Introduction to ACE - Part 2 of 4

Published on Apr 3, 2014 uheplugins·82 videos

The second in Dan Worrall's 4-part series about u-he's ACE modular synthesizer.
Best viewed at 720p (HD) resolution

u-he: www.u-he.com
Dan: www.platinumears.com

Part 1 here.

Introduction to ACE - Part 1 - 4

Published on Mar 30, 2014 uheplugins·81 videos

"The first in Dan Worrall's 4-part series about u-he's ACE modular synthesizer.
Best viewed at 720p (HD) resolution

u-he: www.u-he.com
Dan: www.platinumears.com"

Introduction to ACE - Part 2 of 4


Published on Apr 3, 2014 uheplugins·82 videos

Introduction to ACE - Part 3 of 4

Published on Apr 14, 2014 uheplugins·83 videos

Introduction to ACE - Part 4 of 4

Published on Apr 25, 2014 uheplugins·84 videos

Diva Tutorial 06 - Delay and Reverb & 07 - more LFO shapes

Published on Sep 13, 2013 uheplugins·80 videos

"Tweak those effect parameters..."

Diva tutorial 07 - more LFO shapes
Published on Sep 13, 2013

"A few more LFO tricks... see tutorial 5"

All parts here.

Baby Steps - Preview of Upcoming Arpeggiator for u-he Diva

Published on Nov 30, 2012 by uheplugins
"Alpha version of forthcoming Diva Arpeggiator :-)"

Diva tutorial 05 - LFO recursion

YouTube Published on Sep 7, 2012 by uheplugins

"The fifth bite-sized tutorial aimed at users of u-he's Diva, this one introduces the term "recursive modulation" (I already mentioned this technique in my old Access Virus programming tutorial). Here's the shortest dictionary definition I found:

recursion |riˈkərZHən| - see "recursion"

Even if you don't get that geek joke immediately, you probably will after watching the video. Due to Diva's fixed simple architecture, the only parts capable of recursive modulation are the LFOs...

First off, LFO2 is used to modulate oscillator pitch and filter cutoff. LFO2 is also used to modulate its own level... recursion! Note how the shape of the LFO (nominally a triangle wave) is affected.

Next, LFO2 is used to modulate its own rate, which not only affects the overall rate but also (again) the shape.

Normally there's no control for the pulse width of LFO square waves, but you can even do this via recursive modulation - in the 3rd experiment, LFO2 also modulates its own rate.

Of course the two LFOs can even modulate each other's rates and/or levels for a more complex type of recursion. The preset "HS Spacely Spice" is a good example of this.

Homework: Experiment further with both LFOs modulating each other until you have a sound you like. Instead of e.g. LFO1 modulating LFO2 rate directly, put LFO1 and modulation wheel into the "Add" processor and use that to modulate LFO2 rate instead. There are many more tricks to discover using those processors together with recursive modulation..."

All parts here.

Diva tutorial 04 - PWM

YouTube Published on Aug 25, 2012 by uheplugins

"The fourth in our series of bite-sized tutorials aimed at users of u-he's Diva, this one is all about the ever-popular "pulse width modulation" (PWM) effect. PWM was traditionally used to add tonal movement -- especially useful for synths that only had one oscillator e.g. ARP Axxe.

Act I - standard PWM: How to set up typical cyclic PWM in the various oscillator models. The ratio between the upper and lower levels ("mark space ratio") of a rectangular waveform is slowly modulated by an LFO. Note: One of the sawtooth waveforms in the "DCO" oscillator model also delivers a similar effect, but I neglected to demonstrated it in this video!

Act II - the very first PWM is likely to have been an attempt to emulate the satisfying "zippy" sound of two detuned sawtooth waves, one of which is inverted. Because the Triple VCO model features a Ramp wave (i.e. inverted sawtooth), it's worth trying this out in Diva. A taste of history, this method is my personal favourite.

Even if your 2-oscillator hardware synth didn't have a ramp wave, you could still make similar sounds by detuning two pulse waves - as shown here.

Act III - "sync" i.e. oscillator synchronization means that the phase of a slave oscillator is reset by a master oscillator. If you modulate the pitch of the slave within a very narrow range, you can get effects that are very similar to PWM. This method requires some practise...

Homework: how dense can can make your PWM sound by stacking and detuning 2 voices (no more), and using the Voice modulator to offset pulse widths and even the LFO rate? Read that again..."

All parts here.

Diva tutorial 03 - Brass Bounce

YouTube Published on Jul 28, 2012 by uheplugins

"The third in a series of bite-sized tutorials aimed at users of u-he's latest synthesizer, Diva. The sounds made in this video certainly won't be to everyone's taste - they're all typical old synthbrass! However, the point is to show several different methods of getting similar results, even with a limited set of modules.

So let's bounce...

Method 1 starts with the usual synthbrass settings, but we soon run into the problem of not having enough envelopes for VCA, VCF cutoff, and pitch modulation at the beginning of each not. So LFO2 is used for cutoff, freeing up envelope 2 for pitch modulation.

Method 2 reverts to the usual envelope 2 for cutoff. The LFO takes over for pitch modulation, but in a special way: LFO2's delay parameter ramps down to the bottom of a square wave (set to minimum rate so it won't cycle). Note that the pitch modulation is also negative -- a minus times a minus is a plus.

