PRESS RELEASE
Major OS Update Starr Labs' Ztar
August 07, 2002
Starr Labs has announced the first major re-write of the Ztar OS in 10
years. It's completely re-vamped with speed and performance enhancements
and a list of new features. If you've been using the company's original Ztar pre-ZPC operating system you will notice these general changes:
- A clocking system has been added to the software to allow new control-modes for the timing of all MIDI events, and the introduction of two multi-featured real-time looping sequencers
- The software scanning system has been re-written to more than double the speed of the instrument with the additional effect that the low-end touch-response for the Fingerboard and Triggers is greatly enhanced.
- Quite a few new modes and options have been added for assignments to the individual Sensors, the pressure-sensing Pads, Triggers, joystick, Breath, Pedals, Ribbons and other devices installed on the instruments. These include a variety of note-timing options, creation of patterns and pattern-play options, and mixing of various MIDI event-types that can be triggered as a group by a single stroke.
- Each note or MIDI event played from a Sensor has a programmable velocity window so that a variety of effects may be created by changing the force of a hit or varying the pressure for a Continuous Controller. For instance, a scale might be played from a single Pad by controlling your velocity, or chord extensions added with increased force.
- Sensor MIDI output notes and other events may now be looped 'N' times or forever until toggled 'off'.
- Sensors may now be Linked to trigger or mute the notes or events sent from another sensor.
- Each Fingerboard Zone may have its own Trigger-mode, Tapping or Strumming. That is, you can set up the fingerboard so that some notes may be tapped and others played only by strumming. Overlap zones of this type to play a note when you tap a key and a second note when you strum it. It could play in another coice or at another pitch if you like. It's possible to automatically play harmonized scales in this way.
- There are additional Triggering modes for the Fingerboard and both KeyTriggers and StringTriggers that affect the way notes are played and sustained. A polyphonic 'hammer-on" has been added and the ability for notes to sustain without the use of a sustain pedal. Also, a Keyboard mode has been added for the KeyTriggers, that emulates a keyboard response.
- There are now 32 programmable fingerboard Zones, each with independent setups for Patch, Channel, Transposition, Velocity response curve, Trigger-mode, and Polyphony.
- There are now user-programmable 8-point velocity curves for fine control over touch response for every part of the instrument.
- Each key of the fingerboard may now be individually tuned for note and channel number and save into a "KeyMap". Mutliple keymaps may be created and saved. The KeyMap allows breaking out of the normal chromatic nature of a real string. This means you can tune up a string to play any scale or programmed group of selected notes. The KeyMaps are especially useful for playing Drums from the fingerboard.
- Two types of onboard sequencer have been added. One uses 8-note fixed length buffers with a list of special playback features. The other sequencer records variable-length patterns in real-time with a variety of looping playback features.
- Support for a second MIDI Input and output channel has been added
- There are now several menu screens for RESPONSE settings including a 'VU' meter style bar graph showing a Sensor's output.
- There is a CLOCKS menu for setting tempo and timing for events in the system as well as a 32-beat metronome with multiple accents to define your own custom key-signatures.
- There is an assignable Tap Tempo feature to time sequences.
- There is are a set of SHOWALL menus for quick overviews and access to groups of settings.
- A Chord-generator has been added to create chords automatically.
- A number of MIDI input tracking features have been added including: The ability to accept incoming Program Changes to switch Ztar Songs. The ability to map incoming note-numbers to trigger Sensor-playback assignments. The ability to download sequences from an external source. The ability to program the Sensor menus using an external keyboard.
- For the Triggers' DUAL-mode, the trigger-velocity and trigger-aftertouch may have separate assigned response curves.
- The DUAL-mode now can apply to any sensor so that you could for instance, assign it to the Breath controller to create a woodwind effect that sends both Note-On/Off and Volume.
- Each onboard Ztar Song (patch) can store and send 32 Program Change/ Bank Select messages.
- A new Bulk-format allows external patch editors to determine the Ztar system hardware configuration and setup the computer screen accordingly.
For more information, visit their web site at
http://www.starrlabs.com/.
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