How to start with synth bass after playing bass?

[logdrum]

get a simple synth that has one function per knob

Will just confuse if the OP just want things simple -- OFPK is great if you are already a seasoned synth sound user. There are many patches on the Micro Korg that are good bass sounds.

Here's the patch list. The Hip Hop and DnB banks have plenty to start with

https://cdn.korg.com/us/support/download/files/cbc81969e3e7a276d8f68c431a06195c.pdf?response-content-disposition=inline;filename

Do not buy another synth right now - these 2 are good. and probably all you need. Pros use them.

Learn how to play synth bass and the piano experience may help - honestly it is probably negligible. Getting a groove on a keyboard to be punchy and dance inducing is a different ball of wax. It will be entirely a different touch and micro timing from doing it on a bass guitar

 

[BismarckHerring]

Do not buy another synth right now

I agree,stick with what you have and/or free software synths. You don't need to buy anything to learn sound synthesis if you have computer. But note that OP has already sold the microkorg and owns a bass station now.

As for OFPK, I think it's even more important for people who want to learn how synthesizers work than for more experienced users. For example, on the microkorg, you have 5 knobs to control 100+ parameters with almost no visual feedback. That makes it difficult to keep track of the settings and even what parameter you're changing when you turn a knob. That's fine if you know what you're doing, and it gives you endless possibilities, but it adds a layer of complexity that can make it daunting for a beginner. It's much more straightforward if you have, say, one knob that's labeled 'cutoff' and it always controls the cutoff frequency.

 

[pbass2]

I remember the first time I heard a patch I recognized on a friend's album. He's accomplished and a person I hold in pretty high regard, and I would've expected him to do sound designs from scratch. I asked him "is this preset X?" and he said yes. He said no need to sound design everything when you have songs to write.

It's funny, with synths some folks think you need to be inventing a new sound every time you turn it on or it's not legit. Imagine how that would work with guitars, or bass, or oboe, or . . . .

 

[monsterthompson]

It's funny, with synths some folks think you need to be inventing a new sound every time you turn it on or it's not legit. Imagine how that would work with guitars, or bass, or oboe, or . . . .

Yeah. I totally went down the rabbit hole of how "building a sound from scratch" would be for bassists or guitarists. At some level you can consider a P Bass into an SVT Fridge a preset. Same with a Les Paul into a Marshall. Want to add distortion? Here's your Muff variant preset, or Rat, or TS. I'm not sourcing my own homegrown tone wood and wrapping my pickups and placing them in the exact mounting location for a specific sound. I'm not winding my own strings or telling SIT or DR how I want each string constructed. Those are exaggerations but you see the point.

With synths, you'll start to hear variants and understand the origins of the design. Is the oscillator wave square or saw or triangle, is it a complex wave folded or FM sound? Is the filter a HP/BP/LP sound? Is there a ton of resonance? Is the filter key tracking or being modulated. Is the envelope of the filter and/or VCA slow or fast in the attack and release? As you get more and more familiar with the sounds generated you can start to hear things like east coast subtractive (Moog) vs west coast (Buchla) vs FM (DX7) vs wave table scanning, etc.

Definitely pay attention to how preset knob positions are set (which is easier in a DAW). You'll start to notice how those were made which can help you deconstruct and reconstruct them.

 

[pbass2]

Yeah. I totally went down the rabbit hole of how "building a sound from scratch" would be for bassists or guitarists. At some level you can consider a P Bass into an SVT Fridge a preset. Same with a Les Paul into a Marshall. Want to add distortion? Here's your Muff variant preset, or Rat, or TS. I'm not sourcing my own homegrown tone wood and wrapping my pickups and placing them in the exact mounting location for a specific sound. I'm not winding my own strings or telling SIT or DR how I want each string constructed. Those are exaggerations but you see the point.

With synths, you'll start to hear variants and understand the origins of the design. Is the oscillator wave square or saw or triangle, is it a complex wave folded or FM sound? Is the filter a HP/BP/LP sound? Is there a ton of resonance? Is the filter key tracking or being modulated. Is the envelope of the filter and/or VCA slow or fast in the attack and release? As you get more and more familiar with the sounds generated you can start to hear things like east coast subtractive (Moog) vs west coast (Buchla) vs FM (DX7) vs wave table scanning, etc.

