get a bass guitar
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I love moog but after testing Minotaur and Mother 32ā¦ wellā¦ Ok moog is great for a lot of reason but i fall in love with Pulse 2 which is way more versatile and has memory for your patches. This synth is crazy, give it a chance 
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Iām still saying he A4 is my favorite sounding bass synth right now.
Someone made this kit and it is a lot of fun
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Yes WALDORF PULSE 2
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Shruthi-1!
Yeah, Roland SH2 is fantastic!
This is good advice ā¦ much depends on the intended use.
@Cisa If we look at what you have already ā¦
The A4 is capable of deep, punchy, and also crunchy bass sounds. The use of the resonant HP-filter can get your speakers to pump heavily. But it will never sound as an original analogue Moog, if this is, what you are after.
The Virus has many options for bass. Two independent filters like the A4 give you at least one resonant HP-filter to generate punch. The various OSC-modes and waveshapes support many different sound characters. Using ring-modulation or FM-modulation can generate dirt and grit and unusual textures. The distortion section and the filter-bank section provide plenty options to tweak a sound ā¦ and letāt not forget ā¦ there is an EQ too
Both synths are multitimbral and from a technical point of view you seem to have already much, what you need. But if you want a dedicated bass synth, follow the advice of @42 and first define, what you want, then listen to various synths and decide, which is giving you the most.
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yup
Thank you all for the replies!
@42: you have reason, I forgot to say what I want from this bass synth.
I play in a Electro-new Wave band. We have 2 setups:
- one with full band (so there is also a real bass-man)
hereās some examples:
http://wearewaves.net/release/promises/
and one only me and singer (more electro one, I plays almost everything).
hereās one example:
https://soundcloud.com/wearewavesmusic/1-what-happened-today-is-useless-promixes-version
NB: in these examples I didnāt owned yet A4 and Ob6, in the next album we are working on, I have changed/improved my sounds very much using OB6 and A4 for everything except VIRUS for leads, fx, strange sounds. The result is more fat/analog and less aggressive/digital one (I donāt want the bass to sound like vst massive or virus patches)
I need either for studio but mainly for live (I use all my setup live, so I need only little desktop stuff, as I use the VIRUS TI as master keyboard for everything).
In my current setup Iām very happy with:
LEADS, STRANGE SOUNDS, FX -> VIRUS
PADS, 80ās sounds -> OB6
some 80ās leads, DRUMS, some bass sounds -> A4
What I miss is some kind of bass sounds like first MODERAT / Trentemoller onesā¦
I have made many bass patches from scratch and modifying presets with A4 (that I like), and VIRUS (that I donāt like after I owned analog stuff like A4 or Ob6, they sounds too digital)
What I need/want is a bass DEEP and with a sound āeasy to tweak with knobs in realtime, easy to programā, with lots of easy āsweet spotsā.
The example of what I need is like the reverb Iāve chosen: I want a bass synth that is like the STRYMON BIGSKY in reverb: easy to program, very low menu diving, portable, with presets (I need them to play live with my band), and with a sound that is āalways sweet spotā.
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Do you mean the bass in MODERAT, 2009, A New Error, or 2013, Bad Kingdom?
IMO this grittyness depends on the OSC/filter combo. There might be some synths, which deliver this straight out of the box, but I canāt tell.
I have made similar sounds with support of audio-FM modulation of the VCF (Voyager/MatrixBrute or the like), with cross-modulation of the VCOs or with digital synths using FM, distortion, etc. It could be possible to do this with the A4 now too, because the new OS provides LFOs at audio-speed AND following the keyboard.
But ā¦ maybe I am wrong and there is a much simpler way to get there. Maybe you can get information about their set-up.
Deep and gritty sounds can be achieved easy with the MiniBrute. The Dreadbox synths could also be worth to check out.
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someone mentioned this to me last time i asked this same questionā¦
I went ahead and decided to move up to the Ambika (poly shruthi) because I had been wanting one of those for a while, and also wanting to get an analog poly for pads, and I figured it could do both with the 6 voices + 6 outputs configuration
turned out to be one of best purchases Ive ever madeā¦ its definitely in my top 5 of favorite synths Ive ever ownedā¦ I got the one with the Roland Juno/MKS filters, built new, only cost me about $625 (which is why I finally pulled the trigger)
yeh it does insane bass, super smooth pads, nasty leads, all kinds of other weirdness in betweenā¦ plus its a nearly perfect synth companion for the OT (all MIDI CCs implemented, can switch patches via program change instantly, so it follows part changing perfectly, has 6 outputs for routing up to 4 mono inputs for fx, etc. etc) ā¦ just an amazing little synth box overallā¦ cant recommend it highly enough
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The Behringer D might be a choice to consider. Failing that, a small eurorack box with either a SE Tonestar or Intellijel Atlantis in it would suit me just fine.
Ok, now first of allāI love that track you linked āWhat Happened Today Is Uselessā and it reminded me of some strange combination of New Order, Depeche Mode, The Cure, and Type 0 Negative mixed together (in a very good way). Iām very impressed!
