> Free software PC MAC

A stalwart of our software suite gets a reboot. Time for a little refresh of our skills as we unleash the beast

Here at Computer Music we’re very lucky to be able to provide, via our very own Software Suite, some awesome free software tools. A long-term component of the Suite is u-he’s Zebra CM and this month we’re super excited to be bringing you a rebooted version of this classic synth. In honour of this event we thought we’d rustle up a new tutorial to run through its best bits.

It’s built around two highly flexible and morphable oscillators with 16 core waveforms. These are joined by a powerful noise generator with four flavours, a multimode filter, three LFOs, two expanded ADSR envelopes and three effects modules. The new version includes a major layout and graphics overhaul and Zebra CM now takes its visual lead from the very latest version of u-he’s Zebra 2 synth. You now have a much clearer top-down layout starting with oscillators, then the filter, envelopes, modulation and finally effects at the bottom. Further changes include a vastly improved browser, easier soundset installation, a new global preferences page and better MIDI CC setup. There’s also a VST3 version, native support for Apple Silicon and macOS Big Sur compatibility, although 32-bit support is now discontinued for macOS.

In the tutorial we’ll show you how to use the new stuff and also how to create sounds from scratch in this easy-to-use synth. And of course it goes without saying, if Zebra CM catches your imagination and you want more of the same but with loads of extra features and flexibility, why not head over to u-he.com to check out Zebra 2 and u-he’s other great synths?

> Step by step 1. Getting started with u-he Zebra CM

1 . u-he Zebra CM is included in the CM

Plugin Suite, which is available to download from Filesilo. To get started, head to www.filesilo.co.uk/computermusic and either log in or create a new account as required. Unlock the content for this issue by answering the question.

2 > Scroll to the Software section. We’ll have Zebra CM in a separate folder there with Mac, PC and (if we can get them in time) Linux installers in the folder for one download.

3 > Open the u-he Zebra CM folder and run the installer file (either .exe or .pkg depending on your OS). Zebra CM is not available in standalone format, but you may want to select from the choice of plugin formats (AU, VST, VST3 or AAX).