user guide

Version 1.1.1
22. July 2021

Heckmann Audio Gmbh ● Berlin

Introduction 3
User Interface 4
Control Bar 4
Knobs and Switches 5
Modulation Sources 6

Main Panels 7
Oscillators 7
Noise 9
Filter 10
Global 12
Envelopes 13
LFOs 15

Effects Panels 18
Effects Routing 18
Modulation FX 19
Delay 20
Reverb 21

Preset Browser 22
Overview 22
Directory Panel 23
Presets Panel 25
Preset Info Panel 27
Installing Soundsets 27
Preset Tagging 28
Search by Tags 29
Search by Text 30

Configuration 32
About MIDI CC 32
MIDI Learn 33
MIDI Table 34
Preferences 36

2
 Introduction
ZebraCM is a stripped-down, fixed architecture version of the mighty Zebra2 commissioned by
‘Computer Music’ magazine. Please note that ZebraCM is only available from CM, not from u-he
directly or from any of our resellers!

Online resources
For downloads, news articles and support, go to the u-he website
For lively discussions about u-he products, go to the u-he forum at KVR
For friendship and informal news updates, go to the u-he facebook page
For video tutorials and more, go to the u-he youtube channel
For our soundsets and bundles, go to u-he soundsets
For 3rd party presets, go to Patchlib

Team 2021 (Q3)

Urs Heckmann (boss, concepts)
Jayney Klimek (office management)
Howard Scarr (user guides, presets, necessary grump)
Rob Clifton-Harvey (IT admin, backend development)
Sebastian Greger (GUI design, 3D stuff)
Jan Storm (framework, more code)
Alexandre Bique (all things Linux)
Oddvar Manlig (business development)
Viktor Weimer (user support, presets)
Thomas Binek (QA, bug-hunting, presets)
Henna Gramentz (office supervision, support)
Frank Hoffmann (framework, new browser)
Alf Klimek (tagging, rock-stardom, studio)
Sebastian Hübert (media, synthwave)
David Schornsheim (more code)
Stephan Eckes (yet more code)
Luca Christakopoulos (communication design)
Special thanks to Brian Rzycki for maintaining the original Patchlib.

For our terms of use and more, please refer to the file license.txt that came with the installer.

3
User Interface
The arrangement of modules in ZebraCM is very simple:

CONTROL BAR

OSCILLATORS + NOISE GENERATOR FILTER

GLOBAL
(polyphony, ENVELOPES LFOs
transpose,
bend etc.)

EFFECTS

GUI Size
Right-clicking anywhere in the background opens a menu with GUI size options between 70%
and 200% in 10% steps. Options larger than your screen will not be available. More permanent
settings are available in the Preferences.

Control Bar
Along the top of the ZebraCM window is a bar containing the following elements:

PRESETS
Opens the preset browser – see the extensive Preset Browser chapter.

Save
The button to the right of PRESETS stores the preset in either the User folder or the
currently open folder, depending on the status of the Save Presets To preference.

Right-clicking on the [Save] button lets you specify the preset format: The default is .h2p –
highly recommended, as it is cross-platform compatible. The .h2p extended format also allows
per-line comments (the preset files are therefore slightly larger). The native option is the format
of your host system (.fxp for VST and AAX, .aupreset for Audio Units): Not recommended, but
available if necessary. For an explanation of the final Tag this patch entry, see Preset Tagging.

TOC 4
Data Display
Apart from showing the preset name, the central text display has several other duties:
Loading presets: Click on the arrows step through presets, or in the middle to select a preset
from the current directory.
Values / Status: While a parameter is being edited, it shows the current value or status.
Drag & Drop: If you drag a preset from e.g. your desktop and drop it onto the Data Display, the
preset will be loaded (but not automatically saved).
Initialize preset: Whenever you want to program a new sound from scratch, right-click on the
data display and select init.

Undo / Redo
Click on the circular arrows to undo or redo an action. You can even undo a change
of preset so that you don’t lose any edits made to the previous one.

Output
ZebraCM's main volume control. Most of the factory presets have this set to 100, but you can
boost very quiet signals up to ‘normal’ levels if necessary by setting higher values.

u-he Badge
Click on u-he for links to our website, to this user guide and other documents, to our user
support forum at KVR and to our social network pages. At the bottom of the menu you will also
see the entry Install Soundset… (see Installing Soundsets).

Cogwheel
Clicking on the cogwheel symbol at the far right of the control bar opens the ‘configuration
pages’ where you can set up remote control via MIDI CC as well as several other global
preferences. See the Configuration chapter.

Knobs and Switches

Operation is fairly standard click and drag up/down, but there are a few specialities:
Shift: To fine tune values, hold down a SHIFT key before moving the knob.
Mouse wheel: Hover over a knob and roll the wheel. You can also hold SHIFT to fine tune.
Default value: Double-click to reset a knob to its default value (most often zero).
Parameter locking: Right-click and select ‘Lock’. The lock prevents the value from changing
whenever you switch presets; it does NOT prevent you from adjusting the value directly. To
unlock again, right-click and untick ‘Locked’ in the menu.

Modulation !
Several of the knobs have small dots which act like knobs to control the amount of modulation
from a selected modulation source (‘none’ by default). To specify a source, click on the label.
Adjust the modulation depth by dragging the dot up and down like a regular
knob – the coloured arc around the knob will move accordingly. If a modulation
source has not been selected, clicking on the dot will open the list of sources.
Notes: Each of the envelope knobs has a pair of fixed source (velocity and key
follow) modulation depth controls. Oscillator WAVE has a dedicated, full-sized
knob for assignable modulation, and Filter Cutoff has two.

