# Can we talk about resonators and their uses? Especially the Zebra HZ resonator.



## Tusker (Jul 29, 2021)

Have you ever had a tool which you know is super cool, but you still don't know how to use it? I feel that way with the resonator in Zebra HZ. I guess, I understand that it's four filter bands which you can customize and modulate. I guess that you could use it to dial in precise bass frequencies, but couldn't you also do that with a regular eq? I hear that it provides an opportunity to simulate the body resonances of acoustic instruments, but haven't seen a specific example, have you?

I guess it's also a broader question about these types of devices. Bob Moog's fixed filter bank in his modular appeared useful enough to him that he built the resonator of the polymoog (and later the MURF) to provide sound shaping. It's similar to a Reaktor Factory Ensemble called ANIMA. When I use ANIMA it's mostly like a phasing effect but not really a body resonance kind of thing. Maybe I am using it incorrectly.

Grateful for discussion of and use-cases for these types of devices. Thanks in advance.

Jerry


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## Pier (Jul 29, 2021)

Tusker said:


> I guess that you could use it to dial in precise bass frequencies, but couldn't you also do that with a regular eq?


I'm not an expert, but the difference is that an EQ doesn't have feedback for a particular frequency.

When a sound bounces on the walls of the resonance box of a guitar (or anything really) some frequencies are amplified because of constructive interferences which is what I think is what a resonator tries to imitate.

I guess you could reproduce a similar effect with a reverb that has some EQ in the feedback loop like FF Pro-R?


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## chimuelo (Jul 29, 2021)

Try it on presets with high resonance already and tweak that.
Lots of sustain with a sloped release so you hit the note and let go, or hold it.
Better to tweak while the EG unfolds.

Think of Tom Sawyer, even though that’s FM-ish/Sync, but same slope.


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## Tusker (Jul 30, 2021)

Pier, I am taking a closer look at Pro-R but yes, I can see how a reverb with particular resonant nodes could be a more accurate emulation of instrument body-resonance than a an eq. Chimuelo, you hit upon a use-case I hadn't thought of: Use high resonance in a synth patch to maximize phase shift and "aliveness" then use the resonator to tame any offending frequencies. Thank you both!


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## Pier (Jul 30, 2021)

Tusker said:


> Pier, I am taking a closer look at Pro-R but yes, I can see how a reverb with particular resonant nodes could be a more accurate emulation of instrument body-resonance than a an eq. Chimuelo, you hit upon a use-case I hadn't thought of: Use high resonance in a synth patch to maximize phase shift and "aliveness" then use the resonator to tame any offending frequencies. Thank you both!


Another use case I can think of, is "harmonizing" some noise with no clear tone or root note.

In Bitwig for example the resonator can change depending on the midi notes you're playing.



That video also has some other creative uses for a resonator btw.


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## chimuelo (Jul 30, 2021)

Tusker said:


> Pier, I am taking a closer look at Pro-R but yes, I can see how a reverb with particular resonant nodes could be a more accurate emulation of instrument body-resonance than a an eq. Chimuelo, you hit upon a use-case I hadn't thought of: Use high resonance in a synth patch to maximize phase shift and "aliveness" then use the resonator to tame any offending frequencies. Thank you both!


That was my beef with many soft synths, resonance tracking.

For example a hardware analog synth on low notes with EG Slope/Rez does not not suffer from not being tracked, even volumes the entire range, where as softy synths fizz out like a ROMPler. 

Granted these big low end sounds aren’t used all the time I can see why developers might save resources by avoiding the extra details. 

Zebra2 HZ shines at this, plus the separate OSC volume envelopes in the lower global editing panel can boost overall volumes as well.

As a green teenager these sounds by the band Straubs, and Rick Wakemens’ 6 Wives of Henry The 8Th, Tom Sawyer by Rush gave me goose bumps. So every hardware synth I bought I would ALWAYS make a preset to see how the low end tracked.

Zebra2 HZ was the first softy that shook my speaker cones, instead of sounding like I had some shirts on hangers covering the cabinets.

The Z Man Urs and Howard really came through for me.


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## Pier (Jul 30, 2021)

chimuelo said:


> That was my beef with many soft synths, resonance tracking.
> 
> For example a hardware analog synth on low notes with EG Slope/Rez does not not suffer from not being tracked, even volumes the entire range, where as softy synths fizz out like a ROMPler.
> 
> ...


Could you upload a simple Zebra patch to demonstrate this?


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## chimuelo (Jul 30, 2021)

Pier said:


> Could you upload a simple Zebra patch to demonstrate this?


Never tried that before but I can maybe do something next time I’m online.
My rigs are in the garage and have to run a 100 foot LAN. Right now our pool is cold, the trampoline is up and 7 grandkids are here for the month.

I do have late night/early am sessions when they finally tire out. I’ll copy/paste a Resonator low end preset and hopefully it’s that simple. Pretty sure it can be used in Zebra or Zebra2 HZ. One uses the OSC gain Windows, the other uses both resonator and OSC adjustments.


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## chimuelo (Jul 30, 2021)

I also have one that is a serious long filter sweep followed by resonance monophonic dropped EG that uses XMF Filters and scares my Bassist.

I designed it to use with a sustain pedal as a drone while I play other parts. Might not be your cup of tea, but is perfect for the riser parts in Bruno Mars Uptown Funk. I step off of it and go into left hand Prince Synth organ and Chris Hein 2 Horn stacks.

Im a dangerous man with some money in my pocket (the part I designed it for)

Actually beat out my 3 OSC SE-02 for the part as the sound is sizzling.


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## Tusker (Sep 12, 2021)

Thanks to all the excellent responses to this thread, I was tempted to do more research. I ran across this video, which suggests a path forward for the Zebra resonator ....



It seems to be more suited to "impressionism" than for realism, which one could get easily with samples. Still, I guess using this kind of approach, you have more real time control if that is desirable.


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## ed buller (Sep 12, 2021)

Resonators are really useful. Especially for making a sound more acoustic. Read the manual and you’ll see that some of the filter types use phase cancellation that totally changes the sound. These are an extension in concept from the MOOG 914 ( a Wendy Carlos suggestion ) fixed filter bank . the hunt was on to create FORMANTS . The resonators are obviously a copy of those found in the poly moog

best

ed


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## R. Naroth (Sep 12, 2021)

I have no experience with hardware synths, but it is really fascinating to know that a lot of zebra concepts came from actual synths. The resonator module is an enigma but it really helps create those real world timbres. I wish ZebraHZ came with some presets to educate us but it is what it is now.. In fact, when loaded, it has zero output.  But the resonance can boost very specific frequencies that is not possible within eq. Also, Zebra HZ gives you 3 Resonance modules, it goes a long way.

What I do is this:
In the last set of sliders, turn up the R (resonance) and G (gain) all the way. Then I scrub the frequency slider to see if there are places of interest. We can then use the other three sets of sliders for finer control. Here are a couple of examples. 

This one is for a Tom sound:





This one for String Tremolo:





Sometimes you may want it to mix it back into the master bus so that you can even out the ambience and apply eq/reverb etc to the full mix.





There is no method to the madness.. Endless tweaking is what it takes sometimes. 
Hope this helps.


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## ed buller (Sep 13, 2021)

also don't forget that ALL these resonator settings can be controlled. This can really give life to a sound sending MSEG data to freq,resonance and gain..

best

ed


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