Favorite "traditional" synth bass tracks

[bayswater]

An EXS24 player such as MachFive 3 is another way to load them into DP.

In addition to the GB synths, the full 13G ESX24 libraries come with MainStage ($29.99) or Logic Pro X ($199.99). I counted 75 synth bass patches just now.

Yes, once you get them in to EXS24, you can save the patch and that can be loaded into Mach Five and save it in that format. The limitation is that most GB sounds come with a lot of effects that won't come across with any of these methods, but do come when you use the methods described by MOTU.

[Dwetmaster]

Perhaps this is a stupid question, but is there a way to play the GB sounds directly in DP?

Phil

I would assume using either IAC Driver or DP's interapplication MIDI to send MIDI From DP to Mainstage.

Then bring the audio back through one of these methods:
1- Your audio interface if it has a loopback feature like CueMix:
2- ADAT or SPDIF loopback to stay in the Digital Realm
3- Analog Loopback through some Cables
4- You can also use some kind of Audio routing software like Jack or Soundflower.

[bayswater]

Perhaps this is a stupid question, but is there a way to play the GB sounds directly in DP?

Phil

I would assume using either IAC Driver or DP's interapplication MIDI to send MIDI From DP to Mainstage.

Then bring the audio back through one of these methods:
1- Your audio interface if it has a loopback feature like CueMix:
2- ADAT or SPDIF loopback to stay in the Digital Realm
3- Analog Loopback through some Cables
4- You can also use some kind of Audio routing software like Jack or Soundflower.

Yes, I use DP Interapp MIDI and Soundflower (the 64 channel version) to connect EXS24 in Logic.

[Phil O]

Thanks again guys.

Phil

[monkey man]

For moog-based, funky bass parts you can't go past George Duke IMHO. Yes, I'm extremely biased and have every single album of his; he's been my favourite artist most of my life.

I'm thinking of his '70s stuff. Might be worth checking out if Wifey's willing to play his fusiony-funk style, Phil.

[philbrown]

For moog-based, funky bass parts you can't go past George Duke IMHO. Yes, I'm extremely biased and have every single album of his; he's been my favourite artist most of my life.

I'm thinking of his '70s stuff. Might be worth checking out if Wifey's willing to play his fusiony-funk style, Phil.

I don't know how I could have forgotten George Duke- what an amazing talent! I used to have some trio stuff he did on vinyl with (I think) Ndugu on drums. I'll look that up on Spotify. Besides being a killer synth player his Rhodes work was fantastic. Always seemed like a fun, super-nice guy, too. Thanks for the reminder, MM- exactly why I started this thread (to get some inspiration on sounds).

EDIT- MM I see George has a LOT of stuff on Spotify. Any specific tracks you would recommend?

We're having a blast with this Sub 37 Moog! It's deep and even has a full editor/librarian for the Mac, so she's playing away and I'm tweaking the sounds at my computer at the same time. Great stuff.

[Tonio]

For moog-based, funky bass parts you can't go past George Duke IMHO. Yes, I'm extremely biased and have every single album of his; he's been my favourite artist most of my life.

I'm thinking of his '70s stuff. Might be worth checking out if Wifey's willing to play his fusiony-funk style, Phil.

+ 1-- Dukey stick

[monkey man]

For moog-based, funky bass parts you can't go past George Duke IMHO. Yes, I'm extremely biased and have every single album of his; he's been my favourite artist most of my life.

I'm thinking of his '70s stuff. Might be worth checking out if Wifey's willing to play his fusiony-funk style, Phil.

I don't know how I could have forgotten George Duke- what an amazing talent! I used to have some trio stuff he did on vinyl with (I think) Ndugu on drums. I'll look that up on Spotify. Besides being a killer synth player his Rhodes work was fantastic. Always seemed like a fun, super-nice guy, too. Thanks for the reminder, MM- exactly why I started this thread (to get some inspiration on sounds).

