Scarbee Black Bass was recorded with flatwound strings to get the warm and creamy sound of the 70s disco and funk bass lines, and D.I. to give maximum flexibility in the sound production. It features an extensive set of playing techniques (see below).
Black Bass was designed to be very easy to play live. Almost all articulations can
be triggered without any keyswitches. Eg. legato playing triggers hammer-on and pull-off, legato playing with sustain pedal pressed triggers slides, fast legato playing triggers grace notes.
Read about it and watch the video
When Thomas Hansen Skarbye first approached me about doing a bass sound dedicated to Bernard Edwards, naturally I was skeptical. Bernard's sound is so distinctive and so elusive that it seemed an impossible task. The first time I heard Scarbee's "Black Bass", I was stunned at how good it was, and how much it evokes the spirit and the sound of CHIC's vibe. It was clear that Thomas' passion and dedication to his craft, to the bass guitar, and to the legacy of Bernard Edwards was very profound, and that he had created something truly remarkable.
We have recently been working on a number of projects that have 70's and 80's classic sounds. From a new Will Ferrell movie to some next generation music video games. Black Bass software helps us to achieve a sound and feel so close to "classic", that I expect we'll be using it for many future projects.
Nile Rodgers - founding member of Chic, world renowned producer, musician, guitarist, and songwriter.
Features
- Real-time playable - with the exception of cross hammering and trills all of the articulations in the list given further below can be triggered without the need for any keyswitches. Eg. Hammer-on & pull-offs are triggered by legato playing and fast grace notes by fast legato playing.
- A powerful user interface pushing the Kontakt user interface to its limits: a fretboard display gives an overview of the playing position and for each string what fret and articulation (displayed as a unique symbol) that are used - dynamically updated as you play.
- All four strings sampled.
- Each string is monophonic so new notes abort earlier notes, giving a perfectly realistic bass.
- Automatic string selection - play and the script selects the most suitable string for you. Use keyswitches to limit the string choice or to move the active playing position (placement of left hand). The automatic string selection is tailor-made to work well with every articulation.
- Automatic alternation of right hand index and middle finger samples (can also be controlled using keyswitches).
- Convenient keyswitch mode - a keyswitch affects the following note or remains active as long as it's pressed - making it easy to quickly return to the default mode of operation.
- Slide mode - play a note legato while holding the sustain pedal pressed to trigger a slide. The velocity will determine a slide speed anywhere between 60 to 480 bpm. Slides use real interval transitions sampled in three different speeds for realism and employ a new technique invented by Skarbye/Liberg to significantly reduce RAM usage. Slides are available for every interval up to an octave down and up from the current note. It's possible to play multiple slides consecutively to go up and then down.
- Chord mode - makes it possible for notes to be automatically assigned to the right strings even if the notes of a chord don't arrive exactly at the same time.
- Control over release samples - random alternation between more or less tight (how quickly they are dampened) release samples where the proportion of each can be controlled by the user. Select a default release type and use a keyswitch to toggle between the default behaviour and the other type.
- Pickup-hits - randomly inserted where they are most likely to occur in real-life playing. The user can set the probability of a pickup-hit to occur.
- The sound of Mr. Scarbee's own fingers.
- Bass recorded DI to give you maximum flexibility in the sound production.
- EQ and Effect Presets - direct in the instrument user interface.
- Integrated documentation for all settings - direct in the instrument user interface.
Articulations and playing techniques
- sustains
- mutes
- harmonics
- hammer-on
- pull-off
- fast grace notes
- slides - in practically any speed
- trills and trill-tails
- buzz-trills
- cross hammering
- chords
- chord slides
- percussive slides
- index and middle finger alternation
- three different sets of release samples: loose, tighter and tight.
- pickup-hit noises
- fret noises
