MODO BASS: Get ready for a new level of realism (1.5 update available now)

[ShawnMH]

I can confirm this does play pretty nicely with Jam Origin Midi Guitar 2 (version beta 12). I am just trying to get vibrato and pitch bend to work from my guitar/Midi Guitar 2.

Very usable even without that, and MODO Bass sounds amazing! Using a Zoom UAC-2, this is triggering nicely with super low latency.

[Burillo]

i've played a bit with it. my initial reaction was that i was somewhat disappointed as i put it up to the hardest test i could think of (early Muse-style distorted bass). the sound was kind of there, but apparently this thing is very picky when it comes to MIDI input. when you're aiming for this all-out frets-buzzing aggression, it's much harder to get something out of it that doesn't sound like crap, and i couldn't make the frets buzz no matter how hard i tried - i set picking to "hard", action to "low", gauge to "heavy", picked a 5 string bass to boot, but still i was nowhere near that heavy growling bass i was aiming for. there's also very strange thing going on with retriggering - the timing is out of whack (automatic humanization?), playing repeat notes on the same string has volume big inconsistencies, and the pick attack sounds very weird, like a very very low frequency thump. i'm not a bassist, so i have no idea how real pick sounds, but something tells me that that's not how it sounds.

however, once i tried it with my other stuff, i instantly got a smile on my face. the more i tinker with it, the more i like it. it's not the perfect bass i imagined, but it is indeed a very good bass. i might be selling a sampled bass or two, if this thing keeps growing on me at the same rate...

[Peter - IK Multimedia]

Awesome to hear the kind words, and I'll make sure suggestions get to the team. Thanks for pre-ordering (or trying) MODO BASS!

[xphen0m]

Nice surprise to come home from work to. Overall, I like it a lot more than my bass sample libraries. There are some annoyances but it sounds great, I think. I have a track that I'm going to process this through and reamp MODO through my B7K.

I'm really hoping that in the future, there will be an option to drop tune below Drop B on the 5 strings, hopefully something like Drop A or even Drop G maybe.

[wagtunes]

Finally got this to work in Cubase 7 with a little workaround via using a VST rack.

I don't even know where to begin with how cool this thing is. The MIDI control for slides, etc. is just awesome. Hands down best bass VST on the planet. Nothing I've seen so far even comes relatively close. In fact, this thing is on a totally different plane from everything else.

[Compyfox]

xphen0m:
What's they note range for the 5 string? Drop A?


wagtunes:
What? Doesn't work with Cubase right out of the box? How so?


Peter:
Demo time still limited to 10days? And the pricing model confuses me: intro price is 200USD, but crossgrade from already registered producs >99USD is also 200USD? Uhm... okay...

[xphen0m]

xphen0m:
What's they note range for the 5 string? Drop A?

Drop B.

[Compyfox]

Hm... dropped tuning would indeed be nice, but my go-to bass goes to B (Pettinhouse DirectBass, which is a Yamaha TRB-5), so I should be fine.

[wagtunes]

xphen0m:
What's they note range for the 5 string? Drop A?


wagtunes:
What? Doesn't work with Cubase right out of the box? How so?


Peter:
Demo time still limited to 10days? And the pricing model confuses me: intro price is 200USD, but crossgrade from already registered producs >99USD is also 200USD? Uhm... okay...

My normal procedure for loading a VST instrument in Cubase is to go to Project-Add Track-Instrument and then choose the VST that I want. This way, each VST is loaded with it's own self contained MIDI lane and everything is cool.

With MODO Bass, if I try to do that, I get no sound at all.

What I had to do, on advice from another member here, is go to Devices-VST Instruments and then load the VST through there, adding the MIDI track when it asks me if I want to.

If I load it in, using that method, it works fine.

It's a bit of a pain and I'm not used to the layout because I never use it, so loading insert FX is different as are a lot of other things.

But it's an acceptable workaround because this thing is that amazing. I've made my purchase and couldn't be happier except maybe if I could get it to work via my default method.

Hands down best bass VST out there. Nothing else even comes close.

[Compyfox]

So basically, ModoBass doesn't play nice with Cubase's InstrumentTrack, but works as Rack Instrument (the old method, not the "all-in-one channel method). Does this plugin not have a mono/stereo out but muktiple outputs? Could be the cukprit.

I assume Cubase 8 or 8.5?

[xphen0m]

I'm absolutely loving this thing!

[wagtunes]

So basically, ModoBass doesn't play nice with Cubase's InstrumentTrack, but works as Rack Instrument (the old method, not the "all-in-one channel method). Does this plugin not have a mono/stereo out but muktiple outputs? Could be the cukprit.

I assume Cubase 8 or 8.5?

I'm using Cubase 7.0.7

As for the instruments output, I have no clue. I tried digging into the guts of it to see if there was some setting I could change but I wasn't able to find anything related to outputs.

I have a support ticket in but in the meantime, I'm cool with using it in a rack. It's worth it given how flexible this thing is. It's the first bass VST I ever bought that was strictly for bass. I have other things, like Scarbee Bass that came with Kontakt, and the basses that come with EWQL Ministry Of Rock 2, but this is the first time I ever plunked down money, let alone $150, for a bass.

For me to do that, you know it has to be flat out awesome.

It's just not entirely cooperative with Cubase 7.

[benjamind]

Now I'm just waiting for the MODO guitar...will make my virtual life complete woohoo!

[koolkeys]

I don't even know where to begin with how cool this thing is. The MIDI control for slides, etc. is just awesome.

This is my favorite part thus far as well. There are two different ways to do slides. You can either use the pitch wheel (SOOOOO easy and natural), or you can hold the sustain pedal and the velocity of the target note determines the slide speed (though of course if it isn't physically possible to slide between two notes, it won't let you). I have so many bass sample libraries and slides have always been a little fiddly to get right. MODO handles it quite well.

Seriously, outside of a couple of minor gripes, MODO Bass is very very cool.

One thing I wish there was is a note repeat keyswitch. What I have been doing instead is hitting the keyswitch for "ring out" so notes ring out when I lift my finger, meaning I can retrigger a note without it ending briefly. Works fairly well.

Brent

[egbert]

the pick attack sounds very weird, like a very very low frequency thump. i'm not a bassist, so i have no idea how real pick sounds, but something tells me that that's not how it sounds.

A real bass or guitar, when picked hard, produces extremely low frequencies at high amplitude. These are filtered out by guitar and bass amps (high pass filters) to whatever degree is necessary - if you look and your speakers pop forward when you attack the strings with the gain up you are looking at DC offset due to lack of said filtering.