TOC 5
Modulation Sources
As well as LFOs and envelopes, the list of modulators include some standard MIDI messages for
external control: pitchbend, modulation wheel (CC#01), polyphonic or channel aftertouch
(Pressure), velocity and Gate. Control A and B are user definable MIDI CC.

ModWhl Modulation wheel i.e. MIDI CC 2

PitchW Pitch wheel / bender

CtrlA Control A. User-definable MIDI CC (default is CC 2)

CtrlB Control B. User-definable MIDI CC (default is CC 11)

LfoG1 * Global LFO

Gate Note on/off

Velocity MIDI note velocity

Pressure Aftertouch (accepts channel pressure or PolyAT… or both)

KeyFollow Source relative to MIDI note number, plus Glide

As above, but especially for the highest note in duo voice mode
KeyFollow2
(otherwise it is the same as KeyFollow)

Alternate Per note alternating value

Random Per note random value

Maximum value. Use Constant to force parameters (e.g. oscillator

Constant
pitch or filter cutoff) beyond their normal range.

Env1 Amplifier envelope (by default)

Env2 Multi-purpose envelope

Lfo1 Voice LFO 1

Lfo2 Voice LFO 2

* ‘1’ included in the name for the sake of compatibility with Zebra2

TOC 6
 Main Panels
Oscillators
The two oscillators have identical features:

RESET
Causes the oscillator to start at the same phase (position within the waveform) each time a
note is played. Otherwise, oscillator phase is random.

CRISP
Makes the oscillator sound slightly brighter overall at the cost of a little aliasing.

Volume
Oscillator output level.

Pan
Shifts the stereo position to the left or right.

Polywave (1/2/4/11)
Selects the number of unison waves, which can then be detuned (see DETUNE below).

TUNE
Oscillator tuning from -48 to +48 semitones.

TOC 7
DETUNE
Detune has two different functions, depending on the Polywave setting: In Single mode it is for
fine tuning (+/- 50 cents). In Dual, Quad or Eleven mode it does not affect the overall pitch, but
spreads the detuning equally. Of course you can still fine tune the oscillator via SHIFT+Tune.

SYNC
Activates oscillator-internal hard sync and reveals the accompanying knob. Classic ‘analogue’
hard-sync but with an integrated ‘master’ (i.e. you don’t need to use the other oscillator), this
can add a lot of upper harmonics!

WAVE
The larger control morphs between the 16 waveforms. Although the ZebraCM oscillators are
based on those in Zebra2, the waveset as well as the spectral effects are fixed in ZebraCM.

The lower knob is for waveform modulation – click on the label (‘none’) and select a source.
The waves were chosen to (loosely) alternate between ‘dull’ and ‘bright’, which is why the
maximum modulation depth is 2.00: ZebraCM is not a wavetable synth.

VIBRATO
The amount of pitch modulation directly from LFO1 (0 – 100). The maximum depth here is only
+/- 50 cents. For deeper vibrato, click on the assignable ‘...’ control below the Tune knob and
select e.g. LFO1 from the list.

FILTER
This is one of the many ‘spectral effects’ from Zebra2: a combination of lowpass (negative
values) and highpass (positive values) filters.

SYMMETRY
Another of the Zebra2 ‘spectral effects’, Symmetry contracts the waveform towards the
beginning (negative values) or end (positive values of its cycle.

TOC 8
 Symmetry modulation often sounds like PWM (pulse width modulation). Applied to a square
wave (Waveform = 2.00), that’s precisely what it is.

Noise
Noise has traditionally been used for percussive sounds, wind effects, explosions etc..

Mono / Stereo
The noise modules can be made stereo, at the expense of a little extra CPU.

Volume
Noise output level.

Pan
Shifts the stereo position to the left or right.

Type
The unlabelled selectors at the top right of the panel offer four different flavours of noise:
White is a random signal with equal power across the spectrum. The two knobs adjust
lowpass and highpass cutoff frequencies.
Pink is much darker. The two knobs adjust lowpass and highpass cutoff frequencies.
Digital is a square wave with random polarity, like a low-fi oscillator. It can be played in tune if
PITCH is modulated by KeyFollow with the amount set to 64. See PITCH / REDUCE below.
Crackles produces random impulses, like a Geiger counter or a worn-out vinyl record. See
PITCH / REDUCE below.

LOWPASS / HIGHPASS
In White or Pink modes: A pair of cutoff controls for 6dB/octave filters. Crackles mode also
includes the lowpass filter.

TOC 9
PITCH / REDUCE
In Digital mode, PITCH controls the frequency while REDUCE adds irregularities. In Crackles
mode, REDUCE lowers the probability of impulses.

Filter
Unlike Zebralette, ZebraCM also includes a multi-mode filter, with the following options:

Cutoff
The Cutoff determines a filter’s edge frequency. Like the oscillators, the scale is in semitones.
With Key Follow turned all the way down, the cutoff values of most filter types correspond to
MIDI note numbers minus 12 (one octave). For instance, with Cutoff set to 81.00 a filter would
resonate at 440Hz (middle A).

Resonance / Formant / Slope

Resonance is an internal feedback loop that emphasizes the cutoff frequency. In LP Formant it
is the formant strength, while in the EQ types it adjusts the Slope.

Drive / Vowel / Gain / Split

The function of this knob also depends on the selected TYPE – see the list on the next page.

Key Follow
Adjusts how strongly the cutoff follows MIDI notes – the higher the note, the higher the cutoff.
At 100%, it follows semitones precisely.
Note that the bottom row of knobs all modulate cutoff except in LP Formant mode, where the
righthand knob modulates the Vowel parameter.

