Bass keyboards...where to look?

[LotusCarsLtd52]

I have been developing wrist and arm pains that have been getting progressively worse over the past few months and I'm trying to get an appointment with my doctor ASAP (waiting for a reply from him).

Although my wrist pain doesn't hinder my ability to play bass (everything else, yes, but not bass strangely) I nonetheless fear that I could potentially lose the ability to play bass altogether and I'm looking at "contingency plans" in case the worst happens. Thus in the event I can't play bass I was thinking of switching to bass keyboard/synths to still maintain my role in my band.

What are some good bass keyboards to look at? What about this Novation BassStation I keep seeing?

 

[bongomania]

Actually, every keyboard in this electronic era is a bass keyboard. There haven't been bass-specific keyboards since the mid 1970's. All you need is a keyboard that feels good under your fingers, with two octave range or more, and a decent selection of onboard sounds or sound-programming capabilities. Almost all electronic keyboards that generate their own sounds, have/make bass sounds too.

The reason the BassStation is called that is because it mimics a specific very electronic-sounding bass synthesizer tone that is popular with techno bands. It makes a wide range of other synth tones, so even it is not a "bass keyboard" really, but the classic synth bass tone was the selling point.

 

[Stick_Player]

Here's what I use:

M-Audio Oxygen 8 for a controller:

A Moog Taurus 3 for 'The Sounds':

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Hook 'em up together with a MIDI cable.

 

[MalcolmAmos]

Interesting. Do you lay down a bass line from this or is it in tandem with the bass guitar? A few words on how you actually use this would be appreciated.

I went to my Yamaha E-403 keyboard and dialed in # 44 pick bass. This does have value, how do/would you actually use this at a gig? I would imagine - chord accompaniment patterns using both hands, i.e. using this device instead of the bass guitar. Interesting would appreciate a little more on how to use this.

Thanks

 

[Stick_Player]

A few words on how you actually use this would be appreciated.

I incorporate the Taurus many ways.

The obvious way is to play the pedals while I am playing bass guitar or Chapman Stick.

I also have the Taurus synched to a Roland RC-50. I create loops by way of the Melody-side of the Chapman Stick, which also has a MIDI pick up that plays the Roland GR-20 -- lots of sound possibilities there (this is all separate from the Taurus). The RC-50 outputs MIDI clock to synch the Taurus. I can create arpeggios that are in time. I play these most of the time from the Oxygen 8. There are ways to do this from the Taurus pedals by way of 'Latching'. This allows you to add/subtract notes from the arpeggio chords. The 'arpeggios' can be a simple as a single note that retriggers every 16 quarter-notes (four tied whole-notes) to multiple pitches triggering at 64ths.

I also use the Sonuus B2M Pitch-to-MIDI box. With this I can play the Taurus from my basses (electric upright, too). I have limited success with this and it depends on the sound from the Taurus - slow attack works best and long notes.

I can make a lot of noise with my set up. Not sure if much of it is any good, though. But I have a blast doing it!

 

[rob2966]

I plan to add a nice phat monophonic synth to my rig (leaning towards a DSI Mopho). At some point maybe also add a foot controller. Kind of the opposite of Stick_Players setup, the synth will be in the keyboard, the foot pedals just a MIDI controller.

While most synths will have an assortment of bass tones, I feel the analog mono synths do the "synth bass" thing much better than others. The Moog Little Phatty looks pretty sweet too, but all things Moog come with a bit more price tag.

Of course, whether a synth bass works instead of a real bass would depend on the music you play. Pop/Top 40, sure; blues/jazz, not so much; metal, probably not (but might be cool to try). That being said, the digital synths can sort-of reproduce some of the standard bass tones.

Later
Rob