The Zipper

Overview

A zipper is a train of clicks, one per tooth, and the click rate is the slider speed divided by the tooth spacing. The Zipper is built on that fact. In Pitched mode the keyboard sets the speed and the zipper plays in tune to within 3 cents; in Pull mode each note is a whole zip gesture with a pull curve (Flat, Accelerate, Decelerate, Rip, Hesitant, Yo-Yo or Stutter), free or synced to the tempo; in Scrub mode Slider Position is a parameter you can draw in your DAW's automation lane, or ride with the mod wheel, to zip by hand. Every part is a control: six tooth materials (brass, nickel, aluminium, plastic, coil, invisible) in sizes #3 to #10, hardness, two staggered stringers, nine tooth patterns including a 16-step custom row (a rhythm when slow, a waveform when fast), missing teeth, jitter and a seed that picks which teeth are bent. Friction adds grind, snags, squeak, tape rustle and tearing fabric; the pull tab swings on a pendulum and clicks against the slider; and eight bodies (jacket, jeans, backpack, tent, suitcase, leather, sleeping bag, space suit) ring around it all. Up to four sliders play each note with spread, scatter and stereo travel. Three Warp modulators bend speed, tooth size and body, one of them stepping on each tooth, and Step Noise turns all modulation into deliberate digital stairs. It is pure synthesis, no samples. The FX chain is the RatBells one: EQ, saturation, compressor, OTT, chorus, delay with a throw pad, shimmer reverb and a ducker. The Zipper Stage draws the zipper from the parameters and the model itself: the slider at its real position, the tab on its real swing, a spark for every click and neon light spilling through the open teeth. Twenty-four presets cover foley (Jacket Zip, Backpack Rip, Tent Door), pitched (Zipper Lead, Tooth Organ, Morse Bass), FX risers and drops, rhythm and crazy.

Features

• ▸Tooth-by-tooth zipper model: the keyboard sets slider speed, tuned to within 3 cents
• ▸Three play modes: Pitched, Pull (7 pull curves, tempo sync) and Scrub (automatable Slider Position or mod wheel)
• ▸6 tooth materials, sizes #3-#10, 9 tooth patterns incl. a 16-step custom row, missing teeth, seeded jitter
• ▸Friction and hardware: grind, snag, squeak, tape rustle, tear, end stop, a swinging pull tab
• ▸8 bodies from jacket and jeans to tent and space suit, with size, damping and mix
• ▸1-4 sliders per note, three Warp modulators (one steps on every tooth) and Step Noise
• ▸8-module FX chain: EQ, saturation, compressor, OTT, chorus, delay, shimmer reverb, ducker
• ▸The Zipper Stage: a neon-pastel animated zipper driven by the model, 24 factory presets, Reduce Motion

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