TOC 10
TYPE
Click on the graphic at the top of the filter panel to specify a type:

24dB/octave lowpass, with a frequency-dependent exciter as the

LP Xcite
Drive parameter, which adds high frequencies.

CPU-friendly 24dB/octave lowpass, with a strong resonance and

LP Allround
smooth coloration via Drive.

Boosts mid-range frequencies via Drive, good for leads that can
LP MidDrive
cut through the mix.

Adds even-numbered harmonics for a vintage sound bordering on

LP OldDrive
‘cheesy’.

Vocal filter type combining a non-resonant 12dB/octave lowpass

with a resonant formant stage. The Formant parameter replaces
LP Formant resonance, and the vowel parameter morphs through A–E–I–O–U.
Great for ‘singing’ voices and vocoder-like pads. Note: The mod
target of the righthand assignable knob is the Vowel parameter!

LP Vintage CPU-cheap analogue-modeled transistor ladder with 24dB rolloff.

LP 12dB A 12dB/octave version of LP Allround

LP 6dB A simple lowpass with a very shallow rolloff, non-resonant

BP RezBand A resonant 12dB/octave bandpass model

BP QBand Another resonant bandpass, with a different character

HP 24dB Resonant 24dB/octave highpass

HP 12dB Resonant 12dB/octave highpass

BR Notch 24dB/octave band reject

Peak / reject filter, like parametric ‘mid’ on a mixer. Res controls

EQ Peaking the slope of the peak. Gain has a range of -20dB (deep notch) to
+24dB (strong peak). This type has little or no effect if Gain is zero.

Two shelving models, to complete the trio of ‘parametric EQ’

EQ LoShelf filters. Like in EQ Peaking, the Gain parameter attenuates or
EQ HiShelf boosts the frequency range (low or high), and Resonance controls
the slope.

The two phasing models use 4 or 8 stage allpass (AP) filters to

AP Phaser4 generate typical phasing effects. Cutoff controls the center
AP Phaser8 frequency, while Resonance controls intensity. In the Phaser8
model, the Split parameter detunes the 8 stages.

LP Vintage2 CPU-intensive version of LP Vintage, capable of self-oscillation.

Not actually a filter, this is a sample-rate reduction processor. The

SR Decimate Cutoff parameter controls rate, meaning it can be tuned
harmonically (set KeyF to 100). Neither Res nor Drive are used.

TOC 11
Global
The panel to the left contains parameters pertaining to pitch, master volume and pan…

Voice Mode (unlabelled)

The upper left selector has the following options:
poly ....................Normal polyphonic.
mono................. Monophonic – each new note triggers the envelopes.
legato ................Monophonic – envelopes are retriggered after spaces between notes. Allows for
more interesting musical phrasing.
duo ....................Duophonic. Like legato except that two notes can be played by splitting the
oscillators according to lowest and highest note: Oscillator 1 pitch and filter
Cutoff follow the lowest note while oscillator 2 pitch follows the highest note –
for even more interesting (un)musical phrasing!

Voices
To prevent glitches while running CPU-intensive presets, you can reduce the maximum number
of notes that ZebraCM will try to play at once: few = 4 notes, medium = 8 notes, many = 16
notes. Note: Due to intelligent voice allocation, these values are only approximate.

Transpose
Shifts incoming MIDI notes within a range of +/- 24 semitones.

Pitchbend (PB)
Sets pitch bend ranges independently from 0 to 24 semitones.

TOC 12
Glide
A smooth pitch transition between consecutive notes. Glide affects the KeyFollow modulator
as well as the oscillators and filter.

VCA
Selects the ‘amp envelope’. Setting Gate here lets you use both envelopes for other purposes.

Volume
Overall volume before any effects Note: The Output knob in the control bar is post-FX, as are
MASTER and RETURN in the FX grid (of course).

Pan
Stereo position. Try modulating this with a slow LFO with RESTART set to free.

Envelopes
Good old ADSR envelopes, but with several extras…

Mode
Specifies the curvature of all time-based envelope stages. There are 3 options:
quadric ...............exponential curves. Attack is convex, Decay and Release are concave
linear ...................straight lines. Linear envelopes can sound unnatural
v-slope................exponential curvature via the ‘Slope’ knob, which is hidden in the other two
envelope modes. Setting -100 makes the curve very concave, -50 is close to
quadric, zero is linear, +100 is very convex.

Time Base
8sX ..........................up to 8 seconds, knob scale is exponential (mid position is 1 second)
16sX ........................up to 16 seconds, knob scale is exponential (mid position is 2 seconds)
10s ..........................up to 10 seconds, knob scale is linear so 20.00 means 2 seconds etc.
1/4,1/1, 4/1......... times are relative to song tempo (beat, bar, 4 bars), the knob scale is linear

TOC 13
Pre-Attack (‘none’)
The knob labelled ‘none’ by default lets you set either an initial level above zero, or a delay
before the attack phase starts.

NOTE ON NOTE OFF NOTE NOTE OFF

ON

INIT ATTACK DECAY SUSTAIN RELEASE DELAY ATTACK DECAY SUSTAIN RELEASE

Attack
The time it takes for the envelope to rise from zero (or the Init value) to maximum

Decay
The time it takes to drop from maximum to the Sustain level

Sustain
The level after Decay. Normally remains at that position until the note is released

Fall/Rise
After the Sustain, negative values cause the envelope to fall to zero, while positive values
cause it to rise to maximum. Larger absolute values mean longer fall/rise times.

