This is a pack of 30 multi-effects patches. The intention behind the pack is two-fold: one, to supply some ready-made multi-effects patches to anyone who might have a need for them, and, two, to provide some patches that might be modified or used as templates for those interested in using ZOIA as a multi-effects unit but are unsure of where to start; these patches are designed to be easily broken down and the signal paths followed.
To the first end, I have tried to make these patches as ready-to-use/plug-n-play as possible; they may be “starters,” but they are meant to be playable from go and patched accordingly. (You may still want to adjust parameters to taste, of course, as my idea of plug-n-play and yours might diverge quite a bit, but I have taken time to tune the patches so that they sound good to me.)
Patches 0 – 9 are mono (left input to left output).
Patches 10 – 19 are mono to stereo (left input to both outputs).
Patches 20 – 29 are stereo throughout.
There are gain patches, modulation patches, ambient patches, mixes of these, etc. I tried to do a little of everything. Mono patches favor gain; stereo patches favor ambient sounds; but I tried to make sure there were different types of patches in each group.
To that second end, of creating readily understood and moddable starters, these patches have been designed with some specific characteristics in mind.
1. Modules are color-coded: interface modules (such as audio inputs/outputs and stompswitches) are always white, audio routing (usually switches) is red, effects modules and audio processors (e.g. filters) are either aqua or magenta, expression pedal inputs are always green, CV is always blue, and ganged controls (used in stereo patches where no stereo version of the module exists, these controls allow the simultaneous adjustment of parameters in doubled modules; e.g. using two filters in parallel, a single yellow control will control the cutoff frequency).
2. Nothing has been renamed; no modules overlap one another; wherever possible, I have tried to keep any connected modules as close as possible. Signal flow moves down the page. Each patch begins with a white input module in the top left corner of a page and ends with an output module at the bottom right corner of a page.
3. The only connections that are made across pages are audio connections or, in a few instances, stompswitch modules which control more than one effect (e.g. tap tempo for two delays) or more than one audio routing (e.g. series/parallel routing).
4. Most patches have quite a lot of CPU headroom available for further modification/additions to the signal path/routing options, etc. (Except patch 29; three plate reverbs’ll take up a lot of CPU, but boy do they sound pretty.)
A quick note about expression routing: All of the patches have been routed for expression, but depending on how you want to use your expression pedal, you may want to adjust the parameter it controls and the connection strength between the expression module and that parameter. If you want to have the expression pedal lower the set value, place a cv invert module and connect the expression module to its input, then reconnect from the cv invert’s output.
A special thanks to my patrons on Patreon for their support: Rob Flax, Stepan Grammatik, brockstar, Mats Unnerholm, D Sing, Will Scott, drew batchelor, Miguel, Steve Bragg, Joab Eastley, Tomi Kokki, Mitch Lantz, Ben Norland, Daniel Morris, Roman Jakobej, Mark Crosbie, Steve Codling, Timothy Cleary, Soren Made, and Ken Luke!
I’d also like to single out Mats Unnerholm, who provided valuable feedback and insight as I was forming the idea for this project. Thanks for all the help, Mats!
If you would like to support my work on ZOIA, please visit patreon.com/chmjacques
0. Gainfully fun
Fuzz (efuzzy) into overdrive (germ) into tone control.
Left SW — fuzz bypass
Middle SW — overdrive bypass
Right SW — tone control bypass
Exp — routed to tone control mid frequency (allows for filter sweep/phaser sounds)
1. Angry robots
Bit crusher and aliaser into random-modulated ring modulator (triangle, 75% mix) into home-brewed envelope filter (low-pass, up).
For modding purposes, pay attention to the gain compensation at various stages (see connections to audio switches); due to the gain increases (bit crusher) and band-limiting (everything else, which results in gain losses) balancing some of these modules can be tricky.
With the CV connections, playing around with the connection strength and the bias of the control the modules affect will yield different ranges.
Left SW — bit crusher and aliaser bypass
Middle SW — ring mod bypass
Right SW — envelope filter bypass
Exp — aliaser frequency
2. 4-track punk
An overdrive (pushed) into a boost meant to simulate input clipping on a cheap 4-track into a vibrato, culminating in a 1×8 lofi cab sim.
Left SW — overdrive bypass
Middle SW — boost bypass
Right SW — vibrato bypass
Exp — vibrato rate
3. 80s night
A fairly aggressive compressor into a hi-gain overdrive (plexi) into a chorus.
