Using PRIME BASS

To change melody articulations, use the keyswitches from C1 to D#1 to switch between open, muted, flageolet, and slap & pop playing styles.

The Open articulation is the most commonly used articulation: Plucking individual strings with either the fingers or a plectrum.

The Muted articulation is created by resting the palm of the plucking hand on the strings, close to the bridge of the bass while plucking the strings.

The “Flageolet” articulation is also called “harmonics”. It is created by dividing the string into sections of equal length by lightly touching the string at specific points. As a result, higher overtones are sounding instead of the original note. In this case, you will hear the octave above the played note, which is the first overtone.

Slap & Pop articulations: To accommodate the different articulations needed for a typical slap performance using a single keyswitch, the instrument differentiates between briefly pressing the keyswitch and keeping the keyswitch pressed:

To change the fret position value of the selected melody articulation, adjust its Fret Pos value. Choose higher values to have the instrument perform notes in higher fret positions on lower strings, resulting in a more mellow tone. You can control the fret position in real-time for all melody articulations combined with the MIDI CC#114. For more information on MIDI controllers, refer to Further MIDI controllers.

Plectrum / Finger switch: You can choose to play the open, muted and flageolet articulations with either Plectrum or Fingers. Use the toggle switch below the articulation list on the pattern page.

Poly / Mono switch: The monophonic mode creates smooth transitions between notes, which helps to create realistic sounding solo lines and riffs. The polyphonic mode enables you to play multiple notes at the same time. Use this mode only if you intend to play multiple notes at the same time. In both modes, you can use the sustain pedal just like on a piano.

To apply vibrato or pitch bend, use the pitch and modulation wheels of your keyboard.

Octave down: Use the Octave down switch in the top left box to transpose the entire sample set down by an octave. This is not an insert effect like an octaver, but a powerful sound design feature, which works great for electronic and film music genres.

To switch from melody to pattern, hold down one of the pattern keyswitches from E1 to G1 with your left hand, while playing notes with your right hand. The instrument will temporarily perform those notes as a pattern. If a pattern is in Phrase mode (refer to Phrase and One Pitch Mode, MIDI Drag and Drop), triggering its keyswitch will cause the pattern to be played back using the notes contained in the phrase, transposed to the key of the note you play on the keyboard.

To switch back to melody, release the pattern keyswitch with your left hand. If you still hold notes in your right hand at that moment, the instrument tries to sequence one more note that would have followed had you continued with the pattern playback. For example, if you release the pattern keyswitch shortly before the next downbeat while still holding notes with your right hand, the instrument will switch back to melody mode with one last note onto that downbeat.

To play patterns instead of melodies by default: If you are mainly intending to use the melody instrument to play back patterns, you can change the default mode from Melody to Pattern on the Playback page (refer to The Playback Page). When Pattern is selected as the default mode, holding down one of the Melody keyswitches (C1 to D#1) will engage the melody mode temporarily. However, the Pop articulation is not available when Pattern is selected as the default mode.

To select a pattern, press the corresponding keyswitch MIDI note or click on the pattern you wish to play.

To play a pattern, play notes on your MIDI keyboard. After releasing the keys, playback will be stopped within a specified note duration (refer to Latch Mode in The Playback Page).

To end the playback at a precise point in time, it is recommended to use the Bb1 keyswitch or one of the other ending keyswitches. For more information, refer to Playing Dead Notes, Endings and Slides.

To load a different pattern into a slot, click on the magnifier icon in the current slot. This will open the Pattern Browser (refer to The Pattern Browser).

To load the next or previous pattern of the pattern library, click on the little left or right arrow buttons in the current slot.

To remove a pattern (clear the slot), [Alt] + click on a slot.

Recorded loops contain a little note icon next to their name in the Pattern Browser (refer to The Pattern Browser).

Single note patterns have a little staircase icon next to their name in the Pattern Browser.

The articulation and fret position of single note patterns can be adjusted in the Pattern Inspector (refer to The Pattern Inspector), and their velocity can be adapted over a wider range (refer to Controlling the Dynamics of the Performance).

While being less flexible, patterns based on recorded performances might contain special articulations or timbres that would have been impossible to realize with single note samples.

To play the unaltered, original phrase, press only one single key.

To adapt a specific phrase to a given scale, chord or interval, play the required chord or interval, such as a third, a sixth, a seventh on your keyboard. The corresponding notes contained in the phrase will be adapted accordingly. This way, you can easily convert a major third to a minor third, or vice versa.

To toggle between Phrase mode and One Pitch mode, select a phrase pattern, and then click on the Phrase / One Pitch toggle button.

In One Pitch mode, the rhythm of a phrase pattern will remain the same, but the melody is reduced to a single pitch. You can then play the pitches on your keyboard ahead of any new note position within the pattern’s rhythm. Patterns which do not contain melodic phrases cannot be toggled, and for those patterns the Phrase / One Pitch toggle button is not active.

To permanently switch all phrases to One Pitch mode, press [alt] + click the Phrase button. Press [alt] + click again to switch back to Phrase mode. After that, the selected mode will be retained globally, even if you load new patterns or songs.

To export a phrase into your DAW as a MIDI file, drag and drop the arrow icon next to the selected pattern into a MIDI track. The root pitch will be based on the last pitch you played.

This will create a MIDI part containing the pitch progression of the respective phrase, with each MIDI note properly positioned ahead of the beat (refer to Create Natural Transitions in Tips and Tricks). Additionally, the MIDI part contains a keyswitch ensuring that the correct pattern is selected. Since the different MIDI notes of a phrase are now being sequenced by the DAW, the pattern will be automatically switched to One Pitch mode. Now, you can transpose the incoming MIDI notes to change the melodic line, retaining the original rhythmic structure.

To load a factory or user sound preset, either select a preset from the drop-down menu, or cycle through all presets by clicking the little left and right arrow buttons.

To save a new user sound preset, enter a preset name into the text field and click on the floppy disk icon. This will store the current sound settings into a new user preset.

To overwrite a user sound preset, first load it and then make changes on the Guitar Settings or Amps & FX page. Then click the floppy disk icon without changing the preset name. If you change the preset name before saving a preset, a new sound preset will be created instead of overwriting the existing one.

To delete a user sound preset, select it from the drop-down menu, then click the circular Delete button.

Linking sound presets to Song presets: If the Link to Song switch is activated, selecting a song preset (refer to The Song Browser) will also load its corresponding sound preset. Deselect it to change songs without altering your guitar and effects settings.