NOTE NOTE OFF

ON

+
Fall/Rise
–

ATTACK DECAY SUSTAIN RELEASE

Release
The time it takes to drop to zero after a note is released.

Velocity
For dynamic envelopes – keyboard velocity scales the envelope’s output level.

VEL and KEY

Velocity and KeyFollow modulation depths for each envelope stage: click and drag on the dots.
For instance, positive VEL for Decay will lengthen the decay times as you play harder, and
negative KEY for Release will shorten the release times of higher notes, etc..

TOC 14
LFOs
Alongside envelopes, low frequency oscillators represent THE classic modulators – often for
vibrato or cyclic movement e.g. a slowly drifting tonal change…

LFO selector
Before changing anything in this panel you will need to select which LFO you want to edit:

1 = LFO 1, 2 = LFO2, G = Global LFO (aka ‘LfoG1’). The first two are polyphonic i.e. they are
instantiated per voice: each note you play gets its own LFO. The main advantage over the
global LFO is that the notes in a chord can have different amplitudes, rates and phases.
Remember that oscillator Vibrato uses LFO 1.

Waveform
sine ....................pure sine wave
triangle ............. pure triangle wave
saw up ..............rising saw (‘ramp’)
saw down ........falling saw
sqr lo-hi ............square wave, restarted at the lower level
sqr hi-lo ............square wave, restarted at the higher level
rand hold ......... random steps
rand glide ........random curves
user ...................up to 32 steps. See User Waveform on the next page.

TOC 15
Rate
LFO speed. This bipolar control scales the value set by the SYNC parameter

Amplitude
LFO output level. For typical “vibrato via mod wheel”, do the following:
Select LFO 1. Click on the label below the Amplitude knob and select ModWhl as source. Turn
the modulation depth up to maximum (click and drag on the dot). Then click on the label below
oscillator TUNE and select Lfo1. Turn the modulation depth up to 1.00 or less (using SHIFT).

PHASE
Sets the phase (i.e. the position within its cycle) at which the LFO will be restarted every time a
note is played. Ignored if Restart is set to free.

DELAY
Fade-in time.

SYNC
0.1s, 1s, 10s......... absolute time in seconds, three ranges
1/64 – 8/1 ..............synced to song tempo (includes dotted and triplets, maximum 8 bars)

RESTART
For LFO1 and LFO2 there are 2 options here:
free ....................the LFO starts at a random position within its wave each time a note is played
gate ...................the LFO always starts at the same position within its wave (see Phase above)
For the global LFO, Restart sets the number of bars after which the LFO is automatically
restarted at the specified phase (see Phase above).

User Waveform
Selecting the user waveform lets you create custom shapes with up to 32 values. The MODE
switch specifies whether these values are output as steps or as straight lines, and POINTS
sets the number of steps or lines:

Please note that SYNC (see above) sets the length of each step, so a complete cycle in the
lefthand example would take 8 times 1/16 = half a bar in 4/4 time. In the righthand example a
complete cycle would take 32 times 0.1 seconds = 3.2 seconds.

TOC 16
 User Drawing Tools
Choose the user Waveform and right-click on the LFO graphic to see this context menu…

Copy

Shapes

Cmd-Draw
Selection
Reverse
Invert
Randomize
Soften
Normalize
Make Unipolar
Straighten
Reset

Quantise 4
Quantise 6
Quantise 8
Quantise 12
Quantise 16
Quantise 24

Lock

All functions will be restricted to a selection, if one exists: To select multiple steps, hold down
SHIFT, click and drag horizontally. To deselect everything, either click in the background (i.e. away
from the selection) or right-click and choose Deselect from the Selection sub-menu.

Copy / Paste ........Clipboard functions e.g. for transferring user waveforms between presets.
Shapes................... Create a Ramp, Triangle, Sine, Cosine, Root, or Quadric waveform. Drawing will
be restricted to a selection if one exists. Set Steps to 32 and experiment!
Cmd-Draw / ......... Modify the shape by dragging while holding cmd (Mac) or alt (Windows). The
Alt-Draw options are Erase (set zero), Scale (multiply), Shift (2D move) or Warp (2D bend).
Selection ............... Applies Deselect, Invert, Shift Left, Shift Right, Select every 2nd / 3rd / 4th. Try
them out! If nothing is selected you will only see the three ‘every’ options.
Reverse ..................Flips the current selection horizontally
Invert....................... Flips the current selection vertically
Randomize............Adds random offsets to the selection
Soften..................... Interpolates between values. Try doing this several times.
Normalize ..............Expands the waveform vertically to minimum / maximum
Make Unipolar ....Shifts all values into the positive, rescaling if necessary
Straighten ............. Draws a straight line
Reset ......................Sets all (selected) values to zero
Quantize (nn) ........Adjusts values to an equally-spaced grid. Tip: Select ’12’ here and use the LFO
for oscillator pitch modulation (set the modulation depth there to 12.00).

TOC 17
 Effects Panels
Effects Routing
ZebraCM includes a modulated chorus-type effect, a reverb and a stereo delay. The panel on
the right lets you route these in a variety of ways….

The Effects Grid

The three effects appear as movable blocks (simply drag elsewhere) within a 3 x 2 grid of
cells. Note that the dry signal is injected into the MASTER lane (column of cells) – to use the
RETURN lane, see SEND below! Double-click an effect to switch it on or off. Active effects
appear brighter than inactive ones.
Right-click on an effect to open a menu where you can select an input and activate/deactivate
or add/remove effects…

Input 1 Input 1 and Input 2 route signal between the two lanes. In the left image here, the
Input 2 Reverb should be either same or Input 1. In the right image the Reverb has Input 1
same selected (try setting this up and moving Rev up or down). The default is same.
active As an alternative to double-clicking you can tick/untick active here.
remove Effects can be removed from the grid entirely. Click an empty cell to add again.

