An in-depth look at the Bass Station II's arpeggiator and sequencer by our in-house synth guru Finlay Shakespeare. For more great videos click here: bit.ly/NovationTV
I just bought a pre-loved Bass Station 2 locally yesterday since it was a really good deal ($250 USD). I already own a couple of Moog units (Subsequent 37 and Minitaur), so I was a bit concerned that this might be redundant sound wise. After a few hours of getting familiar with it, I can tell that it has its own distinct sonic character and will play very well with my other monosynths. The Subsequent 37 is a considerably higher-end synth ($$$) with more of a premium build quality and lots of additional editing/modulation features, but I really do not enjoy lugging it around the house when I want to work in the living room, bedroom, etc. The BS2 has just solved this issue for me... it is small and light enough to be a great portable "lap synth", but it still sounds incredibly meaty and is great for obtaining more instantaneous results when editing. And even though the BS2 chassis is molded plastic (vs. metal & wood), it still feels relatively solid and has a very nice keybed. I'm really glad that I decided to grab this unit, and will enjoy having something portable that has the outstanding sound and feel that I need to inspire some new ideas.
Same feeling, owning a Subsequent 37 and a Minibrute2 already, I don’t regret my recent purchase of the BS2. Sounds great, light and portable- soon it will be part of my next liveact setup
Just sold my sh01a and bought one of these, can't wait for it to arrive, seems really versatile, looks loads of fun and the support for this synth from novation is great.
@@NovationTV had a couple of hours yesterday and got on very well, it's difficult to make it sound bad, workflow is great, brilliant piece of kit. I'm having trouble though. I want to factory reset it as it's full of someone else's patches and I'm having a little trouble with doing the 2.5 update?
@@adamoliver82 It's great to hear that you're enjoying it so far, we're very sorry that you have had some problems using Components. What kind of issues have you had with the v2.5 firmware update? If you would like to remove the existing Patches on your Bass Station II, you should find that you're able to Send an empty Bank to the Bass Station II, which will restore all 127 patches to a default state. When selecting Bass Station II in Components, the default Bank provided will be empty, if you click Send Bank, that will then overwrite the previous owner's Patches.
@@NovationTV where i went wrong was try to follow the instructions on the little card in the box. I've since realised it's a very simple affair using the components thing. That software is great. Since then I've not had loads of time to get into it but the over the last couple of days I've come to realise the absolute pure filth you can get of this machine, I've been making music for about a year and s half and I'm into techno so sound design is a huge part of it and I find the workflow very intuitive, that multi function filter is great. I bought a minilogue initially and didn't get on very well with it, I like to play with stuff(my back round is 20 years as a dj) and it just ended up a mess. The BS2 is a great piece of kit, you can fuck about with it and easily get back to where you were. The drive, distortion and filter mod are great and run it through a reverb pedal and it's a monster. I've been trying to make sounds like I can with this machine with other stuff and found it really difficult. I've had loads of fun with it and also learned a lot about synthesis from it which I've been able to apply to my other kit. I've built a hardware set up, BS2, SE-02, TB-3, TB-03, TR-8S, volca keys and bass all sequenced with an electribe 2s and running through a pair of mixers with a load of effects pedals, this has fast become my joint favourite piece of kit along with my TR-8S. Thought I'd update you as you asked for feedback. I really like the paraphonic mode but don't quite understand how it works, how do you know which oscillator plays what? I've got some cool stuff out of if but it's just from hitting things randomly but then again the happy accidents are what it's all about.
Is it possible to get some info on how the rhythm knob affects the arpeggiated sequences? I saw a Reddit topic that linked to a transcription of the patterns for rhythm, but it's a dead link now. Would be nice to have more info on that to help make more sense out of it and enable me to use the feature in a more purposeful way.
The Rhythm control can be used to select one of the pre-defined arp rhythmic patterns. Transcription of these rhythms can be downloaded here: www.mediafire.com/file/vxg0j5vpg1xrm7z/BSII_Rhythm.jpg.zip/file
Well I bought the microbrute instead of this, it wasn't for me. I really should have gotten this I believe, and its just a bit more considering what more you get its worth it.
I'm loving the sounds I can get out of the Bass Station II! It's very cool! Does anyone know how/if I can play an arpeggio/sequence triggered by and/or sync'd to a solid tone using midi in? (so an arpeggiated sequence sync'd to a solid tone (sounding both)) and triggered by midi in via my Nektar Bass pedals). Thanks.