I know the synth that ties all those bands together, but it doesnāt fit all of your needs (0 knobs, although you CAN use it for live performance with the buttons etc). You might want to consider one regardless of whether you use it for bass or not (it can do very nice bass sounds, though most people never learn to use it well because it takes some effort). You pretty much are missing a Casio CZ-101, CZ-3000, CZ-5000, or CZ-1. The 101 is the only small one. It is a digital synth but very warm sounding (if you leave the ring mod and noise OFF). Every band that you (probably) were inspired by used the CZ-101. BUT, it doesnāt really fit your criteria for bass/knobs, so Iām just mentioning it in case you havenāt thought about it before. Be careful judging the CZ synth family too quickly from youtube videos, it was a BIG part of the entire late 80s-mid 90s sound, including the new wave, post punk, and synth pop stuff. They are much more versatile than most youtube demos show. About 24 seconds in and 2:49 in, the type of sound that many bands used for that synth sound back in the day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9iIHNVh36A Vince Clarke was a big fan and was almost a spokesman for the CZ-101 he loved it so much.
As for something that meets all your criteria, Iām sure some of the other guys will give you some good answers, but here are mine:
First on my list is actually the new MFB Dominion Club because it does what you asked for and sounds amazing, truly. Bad news is that it is not yet released, so we canāt be too sure that the demos are accurate until they begin to ship them out mid-late summer in several months. Also, it does look to have a fair amount of āFunction + other buttonā built in, so perhaps that might put you off. Itās made for live performance though, so I feel like a bit of practice will be all thatās needed.
If that one doesnāt work, I could mention the Moog Slim Phatty (itās hard to find analogs that do great bass, have plenty of knobs, are small, AND have presets, but this one does). Iāve heard somewhat mixed reviews about these and havenāt used or owned one myself, but the bass examples Iāve heard were HUGE and very fat and warm. I strongly considered it for my live setup until I saw the video from Superbooth for the MFB Dominion Club. Iām sure some other members here could tell you more about this one. Moog was also a big part of that sound in the 80s-90s (for those who could afford it). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL0sRcuop28
For a third option, a Novation Bass Station II (or the new Circuit Mono with a better sounding version of the same synth) does all that you ask. To me, it has always sounded a littleā¦something, I donāt know. I know a lot of people love it, but it sounds sort of VST-ish to me or VA-ish. It is very versatile, great for live performance, and has all the features you requested, but the issue might be the sound. It depends on what YOU think about the sound.
Itās a lot of work to actually try to find the right synth to meet all your requirements (presets are the big challenge imo), but Iāll keep going through my bass synths and see if anything else pops up that I think might help.
@42 : for the song, you have reason for the artist you mentionedā¦ they have the best influence for the music we make.
for the advices for the synth:
- Iām curious about the MFB Dominion, Iāll go on youtubeā¦ I can wait some months (or better, I can wait until GAS take possess of my body and mind
) - I didnāt know the Slim Phatty. I used for some experiments in studio a Moog little phatty but I didnāt like it too much (It has a great sounds but Itās not what Iām searching forā¦ I think It has a fantastic filter and good sounds for bass 80ās and 90ās but I have the impression that it was not great for āmodernā fat bass for more electronic based songsā¦ (or probably itās me that couldnāt manage to use it properly)
- I heard many demos for bassstation II but I had the same impression of you. It reminds me too VST-ishā¦
)Thanks to all for all the advices you gave meā¦ in next days I will search in youtube video
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For anyone needing sub bass, I suggest you first try any synth you already have - no matter how humble and/or samples. I have quite a few synths to pick from and for a lot of sub bass needs they all sound nearly the same. I also find that samples do the job nicely.
Iāve also considered going with the Roland tb-03 as a sub bass source. Itās cheap and can be used over midi as a sub bass. But it can also perform all the typical 303 duties with its own sequencer when desired. It also has a trigger input to broaden your creative options (mix internal sequencer with external triggers to get results you would not have when constrained by your own normal hidden mental patterns).
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with one OSC?
I often use only one osc on my minitaur. depends on the needs but can get muddy fast. two osc. sometimes too musical too. I need the bass to generate subtle groove not so much color and musicality. depends on your needs. for me though the a4 itself can do all the musical bass i need (funk, acid, 80ās). i see a bass companion as only a way to save a4 tracks and voices. thus for me i only use external sub bass. no need to āwasteā and a4 voice and track for something that lots of synths can do for me.
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For the size, price and sound; nothing beats a Minitaur for low end oomph. Especially considering you can find them around US $375 on the used market.
And I can confirm, often Iām only using one OSC of the Minitaur to achieve the sound Iām looking for.
My biggest gripe is that the space left open on the corner of my AK isnāt quite big enough to comfortably fit the Minitaur - and still twist the knobs of the AK.
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M32 LFO can be patched as key tracking SUB OSC as well
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indeed. minitaur for $350 or $325 on ebay last night. already got one but crazy to get that for so cheap! my āgripeā (not really - very happy with it) is that there is no way to indicate what patch you are on. not even a light or double digit led (I believe patch storage was added after the initial release). in many ways a good thing though - makes me use my ears 100%. a bit like the lack of patch names on the nord lead - very nice because you no longer read the patch name and get pre-conceived notions of what the patch is to be used for.
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