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Best X/Y software for iPad Pro and Zebra / Zebra HZ?

JohnG

JohnG

Senior Member
Hi all,

Over time I have tried Lemur and a few other software solutions for controlling the X/Y parameters in Zebra and Zebra HZ. What's the best setup today (Spring 2023)?

FWIW, I would prefer something that "just works," by contrast with programming anything too elaborate.

Thank you!

(PS -- I also have two knobs and two sliders on my Doepfer keyboard -- could use some of those too.)

Thank you,

John
Click to read more...
 
I use Metagrid Pro, and it has X-Y capabilities now. It uses an iPad. I believe it's $25 for the app, and maybe another $20 for the x-y add-on. I have one page with a single very large X-Y and another page with 4 x-y's that's basically for Zebra. IMG_9230.jpg
 
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David Kudell said:
I use Metagrid Pro, and it has X-Y capabilities now. It uses an iPad. I believe it's $25 for the app, and maybe another $20 for the x-y add-n. I have one page with a single very large X-Y and another page with 4 x-y's that's basically for Zebra
Click to expand...
thanks David. Do you have to program it or is there software that you can buy ready-made?
 
JohnG said:
I honestly can't remember! I'd love something that requires little to no programming.
Click to expand...
You will have to set it up, I didn't find it complicated or anything even though there is a (little) learning curve. If you don't want to build your interface from the ground up, there are presets already setup you can use but they may need some adjustments. Thanks to all the documentation online, YT tutorial videos etc it became quite straight forward. I also use Cubase and Zebra for what it's worth.
 
All of these touchscreen tools will require a certain amount of setup. Between MetaGrid and TouchOSC I'd say they are roughly the same level of complexity - fairly straightforward.

MetaGrid has a bit more polished and Mac-like interface (and has some great non-music Mac capabilities) but I found it to be too unstable for my liking - it would frequently lose connection and I'd have to reboot it or reboot the Metagrid server. Other people love it (see David Kudell's post above).

TouchOSC is a little rougher around the edges in terms of interface, but not at all difficult to comprehend. One bonus is that it will run on Android devices as well as iOS. I have an old Fire tablet that I set up as a MIDI CC controller with 4 faders and an X-Y pad. In a few months of daily use I have had zero connection issues.
 
JohnG said:
thanks David. Do you have to program it or is there software that you can buy ready-made?
Click to expand...
You have to install Metagrid Pro on the iPad and then you install an app called Metaserver on your computer. Then you have to add the Metagrid device as a MIDI controller in your DAW. There are some instructions on how to do this for the various DAWs. In Cubase, for example, you create 3 generic remotes.
Once you do this, you can either use the stock grids that come with Metagrid or you can make your own button layout. I've seen how this is set up in Touch OSC, and Metagrid is much, much easier than that. So it's not programming, so much, it's just a bit of set up.
Expect to spend an afternoon setting it up maybe.

Here's the video on creating X-Y pads to give you an idea.
 
Oh, I forgot, in Zebra you need to assign the CC numbers to the ones you have chosen in Metagrid for the X and Y axis.
It took me a bit to figure out how to do this in Zebra, but a Google search revealed the method.
I should say that, while this is all great, before I had this, I scored a bunch of cues for a movie just moving the mouse in Zebra and recording the automation in Cubase. So, there's always that way of working too. :)
 
David Kudell said:
Oh, I forgot, in Zebra you need to assign the CC numbers to the ones you have chosen in Metagrid for the X and Y axis.
It took me a bit to figure out how to do this in Zebra, but a Google search revealed the method.
I should say that, while this is all great, before I had this, I scored a bunch of cues for a movie just moving the mouse in Zebra and recording the automation in Cubase. So, there's always that way of working too. :)
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Hi David. I've had a quick scout on Google to see how to do this. Still struggling to find how to get the configuration set up between Zebra and the Metagrid XY Pad. Any tips you have on this would be greatly appreciated, or perhaps you can point to me to an article online? Many thanks.
 
mga said:
Hi David. I've had a quick scout on Google to see how to do this. Still struggling to find how to get the configuration set up between Zebra and the Metagrid XY Pad. Any tips you have on this would be greatly appreciated, or perhaps you can point to me to an article online? Many thanks.
Click to expand...
Sure here's how to do it
How to Map Metagrid X-Y to Zebra Perform Panel:

Choose your CC's in Metagrid's X-Y, and in Metagrid, you can click on the X or Y axis to solo only the X or the Y axis as you map each one.

In the video, after I click the knob, you can't see it but I am moving the X Axis in Metagrid on the iPad, then the Y Axis.

There's 4 sets of knobs that correspond to the 4 X-Y controls on the Perform pad. I only show the first set in the video, but just move down to the next one and assign the rest.

You can use whatever CCs you want but I use these:
16, 17
18, 19
103,104
105, 106

Once you do this in Zebra it should stay like that for future instances/tracks.

View attachment Zebra MIDI Learn.mp4
 
David Kudell said:
Sure here's how to do it
How to Map Metagrid X-Y to Zebra Perform Panel:

Choose your CC's in Metagrid's X-Y, and in Metagrid, you can click on the X or Y axis to solo only the X or the Y axis as you map each one.

In the video, after I click the knob, you can't see it but I am moving the X Axis in Metagrid on the iPad, then the Y Axis.

There's 4 sets of knobs that correspond to the 4 X-Y controls on the Perform pad. I only show the first set in the video, but just move down to the next one and assign the rest.

You can use whatever CCs you want but I use these:
16, 17
18, 19
103,104
105, 106

Once you do this in Zebra it should stay like that for future instances/tracks.

View attachment Zebra MIDI Learn.mp4
Click to expand...
That's brilliant. Thanks a lot, David.
 
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