Mark Bass Super Synth - Urgent help needed!!!

[Gunsfreddy2003]

Hi all,

Recently invested in a Mark Bass Super Synth to help me nail the 80's synth bass sound used on lots of recordings and in particular the bass sound on We Can Work It Out by Chaka Khan.

I have spent quite a long time with the MBSS and can't seem to get anywhere near it.

Not sure if this pedal can deliver this sound or I need to invest in the dreaded Akai Deep Impact but if anyone can help by sending me a link to a patch they have made that sounds like this or can get close with the pre-set settings from the factory then please let me know what they are.

Would appreciate any help with this as I am really stuck!

[Gunsfreddy2003]

Can anyone help here?

[papasound]

Hey Guns,

Check out this clip. I think the sound Mr. Freidland is getting from the EHX Micro Synth comes close to what you're looking for.

Electro-Harmonix Bass Microsynth & Blogger Distortion Pedals - YouTube

[Gunsfreddy2003]

Yeah man that is the sound!!

How the hell do I get that from the Mark Bass Super Synth though - surely it must be possible?

Originally Posted by papasound

Hey Guns,

Check out this clip. I think the sound Mr. Freidland is getting from the EHX Micro Synth comes close to what you're looking for.

Electro-Harmonix Bass Microsynth & Blogger Distortion Pedals - YouTube

[papasound]

I was attempting to get close to that sound with the Super Synth but it's not quite there. Try this:

Synth Pre-set #6
Gain: 1 to 2 O'Clock
Cut Freq: 0
TONE: 1
Level/Dry: 63

I found playing staccato and completely muting between each note to work best. Although fast playing / quick runs may not read well.

You may want to try putting a separate envelope filter pedal after the SS to get a tighter "envelope" sound

[Phagor]

That Chaka Khan track is one of my all time faves.

I don't have the controller running on my computer at the moment, but from memory, the trick is to go the Dynamics tab and turn the Filter Dynamic knob all the way down. Then set the Attack to 0 and the Release to somewhere fairly quick, say 3.

The Filter Dynamic changes the filter envelope depending on how loud you play. The problem is that the Filter Dynamic knob seems to be added on top of the envelope settings, effectively keeping the envelope open all the time.

Once you have a nice short envelope sound you can add a little bit of Filter Dynamic back in to give some loud/quiet contrast to your playing, but bear in mind that the Minimoog was not velocity sensitive, so all notes were the same volume.

Also ditto what papasound said - keep your notes short. If you have trouble with messy triggering, turn up the Note On Level and Note Off Level as much as possible without missing notes.

[bassgod0dmw]

Have you checked out the Super Synth Megathread by any chance? It's got a lot of good info in it, and you may get some responses posing this question in there.

[amos]

If you teach yourself how to duplicate sounds on a full blown synthesizer, you will be able to program any sound on a device like the markbass super synth. I know this isn't much direct help, but I'm just going from experience, since I learned the fundamentals of analog synthesis and signal processing, I understand how to dial up different tones using pedals a lot better now.

[Gunsfreddy2003]

Cheers Phagor - I will give this a try but I have found the programming of sounds on this pedal a little tricky! I did like your downloadable patches that was easy to use and get them straight on to the pedal.

I do love the sound on that track - but not keen to go and buy an EHX Bass Micro Synth!!

Originally Posted by Phagor

That Chaka Khan track is one of my all time faves.

I don't have the controller running on my computer at the moment, but from memory, the trick is to go the Dynamics tab and turn the Filter Dynamic knob all the way down. Then set the Attack to 0 and the Release to somewhere fairly quick, say 3.

The Filter Dynamic changes the filter envelope depending on how loud you play. The problem is that the Filter Dynamic knob seems to be added on top of the envelope settings, effectively keeping the envelope open all the time.

Once you have a nice short envelope sound you can add a little bit of Filter Dynamic back in to give some loud/quiet contrast to your playing, but bear in mind that the Minimoog was not velocity sensitive, so all notes were the same volume.

Also ditto what papasound said - keep your notes short. If you have trouble with messy triggering, turn up the Note On Level and Note Off Level as much as possible without missing notes.

[Gunsfreddy2003]

Yes and it took me ages to get through it!!

That is where I downloaded the patches from Phagor and got the idea that others may have been able to get sounds that I can't!

Originally Posted by bassgod0dmw

Have you checked out the Super Synth Megathread by any chance? It's got a lot of good info in it, and you may get some responses posing this question in there.

[Gunsfreddy2003]

Hey Phagor - did you have any time yet to see if you can get this sound on the MBSS?

Originally Posted by Phagor

That Chaka Khan track is one of my all time faves.

I don't have the controller running on my computer at the moment, but from memory, the trick is to go the Dynamics tab and turn the Filter Dynamic knob all the way down. Then set the Attack to 0 and the Release to somewhere fairly quick, say 3.

The Filter Dynamic changes the filter envelope depending on how loud you play. The problem is that the Filter Dynamic knob seems to be added on top of the envelope settings, effectively keeping the envelope open all the time.

Once you have a nice short envelope sound you can add a little bit of Filter Dynamic back in to give some loud/quiet contrast to your playing, but bear in mind that the Minimoog was not velocity sensitive, so all notes were the same volume.

Also ditto what papasound said - keep your notes short. If you have trouble with messy triggering, turn up the Note On Level and Note Off Level as much as possible without missing notes.