Method 3 is probably the most interesting one because it uses neither envelope 2 nor LFO 2 for the pitch. Instead, the Gate signal (i.e. note on/off from your keyboard) is lagged, resulting in a smooth attack. And (fortunately or unfortunately) an equally smooth release... but there's a little surprise at the end.

Take home message: Just like classic analogue polysynths, Diva expects you to make the most of a limited set of synth modules!"

All parts here.

The Dark Zebra - Hans Zimmer and Howard Scarr

YouTube Published on Jul 22, 2012 by uheplugins

"A walk through some of THE DARK ZEBRA synth presets - a Zebra2 soundbank created by Hans Zimmer and Howard Scarr. A few of the clips reveal extra "ZebraHZ" features that are not present in the regular Zebra2.

Available from July 23rd, 2012 at www.u-he.com
(running the HZ version of this plugin requires a license for Zebra2)"

Update:

The Striped Bat - Dark Zebra Demo
The Striped Bat - Dark Zebra Demo by Ned Bouhalassa
"Demo for U-He's Zebra synthesizer. This features the Dark Zebra set, programmed by the masters, Howard Scarr and (iconic composer) Hans Zimmer. The drums are stock Logic Pro."

via Ned Bouhalassa on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge

U-he Diva Tutorials

Diva tutorial 01 - Distortion

YouTube Published on Jul 5, 2012 by uheplugins

"This is the first of a series of bite-sized tutorials aimed at users of u-he's latest synthesizer, Diva. Let's get straight to the nitty-gritty i.e. the fascinating subject of distortion.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Introduction to U-He MFM2

YouTube Published on Apr 18, 2012 by uheplugins

"Here's a comprehensive introduction into More Feedback Machine our Delay Heaven. Dan Worrall explains the plug-in's structure and gives eye-opening examples for it's usage."

ACE Tutorial #12 - LFO1 Tricks

YouTube Uploaded by uheplugins on Oct 19, 2011

"The ACE User Guide mentions that LFO1 has a few tricks up its sleeve: it can process any signal connected to the s&h or phase modulation inputs, with the folowing results:

1) standard sample & hold
2) sample rate reduction
3) waveshaping"

Also see The A.C.E. Controller from Synth-Project

Update:

ACE Tutorial #13 - Mix Tricks

Uploaded by uheplugins on Oct 19, 2011

"A few tricks you can do with the MIX module in ACE..."

This is Zebra2 (1080p HD version)

YouTube Uploaded by uheplugins on Sep 20, 2011

"A 3-minute introduction to the main features of Zebra2 (versions 2.3 / 2.5). Best watched in 1080p HD, fullscreen. Music by Howard Scarr based on a theme by Hans Zimmer. All sounds are Zebra2 (100% synthetic, no samples). No additional effects or post-processing were used."

Zebra2 Mini-Tutorial #46 - Yet Another PWM Method

Uploaded by uheplugins on Sep 18, 2011
All tutorials: http://www.youtube.com/user/uheplugins
"#46 - Yet Another PWM Method - 1m:05s

As if we didn't have enough of them already, here's yet another way of getting that classic cyclic "pulse width modulation" (PWM) effect. It uses what I can only call "negative Sync" for the moment... I'll edit this blurb and add a technical explanation as soon as I find out how/why it works!"

ACE Tutorial #10 - More Map Tricks

YouTube Uploaded by uheplugins on Sep 18, 2011

"Last bunch of mapping generator tips+tricks for now:
1) quick custom (micro)tuning
2) square-wave overtones
3) copying/pasting useful maps
4) map as performance control (see also Zebra2 tutorial "The Birds")"

Visit to u-he headquarters in Berlin

YouTube Uploaded by uheplugins on Aug 24, 2011

Don't miss part 2 below for some vintage synth play.
"Playing with Urs Heckmann's recently acquired collection of vintage analogue synthesizers."

Visit to u-he headquarters in Berlin - Part 2

Uploaded by uheplugins on Aug 25, 2011

"Playing with Urs Heckmann's recently acquired collection of vintage analogue synthesizers."

Zebra2 Mini-Tutorial #29 - Everything Swings

YouTube Uploaded by uheplugins on Aug 10, 2011

"#29 - Everything Swings - 1m:39s

In most synthesizers, "swing" is only applied to the timing of an arpeggiator (or mini-sequencer). In Zebra2, swing also affects all synchronized LFOs used in the patch -- this "tutorial" is a simple demonstration of the feature plus how to add swing to delays. Note that Swing is not applied to standard envelopes (even when synchronized and looped) and that Swing factor is not a modulation target.

Steps in the video
I.
- Load initialize (not shown)
- Apply swing to an arpeggio
- Apply swing to an LFO
II
- Apply swing to a delay

Homework
You don't have to use the Swing knob whenever you want a swing effect. Try this: Load any patch you created according to tutorial #27 "Messing with MSEG 1", go into the Matrix and modulate MSEG1 loop rate with a synchronized LFO. Use "ModWhl" as the "Via" control, and turn it up."

ACE Tutorials

YouTube Uploaded by uheplugins on Jul 25, 2011

Playlist:
ACE Tutorial #01 - OSC1
ACE Tutorial #02 - OSC2
ACE Tutorial #03 - VCF
ACE Tutorial #04 - LFO
ACE Tutorial #05 - ADSR
ACE Tutorial #06 - Multiples
ACE Tutorial #07 - Mapping Generator