Novation Bass Station II Analogue Monosynth – includes 64 factory patches, pattern-based step sequencer and arpeggiator, two oscillators plus an additional sub oscillator

Product Information

By now the sound I’ve been accidentally creating as I work through the synth is taking on a life of its own and I’m starting to truly believe I’m some kind of analogue synth genius – a slightly less good looking Jean Michel Jarre perhaps. Anyway, my sound is huge, it’s fat and it’s very dirty. What do I need now? Overdrive! Yep, just in case you need it Bass Station II’s signal path encounters an overdrive circuit which determines the amount of distortion you can add (it actually comes in pre filter).

The keyboard mechanism is a two-octave (25 note) velocity sensitive synth-action keyboard with full-size keys and assignable aftertouch Classic analogue filter – switch between low-, high – and band-pass modes with 12 and 24dB/octave slopes – with an aggressive overdrive As a starter synth, the layout is amazing, very easy to follow the signal flow on the synth. It also has a great function that shows how far you are away from a selected patch’s original setting when you twist a knob, a great learning tool. Featuring two tuneable oscillators, plus a sub-oscillator for enhancing the all-important low end, as well as noise and ring modulation, Bass Station II more than delivers when it comes to generating raw tones. It's also got two distinct analogue filter types – the Classic multi-mode filter of the original Bass Station and the 24dB/octave Acid filter, with its darker, smoother sound – plus plenty of modulation in the shape of two LFOs and a pair of ADSR envelopes. Analogue synth layout includes dedicated controls for all major parameters enabling instant hands-on control of the sound engine.

Cookies

Both oscillator’s pitches can be modulated by LFO1 which has four waveforms, a speed and delay selector plus a depth rotary. They can also be modulated by a Modulation Envelope (ADSR sliders) the depth of which is controlled by another rotary. Both options tend to give you pitch effects from anything like vibrato (subtle adjustments to LFO1 will give you this) to more dramatic movement over a longer period with the Mod Envelope. 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. Other added features include new fixed-duration envelopes, extended control over the sub-oscillator, the ability to have individual oscillator pitches glide independently, and also to set the number of times an envelope retriggers. When recording a sequence, it's worth keeping an eye on the display, because this is the only visual cue to which sequence you're about to overwrite. This is one of just a few anomalies; it arises because the selected sequence is stored in each patch and its number might conflict with the sequence-selector switch's actual position. Notes are entered in step time, along with rests and ties. As an extra bonus, the sequencer faithfully captures note velocity and transmits the patterns out into the world over MIDI/USB. It's therefore very practical to send the results into your DAW.

The limited display encourages you to use your ears rather than your eyes and is therefore no bad thing" Now a classic, its available as a software plug-in that has been carefully modelled to recreate the distinctive analogue-digital character of the original. The top half of this monophonic, monotimbral synth is dedicated to the pots, switches, and sliders used to coax audio out of it. All of these are sensibly split into different sections, including the Master section, Oscillator section, LFO section, Filter section, Arpeggiator section, Envelopes section, Effects section and Mixer section. So, for example, in the Master section, you'll find the three-character alphanumeric LED and volume dial while the Filter section is home to the large rotary knob used to control the filter's cut-off frequency or its center frequency. The layout looks a little crowded at first, but everything is grouped together logically and it soon becomes second nature to make tweaks and changes. The build quality is decent, but not outstanding, though.The very big Frequency control dial is the dramatic one you will return to for massive sonic changes while the resonance dial does its thing, enhancing or reducing frequencies around that set by the frequency dial. It adds growl and a lot of edge to whatever sounds you are working with. Apr 2010 Daniel Stawczyk (Status) announces Christmas Sale on Discovery Pro and V-Station Soundsets (20% Off) Two Oscillators that have been carefully modelled to preserve the precise tonal character of the classic sawtooth and square waveforms of the original instruments.