Envelopes
Zebra2 features 4 very advanced ADSR envelopes.
The envelopes can work in several different ways:
- regular ADSR envelope
- ADSR with additional fall or rise parameter
- looped envelope with the looped section user assignable
The envelope is basically controlled by 4 main parameters (attack, decay, sustain and release), recognizable by the bigger knob size and 4 secondary parameters.
There are two options controlling the time base of the envelopes: a popup menu that lets you set the basic time base and a popup menu to set this time base to be either “Quadric”, “Linear” or a custom slope (V-Slope).
Quadric – equal to an exponential slope
Linear – the knobs adjust the duration linear to the selected time base
V-Slope – with this is selected you will get an additional slider in the envelope pane that lets you adjust the slope of the curve from ultra-exponential (very snappy!) at -100.00 via linear to ultra-logarithmic (opposite of snappy) at +100.00. This is much like the slow/fast curvature of the MultiStage. A slope of -50 is more or less equivalent to the quadric mode and what you would expect from an exponential envelope.
The time base of the envelopes is either based on seconds or on a relative of the hosts tempo:
8sX – up to 8 seconds, exponentially scaled, mid position is 1 second.
16sX – up to 16 seconds, like above
10s – up to 10 seconds, linearly scaled. A value of 20.00 is equivalent to 2 seconds etc.
1/4 – at 100.00, the envelop stage has the length of a quarter note. At 25.00 it’s only a sixteenth etc.
1/1 – whole notes
4/1 – four bars
Regular ADSR envelope
If none of the options below is used the envelopes work as regular ADSR envelopes.
Attack – adjusts the time it takes for the level to reach its maximum.
Decay – adjusts the time until reaching the sustain level.
Sustain – adjusts the sustained level while a note is being held.
Release – adjusts the time until reaching 0 after realeasing a note.
Zebra2 features more options to control the progression of the envelopes.
Pre attack
Select a pre attack option from a popup menu by right-clicking on the knob. The available options are:
None – the envelope behaves just as a regular ADSR envelope.
Init – this sets the initial value for the envelope before going in the attack phase. This way the sustain can be lower than the attack.
Delay – sets a general delay for an envelope. Useful for example to keep one of the channels come in later.
MIDI learn – assignes the received MIDI controller to this knob. See MIDI learn.
Post sustain
Several options are available to control what happens to the envelope level after reaching the sustain level.
There are basically two knobs controlling these options.
The Fall/Rise adjusts the time for the level to reach the minimun or maximum level.
Right-click on the knob next to the Fall/Rise knob brings up a popup menu to choose from these options:
Sust2 – the end level of the Fall/Rise stage
LoopA – the time to fade to zero before going back to Attack
LoopD – the time to fade to full scale before going back to Decay
LoopS – time to sustain level, then into Fall/Rise again
Rel25 – after key is lifted, time to go to 25% before going into Release
Rel50 to Rel100 – same as above, but with the respective value.
Envelope modulation
The envelopes are scalable either using velocity or key range to influence their value.
There is a global velocity scale available in the general envelope module.
Click on the “+” to expand the envelope module to reveal more options for the velocity or key range to influence the progression of the envelope.
Velocity scale and key scale are also available for each of the seven parameters of the envelope to create incredibly dynamic and lively sounds depending on the playing style.