Navigating PRIME BASS

Shift: Edit this value to shift the selected pattern's start (entry) position. Alternatively, you can drag the pattern's rhythm display left or right.

End: Edit this value to reduce the selected pattern's length so that it will loop earlier. Alternatively, you can drag the terminating flag left or right.

Tempo: With the three tempo choices in the drop-down menu, you can switch the selected pattern's tempo from normal (1:1) to half time (1/2) or double time (×2). Please note that there is also a global time scaling feature on the Playback page (refer to The Playback Page). Its tempo factor will be multiplied by each pattern's individual tempo factor.

Style (available for single note patterns only): From this drop-down menu, you can select three different playing techniques: open, muted and flageolet, each played with fingers or plectrum. For some of the patterns, you can also choose a pre-defined mixture of them (mixed). Choose Original to hear the pattern in its original state.

Fret Pos (available for single note patterns only): Change this value to make the virtual bassist play in higher fret positions, which typically results in a more mellow tone.

Vol: Change this value to adjust the volume of the selected pattern, ranging from -24 dB up to +24 dB in 0.1 dB increments.

Phrase and One Pitch modes: Some patterns contain melodic phrases, while others are based on just one single pitch. For more information, see Phrase and One Pitch Mode, MIDI Drag and Drop.

To search a pattern by attributes (and not by rhythm), make sure the Rhythm Search strip is cleared. If it is not, click the Clear button next to the strip. Then refine your search by selecting any of the attributes, such as Muted, Finger, 4/4, etc. If you want to bypass a category (such as Plec/Finger/Slap), deselect all attributes of that category. Consequently, you would need to deselect all attributes to display all patterns.

To search a pattern by attributes and rhythm, first, select/deselect the desired attributes as described above. Then, enter a rhythm on a 16ths note basis into the Rhythm Search strip. With each new rhythm snippet that you enter, the pattern list will be refreshed in real-time, sorted by the similarity of the desired rhythm to the rhythm of all patterns available in the library, in descending order.

To 'tap in' a rhythm: first press the Record button and hear the metronome count-in. Then start playing a rhythm on your MIDI keyboard or click on the 'Tap' button. You can start at any time, so you can also start with a pickup beat. After 2 bars the recording will automatically stop, and the search results will be listed.

To search for patterns similar to the selected one, you would need to search for patterns with a rhythm similar to the selected pattern's rhythm. Instead of entering and copying the rhythm manually, you can simply transfer the rhythm of the selected pattern into the Rhythm Search strip by clicking on the Similar button.

This will start a search and put the selected pattern at the very top of the listed results, since that pattern matches its own rhythm a 100 percent, of course. Rhythmically similar patterns will be listed subsequently.

To play a preview of a pattern, click on any of the listed patterns. This will also display the pattern's rhythm structure in the second strip. The preview playback will sync to the host tempo and transport position if the transport is running. However, only one selectable pitch can be previewed. Incoming MIDI notes will be ignored.

To stop the preview playback, simply click on the playing pattern again or, if the host transport is running, stop it.

To change the preview pitch, select a pitch in the top drop-down menus or value dragger.

To load a pattern, simply double-click the pattern or click the tick button. (If you want to cancel the process, click the X button instead.)

To load a pattern to a different slot than the currently selected one, choose one of the eight available pattern slots from the drop-down menu in the upper right corner. Confirm by clicking the tick button, or double-click the respective pattern.

The selected pattern will now be loaded into the selected slot; a previous pattern of that slot will be replaced. The pattern browser will be closed.

D.I. SIGNAL - Drive: The main signal of the bass comes with a variable Drive control, which adds tube and transformer saturation to the signal to create a dense and solid bass sound without adding additional effects.

D.I. SIGNAL - Tone: Use the Tone control to adjust the brightness of the D.I. signal.

MIC 1, 2: In addition to the pickup signal, you can add the acoustic signals of two different microphones, each yielding a distinct sonic characteristic. Use the Volume and Pan controls to adjust the volume and panning of each microphone. If you don’t want to use a mic, it should be switched off with its square on/off button at the top to save memory.

DAMPING - Decay: You can set the decay time of notes by adjusting the Decay control. To adjust the decay in real-time, right-click to assign a MIDI controller to this knob. This way, it is possible to emulate continuous progressions from very short notes to a gradually longer decay or vice versa.

NOISE - Frets: Use this knob to adjust the volume of fret noises, which are automatically added upon changing pitches. When playing melodies or pattern pitch changes, the instrument emulates fingering noises and the ringing of the section of the strings between the saddle and the left hand of the bassist.

NOISE - Noise Floor: Use this knob to raise the noise floor. The noise floor is switched off while the instrument is not playing.

TUNING: Use this knob to detune the bass.

To change the order of the effects, simply drag and drop the respective icon in the effects chain left or right.

To bypass an effect, click the yellow square button next to its name.

To bypass the entire effects chain, click on the yellow square to the left of the Amps & Effects page title. Please consider that the effects still require processing power, unless the effects chain is cleared.

To clear the entire effects chain, click on the Clear All button in the upper right corner and confirm.

To remove an effect, click on the Clear Slot button on the right side.

To load a different effect into the current slot, click the magnifier icon next to the inspector heading or click the magnifier icon that appears when hovering the name of an effect slot. This will open the AMPS & FX BROWSER. In that browser, click on the desired effect to load it into the selected slot. If the effect slot wasn’t empty, the loaded effect will automatically replace the previously loaded one.

PERFORMANCE - Humanize: Use the Humanize knob to set the amount of quantization added to all patterns. In the right position, the timing of the original performance will remain unaltered. At the left position, the performance will be fully quantized.

PERFORMANCE - Swing: Use the Swing knob to set the amount of swing added to each pattern, either on a 16th note or a 8th note basis (selectable via switch). A setting of 0% would represent the original state of all patterns.

PERFORMANCE - Feel: Use the Feel control to shift accents in a pattern from the Downbeat to the Offbeat and vice versa to adapt the accentuation of a pattern to your needs. Depending on the current pattern, make sure to select the correct time base (16th vs. 8th notes), which applies for both Swing and Feel.

TIMING - Shift: Increase the offset for a laid back feel or decrease the offset to have the virtual bassist play ahead of the beat.

LATCH MODE: After you have released all keys, the pattern playback will automatically stop within the note duration specified in the LATCH MODE drop-down menu.

PATTERN SYNC: Use the drop-down menu to select one of two available sync modes.

DEFAULT MODE (melody instrument): In the melody instrument, you can combine melodic playing and pattern playback into one cohesive performance. When set to Melody, you can play melodies by default, and holding down a pattern keyswitch will temporarily trigger a pattern. When set to Pattern, the instrument will perform patterns by default, and holding down one of the melody keyswitches will temporarily allow you to play melodies (for more information, refer to Combining Melodies and Patterns).

TEMPO: Here, you can select between three tempo ratios 1⁄2 (half time), 1:1 (normal time), or ×2 (double time), which will globally affect the pattern playback speed relative to the host tempo. Please note that there is also a local time scaling feature available for each pattern (refer to The Pattern Inspector). The individual patterns' tempo factors will each be multiplied by the global tempo factor.