Novation Bass Station 2 Sounds

[Helen Francke]

ifi were to buy an analog synth for bass , or basslines perhaps a moog would be my choise. I have heard a lot about how great are the basses sounds in the moog minitaur and all the moog synts in general.

Although I was not able to hear the bass sound accurately deep through my laptop speakers, I got your point. Sounds good. How about available presents, any good? Loved the percussion in that song btw.

However, I was not able to work with it in consistent manner. The firmware is not yet good (Moog is putting al their efforts in the Sub Patty). So I had to continuously change the knobs to reclaim the sound I wanted. It delayed my music production.

Tough choice - try do a side by side comparison - for me, BS2 workflow is The Boss, and probably a better choice on stage for a non keys player - less complicated but just as complex (if that makes sense ).

If you have the money to by a Mopho Keyboard, I would buy the BS2 and with the left over $ I would go ahead and pick up Microbrute or Minibrute. They would be the BEST companion because they can be controlled via voltage and the A4 can sequence/modulate them. Consider the Slim Phatty, MS-20 Mini, etc for this reason as well.

The fun/performance/usability aspect was the reason for doing so. I am not very good programmer and already have the Elektron gear to cope with, so I feel it should be simple and straightforward, which is believe BSII is designed for this purpose more.

As the others have indicated, a synth is NOT an instrument that can emulate all other instruments. The Bass Station is a simple synth, and it can do the typical bass synth sounds we know from pop hits, and it can do some more.

For chords and piano/organ/keyboard, my guess is that if you want hardware, your best bet is the instrument called keyboard (which is NOT the same as a MIDI keyboard) like for example the Yamaha PSR series, or a sound module like for example a second hand Yamaha MU128. In case of the latter, in order to play it you'll need a sequencer in your computer or phone, or a MIDI keyboard to play it yourself.

Me, I'd avoid anything that is an analogue synth to get piano sounds - not even a 15,000 quid Moog modular synth - for many many reasons.

A relatively cheap Korg keyboard I once played had fairly good piano samples, and that to me seems like a way better approach.

Thats why I suggested the Xi, it has an analogue synth, a midi module (x2) and a drum machine, as well as a sequencer and other facilities. THe only think I didn't like about it was the black and red finish, hard to see on stage lights!

so maybe I should just keep that for pianoy/keyboardy chords Because it is just house use.. and get the bass station for bass only.

Or would it be better just to get a decent keyboard that I can play chords in lots of different preset tones and will produce a nice stand alone bass sound?

@Swaffle88, I don't understand everything (my English is limited), but it sounds like a plan to keep the Casio, and add the Bass Station 2.

Also, the Bass Station can do more than just bass, so you might end up using it for solos and weird sounds too.

A keyboard with lots of presets and stand-out bass sound must be available somewhere, but my feeling says it might cost more. Friend of mine just yesterday bought a Casio CTK-1550. I can check its presets for you if you like, to see what it has in store.

That said, like @Woodinblack says, a MIDI keyboard (maybe your Casio?) and an iPhone or iPad is ace. Dozens of great pianos, synths and organs for Apple gear to be had for a few tenners - and many of those synths are way more powerful than the Bass Station, though they do lack its hands-on directness.

When you ask if anyone plays bass on keys, do you mean bass parts? If so: yes, many here do, and an in-depth look at this very section (Other Instruments) will reveal that.

If you're thinking of playing keys and generating bass guitar-like sounds with synths, samplers and romplers, then I haven't heard about others doing it, but I did in the past.

@Swaffle88, only you can narrow it down, as none of your alternatives seem bad.

But how about trying first to see if the iPad route is viable, if you do own one already? All you need to know is whether your Casio does have the MIDI OUT at the back (I doubt it does though, since you talk about kids' stuff and light-up keys).