BYPASS
Temporarily deactivates all effects in the FX grid. The BYPASS status is truly global – you won’t
hear any effects in any of your presets on any day of the week until you deactivate this!

SEND
The level of dry signal being sent down the RETURN lane. You can modulate SEND: In the left
image here, the modulation wheel turns up the signal being sent to the Reverb.

MASTER
Output volume for the lefthand lane.

RETURN
Output volume for the righthand lane.

TOC 18
Modulation FX
We believe no synthesizer should be without one of these:

Mode
Chorus ..............chorus / flanger using short delay lines
Phorus ..............chorus / flanger using allpass filters
Phase ................classic phaser unit

Feedback
Bipolar feedback control for ‘flanger’ type resonances.

Mix
Balance between the dry and wet signals.

Center
Nominal delay time / allpass cutoff.

Stereo
LFO phase offset between the two stereo channels. 50% often delivers the widest effect.

Speed
The rate of the ModFX module’s own LFO (0.1Hz to 1Hz).

Depth
Amount of Center modulation from the ModFX module’s own LFO.

EQUALIZER
The button activates a pair of low and high shelving filters between the dry and chorused
signal, for instance to preserve the stereo position of bass frequencies while softening the
chorus. Tip: Try using the EQ without any chorus effect – simply turn down the Mix knob.

LOW Freq. / Boost

Low crossover frequency and Gain for the dry signal below that frequency.

HIGH Freq. / Boost

High crossover frequency and Gain for the dry signal above that frequency.

TOC 19
Delay
The delay in ZebraCM is simpler than in Zebra2, but still quite flexible. There are two delay lines,
each with time scaling and pan controls. Regular regeneration as well as cross regeneration, with
a pair of shelving filters in the feedback paths, give you detailed control over the decay.

Sync
The two unlabelled selectors at the top set either a tempo-synchronized value (1/32nd to 1/1
triplet) or an absolute time (1 second), which is then scaled via the Ratio knobs (see below).

Feedback / X-Back
Normal regeneration and cross-regeneration amounts

Mix
Cross-fade between the dry signal and the processed signal.

HP / LP
Lowpass and highpass filters in the feedback paths affect the tone of successive repeats.

Ratio
The Ratio knob scales Sync value (see above) from 0% (4 samples long) to 200%.

Pan
Stereo position for each delay line.

TOC 20
Reverb
A much simplified version of Zebra2’s original reverb unit…

MODE
The Reverb option is a standard model while Metalverb sounds more artificial but wider.

Feedback
How much of the reverb output signal is fed back into the input. If Range and Feedback are
both set to maximum and Damp is at zero, the reverb will carry on almost indefinitely.

Dry / Wet
Separate controls for unprocessed and processed signal levels.

Damp
A simple lowpass filter in the feedback loop causes the higher frequencies to fade faster than
low frequencies, imitating the ‘warming’ effect of carpets, curtains etc. in a room or the
audience in a concert hall.

Range
Length from ‘very short’ to ‘rather long’. Controls the impression of room size.

Mod / Speed
The depth and rate of the reverb’s own LFO (modulates Range as well as Feedback).

TOC 21
 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. New versions of ZebraCM also
include our powerful preset browser – click PRESETS in the upper bar (it then reads ‘CLOSE’):

Layout
Folders (or tag search tools) appear on the left, presets appear in the centre and information
about the currently active preset appears on the right. If the PRESET INFO panel is not visible,
click on the [≡] button (top right) and tick Show Preset Info. See Preset Info View.

Default, init
When an instance of ZebraCM starts up it checks whether ‘Local’ contains a preset called
default, and loads that instead of the demo preset.
If you prefer to have a simple template each time, right-click on the data display and select init,
then select the Local folder and [SAVE] under the name default. If a fresh instance doesn’t load
your new default, it will have landed in the User folder, in which case you should change the
preference Save Presets To and repeat the above.
Note that a preset called default will not appear in ZebraCM’s browser.

TOC 22
Directory Panel
Local and User Folders
Factory presets are sorted into 8 folders. You will also find untagged copies of several of them
in the ‘Local’ root. After selecting a preset you can use the cursor keys to step through them.
As ‘Local’ is primarily meant for factory content you should save all your own creations to the
‘User’ folder instead (see the Save Presets To preference).

MIDI Programs
As well as factory presets, ‘Local’ also contains a special folder called ‘MIDI Programs’. When
the first instance of ZebraCM starts, all presets in that folder (up to 128) are loaded into
memory so they can be selected via MIDI Program Change message. To retain the 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 a Bank Select first, then a Program Change. The ‘MIDI Programs’ folder itself is
bank 0, while sub-folders are addressed in alphabetical order starting with bank 1.
IMPORTANT: The content of the ’MIDI Programs’ folder cannot be changed on the fly. Any
changes there will only be updated after 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
A list of the most recent searches. To make them more permanent, right-click and select the
Save Search… function. To empty the list, right-click on ‘Search History’ and select Clear.
Saved Searches
This folder contains any ‘Search History’ entries that have been saved. To remove entries here,
right-click and select Delete.
Bank
These folders reference metadata about preset origin – the version of the factory library or the
name of the soundset with which the preset was installed. See Preset Info.
You can even create your own custom banks: Drag & drop one or more presets onto the ‘Bank’
folder then enter a suitable bank name into the dialogue box.
To remove Bank attributes from selected presets, either drag & drop them onto the ‘no Bank’
folder you will see at the bottom of the Bank list, or right-click on the Bank and select Remove
Presets from Bank. Empty Banks will automatically disappear.
Favourites
8 smart folders, one for each Favourite colour (1-8). See Presets context menu a few pages
down. Only one Favourite colour/number can be set per preset. Presets dropped onto one of
the ‘Favourites’ folders will be marked as such. Favourite status can be removed from all
presets of one particular colour / index by right-clicking on the ‘Favourite’ folder and selecting
Remove All Favourite (n) Marks.
Junk
A list of ‘junked’ presets (see Presets context menu below). Presets dropped on this folder will
disappear unless you make them visible via show Junk. The context menu also includes a
function to remove the Junk status from all presets at once (Remove Junk from Presets).