Hi there. The only way to trigger the arp on the BSII is with a note message. The tempo of the arp will match to incoming clock signals but it has no awareness of current song position (beats/bar/etc). For this reason, it's usually easiest to send clock to it to have the tempo sync and then send a note from a sequencer to ensure it's in time with everything else.
question about the sequence record mode, is it expecting you to record a given number of steps defined in advance, or can you stop at whichever step you like, thus allowing you to set the time signature as well and create whichever signature you like, say record 7 steps and create a 7/8 pattern ? cheers!
I can't seem to sync the internal sequencer on this thing to ableton.. When I push a key it plays the sequence, but when I play a key via ableton it just plays the note, not the sequence..
@@NovationTV It was function + latch, it toggles between “in” and “out” When using “in” the midi note from ableton gets received as a sequencer start. Still weird, I don’t get why the machine doesn’t just start from the clock. Why does it need a note for that?? Weird..
It's great to hear that you're considering Bass Station II. Have you checked out the Rokit range? One or two Rokit 4 G3 could work well if you have limited space available.
Glad you're a fan! Have you experimented with the Arp? The 'Play' Arp Mode can be used to create a pattern based on the notes actually played rather than one of the predefined sequences. You can also insert Rests in an arp sequence to create your own patterns.
Anytime! Glad you enjoyed it. Bass Station II features a 32 note step sequencer with four memories. You can record up to four separate sequences, each containing up to 32 notes (or a combination of notes and rests). These sequences are stored in Bass Station II and are retained when it is switched off. In addition, the currently selected sequence can also be stored as part of a patch.
"it would make a cool controller keyboard especially if you could assign all those dials and sliders to midi." I'm relatively new to Synths ... So, you can't output whatever you play (and all settings) out to another unit (eg a Mother-32) via the MIDI Out ... I don't understand: is the MIDI output limited to pitch only? What about the velocity and aftertouch - is that transmitted via the MIDI Out. Arp and Seq? I don't really understand what you can't send via MIDI out / what the limitation(s) are/is? :/
Thanks for your interest in that, Kieren! Bass Station II was primarily designed as an analogue synthesiser but it can also function as a powerful MIDI controller as many of the parameters output MIDI data, both via the USB connection and 5 Pin Din MIDI output. You can find a MIDI parameters list on page 21 of the user guide here: d2xhy469pqj8rc.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/novation/downloads/6797/bassstationiiuserguideen.pdf You can use this infomration to assign control to parameters on other hardware or software that features a MIDI learn function. If you have any further questions, please give us a call. We're here to help - bit.ly/NovationSupport
This just doesn't sound impressive to me, it sounds exactly like the subtractor synth that's been in reason since verison 1. However, it would make a cool controller keyboard especially if you could assign all those dials and sliders to midi.
"it would make a cool controller keyboard especially if you could assign all those dials and sliders to midi." I'm relatively new to Synths ... So, you can't output whatever you play (and all settings) out to another unit (eg a Mother-32) via the MIDI Out ... I don't understand: is the MIDI output limited to pitch only? What about the velocity and aftertouch - is that transmitted via the MIDI Out. Arp and Seq? I don't really understand what you can't send via MIDI out / what the limitation(s) are/is? :/
Kieren Moore no, it sends literally anything via MIDI. It's great. You can even set it to not change its own parameters unless you loop back the midi to itself (aka have it selected in ableton while turning the knobs). This way you can very accurately map the knobs to other params
I have a brand new 303 with less than 5 hrs use a 909 with same usage and a 808 all bought together in late 1990's cheap a guy didn't want them so I bought all 3 dead cheap I own many 303's which ive repaired and bought them fully working too
a boxed brand new 303 isn't worth £30 most I was offered was 650 and I turned it down if you can find a boxed 303 for 30 pound get me 5 thankyou ( I think you've overdone it with the Lucozade)
sometimes people on ebay must be taking acid ive looked at 80s ghettobalsters (I wanted a huge usa style one for my kitchen ) nearly a thousand pound for a sharp you can imagine i didnt place a bid on it
peasant me er no I just bought crap loads of roland gear in late 90s I'm a collector hoarder and repairer its amazing them 303s are still going ive quite a few and 808s and 909s and other gear I'm not sure how many 303s you need before you are certified as cuckooed you tell me
oh I know if you cant have a laugh its a poor do I counted my tb 303s I own 18 yes 18, 4 are for parts other 14 working well 13 and 1 that wanders off with its speed or tempo but when run with midi cable through my roland tr8 its fine so tempo knob prob wants cleaning or replacing one of them jobs I will prob never get round to doing
