OK. got a BR-8 ... bass simulation question.

  • Thread starter Thread starter katmandude
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katmandude

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Got the BR-8 finally after much deliberation and looking forward to getting into it. Man is it easy to use.

I dont own (anymore) a bass guitar, but think I will need to get one. I thought the bass "model" sounds would suffice, but they are pretty horrible. Not the tone necessarily, but the "warbling" effect. Seems that in oder to drop the octave of the Guitar down to Bass levels, it does a funky warbling If you hit a note too fast or with too much attack, I get totally wrong notes. I'm not talking Jaco super speedy bass playing either.

Anyone else notice this? any fixes? I find it otherwise totally unusable. bass sounds that is.

GUitar sounds are OK. When playing live into it the guitar COSM sounds pretty bad, but the recorded playback is much better. I think it is good for the late night dont want to disturb folks, get down ideas only. If I wanted to do a more proper recording I think micing an amp will be absolutely necessary. Tried some quick micing on my tweed champ, and it sounded rather nice.

Anyhow sorry to go so long I reallyu only need to know about the Bass sounds in question. But overall i am happy and excited.
 
the bass sims are very difficult to get anything decent out of.....

I have the 840EX and tried to use the bass sims when I first got it. The sound is very squirrelly and you need to be very precise in your fingering or you do get a funky sound that is very unnatural...You can bury the sound so it's not so prominent, but that kinda defeats the purpose. I hang at the Vsplanet.com and I haven't heard of anyone getting anything decent with the bass sims...

I ended up buying a bass from a friend for a hundred bucks. That solved the problem.

I would suggest you do the same...

Wish

Two of the songs on my mp3 page actually use the bass sims... "What" and "Jammin'" if you want to listen to what I got out of the sims....The only good thing about sims was that I could use the guitar...I kinda suck at the bass so far!!! LOL ;)

www.mp3.com/Iwish
 
Congratulations on getting the br8. I think you'll have a lot of fun with it.

As for the bass sounds, it takes a little experimenting. My best results have come using a guitar with single coil(ie Strat) pick-ups with neck pick-up. Also, bring the bass down with your guitar tone knob and try picking more towards the neck. It seems to sound much smoother and eliminates some of the warbling effect that you hear.

Also, if you avoid the constant jumping of strings it helps alot. I think the timbral differences of the strings causes the simulator to freek out and warble. I try to keep a majority of my basslines on one or at most two strings with the exception of some fills. It works pretty well and will fill the gap until I can add a real bass.

Good Luck!
 
All the COSM patches are tweakable, so you may have to tweak the bass sim to match your guitar PUPs and playing style. The bass sim is very sensitive to a 'picking style' and if you have any string buzz, so you will have to tweak the bass sim's parameters.

To do this, punch the Effects buttons, select the effect and in info window use the 'down cursor' and select 'Edit', press the 'Enter' button.

In the info window you see the effects' chain, like having stomp boxes, use the cursor to select the effect's 'box' and press 'Enter', this is where you can ajust the parameters (see pg 94 in manual).

After tweaking an effect, you can 'save' it to two areas in the BR-8, either as a Uxx or Sxx (the 'xx' would be the patch's number) patch. The 'U' area are for 'User' patches, patches that you create. The 'S' area is 'Song' patches meaning, you may only want to use a patch you created on a song, if you knew someone who had a BR-8 too, you could take your ZIP to their machine and the patch you created would be copied on the ZIP that you brought with you.
 
The bass sims are pretty much garbage, as you've unfortunately discovered. When I do use it, which is next to never, I always stick to the low E-string for my bass lines. I get better results when I play with my thumb instead of a pick. It also helps that when you are thumbing the string, to mute it with your palm a bit so that it doesn't vibrate too much.

The more tonal variation (through excessive vibration or multiple strings, as Bozman said) the worse the simulation sounds. That's kind of the opposite of the point of music, but that's the way it is with the bass sim.

Check out "Loopes des Fruites" for my best bass sim result:

http://www.mp3.com/PeteAnon


Pete
 
thanks everyone for such fantastic feedback and help. THe suggestions all helped BIG time.

play on 1 string (low E)
roll off tone knob
use neck pickup
keep harmonic overtones to a minimum (ie less string rattle)

all seemed to help. I will eventually get myself a simple cheap real bass, because that is important to me. PLus I like to write on Bass anyway, and having a full set of strings and the right feel makes a difference. I kick myself for selling my old ibanez a few years ago now. oh well.

I will try tweaking some of the sims and some guitar effects soon. I dont find much of the built in guitar sims too usable. overall to many effects on them. I want a really good not over thetop plain jane distortion. I think I can find one to use as a base.

Last Night I had some good success using a drum machine (with a partial song programmed) the bass sim and some mic'd rhythm guitar. It was a lot of fun, and lets say it again. SO darn easy. THe overall outcome was a pretty natural and good quality test.

Now I want to complete a full song. I am totally excited to keep going with this unit. Best $cash I have spent in a while.

Pete and Wish. Nice stuff. I want to join yo in the Mp3.com ranks and post some tunes when I am ready.
 
Katmandude - Definitely get a tune up there. Post it up in the mp3 mixing clinic, let us know, and I'll check it out.

Pete
 
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