>Step by step
Create a Stranger Things vibe with ZebraCM
1 We’ll begin by initialising a patch on the ZebraCM. Open your DAW and load up an instrument channel, armed with the ZebraCM plugin. Once the plugin window is open, move to the central display at the top of the window, click to reveal the dropdown menu, and select ‘init’ from the bottom. This will initialise the patch.
2 The patch we are going to create will also have the capacity to get relatively loud, so it would be a good idea to reduce your master output to a value of 50. This should hopefully prevent peaking within the instrument channel of your DAW.
3 Moving to OSC1, we are going to alter our waveform to a square wave; click and hold on the centre of the waveform, and drag up until you see a square wave, and the upper display reads 2.0. Leave the OSC1 volume set to 100.
4 We are also going to add a second wave to the square, by clicking on the 2 in the aliasing section. This will thicken the texture, a little like adding a second Moog oscillator. Now change the Symmetry pot to a value of 38. This slightly changes the pulse width of the square wave, to make it sound more reedy.
5 Still within the OSC1 section, drag the main Tune pot up to a value of 12. This will place the oscillator one octave higher. We will also detune the aliasing, by changing the Detune pot value to 7. This should thicken the texture significantly.
6 Having made a number of alterations to OSC1, we can now turn to OSC2. Change the waveform to a square wave, which is a value of 2.0, and alter the Volume to a value of 80. In this patch, OSC2 is playing as a sub oscillator, and it won’t need it to be as loud as OSC1.
7 To emulate our Moog Modular, we are going to detune OSC2 as well. Alter the Detune pot to a value of -13. This is lower in pitch than OSC1, providing a stretch tuning effect, which will work perfectly within this patch.
8 It’s time to switch to the Filter section; as we want a filter which sounds relatively vintage in flavour, we are going to use the LP OldDrive filter type, available from the dropdown menu. You can always try one of the cleaner filter varieties, should you want your patch to sound less vintage and more contemporary.
9 Remaining within the filter section, set the Cutoff pot to a value of 35, and set the user defined Env2 pot to a value of 52. These are both appropriate starting values, but as we will see later, we will be changing them in real time.
10 Next, we need to visit the envelope section, and specifically ENV1, which will be controlling the amplitude of our patch. Set the Attack pot to a value of 0, Decay pot to 45, Sustain pot to 0 and finally the Release pot to 30.
11 ENV2 is similarly important, as it is controlling the filter. Set the Attack pot to a value of 0, Decay pot to 45, Sustain pot to 0 and Release pot to 22.
12 Finally, adding some compression, particularly something vintage in colour such as a FET compressor, will add to the overall sonic colour. You could also consider adding a vintage reverb, such as a Plate reverb. Many DAW reverbs include Plate simulations, so see what your DAW can offer.