Need help with Jaco Bass

[Beobe]

Hello Forum,

My question concerning 'Iconic Bass - Jaco' is about the differences with the five instruments listed in the library. Obviously the "Bridge" instrument is describing both the pickup selection and plucking position. Same goes for the "Middle" instrument. I assume that "Neck" is the plucking position with the middle pickup. But what the heck is "No Vel"? And the fifth instrument has nothing in parenthesis, but is almost twice as large. Could this mean both pickups with variable plucking positions available? That's what I'm hoping. If so, how do I access these plucking positions? Also, wouldn't it be great if there was an adjustable balance button between the pickups? So far I don't notice much difference in sound between any of the selections other than the "Bridge" setting.

Can I set up a multi-instrument and trigger between 'bridge' and 'middle' the way Scarbee Jay Bass goes between fingered and slapped? Just wondering.

"Iconic Bass: Jaco" is undoubtedly the most amazing and useful virtual instrument I have ever found. I want to know EVERYTHING about it...

[Gregjazz]

My question concerning 'Iconic Bass - Jaco' is about the differences with the five instruments listed in the library. Obviously the "Bridge" instrument is describing both the pickup selection and plucking position. Same goes for the "Middle" instrument. I assume that "Neck" is the plucking position with the middle pickup. But what the heck is "No Vel"? And the fifth instrument has nothing in parenthesis, but is almost twice as large. Could this mean both pickups with variable plucking positions available? That's what I'm hoping.

The main instrument patch is "Iconic Bass Jaco.NKI". All the others are limited versions to conserve RAM and speed up loading time. For example, there are patches for single plucking positions (bridge, middle, neck), and also a patch that contains no velocity layers ("no vel").

In the main patch, of course you have all three plucking positions (bridge, middle, neck) as well as all three velocity layers (soft, medium, hard).

If so, how do I access these plucking positions? Also, wouldn't it be great if there was an adjustable balance button between the pickups? So far I don't notice much difference in sound between any of the selections other than the "Bridge" setting.

With the dropdown menu on "Performance", click "SHOW CONTROLS". Then go to the "PLUCKING" section. By default, the position is set to "auto", which automatically determines which position to play, based on the speed and duration of notes.

Bear in mind, you can also automate this control to the mod wheel, for example, by right-clicking on the knob.

By the way, there are no pickup settings (it was sampled from the bridge pickup of the bass), but "bridge", "middle", and "neck" correspond to plucking positions.

Can I set up a multi-instrument and trigger between 'bridge' and 'middle' the way Scarbee Jay Bass goes between fingered and slapped? Just wondering.

Your best bet would be to automate the plucking position knob to a controller like the mod wheel (CC #1).

[Beobe]

Fantastic! Thanks, Greg. You're the best. The mid setting will be good for most stuff still, but the automated plucking positions gives me a LOT of control over the sound. For anyone following along, here are the easy steps I take in Logic to make this happen:

Plucking Position Selection:
Right-click the 'Position' button under 'Plucking' controls.
Choose 'Learn'. Move wheel. Now it's set to CC1.
Select 'Modulation' from midi parameters window under piano roll.
0 = Auto
25 = Bridge
50 = B/M
75 = Middle
100 = M/N
127 = Neck

I can sell most of my basses now.