Pro-Tip: Re-Using U-He Zebra ModMapper Settings

This incredibly clever pro tip will allow you to ‘steal’ a Zebra ModMapper set up from one patch apply it to another, even though the synth does not have the ability to save ModMappers!

The U-He Zebra ModMappers are one of the tools that help make this synth so expressive and flexible. Basically, Zebra’s modulation mapper module is a general purpose table of 128 individual values. ModMappers can be used for countless different tasks e.g. per-MIDI-note offsets, for emulating classic round-robin effects or for effectively wave-shaping a modulation source. Having the ability to affect any modulation source with this tool is incredibly powerful and we will most likely see this feature expanded even further in future releases of U-He Zebra. This little workaround involves using the “save only active modules” setting and only takes a matter of seconds to set up.

First, you need to initialize a new patch. Save using the “save only active modules” setting. Now load a patch containing the Zebra ModMapper you wish to ‘copy’, you should see the ModMapper present on the right-hand side of the main matrix grid. Now open up your new patch (the one you want to ‘copy’ the ModMapper to). You will need to add a modulate that a ModMapper can assigned to, in this case a VCF is used. Now assign a Zebra ModMapper (must be the same instance as the other patch, in this case ModMapper1) to one of the knobs of this unit and you should be all set!

It really helps to have the creator of the synth so heavily involved in both the community of users and the further development of U-He Zebra. Urs Heckman is one of the most brilliant minds in his field and continues to improve upon his creations in ways that can only impress anyone who touches them. You can expect to see more functionality built into the Zebra Mod Mappers in future versions and maybe even a greater emphasis on modulation control of this kind in general.