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 Tags
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
Smart folders for each author name as defined when presets are saved. Presets dropped onto
these folders will adopt the new name. Tip: Instead of signing each one of your creations, you
could sign just one of them, select and drag them all onto the ‘Author/ (You)/’ smart folder. As
the process cannot be undone, please use this feature with caution!
See the section Internal Drag & Drop a few pages down.

Directory context menu

Right-clicking on any folder within Local or User will open this menu:

Refresh
Create New…
Rename…
Open in Finder *

Move to Trash
On Open Expand to
Show Folder Icons

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 a fresh, empty subfolder.
Rename...
Edit the folder name.
Open in Finder / Explorer
Opens a system window for the currently selected folder. If you hold down the option key (Mac)
or ctrl key (Windows), this entry will change to Show in Finder / Explorer and the folder will be
highlighted instead of opened.
On Open Expand to
Sets which nested directories will appear in the directory whenever the GUI is loaded. The first
option (none) collapses all folders, while the final option (all levels) reveals all nested folders.
Show Folder Icons
Show symbols to the left of each folder. Note that the Junk symbol remains visible as long as
Show Junk is ticked (see Presets context menu below), even if no presets have been junked.

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Presets Panel
The central area of the browser shows all presets in the selected directory. Click to load.

Presets context menu

Right-click in the preset list to open a menu containing the following functions:

Mark as Favourite
Mark as Favourite
Mark as Favourite
Mark as Favourite
Mark as Favourite
Mark as Favourite
Mark as Favourite
Mark as Favourite
Mark as Junk

Show Junk
Select All
Deselect
Rename…
Duplicate
Show in Finder *
Convert to h2p

Move to Trash
Mark as Favourite
Choose one of 8 ‘favourite’ marks. The entry will be replaced with Unmark as Favourite.
Mark as Junk / Show Junk
Instead of deleting presets you can mark them ‘Junk’ so they disappear from the browser.
Activate Show Junk to display junked files and mark them with a STOP symbol.
Select All, Deselect
See ‘Multiple Selection’ on the next page.
Rename
Rename the most recently selected preset.
Copy to User Folder / Duplicate
The entry here depends on the status of the Save Presets To preference as well as on the
location of the source preset(s) i.e. whether they are in the ‘Local’ or the ‘User’ folder. Selected
presets are copied with a number appended to the name, which increments (just like the Auto
Versioning option) so that no preset can be overwritten by mistake.
Show in Finder / Explorer
Opens a system window for the right-clicked file. In smart folders only, holding down an option
key (Mac) or ctrl key (Windows) replaces this entry with Show in Browser, which highlights the
currently selected file in its original location within ZebraCM’s browser.
Convert to native / h2p / h2p extended / nksf
Selected presets are converted to the format specified in the [SAVE] button context menu (or in
the browser’s PATCH FORMAT field).
Move to Trash / Recycle Bin
Send selected presets to the system trash.

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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.

Tag this Patch

The flag button opens the Tag This Patch overlay (see Preset Tagging below). An
alternative to right-clicking on the [Save] button.

Preset Info View

The triple bar opens a menu with only two entries: Show Preset Info lets you display or
hide the righthand panel, while Show Tags in Preset Info lets you show/hide tags there.

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.

Internal Drag & Drop

You can drag and drop files from the preset panel onto folders in the Directory. Files dropped
onto regular folders will be moved unless you hold option (Mac) or ctrl (Windows), in which
case they will be copied instead. Files dropped onto smart folders will adopt the attribute of
the folder e.g. you can set the Author or Favourite status of several presets at once.

External Drag & Drop

Presets and folders can also be moved or copied between ZebraCM’s browser and your
desktop (or any system window).
On the Mac most Finder operations will automatically update the browser. Updating might not
be immediate if you use multiple formats or multiple host applications, but all it usually takes is
a click anywhere in ZebraCM, which sets the focus to the clicked instance.
On Windows systems, a manual Refresh (see Directory Context Menu) will be required before
changes to the browser contents appear.
Exporting smart folders
Drag a smart folder onto e.g. your desktop to create a folder containing real copies of those
presets. For instance, an entry in the Search History, one of the Favourites, the ‘Drums’
category (including sub-folders), all presets with the Duo feature, or an Author...
Exporting favourite / junk status
You can export Favourite status, either all at once or individually. Shift+click and drag the
‘Favourites’ folder onto the desktop to create a file called Favourites.uhe-fav. The process is
similar for sub-folders: If you shift+click and drag e.g. ‘Favourites 5’ onto the desktop, this will
create a file called Favourite 5.uhe-fav. Such files can be imported into ZebraCM's browser on
a different computer for instance, via drag & drop onto (or anywhere within) ‘Favourites’.
Note: Importing .uhe-fav files from another computer will only work 100% correctly if all preset
names and locations are identical on both computers!