EDIT- MM I see George has a LOT of stuff on Spotify. Any specific tracks you would recommend?

We're having a blast with this Sub 37 Moog! It's deep and even has a full editor/librarian for the Mac, so she's playing away and I'm tweaking the sounds at my computer at the same time. Great stuff.

Fantastic, Phil; I'm so glad the suggestion wasn't wasted on you!

Yeah, that was Leon "Ndugu" Chancler, probably my all-time-favourite name! He's worked with everyone, really:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_%22Ndugu%22_Chancler

Yes, his Rhodes work, well, he sure stretched that thing. I've not heard anyone take it to more places. North Beach on "Faces In Reflection" springs to mind. Everyone's gotta hear that.

I reckon I could say the same for his clav work, really, and he wasn't too shabby with his Arp and Moogs either.

Yes, a man of love. I was devastated when he passed a few years back, not least because it meant that there'd be no more material from him.

OK Phil, I've had a look at the '80s and '70s for you. I had to draw the line somewhere 'cause I've got 38 solo albums sitting in my fusion folder. I also scanned the recesses of my mind for '80s pop that featured synth bass and had something more to it than the average fodder of the day.

Further to that, I had to pop my head down to floor level, up close to my Mac speaker in order to be sure of the nature of the bass (electric or synth). Of all the Macs I've had, this 2012 MP has the most pathetic speaker by a mile. It's the quietest (the volume control in VLC is the only way I can get it loud enough to listen to from a seated position!), and has no bass response to speak of. I have to listen for harmonics to identify electric or acoustic bass, and the nature of attack for synth lines; they poke out just a little... usually. So, needle-dropping everything from the '70s and '80s (and dropping my head and straining to hear anything!) has taken... a very long time! I'm just saying this 'cause I want you to know - I'm grateful that you asked; had a terrible year thus far and I relish the chance to do something for someone, and actually feel... useful!

Thank you Phil, and I sincerely hope you and Wifey can find something you're willing and able to play from this lot.


Some International Pop

Michael Jackson
Baby Be Mine
Thriller
P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
Off the Wall
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
Billie Jean

Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney
Say Say Say

Madonna
Holiday - By far her best song IMHO, and the only one I can listen to!

Joe Jackson
Steppin' Out

Mr. Mister
Kyrie

Simply Red
I'm Gonna Do the Right Thing

Lionel Richie
Dancing on the Ceiling

David Bowie
Fasion

Harold Faltermeyer
Axel F

A Flock of Seagulls
I Ran (So Far Away)

Howard Jones
What is Love?

Womack & Womack
Teardrops

The Firm
Star Trekkin' - when you’re feelin’ zany

Debarge
Rhythm of the Night

Eurythmics
Sweet Dreams
Here Comes The Rain Again

George Benson-Give Me The Night
Give Me The Night
Feel Like Making Love

Quincy Jones
Ai No Corrida
Razzamatazz



Some Aussie Pop

Rockmelons-Tales Of The City
New Groove

John Farnham-Whispering Jack
Pressure Down
Reasons
No One Comes Close
Love to Shine - more a DX7-style bass, but it might work for you

Tina Arena-Don't Ask
Chains - damned if I can hear any bass at all, but IIRC it’s a deep Moogy sound…

Tina Arena-Strong as Steel
Strong As Steel
The Machine's Breaking Down



Fusion Artists

1981 Lee Ritenour-Rit I
Mr. Briefcase

1982 Lee Ritenour-Rit II
Promises, Promises
Tied Up

1984 Lee Ritenour-Banded Together
Amaretto - straight 8th synth-bass groove
I'm Not Responsible - another straight-8th groove, a bit like ’80s Robert Palmer
Other Love - classic ’80s off-beat-snare-emphasised bop, just like “I Can Dream About You”
Sunset Drivers - this is the reason I thought of Lee for you - I did an analysis of it in the ‘80s at AE school (I chose it)
The Rit Variations II - nice little fusiony challenge (I couldn’t possibly play it on any instrument!)



