how does UBK handle slides and slurs ?

[maximilians1]

Hi, I was reading through the UBK manual and in some of the sets it has slides, but says assorted slides. How does that work, I mean if lets say I play an f can I slide up to g sharp without having a rearticulated note? or do I have to limit myself to a certain interval or note to slide to and from. Also can you play slurs,lets say f to g sharp but without the slide and no articlation between the two notes, just the finger landing on the new fret no plucking.
I used to play trumpet so thats kinda the way I'm looking at this, I don't really know how bassplayers do things ,maybe these are just general questions regarding playing stringed instrument samples.
THanks
ohh and the demo songs are the bomb probably the best bass demos out there!

[Gregjazz]

The assorted slides are like "whoosh" noises that bass players will use as a fill (usually in funk or rock music). However, slides from note to note are possible. I use pitch bends, but the bend must be "stepped", not smooth. I'll upload a screenshot so you can see what I mean. Also, every time the pitch bend steps up another tone, I quietly play one of the muted notes (right below the main note range).

Again, you'll see when I post the MIDI files from the demos, which will happen as soon as I recover from my wisdom teeth operation (just got them out this morning, and right now I'm under the influence of some vicodin, etc.)

[maximilians1]

Thanks for the response Gregjazz, I don't own UBK yet just doing some research 1st. A screenshot of the stepped bend would be helpfull, I'm not sure what you mean.(if I buy I intend to use it in manystation)
The demos are very impressive, I like to sequence most of my stuff live so just wondering how much post editing you did to get those techniques and sounds or did you do most of it live?
THanks for the tips, and hope your recovery goes well, sounds frickn painfull

[Gregjazz]

Thanks for the response Gregjazz, I don't own UBK yet just doing some research 1st. A screenshot of the stepped bend would be helpfull, I'm not sure what you mean.(if I buy I intend to use it in manystation)
The demos are very impressive, I like to sequence most of my stuff live so just wondering how much post editing you did to get those techniques and sounds or did you do most of it live?
THanks for the tips, and hope your recovery goes well, sounds frickn painfull

The slides and stuff were sequenced later. In the demo "Funkimosis" the bass solo was played live. I think I fixed up a few mistakes in it, but it was played with a keyboard. If I remember correctly, that's the "tenor bass" patch (or maybe it's called piccolo bass, I forget).

So when it comes to bass solos, I definetly play those in with the keyboard, but when I create just solid basslines, I hand-sequence those -- they repeat every 2 bars or something, so it's not too hard.

So I designed the bass patches to be playable from the keyboard, but the slap bass can get difficult to play from a keyboard -- some of those articulations are just so difficult to simplify to work on a keyboard. However, if you get the Manystation version, there's some patches at the end that simplify it so the slap bass is more playable from a keyboard.

Here's the pitch bend thing:



If you want a slide that occurs on a specific beat, start the bend on that beat, don't make the slide end right onto that beat.

Also, in bass guitar when you slide you get very quiet fret click noises. Just using a pitch bend won't get those noises. So sometimes I'll mix in a "mute note" timed to every pitch bend. "Mute notes" are the notes that are right below the main bass note range (look around in the B1-D#2 range) -- those little click noises. Mix them in very quietly, just barely audible. They add so much realism.

Anyways, if you need any more explanation, I'd be happy to post more screenshots for you.

[Gregjazz]

Oh, by the way, you might be interested in this, too:

http://herculeaneffort.adventuredevelop ... orial.html

It's not really UBK-related, or really bass-related, but it shows some cool MIDI tricks with pitch bends, etc.

[duncanparsons]

Nice tutorial Greg!

DSP

[maximilians1]

cheers greg