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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:

Show Preset Info

Show Tags in 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)...

Switches
At the bottom right of the browser window are two global switches…
BYPASS EFFECTS
Mirrors the BYPASS button in the EFFECTS panel so you can check ‘dry’ presets without
leaving the browser. Remember: This switch is truly global – you won’t hear any effects ever
until you deactivate it!
PATCH FORMAT
Specifies the format in which your patches will be saved. The default is .h2p (recommended).
To save in the plugin version’s own file format (e.g. .vst or .aupreset), select native. The .h2p
extended format can include comments for each line.

Installing Soundsets
Any soundsets we distribute ourselves will have the extension .uhe-soundset, and third parties are
encouraged to use this format for their own soundsets (for details, contact our support team).

Standard Method
To install, simply drag & drop the .uhe-soundset file into ZebraCM – anywhere will work. The
soundset folder should appear within the ‘User’ folder. If a soundset with the same name
already exists there, any modified files will be backed up and the location of the backup file 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.

Regular Folders
Folders containing ZebraCM presets can be manually copied or moved into the ‘User’ folder.
You might have to refresh the browser (see Directory context menu) before they appear there. A
refresh is generally necessary in Windows but not in macOS.
Note: As .uhe-soundset files are basically ZIP-compressed folders, you can rename them i.e.
replace the long file extension with ’zip’, then extract the presets and documentation manually.

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Preset Tagging
“Tags” are elements of metadata, information that you can add to presets so that they can be
found more easily.

Tags are updated automatically – clicking on the [SAVE] button isn’t required! The main
advantage is that presets don’t have to be saved every time you edit a tag. The main
caveat is that you should only edit tags after saving your preset. For instance, if you decide
to edit tags while creating a 2nd version of an existing one, please remember that you are
actually changing the tags in the original preset!

The Tagging Window

To open the tagging window, either right-click on the [SAVE] button and select Tag this Patch,
or click on the FLAG icon at the top right of the preset browser.

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 CATEGORIES describe 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 [CLOSE] at the top right of the window.

Tagging via Preset Info

In the PRESET INFO panel, right-click on the Category, Features or Character labels and select
or unselect tags in the context menu. If you right-click on a tag, the first option in the menu
becomes Remove Tag...
The function Create Search from Tags finds all presets with the exact same set of tags. This
function can be used to locate differently named duplicates.

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.

Search by Tags
Click on the TAGS tab to open this view. The buttons here let you set up search criteria according
to existing tags with just a few mouse clicks:

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 tagged as Favourites. Clicking on
the [^] icon to the right of each heading hides the options for that set of tags.

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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 full technical description. Try these:
Each Category has its own set of subcategories. Not selecting a subcategory here means
“show me presets tagged with any subcategory”. Click on [Leads]...
You can select multiple categories without specifying a subcategory if you hold cmd (Mac) or
alt (Windows) while clicking on the category. Try that with the [Keys] button. The number of hits
increases dramatically.
Selecting a subcategory (e.g. [Bass]) with the same name as the main category means “show
me all presets in the Bass category that do not have any subcategories defined”.
Complete category+subcategory tags appear below the subcategories as buttons with ‘off’
switches [X] so that you can add other main categories by simply clicking on them.

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, the 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.
To restrict the search to a particular path e.g. ‘Local/05 Pads’, double click on the ’05 Pads’
folder. This restricted path appears below the Search field instead of the preset folders. You will
only see smart folders and any subfolders of 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 ZebraCM 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 double quotes!) would
find e.g. Battlestar Warsaw, if such a preset exited.

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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’ somewhere in the description.
An alternative syntax lets you use the so-called wildcards ? (means any single letter) and *
(anything or nothing). However, the scope name, author, desc or use must be specified,
followed by ‘=‘, the search must be complete, 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 standard 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 Usage
"at =" aftertouch usage is mentioned in the Author, Description or Usage
field. Note that ‘=’ is not a valid character within 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=p*t?n* would find e.g. ’proton’ or ‘painting’, but not ‘antiproton’
author=*ow?rd would find “Howard" and “Urs + Howard", but not "Howard + Urs”.
author=t*o*i* would find both Tasmodia and Teksonik

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 Configuration

Click on the cogwheel icon at the top righthand corner to open the global configuration pages
where you can adjust the UI size and brightness as well as connect ZebraCM parameters to MIDI
continuous controllers. A row of 4 buttons appears:

These are MIDI Learn (L), MIDI Table (≡), Preferences (“tools” symbol) and Close (X). Tip: Right-
click anywhere within the row of buttons to set the current page as default.

About MIDI CC
CC (‘Control Change’) is a multi-purpose message format used for editing and performing
presets. CC isn’t the only kind of MIDI performance data. For instance, there are different
messages for note on/off (including velocity), pitch bend and two kinds of aftertouch.
Although the MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA) was kind enough to leave most of the 128
CC numbers undefined, two of them have specific meanings that ZebraCM recognizes:
01 = modulation wheel
64 = sustain pedal
Previous versions of Zebra2 also offered the CC controls Breath (CC 02) and Expression (CC 11).
These were replaced by user definable CC sources Control A and Control B. See the Preferences.
Note that you don’t actually need a real breath controller (for instance) or an expression pedal to
make use of CC messages. Most of the names are purely convention – you can use anything that
can send a definable CC e.g. knobs or sliders on your MIDI keyboard, or a controller lane in your
MIDI sequencer.
Later MMA revisions to the MIDI spec even include a bunch of esoteric CC definitions such as
‘Celeste Detune Depth‘, probably at the request of a home organ manufacturer or two. We can
safely ignore all such definitions.

