Zeit Year 50 Collection released

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utdgrant
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Zeit Year 50 Collection released

Post by utdgrant »

Hi all,

Just a quick post to announce the release of the Zeit Year 50 Collection bundle from Dome Music Technologies.
AllModulesInRack.png
AllModulesInRack.png (608.98 KiB) Viewed 2038 times
The project started off as the Zeit Module by itself. I wanted a voltage-controlled delay line which could be used as a building block for all sorts of delay-based effects. I'm talking things like vibrato, chorus, rotary cabinets and flanging (with short delay times) and EHX Memory Man style combinations (longer, discrete echoes plus vibrato). There is also a feedback loop breakout to enable lo-fi retro effects like tape delay.

Once I had coded up the Zeit module and started experimenting, I kept finding myself building the same patterns of external modules around it. So, instead of making a preset pack with tons of modules from Core, I decided to package up the required functionality into three 'helper' modules:

BPM Converter, which allows you to specify delays in musically meaningful terms such as tempo and note length (including dotted notes and triplets). I also added a Sync to Host function, which will follow the tempo of your DAW or the VM standalone app.

Pitch Converter, which takes a 1V/octave signal and converts it to a delay value corresponding to the period of an oscillator at that pitch. This allows you to create ringing resonators, tuned comb filters, and even venture into the world of physical modelling. The latter includes the Karplus-Strong string algorithm and waveguide synthesis.

The Time Stream Integrator! :shock: This device delivers a precisely shaped modulation ramp to the Zeit Module to create Doppler-based pitch shifting and even reverse playback. You can use it with one Zeit in order to achieve authentic 'early digital' glitchiness. Alternatively, you can run two Zeits in parallel, and let the TSI crossfade between their outputs. This is timed precisely to cover up discontinuities in audio that happen when the 'playback head runs out of tape loop'.

The name? Well, "Zeit" is the German word for "Time", and it's also the name of an album by my fave band, Tangerine Dream. The album itself was released in August 1972, hence 'Year 50'. The eclipse image and the Plejades cluster on the front panel(s), the use of Data70 font, and the lower-case 'z' in "zeit" are also tributes to the album.

As always with DMT products, there is a 28 day demo period and the introductory price is just $4.20. It comes with a preset pack to demonstrate its main capabilities. There is a short (and slightly disturbing) intro video on YouTube. I'll be making more down-to-Earth tutorial-style videos as time/zeit permits.
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utdgrant
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Re: Zeit Year 50 Collection released

Post by utdgrant »

Oooooh, forgot to mention - there is a comprehensive user guide on the Dome Music Technologies website.
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UrbanCyborg
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Re: Zeit Year 50 Collection released

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You've done it again, Grant! Now, when I figure out just what it is that you've done, I'll let you know. :D
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ColinP
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Re: Zeit Year 50 Collection released

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Nice work Grant! :D

I'm wondering if there's any chance of you looking at time-stretching to complement this?
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Re: Zeit Year 50 Collection released

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ColinP: I'm wondering if there's any chance of you looking at time-stretching to complement this?
I agree, that would be really nice. Not the easiest thing to implement, but it would be very sweet. Now, if you could just skin it to look like an old British police box.... ;)
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utdgrant
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Re: Zeit Year 50 Collection released

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ColinP wrote: Fri Aug 12, 2022 9:35 pm Nice work Grant! :D
Thanks for the kind words, man. Appreciate it!
I'm wondering if there's any chance of you looking at time-stretching to complement this?
Hmmmm. You've got me pondering, now! :lol:

I decided early on that I wanted Zeit to be purely a delay line. Not a looper, not a granular thing, not a sampler. So, the buffer is limited to 2.5 seconds, and when it's used up, the 'record head' just overwrites what was there before. It does this 24/7, and the only way to keep a sound in the buffer is to set the feedback to 100% and let it recirculate at the delay time setting. Fortunately, there's no significant degradation as the sound is digital.

Hoooooooooowever...

You could do sound-stretching the BBC Radiophonic Workshop way...
For example, 'Shadowfax' the horse is represented by an actual horse neigh which is slowed down and treated by an Eventide Harmoniser which returns it to its original pitch giving a slightly out-of-this-world feel to it.
Like this? (YouTube link)

It ends up sounding like a TARDIS at the end, which is very appropriate! :D
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Re: Zeit Year 50 Collection released

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UrbanCyborg wrote: Fri Aug 12, 2022 10:20 pm Now, if you could just skin it to look like an old British police box.... ;)
Now THAT was spooky. Our posts crossed in parallel time streams. :o :shock:
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Re: Zeit Year 50 Collection released

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utdgrant: Now THAT was spooky. Our posts crossed in parallel time streams.
I deny it categorically! My time stream is always normal to all other streams! :D

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