Determining the instrument automation param to use (zebra)

Help, Support & Bugs Beginners Questions - Renoise
1

Hi, I’m using Zebra as a synth and would like to automate its filter cutoff via the instrument automation device. The problem is, it looks like there are several hundred parameters that I can automate in Zebra! It takes me several minutes of guesswork to figure out which one corresponds to the appropriate control in the Zebra UI. Is there a way for me to easily figure out which parameter in the list corresponds to a particular control in Zebra, like the filter cutoff? The easiest thing I could think of would be to click / move the Zebra control and have it highlighted/chosen in the instrument automation parameter list. Sorry if this is a basic question…I’ve read the manual section on instrument automation, and read about 20 threads on the forum that mention VST automation, but I haven’t been able to figure this out.

2

This is indeed a big problem with the more complex synths like Zebra2…especially when the parameters aren’t named they way you’d expect.

3

I found out in this thread that you can automate zebra using the midi cc automation. Basically create a midi cc device, set one of its params to a CC number other than 1, hit midi learn in zebra, and then drag the slider on the midi cc device. Not too shabby. It also lets you assign the automation envelope to more than one zebra parameter without using a hydra device.

4

An easy way to automate any of Zebras parameters is to first assign it to one of the XY-Pads in Zebra itself (right-click on encoder: assign to x1, y1, x2, y2,…).

Then you assign this x- or y-axis to Renoise using the Instrument Automation Device, as far as i remember they should be at the very start of the parameter list.

Bonus is that any of Zebras XY-Pads can hold up to 16 different parameters (8 for each x- and 8 for each y-axis). So you can control a whole set of parameters with just one slider (similar to the Hydra in Renoise) - makes up for some impressive live morphing stuff.

5

Another synth that I love is Helix, but trying to figure out what parameter to modulate is a joke. Especially when you have a list like this:

O0ShpAh
O2ShpAop1
O3S-P
MM28SRC
SQ1006

And etc…