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MIDI Learn
ZebraCM can be remote-controlled / automated by messages from MIDI hardware or from your
MIDI sequencer application. Click on the configuration button then the [L] icon to open this view:

The overlay shows all MIDI-learnable elements as selectable outlines. Controls that are already
assigned appear filled, like OSC 1 ‘Wave’, ‘Tune’ and ‘Detune’ in this image. The currently active
element, the one ready to be learned, is highlighted like OSC 2 ‘Wave’ here.
Try it: Click on the OSC 1 ‘Tune’ knob and send some MIDI CC data (move a knob or slider on
your MIDI controller). The ‘Tune’ knob turns opaque and can now be controlled remotely.
Tip: If you ever have problems with parameters magically resetting themselves, the usual reason
is an accidental MIDI learn. Click on the MIDI Table icon [≡] and have a look…

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MIDI Table
Clicking the cogwheel and selecting the [≡] icon opens an editable list of MIDI CC assignments:

Parameter
The field on the left selects one of ZebraCM's parameters from several sub-menus. Click on
the ‘Add’ button at the bottom and experiment with this option!

Channel / Controller
The next two fields are for MIDI channel and CC number (see About MIDI CC above).

Mode
Specifies the range and/or resolution of values:
Normal .........................full range, continuous
Integer .........................full range, whole numbers only
Fine...............................0.01 steps between the two integers closest to the current value

Type
Specifies the output from knobs / sliders on your hardware controller. Continuous7bit is by far
the most common, but you should check your hardware specifications anyway:
Encoder127 ...............‘relative mode’ endless knobs that repeatedly send the CC value 1 when
turned up, or 127 (interpreted as -1) when turned down
Encoder64 ..................‘relative mode’ endless knobs that repeatedly send the CC value 65 when
turned up, or 63 when turned up
Continuous7bit .........7-bit MIDI CC (normal resolution, common)
Continuous14bit .......14-bit MIDI CC (high resolution, less common)

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Removing Assignments
To remove individual assignments, click on the [X] to the right of each line. To remove all
assignments at once, click on the Delete All button at the bottom.

Last Clicked
This is an experimental feature, “work in progress”: At the very bottom of the Parameter menu are
two options, Last Clicked Control and Last Clicked Control Fine. Select Last Clicked Control, enter
a suitable controller (MIDI CC) and exit the configuration pages. Whichever control you click will
respond to that CC.
The Fine option is similar, but has a very narrow range. This means that you can program a pair of
knobs to remote-control anything “coarse” as well as “fine”.

Per Instance Control

Local versions of the Control A Default and Control B Default preferences (see below). Note that
these are not saved with each preset, but per instance with the project.

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Preferences
Clicking on the cogwheel then the [TOOLS] icon will open the Preferences window...

Mouse Wheel Raster

If your mouse wheel is rastered (you can feel slight clicks as you roll it), switch this on and
parameter values will increment in ‘sensible steps’ e.g. integers.

Scroll Horizontal
Folders containing more files than can be displayed in the window can be scrolled page-wise via
mouse wheel. Opinions differed about the direction, so we made this optional.

Default Size
Sets the UI size for each new instance. Note that you can temporarily change the size by right-
clicking in the background.

Default Skin
This setting will only appear if you have an alternative skin installed – at the time of writing, there
are none available. This option specifies the skin for each new instance, but you can temporarily
change the skin by right-clicking in the background.

TOC 36
Gamma
The default brightness.

Text Antialiasing
Smoothing of all labels and values. Usually left on, in rare cases switching this option off can
improve readability.

Auto Versioning
If this option is switched on, an index is appended to the preset name and automatically
incremented each time you save it. For instance, saving ‘Space’ three times in a row would give
you three files: ‘Space’, ‘Space 2’ and ‘Space 3’.

Save Presets To
Choosing ‘user folder’ here causes all saved presets to land in the User folder instead of the
currently selected folder.

Scan On Startup
Whether the preset library should be scanned and the database recreated when the first instance
of ZebraCM is started, e.g. when you reopen a project.

Base Latency
Only disable this option if you are 100% sure that your audio system – hardware as well as
software – uses buffers that are a multiple of 16 samples. Otherwise you should leave it at ‘16
samples’ to prevent crackles.
Note that a new Base Latency setting will only take effect when the host allows e.g. on playback
or after switching the sample rate. Reloading ZebraCM will always work.

ABOUT THOSE BUFFERS

Internally, ZebraCM processes audio in chunks of n x 16 samples. This so-called ‘block
processing’ method significantly reduces CPU load and memory usage.
For instance, if the number of samples to be processed is 41, ZebraCM will process the
first 32 and keeps the remaining 9 in a small buffer (16 samples is enough). Those 9
samples are then processed at the start of the next call.
Note: The extra buffer is only necessary if either the host or the audio driver is processing
“unusual” buffer sizes. In the many hosts that process buffers of 64, 128, 256 or 512
samples (all multiples of 16), try switching it off so that ZebraCM can process latency-free.

Control A/B Default

The list of modulation sources in earlier versions of u-he plug-ins included the fixed MIDI CC
Breath (CC#02) and Xpress (expression pedal, CC#11). We replaced these with user-definable CC
sources called CtrlA and CtrlB, retaining Breath and Expression as the default CC to ensure
compatibility with older presets.

MIDI Control Slew

The strength of parameter smoothing for all performance control sources: PitchW (pitch wheel),
ModWhl (modulation wheel), CtrlA, CtrlB as well as ATouch (aftertouch).

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