How to chase this down, hmmm...
I have some decent skills on electric, but I've never had a standup bass in my life.
Would a fretless acoustic with a pickup system suit me here?
Any examples or clips would be helpful.
Let me just start by saying that the only way I'm aware of to get the sound of a double bass is to use a double bass.
I've recently come full circle on this after an interesting journey. I used to have a double bass and used it alot in the 13 years I had it. In the period when I was thinking about virtual instruments and computer recording and electric drums, as part of my research, I bought "Sound on sound" and "Computer music" and one of them had this sampler disc of virtual guitar and double bass. I was blown away by the double bass and sold my real one, figuring that with a baby on the way, it was time to downsize and go minimal. I assumed all VSTi basses would sound like the one that came with the magazine.
Wrong !
I tried Trilogy. It's double bass sounds and articulation, at least to my ears and in my hands, was weak. The double bass sounds in Sampletank and Miroslav Philharmonik were lovely bowed {I still use them to this day} but weak and 'plungy' plucked. I tried a series of double bass VSTis, the online testers or trial versions. No good. I tried HAlion that came with Cubase 5 ~ pish posh. I bought the Danny Thompson bass samples. By far and away the best. Maybe 78% of the way there. But still not 100%. I tried real cellos. I tried software cellos. No deal on either count, not in terms of a double bass sound. I bought a fretless acoustic bass guitar with an inbuilt pick up and equalizer in an attempt to get close to a double bass sound. I didn't get close although a blend with the Danny Thompson brought about some fascinating tones and I learned, well, hit on by accident, that with a touch of chorus and a bit more treble and exaggerated slurs and slurps to approximate the sound of an electric fretless bass !
Ironically, it was listening to a jazz album {"Silver and percussion"} by Horace Silver that featured Ron Carter on double bass that got me to reconsider the double bass. I say ironic, because I'd had a thing about Ron Carter for nearly 20 years because he seemed to be an outspoken critic of the electric bass and that used to irritate me, in the same way it would irritate me when Bill Bruford and John Entwistle would look down their noses at rock or Keith Jarrett would look down on electronic keyboards and electric instruments in general, referring to them as 'toys'. But Carter's double bass playing on the album is so fantastic and such a master of his instrument was he, that I just thought "the only way I'm going to get the double bass sound I want is to buy a double bass and go for it again".
So I did.
On the software side, I've come to the conclusion that for some reason, certain acoustic instruments translate well in sampling and are almost indistinguishable from the real thing, among them pianos, bowed double bass and cello, flutes, whistles, trombone, flugelhorn, some saxes, various percussion, some Indian instruments and drums. This also applies to other keyboards like synths, mellotrons, clavinets, electric pianos, organs etc. But things like trumpets, guitars, mandolins, banjos, double basses ~ nah !
