Novation Bass Station II Analogue Monosynth – includes 64 factory patches, pattern-based step sequencer and arpeggiator, two oscillators plus an additional sub oscillator

Product Information

Oscillator error introduces a small and adjustable random detune on each note-on event. This can be used to generate some very beautiful, subtle (or not) musical dissonance, very much in the same way that vintage synths do (because of the looser tolerance of their electronic components). Paraphonic mode makes it as dramatic as possible. Select triggering mode between: ♣ Single trigger (holds envelope state when new note is played) ♣ Multi trigger (re-triggers with every new note played) ♣ Autoglide (engages portamento) There is also a VCA limiter In the 20 years since its launch, the Bass Station has become something of a classic — and with analogue monosynths enjoying their biggest revival since the early '80s, what better time for a sequel?

As a test i began creating patches on the hardware and then transfering to the plugin. They were never quite right. I thought it might be the transfer process, so I tried to manually create the same patch on the hardware and Plugin. It was never quite right. Static patches with no movement were close enough. Dynamic patches sounded much better on the hardware (I have had my BS for 9 years so am very familiar with the sound and programming).The keyboard mechanism is a two-octave (25 note) velocity sensitive synth-action keyboard with full-size keys and assignable aftertouch

The original front panel has been 3D modelled and additional controls have been added for ease of use. The Filter envelope has its own set of ADSR controls and OSC1 and OSC2 have their own section for pitch modulation and PWM control.LFO: Two LFOs each selectable between: ♣ Triangle ♣ Sawtooth ♣ Square ♣ Sample and hold ♣ Both LFOs independently adjustable between rate and delay time ♣ Key sync LFO 1 & 2 ♣ LFO slew on LFO 1& 2 (low pass filter on the LFO waveform)

Bass Station II includes fully analogue distortion and filter-modulation effects and a separate filter overdrive to add an aggressive, crunchy sound-quality. All controls receive MIDI controller numbers for the recording and replay of tweaks during a performance. In addition to its five-pin In and Out ports, the Bass Station 2 is a USB class-compliant MIDI device, speaking the dusty digital interface with no need of special drivers. It's therefore equally at home with MIDI hardware or your PC or Mac, although my iPad 2 didn't want to know. Bass Station II's secret sound-design weapon is envelope retriggering. It’s now possible to configure your envelopes to retrigger once the decay stage has ended, opening up a whole range of new possibilities. The Bass Station Plug-In is shipped with the classic originals along with many more totaling 100 sounds for immediate gratification. The patches cover a huge sonic range from screaming leads to phatt funky basses.You also get Melodics, a handy desktop app that's a fun and intuitive way to learn how to play MIDI keyboards, pad controllers, and drums. Melodics provides you with challenges, structured learning, and goals to make learning less intimidating and more exciting. Here's what Novation say about the Bass Station II: Sequences are transposed by playing the keyboard, and if you want to break them up, gaps can be introduced non-destructively. When you turn the Rhythm knob all the way to the right, your sequences and arpeggios play as expected, but when you turn it to the left, an increasing number of rhythmic gaps are introduced, culminating in a spaced-out series of crotchets. Novation launched the original Bass Station in 1993 and it became an instant favourite. Its digital oscillators and analogue filter defined countless dance and electronic hits of the 1990s. For the final splash of sonic mangling, there's an 'Effects' section. It's just possible that Novation's terminology guys got carried away one Friday afternoon because the knobs concerned are: distortion (a post-filter overdrive) and 'osc filter mod' (audio level modulation, the source oscillator being 2). However, you won't bemoan the creative labelling once you realise how valuable the two are. Distortion is thrashingly excellent and is the ideal stimulant for the 303-curious everywhere. I won't risk the wrath of the Bassline Gods by claiming you can exactly match that fabled silver box, but when you've engaged the Acid filter and spread resonance akimbo, distortion is clearly the last piece of the jigsaw. There's further dirt, too, thanks to that second effect. Audio-level filter modulation adds its own distinctly toothy bite, and when you begin exercising the mod source's pitch, the currently-selected filter gets an electrifying workout. Filter FM also works wonders when processing external signals. Other added features include new fixed-duration envelopes, extended control over the sub-oscillator, the ability to have individual oscillator pitches glide independently, and also to set the number of times an envelope retriggers.

Bass Station II is fully class compliant, so you can plug into anything via USB and start playing. It also has MIDI I/O on 5 pin din ports, so you can connect your other MIDI gear. You can even connect an external instrument and run it through Bass Station II’s analogue filter and effects. AFX Mode Features : Cutoff ♣ Resonance ♣ Overdrive ♣ Filter frequency to Mod Envelope depth ♣ Filter frequency to LFO 2 depth Because every key in the overlay can hold a different value for every knob or switch, you can go from subtle per‑key variations of a patch, to an entirely different sound on every key. There are just eight preset slots for overlays, and each of the 127 patches can reference one overlay. This means that if you change an overlay that is used in more than one patch, it will change for all patches. Low Frequency Oscillation which can directly control the harmonic content of the sound by pulse width modulation or filter cut-off. Classic analogue filter – switch between low-, high – and band-pass modes with 12 and 24dB/octave slopes – with an aggressive overdrive

The iconic synth returns re-vamped

Twenty years ago, Novation's original Bass Station was a zappy little synth influenced by the TB303. Today's model retains all its ancestor's charms but is better laid out and has a nifty sequencer, a sub-oscillator and a whole other identity courtesy of that Acid filter. The Bass Station was never exclusively a bass machine, but the new model is a serious proposition whatever your analogue monosynth requirements. Those expecting Delay or Chorus might be disappointed but both dials offer an impressive sonic flavour and significantly beef up the Bass Station II's personality. To the left, you can add Portamento, with variable Glide Time, whilst further to the left you can access the Bass Station II's Arpeggiator and Sequencer options. major firmware update released by Novation 5 years after initial release with a ton of new features, including duo mode, which turns this mono synth into a paraphonic weapon.