Left SW — compressor bypass
Middle SW — overdrive bypass
Right SW — chorus bypass
Exp — chorus mix
4. Hi-gain hijinks
An amp-like overdrive (plexi) into a hi-gain overdrive (edgy) into a heavily scooped tone section, culminating in a 4×12 cab sim.
Left SW — overdrive 1 bypass
Middle SW — overdrive 2 bypass
Right SW — tone control bypass
Exp — tone control mid band 2 frequency
5. Spaced
Fuzz (efuzzy) into an 8-step sequenced low-pass filter into a delay with mod (tape). Change the sequencer steps to change the sound of the filter.
Left SW — fuzz and filter bypass
Middle SW — tap tempo for filter sequence
Right SW — delay bypass
Exp — delay time
6. Swirly
A deep phaser (6 stage) or a liquidy flanger (thru-0) into a tap-tempo controlled delay with mod (old tape).
Left SW — switch between phaser or flanger
Middle SW — tap tempo for delay
Right SW — delay bypass
Exp — phaser/flanger time
7. Lo-fi fun
A vibrato into a chorus into a lo-fi cab sim.
Left SW — vibrato bypass
Middle SW — chorus bypass
Right SW — cab sim bypass
Exp — vibrato rate
8. Get subby
A simple square wave synth (monophonic, tuned one octave down) into a fuzz and fixed filter with a wet/dry blend (adjust using the audio balance on the second page).
Left SW — fuzz bypass
Middle SW — filter bypass
Right SW — effect bypass (passes clean signal only)
Exp — filter frequency
9. Mix-n-Match
Choose from an overdrive (edgy) or a bit crusher or an aliaser or a bit modulator (XOR against -6 dB signal) into a flanger (60s) or phaser (4-stage, set very fast) or tremolo (square wave) into delay with mod (clean) or ghostverb.
Left SW — choose between overdrive, bit crusher, aliaser or bit modulator
Middle SW — choose between flanger, phaser, or tremolo
Right SW — choose between delay or ghostverb
Exp — flanger/phaser/tremolo rate
10. Angelic
An octave-up pitch shifter (followed by a low-pass filter to help cut some of the sharpness) into a chorus into a clean ping pong delay.
Left SW — pitch shifter bypass
Middle SW — chorus bypass
Right SW — delay bypass
Exp — delay time
11. Woozy
A delay with mod (BBD) into a plate reverb into a vibrato.
Left SW — delay bypass
Middle SW — reverb bypass
Right SW — vibrato bypass
Exp — delay feedback (a BBD delay will begin to oscillate as its feedback is pushed)
12. Signal strength
A fuzz (scoopy) into a tremolo (Voxish, 100% depth) into a delay with mod (tape).
Left SW — fuzz bypass
Middle SW — tremolo bypass
Right SW — delay bypass
Exp — tremolo rate
13. Swinging phaser
An overdrive (germ) into a phaser (6 stage) into a panner controlled by a triangle LFO (to adjust panner speed, change LFO rate; to adjust its rate, adjust the signal strength to something below 50%).
Left SW — overdrive bypass
Middle SW — phaser bypass
Right SW — panner bypass
Exp — phaser rate
14. Dirty spaces
A delay with mod (BBD) into an overdrive (plexi) into a stereo phaser (6-stage).
Left SW — delay bypass
Middle SW — overdrive bypass
Right SW — phaser bypass
Exp — delay time
15. Clean gain
A compressor into an overdrive (classic) into a room reverb.
Left SW — compressor bypass
Middle SW — overdrive bypass
Right SW — reverb bypass
Exp — reverb mix
16. Grub brain
A fuzz (scoopy) into a bandpass filter with a high resonance (think parked wah) into a ping pong delay (tape).
Left SW — fuzz bypass
Middle SW — bandpass bypass
Right SW — delay bypass
Exp — filter frequency
17. Classic (stereo) amp
An overdrive (classic) into an order-switchable combination of room reverb and stereo tremolo (Fenderish), ending in a 1×12 vintage cab sim.
Left SW — overdrive bypass
Middle SW — order switch: ‘verb into trem, or trem into ‘verb
Right SW — tremolo tap tempo
Exp — tremolo depth
18. Cosmic fuzz
A gated fuzz (burly; to change the gate, adjust the threshold of the gate module which follows the fuzz) into a delay with mod (tape) into dual flangers running in parallel, outputting to left and right respectively (1970s).
Left SW — fuzz bypass
Middle SW — delay bypass
Right SW — flangers bypass
Exp — flangers mix
19. Delay-ay-ay
A delay with mod (BBD, 1:1 tap ratio) split into left and right delays with mod (tape, 2:3 and 3:8).
