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When programming, don't expect to be overly aided by the display, which is of the numerical, three-digit LED type, only adorned with > and < lights to show whether a parameter's value is higher or lower than its preset value.
Novation put as many controls as possible onto Bass Station II, so you can totally lose yourself in discovering and creating new sounds. Of course, Novation also laid out all those controls in the clearest and most useful way, to keep the sound design as straightforward and fun as possible. Save and Load Patches Firstly you have a choice of Classic and Acid filter. The former is variable so the slope can be adjusted between 12 and 24dB and the type adjusted between low, band or high pass. The Acid filter, however, is a fixed 4-pole low pass based on diode ladder types ‘found in various synths popular in the 1980s’ according to the manual. We’re pretty sure they mean the aforementioned Roland TB- 303 as you get splashes of its acid like squealing across presets, but more on these later. The original front panel has been 3D modelled and additional controls have been added for ease of use. The Filter envelope has its own set of ADSR controls and OSC1 and OSC2 have their own section for pitch modulation and PWM control.Completely control the frequency triggered by each key press, giving your scales another dimension. All of this remains exactly the same on the AFX Station, as does the layout of the knobs and switches. The main differences between the Bass Station II and the AFX Station are purely cosmetic, although it does come with a new preset bank from some fairly high‑profile sound designers, although sadly none from Mr James himself.
Bass Station II's secret sound-design weapon is envelope retriggering. It’s now possible to configure envelopes to retrigger once the decay stage has ended, opening up a whole range of new possibilities. The Pulse Width rotary comes into its own when either of the primary oscillators is set to square or pulse waves and controls the width of that cycle. Again this can be modulated by the Mod Envelope, manually or with the second LFO. Experimenting with this you can get some great edgy and very big sounds, with the Mod Envelope especially taking a dramatic role. Indeed, by exploring this section I found I’d created a pretty impressive hoover like sound from scratch. Press save and that’s preset number 70 in the clip! There's no screen or conventional menu system; the three-character display is perfectly adequate for patch selection and for showing the numeric values arising from panel tweaks. I frequently turned to the display when adjusting the various bi-polar controls, because spotting a '0' there was usually easier than finding the mid-point of a fairly small knob. An 'original value' display (consisting of two arrow-shaped LEDs) helpfully indicates whether the twiddled control is currently higher or lower than the value stored.
Equally at home on stage and in the studio, Bass Station II is a classic analogue synthesiser that can sound as warm and mellow or aggressive and hard as you want it to. Modulate the filter to make it sing, crank the distortion to toughen up that bass, and push the resonance to self-oscillation to get those lead lines screaming. Bass Station II has a pure analogue audio signal path, reviving the spirit of the original Bass Station with an all-new design optimised for bass. Get instant inspiration – record notes, ties, rests and rhythms in real time using the step sequencer and arpeggiator, then store them for use with any patch. LFO: Two LFOs each selectable between: ♣ Triangle ♣ Sawtooth ♣ Square ♣ Sample and hold ♣ Both LFOs independently adjustable between rate and delay time ♣ Key sync LFO 1 & 2 ♣ LFO slew on LFO 1& 2 (low pass filter on the LFO waveform)
The Bass Station 2 boasts an analogue signal path, leaving the modulation sources (LFOs and Envelopes) in the hands of very capable software. Like the original, its oscillators are DCOs rather than VCOs and anyone who takes this information as justification to flounce away like a wounded teenager could be missing out. For a start, the coarse and fine tuning controls have a higher resolution than many synths with patch memories. Perhaps due to the limitations of seven-bit MIDI CCs, subtle tuning and detuning is often neglected. Here, although you'll never hit Minimoog swirliness, the oscillators rub up against each other with more warmth than DCOs typically manage. Each oscillator's nominal range is 16' to 2', with sine and triangle joining the regular saw and pulse waves. Pulse width and pitch may be swept by an envelope or an LFO, and since there are two LFOs, you can indulge in the luxury of slow, spooky vibrato and fast PWM.Note that you will need to have the latest version of each unit's firmware installed. This can be applied by running the relevant product's installer: Bass Station II is now a paraphonic monosynth, because the pitches of each of the two oscillators can be controlled separately in its single-voice architecture. Two notes can be played at a time rather than just one, and users can get interesting interactions through the Ring and Filter Mod.
The dissapointment came when I loaded some sysex patches from my songs and sustituted the plugin for the real thing. The patches sounded quite similar but not quite right. Select triggering mode between: ♣ Single trigger (holds envelope state when new note is played) ♣ Multi trigger (re-triggers with every new note played) ♣ Autoglide (engages portamento) There is also a VCA limiter All of which would suggest a capable synth in its own right but the feature set is actually dramatically expanded by a series of Function buttons, which can be enabled/ deactivated by pressing Function and then pressing one of the keyboard's keys.
May 2017 Novation announces Peak Polyphonic Synth and Circuit Mono Station Paraphonic Analogue Synth Finally, an Effects section is included, which features just two controls - a post-filter Distortion and an 'Osc(illator) Filter Mod' dial, which toys with level, using Oscillator 2 as its source. Generally, the panel has everything you'll need to program some quite intricate patches, either by modifying existing factories or by starting from an empty location and setting to it with gusto. Which is what I did next. Digging In The keyboard mechanism is a two-octave (25 note) velocity sensitive synth-action keyboard with full-size keys and assignable aftertouch
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