Subject:software for making basslines

Posted by: pack

Date:12/26/2002 12:46:36 AM

What is a good program that I can use to create bass line grooves by playing the notes on my computer keyboard. For hip hop etc. Some type of bass synth software that allows me to play the grooves with my computer keyboard So I can record short bassline loops to wavs for use in acid.

Subject:RE: software for making basslines

Reply by: groovewerx

Date:12/26/2002 6:53:15 AM

rebirth
reason

Subject:RE: software for making basslines

Reply by: dkistner

Date:12/26/2002 7:27:53 AM

Harmony Assistant is a great and inexpensive scoring program that has many features allowing for automatic creation of accompaniments, rhythms, and drum staves. The Guillon brothers, who developed it, work tirelessly to improve this program...a new update (always free to registered users) comes out every few months, and it's a very powerful program. Melody Assistant is even cheaper, and it's shareware, but I'm not sure if it allows for keyboard note entry.

Demos are available at www.myriad-online.com. Take a look at the program comparisons, which include some screen shots of how the accompaniment feature works. I've worked with HA for several years now, and I've yet to plumb its depths. The GoldBase digital instrument set, if you spring for it, is quite good; I've used it to render out waves for bass lines and such. You can use soundfonts with it as well, either directly with a Soundblaster card or by importing them. And, importantly, you can import/export midi.

Subject:RE: software for making basslines

Reply by: ATP

Date:12/26/2002 8:47:15 AM

there is a freeware VSTi called Vivaldi, which features a few good bass instruments. if you want an even better program try out reFX Slayer. it's actually a set of electric guitars (with heavy distortion), but it features a few slick bass sounds as well. this program is not freeware however.

Subject:RE: software for making basslines

Reply by: dkistner

Date:12/26/2002 9:10:19 AM

I want to just say Vivaldi, and Ganymed, are really great freeware synths. There are a few presets in Ganymed that are just out of this world. These, of course, are for after you get your notes into midi.

Subject:RE: software for making basslines

Reply by: spectre1

Date:12/26/2002 12:40:53 PM

A few other decent freeware programs:

Refx Claw (kinda a 303 emulator): http://www.refx.net/products/Claw.htm

Muon Tau (another 303ish sounding one):

http://www.muon-software.com/html/tau.html

Steinberg VB1 (more realistic sounding bass):

http://www.steinberg.net/en/ps/products/vst_instruments/vb1/index.php?sid=9aaa1dba472c1ed5fff4cd5af9877a68


Claw and Tau both have bigger brothers that are both reasonably priced (Beast and Tau Pro, respectively).

Subject:RE: software for making basslines

Reply by: pack

Date:12/26/2002 3:05:07 PM

thanks guys for the great suggestions. I tried vb1 but how do you make sound with it? and also vivalidi which is a bunch of settings but I saw no interface for playing notes on my computer keyboard. I'm new to this :(

Subject:RE: software for making basslines

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:12/26/2002 9:22:01 PM

Basically, unless you have a MIDI keyboard, you'll have to go through something like the Piano Roll Editor in order to enter notes to route through to Vivaldi.

Use CTRL+ALT+Q on your keyboard to insert (and name and save) a new MIDI track. Double click the track's icon in the track list and click the Piano Roll Editor tab. This is where you can enter data to be played back. (Don't forget to route the MIDI track to Vivaldi via the Device Selection button.)

HTH,
Iacobus

Subject:RE: software for making basslines

Reply by: groovewerx

Date:12/29/2002 10:07:16 AM

Harmony Assistant sounds like a creative tool vs a tone generator. i'll try it and post feedback.

Subject:RE: software for making basslines

Reply by: dkistner

Date:12/29/2002 10:42:05 AM

Harmony Assistant is a scoring program. It's similar in style to Cubase's score editor. You can enter notes via the keyboard using shortcuts, or you can drop them onto the score using your mouse. You can also configure it to take input from an external keyboard. It's easy to use, easy to get into, but very powerful under the hood for those who want that. HA has a basic digital sound set that comes with it (so you don't need to worry about playing midi with soundfonts, although you can do that too), a higher quality digital sound set you can download (it's mentioned somewhere on the site), and a very high quality Goldbase set you can order on CD. Not VSTi-compatible, alas, although people are trying to talk Myriad into adding that functionality.

I compose in HA--much of it manually, although I've been getting into the automatic accompaniment features more lately--then export a midi file to bring into Acid or another VSTi-compatible sequencer. I play my compositions digitally in HA to get a rough feel for the instruments I'll be using, then apply specific VSTis to the midi files in the other programs. Works for me.

Subject:RE: software for making basslines

Reply by: DjXSoundz

Date:12/29/2002 5:19:17 PM

for hip hop basses, buy a KORG MICROKORG i bought it two days ago and WOAH! the basses on that thing are magical

i sware!


dj xsoundz