Definitely pay attention to how preset knob positions are set (which is easier in a DAW). You'll start to notice how those were made which can help you deconstruct and reconstruct them.

I learned synthesis on Buchla and Moog systems for the most part(we're talking in the 80's!). Certainly glad I did as I know how all that works even to the extent of building synths from scratch in Max/MSP.....but these days I use pre-baked soft synths, plenty of presets and man, no complaints!

 

[brianrost]

As for OFPK, I think it's even more important for people who want to learn how synthesizers work than for more experienced users. For example, on the microkorg, you have 5 knobs to control 100+ parameters with almost no visual feedback. That makes it difficult to keep track of the settings and even what parameter you're changing when you turn a knob. That's fine if you know what you're doing, and it gives you endless possibilities, but it adds a layer of complexity that can make it daunting for a beginner. It's much more straightforward if you have, say, one knob that's labeled 'cutoff' and it always controls the cutoff frequency.

Most hardware synths, including the Bass Station 2, are not one function per knob, they are one knob per function. Roland is notorious for this, putting 2 or 3 functions if not more on the same knob.

The trouble with the visual approach to learning synthesis is that when calling up a preset, the knobs are not going to be indicating the current settings anyway. Manufacturers have tried various approaches to ease this problem…the BS2 uses blinking LEDs to indicate how far away the control is from the current setting, but for many synths the setting just abruptly jumps to the current control position which can be very far away from the setting in the preset.

Of course, you don't have to use every single feature a synth offers. The only synths I've used where I fully explored their capabilities were very simple ones. If you only have one oscillator, one LFO, one envelope generator and one low pass filter, there's not a lot to explore so it's easy to master what is there.

For a total beginner who wants to learn synthesis, I always recommend using software first, if for no other reason than you can get started for free assuming you own a computer or a smartphone.

For a total beginner who just wants to play music, presets are their friend, whether using hardware instruments or software.

To javi-bassist, if you have specific questions about understanding the BS2, feel free to PM me.

 

[FullumMusic]

It's funny, with synths some folks think you need to be inventing a new sound every time you turn it on or it's not legit. Imagine how that would work with guitars, or bass, or oboe, or . . . .

I mean, for me half the fun is sound designing different new sounds for each song. (I do have a masters degree in sound design, so there's that.)

That said, your comment about doing the same thing for physical instruments was exactly what i would tell musicians who thought electronic music was easy because "the computer does everything for you." (Pre-AI Music days). I'd ask them how many unique sounding new guitars they build from scratch for each song. I'd open a synth in Ableton with an Init/Clear All patch loaded. Ask them to have the computer just make a song for them.

The fun of making your own patches if you're into that sort of thing aside, there's no shame in using presets. There's no shame in using presets as jumping off points for new patches. I do that too.

About 10 years ago i heard a Billboard Top 10 song with a hi-hat loop from the stock free Pro-Tools sample loops. I recognize stock sounds and samples from certain sample-packs in music all the time. Not using them because other people use them would be like not using a guitar because other people used a guitar in a song. "Omg. You play a P Bass? Someone else already used a P Bass on a song. What a loser!" A bit silly, right? Especially if you're using your synth in a cover band. So many presets are just trying to emulate famous synth sounds.

 

[pbass2]

I mean, for me half the fun is sound designing different new sounds for each song. (I do have a masters degree in sound design, so there's that.)

That said, your comment about doing the same thing for physical instruments was exactly what i would tell musicians who thought electronic music was easy because "the computer does everything for you." (Pre-AI Music days). I'd ask them how many unique sounding new guitars they build from scratch for each song. I'd open a synth in Ableton with an Init/Clear All patch loaded. Ask them to have the computer just make a song for them.

The fun of making your own patches if you're into that sort of thing aside, there's no shame in using presets. There's no shame in using presets as jumping off points for new patches. I do that too.