Left SW — tap tempo (try changing around the ratios within the modules or using clock dividers for more exotic time ratios)
Middle SW — BBD delay bypass
Right SW — tape delays bypass
Exp — BBD delay feedback
20. Stereo depths
A phaser (4 stage) into a tremolo (sine) into a chorus, all in glorious stereo.
Left SW — phaser bypass
Middle SW — tremolo bypass
Right SW — chorus bypass
Exp — rates of all effects, connected at different strengths
21. Betmax
A mid-focused clean boost (accomplished with a tone control module) into a chorus into a hall reverb.
Left SW — boost bypass
Middle SW — chorus bypass
Right SW — reverb bypass
Exp — chorus rate
22. Broken ghosts
A ghostverb into aliasers into a vibrato, culminating in a 1×12 cabinet (that is somehow stereo).
Left SW — ghostverb bypass
Middle SW — aliasers bypass
Right SW — vibrato bypass
Exp — ghostverb decay
23. Passing through
A tap-tempo controlled delay with mod (3:8, dirty tape) into a phaser (8 stage) into a ping-pong delay (1:1, clean).
Left SW — tap tempo
Middle SW — phaser bypass
Right SW — selects between: both delays on, first delay on, second delay on (and back to both delays on)
Exp — phaser rate
24. Smashed snarl
A highly resonant envelope-controlled low-pass filter is fed into a high-gain fuzz then smashed and squashed by a very heavy-handed compressor. High-pass filters end the chain to help clear up some of the low muck as the filters return to their “closed” position.
Left SW — envelope filter bypass
Middle SW — fuzz bypass
Right SW — compressor bypass (not advised while envelope filter is active; expect volume spikes)
Exp — high-pass filters’ frequency (can be used to band-pass the sound)
25. Wash
A plate reverb is fed into a delay with mod (clean) then split into two choruses running parallel.
Left SW — reverb bypass
Middle SW — delay bypass
Right SW — chorus bypass
Exp — reverb decay and mix
26. Shine
A compressor leads either to a slow chorus or a fast vibrato, then into a delay with mod (clean).
Left SW — compressor bypass
Middle SW — chorus or vibrato select
Right SW — delay tap tempo
Exp — delay feedback
27. Grungy
A gain-compensated bit crusher (this isn’t done perfectly, but the idea is that as you push the bit depth, you won’t get blown out by the gain staging; this could probably use some finessing if someone wanted a project; there’s also a gate side-chained to the left input to help with the noise when there’s no input at all) into aliasers to reduce the sample frequency, with a pair of semi-resonant low-pass filters to smooth out the sound.
Left SW — bit crusher bypass
Middle SW — aliaser bypass
Right SW — filter bypass
Exp — filter frequency
28. Ambient repeats
A reverb lite feeds into two delays with mod controlled by tap tempo (one 2:3, BBD, the other 1:2, clean) that can be configured in either series or parallel.
Left SW — tap tempo
Middle SW — reverb bypass
Right SW — series/parallel select
Exp — mix control of all effects
29. Parallel air
Two plate reverbs with long decays (one eq’d to favor low frequencies, the other to favor high frequencies) can be configured in series or parallel. An additional plate reverb, with an even longer decay can be engaged or bypassed to finish the signal path.
Left SW — series/parallel select
Middle SW — third/final plate reverb bypass
Right SW — sets all mixes to 100%
Exp — lowers the decay of all reverbs
This is great! My ZOIA arrived yesterday and this pack is definitely a great place to start. Thanks!!
Signal flow and multi-effects patches
This response arose as part of an inquiry regarding this video: https://youtu.be/E_iidQut7Fw
The way my multi-effects patches are set up is like a waterfall; at least, this is how I think of it. Specifically, I think of Niagara Falls, but you may not be based in North America. I’ll do my best to generalize the analogy.
When the Niagara River reaches the falls, it can go one of two ways. If it passes to the right of an island in the middle of the falls, it will come down on the Canadian side of the waterfall. If it passes to the left of the island, it will come down on the American side. But regardless of which side it goes over, both sides meet at the bottom of the falls and continue as the same river after they go over the falls.
Creating a multi-effects patch works the same way in ZOIA. The signal flow is split into one of two paths, by an audio switch, instead of an island, but it needs to recombine later to continue its path, so both sides of the audio switch must eventually meet again at a later point.
So, to set up multi-effects patches, you basically have a series of “waterfalls” — audio goes one of two paths at one effect, then comes together again before passing over the next waterfall.