OK, now, finally, on to George Duke

1980s

Plenty of busy synth-bass lines in typical ’80s R&B pop-fusion, if that’s your bag, in these albums. I verified this but skipped over them ‘cause I felt the ’70s calling me…

1989 Night After Night
1986 George Duke-George Duke
1985 Thief in the Night
1984 Rendezvous
1983 George Duke-Gardian of the Light

Things started to change around this time - less-busy, more-meaningful bass lines, so I went into more detail:

1983 George Duke & Stanley Clarke-Clarke/Duke Project II
Atlanta - rolling groove

1983 George Duke-Gardian Of The Light
Celebrate - a fun, rolling-groove instrumental

1982 George Duke-Dream On
Let Your Love Shine
Someday
Son Of Reach For It (The Funky Dream)

1981 George Duke & Stanley Clarke-Clarke/Duke Project I
Winners - Wifey might get bored - straight 8ths
Let's Get Started
Wild Dog - A lot like Dukey Stick



1970s

Now, as soon as we hit the ’70s, we’re going to the zone I’ve been in since I was a teen!


1979 3 solo albums(!) and “Sleep Dirt” with Frank Zappa. Brazilian Love Affair was fantastic, but not much synth bass that year.

1978 George Duke-Don't Let Go
The Future
Dukey Stick

1977 George Duke-Reach for It
Reach For It - Dukey-Stick vibe, but you might not want to repeat the chorus quite so much!

1976 George Duke-The Dream/Solo Keyboard Album
Vulcan Mind Probe
Mr McFreeze - If you guys can play this one, you’re my heroes and should probably be in some sort of Hall of Fame. He did it on his own, the freak!

1976 George Duke-Liberated Fantasies
Back to Where We Never Left - could be big fun for Wifey

1975 George Duke-The Aura Will Prevail
Foosh - epic slow, funky, bluesy groove

1975 George Duke-I Love The Blues, She Heard My Cry
Someday - classic funky-ballad synth bass - fun for Wifey

1974 George Duke-Feel
Rashid - another epic slow, funky, groove and potential fun for Wifey
Cora Jobege - fusion journey, changing grooves
Funny Funk - Dukey Stick had its origins here, I reckon


Phew! I won’t dare tell you how long that took, Phil, but as I said earlier, I’m so grateful and honoured to hopefully be of assistance. If you only find one or two that you like, that'll be fantastic, mate.

Enjoy!

[Pokes head out of music-room door...]
"Oh!"

[Martini Hill]

Gino Vannelli for sure, as well as Thompson Twins. Really heavy Moog bass. I love my Juno 106 for that type of sound!!

Sent from my XT1030 using Tapatalk

[mhschmieder]

Phil, I'm mostly just reading your initial post right now as I'm pretty far behind on email/web/etc. after a super-busy week. Mostly I just want to ask what the goal is behind the question. Are you wondering what sorts of sounds you might need to patch program yourself?

I have a Minimoog Voyager. Not sure if there is patch compatibility, but I have programmed about 100 or so of my own patches, many of which are loosely based on ELP sounds as I still find those the most organic, along with Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo, who also is a wizard at Moog and other synth programming when it comes to highly reactive and expressive sounds (e.g. the synth solo on their cover of "Secret Agent Man").

While I agree that some sounds are overused, one could say the same of piano or trumpet for that matter, so if you're starting from a highly expressive programmed patch and/or have a lot of controllers or patch cables at your disposal (for complete madness, watch some live Devo videos or Keith Emerson pre-1978). In other words, make the sound, or the performance, your own.

Certainly the most "classic" sounds are often just some basic sine, square, and saw waves. It makes a HUGE difference to have three vs. two (or especially one) oscillators. I almost bought a new Moog myself as I was intrigued by the Taurus reissue and its follow-ons (I forget whether Sub37 is the latest in that line or not). But I decided the Voyager is enough for me for Moog; extremely versatile.