About 10 years ago i heard a Billboard Top 10 song with a hi-hat loop from the stock free Pro-Tools sample loops. I recognize stock sounds and samples from certain sample-packs in music all the time. Not using them because other people use them would be like not using a guitar because other people used a guitar in a song. "Omg. You play a P Bass? Someone else already used a P Bass on a song. What a loser!" A bit silly, right? Especially if you're using your synth in a cover band. So many presets are just trying to emulate famous synth sounds.

Yeah it's really about the context, what you're doing. When I was doing original music with modular rigs, and later max/msp, the sound design was really part of the composition. These days I use synths in TV composing, etc and I'm usually tasked with copping a particular sound, emulating something already existing, often something period-correct. So, presets FTW in that case!

 

[FullumMusic]

Yeah it's really about the context, what you're doing. When I was doing original music with modular rigs, and later max/msp, the sound design was really part of the composition. These days I use synths in TV composing, etc and I'm usually tasked with copping a particular sound, emulating something already existing, often something period-correct. So, presets FTW in that case!

Oh hell yeah! MaxMSP is so fun.

But yeah, "gimme an 80s sound!" means loading any preset on the DX7 and carrying on with the composition. Also when you're doing things for TV composing and other commercial purposes, deadlines make presets really nice, especially because the client doesn't care if it's an original sound you spent 7 hours sculpting and fine-tuning on your synth, or Preset #5. They only care that the audio works for their needs.

 

[pbass2]

Oh hell yeah! MaxMSP is so fun.

But yeah, "gimme an 80s sound!" means loading any preset on the DX7 and carrying on with the composition. Also when you're doing things for TV composing and other commercial purposes, deadlines make presets really nice, especially because the client doesn't care if it's an original sound you spent 7 hours sculpting and fine-tuning on your synth, or Preset #5. They only care that the audio works for their needs.

Also you have to be prepared to change everything from individual sounds to the composition at the drop of a hat. "Hey, can you completely change this one part to sound like this (whatever reference) and we need it in 2 hours". Soft synths and presets FTW baby!

 

[monsterthompson]

I love modular synths because of how they force you to think about what's happening to the sound as you design it. You know you have a saw wave and you want to make it do a thing, so how does that happen? Turning knobs and patching modulators gives you pretty immediate feedback. It's fun and educational. However, it's not an efficient workflow. It definitely has a place, but there's a reason so many people bang out tracks with soft synths in a DAW. For me, Modular is a musical escape, not a production tool.

ETA - I'm about ready to buy a Digitone II. Among other things, it's a great solution to the preset and knob position issue. You get encoders to control parameters displayed on a screen. Changing presets will change what's on screen, and the encoders pick up wherever they are. It's a complicated device and I'd never suggest jumping right in to it as a first synth.

 

[mambo4]

Nowadays, it's just synth nerds who think presets are for losers.

Call me a synth nerd lol.
The Novation Bass Station mentioned by the OP is clearly built for sound crafting.
I assumed from the context of the OP that this knowledge was what they sought.
And, like all gear , if you understand it, dialing in the sound you want is easier and more rewarding

I can have fun paging through presets too, but it;s nicer to know my way around enough to recreate a sound in my head.

 

[javi_bassist]

For a total beginner who wants to learn synthesis, I always recommend using software first, if for no other reason than you can get started for free assuming you own a computer or a smartphone.

For a total beginner who just wants to play music, presets are their friend, whether using hardware instruments or software.

To javi-bassist, if you have specific questions about understanding the BS2, feel free to PM me.

Thank you. And thank to all of you for the time you took to help me. I have downloaded a couple of synths that can be controled by the BSII or by my other midi controller.
I am completely lost with sounds. I mean, I know a little, but just a little. I have read many websites and a couple of books, but I am just a total beginer. I will try to use presets first and try to feel more comfortable playing it and playing some songs with presets and then I will deep dive into the creation of my own sounds.
Thank you again to all of you

 

[brianrost]

Synth Secrets

This is a good free resource for understanding how sounds are programmed. It goes pretty deep into how the same sound might be approached on different synths because of the different available features. You can skip through the chapters to focus on bass sounds, drum sounds, etc.

Have fun.