERCENT is set to zero.
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TOC GENERATORS
Generators
OSC main panel
In ZebraHZ, the oscillator module looks like this:
Oscillator panel with the MIXER sub-panel selected
The button next to the module label is for loading oscillator presets (see Oscillator Preset).
Switches
POLYWAVE
Selects single or multiple (2, 4 or 11) stacked oscillators. The eleven option here is
much more than a “supersaw”, as stacking can be applied to any waveform.
PWM
Adds an inverted copy of the waveform. Applied to a sawtooth, phase modulation (see
PHASE below) creates an effect very similar to classic PWM, hence the name.
SYNC
Activates oscillator-internal hard sync. See PHASE below.
RESET
Causes the oscillator to start at the same phase position each time.
Knobs
WAVE
The position (index 1–16) within the waveset. Unlike the row of selectors below the
wave editor, this knob lets you set intermediate values.
The knob below Wave is for wave index modulation (+/-16) – click on the label to select
a source. How smoothly and precisely waves are interpolated depends on the oscillator’s Resolution setting (in the lower panel).
Note: The center of the waveset is actually 8.5, so a modulation amount of 7.5 from a
bipolar source is enough to span the entire waveset. To reach Wave 16 from Wave 1
using a unipolar source (such as the mod wheel), set the amount to +15.
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TOC GENERATORS
TUNE
Oscillator pitch offset (+/- 48 semitones). You can hold down SHIFT for finer control, but
there is also a Detune knob to the right. The knob beneath it is for Tune modulation (+/48 semitones). Click on the label to select a source, then turn up the amount.
DETUNE
Detune has two different meanings, depending on the POLYWAVE setting: In single
mode it is simply fine tuning (+/- 50 cents). In dual, quad or eleven modes it does not
affect the overall pitch of the oscillator, but spreads the detuning equally between the
multiple waves
. Of course you can still fine tune the oscillator using SHIFT+Tune!
VIBRATO
The amount of pitch modulation from LFO1, with a range of +/- 50 cent.
The oscillators may appear harmless, but there is a lot more here than meets the eye.
Apart from extra parameters in the lower panel, oscillators have 3 switchable sub-panels,
Phase/Sync, Osc FX and Mixer, selected via the buttons at the top right...
PHA/SNC (Phase/Sync)
Click on the left tab:
PHASE/PW
Adjusts the oscillator phase from 0° to 180° (but you can
modulate it up to 360°). Rapid phase modulation normally affects pitch, but if the PWM switch (see above) is on,
the effect is similar to pulse width modulation.
SYNC
Pitch offset for the oscillator’s integrated hard-sync. This
classic ‘analogue’ sync adds a lot of upper harmonics.
OSC FX
Click on the middle tab:
The waveform can be subtly or radically altered by two
spectral effects routed in series.
To select a spectral effect, click on the label of an upper
knob. Adjust the value and/or modulate to taste using the
assignable control. Here, the Scrambler effect is set to
zero, but is modulated by the pitch bender.
Note: While modulated, the speed and smoothness of
most spectral effects depend on the Resolution setting.
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TOC GENERATORS
List of spectral effects
Fundamental
Adjusts the level of the fundamental. Range = -200% (inverted) to
+200%. At the central position, the fundamental is inaudible.
Odd for Even
Even-numbered harmonics are cross-faded into odd harmonics. This
results in a more ‘squarish’ waveform (square waves contain only odd
harmonics). With negative values, the opposite applies
– odd harmonics
become even harmonics.
Brilliance
Boosts (positive) or attenuates (negative) higher harmonics, resulting in
brighter or darker waveforms.
Filter
A combination of lowpass (negative values) and highpass (positive values) filters. Because in reality the ‘filter’ code only manipulates amplitudes, its slope is more than 100dB/octave.
Bandworks
A combined bandpass (positive) and notch filter (negative).
Registerizer
Boosts any octaves of the fundamental while attenuating all other harmonics, often resulting in an organ-like sound.
Scrambler
Similar to operator feedback in FM synthesizers: the phase of the waveform is modulated by the wave itself, creating many new overtones. If
you need dirty-sounding digital oscillators, this is the one.
Turbulence
Periodically shuffles the harmonics at random. Even if not modulated,
the speed of this effect is dependent on the oscillator Resolution. Turbulence is useful in SpectroBlend mode with only a few harmonics.
Expander
Expands (or contracts when negative) the spectrum. Similar to brilliance
if the harmonics are distributed evenly.
Symmetry
Contracts the waveform towards the beginning or end of its cycle. Often
sounds like pulse width modulation – and for a square wave, that’s precisely what it is!
Phase Xfer
A variant of PD (phase distortion). The original waveform is not output
directly, but is used as the phase response of an extra sine wave –
which you can hear when the value is zero.
Phase Root
The original wave multiplies the phase response of the sine wave.
Trajector
The original wave adds to the phase response of the sine wave. Like
phase modulation in ‘FM’ synthesizers – try Trajector on a pure sine.
Ripples
Multiplies the waveform with a variable harmonic, resulting in quasi-resonant sounds.
Formanzilla
Multiplies the spectrum of the waveform with a variable harmonic, resulting in formant-like spectra with several strong peaks and troughs.
Sync Mojo
Simulates hard sync by contracting the time axis then writing the waveform back into wave memory.
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TOC GENERATORS
MIXER
Click on the right tab:
PAN
Panorama shifts the stereo position to the left or right.
VOLUME
Oscillator output level.
WIDTH
If POLYWAVE is dual, quad or eleven, this knob controls
the stereo separation of the polywave. It has no effect if
POLYWAVE is set to single.
Fractalz
Like Sync Mojo, except that the already contracted wave is contracted
again etc.. This results in a fractal waveform with even more harmonics
than Sync Mojo. Fractal structures can be found in nature.
Exophase
A classic 7-stage phaser is applied to the original wave. This effect is
equally useful for static coloration or resonant sweeps.
Scale
The relative amplitudes of harmonics are scaled, either to the power of
2 (negative, softer) or 3 (positive, brighter). Results in finer resolution of
quiet harmonics, so more precise control over the overtone structure.
Scatter
Similar to Scrambler (see above), but here the phase is modulated by
itself squared (i.e. to the power of 2). An FM triangle or square from a
pure sine, or absolute chaos from a sawtooth – Scatter is flexible.
ChopLift
Negative values raise an amplitude threshold below which all harmonics
are faded out (Chop). Positive values raise the levels of fainter harmonics (Lift).
HyperComb
Adds 3 copies of the original wave to the wavetable. For positive values
(only), the phases are randomly shifted, resulting in a subtle to dramatic
effect similar to chorus. Even when not modulated, positive HyperComb
is dependent on the value of oscillator Resolution.
PhaseDist
Phase distortion, as in the ‘80s Casio CZ series of synthesizers. The
wave acts as a function for the phase of an inverse cosine. The
‘amount’ knob crossfades between no effect and full effect, so the most
dramatic uses of this effect involve modulating Wave index.
Wrap
Inverts parts of the wave that extend above or below a threshold. The
limits for multiple wrapping are greater with negative values.
DX
Same as Trajector (see above), but approximately 10 times stronger.
Smear
Blurs the spectrum in one direction (negative = down, positive = up).
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