A bit later on, you start hearing more Osc Sync type sounds such as on The Cars' albums. Resonance is a big part of a lot of classic and post-classic sounds. Slight detuning of one oscillator makes the sound phatter without sounding out of tune. It can also thicken things up to use different wave shapes on the different oscillators and/or different "lengths" (these are analogous to church organ pipes and B3 drawbars, as synths after all are an extension of the organ family, and usually represent octaves or other partials such as fifths).

[mhschmieder]

I'd like to add, that often an FM-based bass can be more effective and might blend better.

I have recently revived some not-quite-finished synth projects, and am finding that I am many times replacing analog bass with FM bass -- especially when there's already at least several other layers of analog synthesis going on.

An advantage of FM Bass is that it can be made to sound pretty close to a fretless bass or even a picked precision bass, and can be a bit more focused and articulate and thus seem more energetic than an analog bass sound (which often sounds like a lead that is an octave or so down).

MOST of the 80's hits -- including the ones mentioned by MonkeyMan -- were Yamaha DX7 and its descendants, and for good reason.

OTOH, FM synthesis can easily start sounding phasey -- especially in the lower frequencies.

The lucky thing is that there is usually some level of FM synthesis available on many analog synths, but bear in mind that this is often a somewhat different technology than the DX7, as the latter is really Phase Modulation based but was derived from a study of FM Radio technologies, and the FM on ana analog synth is going to be subtractive synthesis based for the most part.

[philbrown]

Thanks Monkey Man and mhschmieder! I'll go through your list MM - thanks a bunch- WOW! I mainly just wanted various inspiration and maybe some reminders of tracks I've forgotten so this has been fun. I've always liked synth bass in general. I know what you're saying about FM sounds mhschmieder. I have some cool ways to do that with my modular synth which we can use for recording via a Modcan module called the FMVDO that is fantastic. I'm good with programming as I've been doing it since the early 70's, I even sold DX7 patches out of Keyboard magazine for a couple of years. I've owned every Jupiter and Juno and many more synths and have 30 videos on youtube of modular synth patches. It's just a matter of programming this Moog for each song, which we are doing every day- it's great fun and the Moog 37 is WAY deeper than I ever would have guessed. The on-screen editor is really handy, as I mentioned- she can be playing the song and I'm tweaking the sound on screen. We have our first practice coming up with it in a couple of hours and we're excited to hear it in context!

Thanks again everyone for ideas and input, much appreciated.

I'm OK with patching

[Shooshie]

Synth bass is one of the rare things that synths do better than acoustics. Not saying I don't like acoustic bass, but synth bass can be so... interesting. I've used synth basses in otherwise all acoustic recordings, just to fatten it up. Of course, I don't do that if "acoustic" is an important criteria for the album, but when I can get away with it, I love to add synth basses, even if it's just barely there for effect.

Shoosh

[philbrown]

Synth bass is one of the rare things that synths do better than acoustics. Not saying I don't like acoustic bass, but synth bass can be so... interesting. I've used synth basses in otherwise all acoustic recordings, just to fatten it up. Of course, I don't do that if "acoustic" is an important criteria for the album, but when I can get away with it, I love to add synth basses, even if it's just barely there for effect.

Shoosh

That's cool and surprising Shoosh. Isn't that cheatng, though??

My wife was a like a little kid at rehearsal yesterday beaming from ear to ear. She loves it and even mentioned playing synth bass exclusively. What I like is being able to carve out an exact tonality and touch response that fits each song perfectly. "Just a tiny bit less resonance" "A little taste of that octave up" - that sort of thing. It borders on sound design (sorta) and cooking metaphors come to mind.

[philbrown]

Another big shout out to Monkey Man for taking the time to make such a cool list!

I admit I'm skipping a couple of the Michael Jackson ones though, as I heard those EVERY SINGLE BREAK at a club we played 6 nights a week for a couple of years!