Bass Guitar VSTs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A VST is type of synth that uses samples instead of computer-generated tones. <\/strong>An actual instrument is recorded note for note. Then those notes are mapped to MIDI so that you can play the sounds back using a keyboard (or painting them in manually in your DAW).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sounds originated from a real bass guitar, so you can still get some of that clinky growl from a pick scrapping against roundwound strings. However, the coding and mapping expertise of a VST will weigh heavily on how good or realistic the resulting virtual instrument will actually sound in a final mix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are a few free bass VSTs<\/strong> you can test out (and some of these companies also offer more advanced versions or variations for a price):<\/p>\n\n\n\n A trick that I personally use with VST basses is to run it through an amp sim. It lets me add more grit and color to the sound, which makes my bass parts sound fuller (to my ears, at least). I use Amplitube<\/a> for amp simulation; they offer a free version that can get you started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most software synthesizers (soft synths) come with a variety of bass presets. Bass guitars aren\u2019t all that common in certain genres (like trap, electronic, pop, synthwave, etc) anyway. So, unless you are trying to record a more traditional rock or indie pop sound, I recommend testing some bass presets in your synth program of choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want to try programming a simple and pleasant synth bass from scratch, all you really need is a single sine wave and some light distortion to boost the harmonic overtones.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Square and saw waves will work too, but they are quite abrasive sounding. They work great for raucous 80s bops but may sound a bit goofy in other genres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pianos can play bass notes. In fact, a full-sized piano usually goes all the way down to the note A0, which is lower than even the E string on a bass guitar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Piano bass can work extremely well for some genres, like: indie pop, bedroom pop, ballads, and even chill-hop style rap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you don\u2019t have access to an actual piano for recording, that\u2019s fine. Most soft synths have a piano preset and there\u2019s a huge selection of piano VSTs on the digital market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some free piano VSTs you can test out:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve heard some people suggest that you record the bass line on a guitar and pitch shift it down. But I\u2019ve tried this many times and it usually sounds bad. Or, at least, unrealistic compared to a real bass guitar. For that reason, I wouldn\u2019t personally recommend pitch shifting a guitar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that you know your options for digital bass patches, you need to understand how a bass line should sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You could simply write in some root notes, copy and paste them throughout your song, and call it a day. But that could end up sounding boring or obviously fake to listeners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, you need to consider the style of music that you are making. Some genres will need a realistic approach to bass composition, while others embrace the digital fake-ness of a bass synth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s review a few common styles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now let\u2019s talk about the actual composition practices for realistic bass lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the most part, bass lines are monophonic; this means only one note plays at a time. Except in the higher registers, chords sound muddy and harsh on bass guitars. So program your bass to never play more than a single note at one time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If using a synth patch, you can switch the synthesizer to mono mode, which is sometimes called \u201clegato\u201d mode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t go overboard with notes in a bass line. The bass is meant to support the rest of the track. It\u2019s usually not meant to draw much attention in the song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bass lines tend to cover a small range as well, so there\u2019s no need to jump around octaves or write a grandiose arpeggio sweep for a bass part. Tonic notes (the root note of each chord) with occasional ornaments (filler notes when changing chords) should work for most genres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because bass lines tend to be sparse on notes, the real magic in a good composition comes from the use of dynamics and rhythm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dynamics refer to the intensity or loudness of a note. Even if you only play a basic eight note pattern on the bass, adding dynamics (changes in volume) between notes can imply a rhythm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is done by adjusting velocity in your synth. In more digital audio workstations (DAWs, the program you use to record and mix music), the velocity of individual notes can be modified with a few mouse clicks. Some DAWs even offer a velocity randomization feature.<\/p>\n\n\n Another point to mention is that bassists will not naturally hold every note to the end of each eight note measure. A real bass player will have to pick up his\/her fingers when changing positions, or shorten a note to accent rhythm. You can liven up your bass lines by adding a bit of spacing between notes, especially when moving from one note in a progression to another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this example, I added some exaggerated spacing so you can see what I mean:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you lack a real bass guitar for recording bass lines, you\u2019re good. Many styles of music rely on synth patches to cover the low end. Even if you seek a realistic bass guitar sound, there are a number of free and paid virtual instruments to choose from. Just remember to add a bit of detail to your note programming to make it sound like a real player.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thanks for stopping by. If you found this guide helpful, here are a few more you may like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So you want to add a bass line to your song…but you don\u2019t have a bass guitar. What to do? Thankfully, there are a number of alternatives available to you. In this quick guide, I\u2019ll teach you about digital bass patches you can…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2498,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,32],"tags":[20,6,31],"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/indiesongmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/pexels-justice-ejele-6662993.jpg",1280,957,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/indiesongmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/pexels-justice-ejele-6662993-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/indiesongmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/pexels-justice-ejele-6662993-300x224.jpg",300,224,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/indiesongmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/pexels-justice-ejele-6662993-768x574.jpg",768,574,true],"large":["https:\/\/indiesongmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/pexels-justice-ejele-6662993-1024x766.jpg",1024,766,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/indiesongmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/pexels-justice-ejele-6662993.jpg",1280,957,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/indiesongmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/pexels-justice-ejele-6662993.jpg",1280,957,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Deane","author_link":"https:\/\/indiesongmakers.com\/author\/deane\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"So you want to add a bass line to your song…but you don\u2019t have a bass guitar. What to do? Thankfully, there are a number of alternatives available to you. In this quick guide, I\u2019ll teach you about digital bass patches you can...","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiesongmakers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2494"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiesongmakers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiesongmakers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiesongmakers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiesongmakers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2494"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/indiesongmakers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2499,"href":"https:\/\/indiesongmakers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2494\/revisions\/2499"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiesongmakers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiesongmakers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiesongmakers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiesongmakers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Soft Synth Patches<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Pianos<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
Pitch Shifting (Can You Record Bass with a Guitar?)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How Realistic Should My Bass Line Sound?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
\n
Tips for a Realistic Bass Line<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
\n
Monophonic lines<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Keeping It Simple<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Use Dynamics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/indiesongmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Bass-Lines-No-Dynamics-or-Space-text.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/indiesongmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Bass-Lines-With-Dynamics-text.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSpace Out Notes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/indiesongmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Bass-Lines-With-Dynamics-or-Space-text.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nConclusion<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
\n