If we think of a simple bypass, it looks like this (“–>” represents a connection at 100%):
Audio input module –> 2-channel audio out switch input
The number of channels a switch uses is selected when the switch is placed. The default is one, but we need two, because we’re choosing between two different sides of this signal flow “waterfall.” We need two outputs, because we want the signal flow to go out in one of two directions, either bypassed or effected.
The two outputs of our switch represent the two sides of the “waterfall.” Since we want to bypass the effect, one side will pass to the next place in our signal flow where the signals recombine.
Output 1 –> next point in chain (with a multi-effects patch, this is probably the input of another audio out switch’s input; these switches get nested or tiered; if it’s the end of the patch, then it is the output module — this is our bypassed state; the signal passes through unaffected)
Output 2 –> the effect’s input
So, the two outputs choose between the two signal paths. But we need to make sure those signal paths recombine, so:
The effect’s output –> next point in the chain (the same destination as Output 1 above; we need our signal flow “river” to come back together after the “waterfall”)
That takes care of the two paths our signal might take.
The stompswitch module allows us to control which one of those paths the signal follows.
The audio switch has two channels, so we can use our stompswitch to choose between them. The default of the audio out switch will be to direct audio to the first output. But if it receives a CV signal from the stompswitch, it will direct audio to the second output. (Without going too deep into the CV side, stompswitches modules are simple devices: they produce 0 CV when they are off, and 1 CV when they are on. Because of this, they are useful for yes/no, on/off, one-or-the-other scenarios, where something is either happening or it is not happening. In this case, when the stompswitch is off and producing 0 CV, no CV is added to the channel select of the audio switch, so it remains in its default state, sending the audio it receives at its input to the first output. When the stompswitch is on, it sends 1 CV to the channel select of the audio switch, and the audio switch changes channels, sending the audio it receives at its input to the second output.)
If the audio switch is that island in the middle of our waterfall, the stompswitch is what determines which side of the island the water/our signal passes on.
The default of the stompswitch module is momentary behavior; for a multi-effects unit we probably want to change this to latching.
So, we connect the stompswitch to the channel select input of the audio out switch (the second grid block of the module)…
Stompswitch –> audio out switch channel select
Our stompswitch will choose between the two paths; it will determine which side of the island our signal passes on.
The whole thing looks like this:
Audio input module –> 2-channel audio out switch input
Audio out switch output 1 –> next point in chain
Audio out switch output 2 –> effect –> next point in chain
Stompswitch –> 2-channel audio out switch channel select
If we want to keep going, we just keep tiering these configurations. Each time we reach a new effect we would like to be able to bypass, we add a bifurcated “waterfall” by introducing a 2-channel audio out switch, with a stompswitch to determine which side of the “falls” the signal flow passes through.
Audio input module –> first 2-channel audio out switch input
First audio out switch output 1 –> second 2-channel audio out switch input
First audio out switch output 2 –> first effect –> second 2-channel audio out switch input
Stompswitch (left) –> first 2-channel audio out switch channel select
Second audio out switch output 1 –> third 2-channel audio out switch input
Second audio out switch output 2 –> second effect –> third 2-channel audio out switch input
Stompswitch (middle) –> second 2-channel audio out switch channel select
Third audio out switch output 1 –> audio output module
Third audio out switch output 2 –> third effect –> audio output module
Stompswitch (right) –> third 2-channel audio out switch channel select
We could keep going, but we’ve run out of stompswitches. You could use an external switch, though to expand the optional effects. Or you could use a MIDI controller and MIDI CC in modules in place of the stompswitches. The “effected” signal from the second output at any of these switches could be more complicated, too; it could be a delay and an overdrive, or a tremolo and a reverb and a filter, etc. It doesn’t matter as long as the last output of that “effected” portion goes to the same destination as the bypassed/uneffected signal path of the first output.
Each of those audio switches represents a new “waterfall.” Our signal flow gets split by them, going down one or the other path, then it is recombined on the other side.
The parallels air patch makes any sound, marvelous. Thank you !
Oh man, I learned so much from your written explanation… THANK YOU for taking the time to write those!
Installing this patches to my ZOIA in the latest firmware bricked the device! I had to do a full reinstall of the latest firmware. I thought it was a fluke but it happened twice in a row.
I just checked this, and I didn’t have any problems loading the folder on my ZOIA (firmware 3.00).
I would suggest trying to download the .zipped folder again and unzipping it again. There’s always the possibility of a zipped folder being corrupted during download.
If the problem persists, you should contact Empress support at support@empresseffects.com.