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THE SYNTH BASS THREAD

ERIC31

ERIC31

Jul 1, 2002
2,674
1,980
Maricopa, AZ
#1
I did a search before starting this but didn't find any threads specifically on this subject.

Ok now before you all cry "off with the infidels head!" :hiding: let me explain myself.

I've recently acquired an M-Audio Venom synthesizer with the main goal of developing some synth bass skills to go along with my bass guitar skills. It's very programmable and has some really nice bass patches already onboard. I'm no purist and whatever makes bass noises is ok by me. I'm very much into 80's music and there is a lot of synth bass especially in the new wave genre, not to mention soul/r&b from that era.

I've been having fun with this. Some of my influences in this are Gerald V. Casale from Devo, Patrick O'Hearn from Missing Persons, Kate from The B-52's and lots of synthpop.

Anyone else into this besides me? What synths do you use? :D

solo_shadow.jpg
 
#8
I'm using a Roland Gaia for probably 40% of my current gig (hip-hop/r&b/dance stuff). I'm thinking of getting a second keyboard of some kind to fill in the gaps, while playing bass on the Gaia.
 
#13
Nice to see others doing this. I don't have any formal keyboard/piano training so I've just been playing along to MP3s and picking up tips from various how-to-play videos on YouTube. Any other tips from you more experienced players?
 
#17
thiocyclist said:
I always wanted bass guitar to be able to do synth bass, but they are very distinctive instruments in reality. I do some software synth stuff for recordings nowadays. It's a good tool to have in your kit.
Click to expand...

I tried going this route, through pedals, mainly, but found that if I truly wanted synth tones I would either have to shell out big bucks for a dedicated synth processor like what Roland makes, or just bite the bullet and get an actual synth. It takes a bit of practice, but isn't the hardest thing I've learned to do. It's actually really fun!
 
#18
I have a Roland Gaia as well. Lots of fun for tweaking and big fat sounds. Also an old JV-2080. My first and favorite is the GR-33b. Hard to control sometimes but it has the best organic tones of them all and I still record with it for certain sounds as the envelope, being built from a plucked string, is quite different than one from a trigger.
 
#20
NicJimBass said:
I tried going this route, through pedals, mainly, but found that if I truly wanted synth tones I would either have to shell out big bucks for a dedicated synth processor like what Roland makes, or just bite the bullet and get an actual synth. It takes a bit of practice, but isn't the hardest thing I've learned to do. It's actually really fun!
Click to expand...

I honestly think we (bassists) are misguided to want to make a bass guitar sound like a synth or vice-versa. Part of what makes these instruments sound like they do is not only the built-in ADSR differences but also the way we interact with the strings or keys... A lot of bass lines played on synth "feel" different and people end up coming up with different things on a keyboard than they would have with strings. Also remember the way keys are all lined out in half steps and on a bass we have another layer of interval thinking that shapes the intervals we prefer. When I solo on the keyboard, I get different ideas and I really like them. It is liberating. They are different instruments. This is a good thing. Besides isn't it great to know a little keyboard? Makes you a lot more versatile.
 

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