Bass
LFO: a sub on the chord's root, its groove held a phrase at a time, as of 1.4.0 (build 671d9be). FM-1 firmware.
1 · What it is
One note at a time on the chord's root, low (E1 to Eb2), on a groove of semicorcheas (16ths). It slides briefly from note to note.
The plan
A phrase plays A A A B A A A B (card 8). Which notes rest, which are the fifth, the octave note: drawn once a phrase, the same every A bar.
Octave note
Now and then one note an octave up (never the bar's first), the same place each bar: more often as Vary rises.
Borrowed groove
Rarely, at a phrase, Groove steps to a neighbour, later back: as the square of the bass's amount (at 100: 7 phrases in 400; Hold: never). Lock rests it.
Dry
No echo in any piece (its strip's Echo 0); some plate. The duck pushes it deeper and lets go slower: it pumps.
2 · The Bass page LFO · then voice › FM › back
GrooveKNOB 1
The pattern, sparse to busy: Drone (one note a bar, held almost to the next), Offbeat (the four "ands"), Dotted, Sync, Roller.Drone · Offbeat · Dotted · Sync · Roller
VaryKNOB 2
Its figure's changes, more or less than Form's Vary: the plan drawn anew (kept 2 to 6 phrases first), the octave note, the borrowed groove. Far left Hold: the plan kept.Hold · 0 as Form's · +50
DensityKNOB 3
How many of the groove's notes play, from the bar's first alone to all; the last one drawn fades in, so every step is heard. Two zones (card 3).0 the first alone · 100 all
FifthKNOB 4
How often a note is the chord's fifth, not its root. The bar's first is always the root; on Drone, how often a whole bar is the fifth.0 never – 100 every note
3 · Density's zones KNOB 3, in segments
Turning it, the big ring shows the zones round it; the zone's sentence is the help line; the reader says "Density 20, Sparse".
Sparse0 – 29
"The groove's notes join one by one." At 0: "The bar's first note alone".
Pickups30 – 100
"Busy bars add a pickup into the next": a busy B bar plays the whole groove and a note on the bar's 15th semicorchea. The notes go on joining to 100.
On Drone (one note a bar) only Pickups is heard. Energy (Form) thins it or fills it.
4 · The voices ALGORITHM, a bass page; round
Sub
A sine and a little of its octave. Not FM.
Punch
An FM stack: a thump in its first 90 ms. Algorithm 1.
Rubber
Two pairs, one an octave under; op 4 feeds back.
Pluck
Two operators at 3: a pluck gone in 50 ms. 2-op.
Growl
Two operators at 1: a bite with each note. 2-op.
5 · The Bass voice page LFO again
OctaveKNOB 1
The bass an octave down or up. At -1, E0 to Eb1: felt more than heard.-1 · 0 E1–Eb2 · +1
ShapeKNOB 2
A pure sine, to a square.-50 sine · 0 the voice's · +50 square
GateKNOB 3
How long each note holds, against its groove's.-50 half · 0 · +50 twice (Drone: the bar)
GlideKNOB 4
How long it slides to the next note.-50 ~0.6 ms · 0 12 ms · +50 ~250 ms
6 · The Bass FM page LFO a third time
AlgoKNOB 1
Which operators modulate which (sheet 5's drawing).Voice · 1 – 8 · 2-op
RatioKNOB 2
Operators 3 and 4's pitch.-50 half · 0 · +50 twice
FeedbackKNOB 3
Op 4 on itself, from the voice's own: pure to gritty.0 – 100
BiteKNOB 4
Drive: clean to growling, on every voice. On Sub the other three grey.-50 clean · 0 · +50 growling
7 · Level, strip, LFO held
OCT- / OCT+
On a bass page: its level, 5 a press; both together, muted or back.
The strip
SEL, white 3 (A3) held: Level, Echo, Plate, Filter. Black 3 (A#3): a tap solo, held a throw, driven so it carries in the echo (sheet 2).
LFO held
0.5 s, a nudge: Bite, Shape, Gate, Glide, Fifth a step (Ratio, Feedback on an FM voice). 1.5 s, a shake: another voice and a neighbouring groove, every value a big step.