In case it does spawn that output, then, if I remember correctly, you'll need a MIDI-to-USB interface as well as the USB-to-Apple connector. I have not heard about straight MIDI-to-Apple interfaces, but they might exist. Alternatively, a dedicated MIDI keyboard to govern the iPad isn't that expensive, and they're everywhere. @Woodinblack already mentioned one costing 30 quid. Me, I bought a nice M-Audio Keystation 49 at half price once. Can't fault it for even the full price. Relatively good keybed too (which for me personally is of the essence, but I appreciate that I'm weird).

The musical instrument apps you can get for the iPad are of another world. One can purchase synths for pounds or tenners that originally cost tens of thousands (Fairlight CMI for example, but don't go there). Synths like Moog Animoog, Arturia iMini, Sunrizer, ARP Odyssey Korg MS-20 and other Korgs will do what you crave from the Bass Station, and they also come with presets/storage for your patches. I'm very sure many simpler synths exist that would demand less of your time getting to understand them, but off the top of my head I don't know any myself. The Arturia iMini is a Minimoog copy, and the Minimoog was a standard for synth bass in the seventies, as was the Odyssey (which is more demanding as a first synth, but luvverly).

BTW, many synths that are monophonic in hardware, are polyphonic as iPad apps. The Odyssey for example is 8-voice polyphonic in its iPad guise.

If it appears your Casio doesn't have the MIDI OUT, and you're satisfied with the sounds from the Casio, then just adding and instrument, like @Woodinblack's Roland JD Xi, a Bass Station 2 or a PSR-type keyboard would be OK. They all would do what you demand from them (caveat for cheaper PSR types), but seeing what you've written up to now, I sense (not know) that you'd be very happy with the Bass Station 2, which is very good as an instrument, and very good in its price bracket. Many people who own hardware synths for tens of thousands, also own a Bass Station 2.

The JD Xi offers a lot more than the Bass Station whilst keeping the real synth sound, whereas cheaper PSR type keyboards often offer the more weedy sounds - it'd be like a more expensive version of what you already have. That might be enough, and it might not.

Just now I realise that you were talking about looping, and that was the part I didn't really get. If this - in your use of the gear - means you want instant access to all your sounds without having to handle mixer sliders, then I guess there might be a problem with using your Casio both as a sound source and as a MIDI keyboard for iPad apps. You be the judge.

If all you want to do is play bass and lead lines, the bassstation is good (I have one). If you want to do chords, then obviously not (I also have a roland DI61 and blofeld). When I play live I use an iPad connected to a mcmillen 12 step, where I play chords (with my feet) for backing stuff), and sometime use my Yamaha Reface DX to play other lines on when we need keys. For bass, I always use a bass though, and if I want a synth bass, I use a bass with a synth pedal.

If you have an iPad already, then what would give you the most flexability at the cheapest cost is a cheap master keyboard (and it can be small, the bassstation doesn't have many keys) and connect that to the iPad (they almost all have USB as well as midi, and they will connect with the apple USB connector).

I multisampled my Bass Station thoroughly before selling it off. Sharing with the community for free (again)

Around 7GB, long samples and several notes, to capture as much of the original analog-ness as possible.

104 patches - plenty of different sounds, not just bass, and obviously unlike the monophonic BS2 these can be played polyphonically ?

How to:

Put the BassStation2 folder with the sample files in a folder specifically called Multisamples inside your main SAMPLES folder on your SD card.

The names must be exactly the same, so the filepath for the samples ends up being: SAMPLES\ Multisamples\ BassStation2

In case it helps anyone using a Mac, I wanted to put the samples in a different folder ("SYNTHS" instead of "Multisamples"); the following shell command will do the replacement on everything in a folder (so be careful, make sure you are in the correct directory patches first):

Wow these are great! I don't usually take such long samples, its nice to not have to worry about looping points. I couldn't fit these all on my main card, so I converted them to 16-bit, which saves about 1/3 of the space, if anyone wants the 16-bit versions of the samples I put them here:

@hamptonio said:

Wow these are great! I don't usually take such long samples, its nice to not have to worry about looping points. I couldn't fit these all on my main card, so I converted them to 16-bit, which saves about 1/3 of the space, if anyone wants the 16-bit versions of the samples I put them here:

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