Sweet Berta

A slapped bass: a fast pitch pop and a velocity-driven filter snap on every note, a steep compressor catching the peaks. Hit low notes hard for the slap, high ones softer for the pop. Macros: Pop, Cutoff, Decay. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

The classic two-saw mono bass: both oscillators at 16', slightly apart, warming the mixer, into the 24 dB ladder with a firm envelope, then a warm saturation. The one to reach for first; plays anything from roots to busy lines. Macros: Cutoff, Emphasis, Decay, Warmth. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Osc 2 a fifth above osc 1, both saws: every note is a power chord, thick and open, a warm saturation gluing the two. Play single roots; the fifth comes free. Macros: Cutoff, Fifth, Decay, Warmth. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A brassy mono bass that swells: a short attack on the envelope lets each note bloom open, like a horn section's low end. Play held notes on the beat and let them open. Macros: Swell, Cutoff, Brass. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A funk bass with an auto-wah on the mod wheel: wheel down it is a plain resonant saw-and-square bass; push the wheel up and the LFO sweeps the ladder. Ride the wheel on held notes. Macros: Rate, Wah, Cutoff. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A wide, unsteady analog bass: each oscillator and the cutoff part left and right, and extra drift, so it shimmers across the speakers. For synthwave and slow, held lines; it narrows to a plain bass in mono. Macros: Width, Drift, Cutoff. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Acid on the square wave: hollower and rounder than the saw, squelching hard on a short envelope, a little dirt squeezing it. Play sixteenths with some notes overlapping to slide, and hit the accents harder: velocity opens the filter further. Macros: Cutoff, Accent, Decay, Dirt. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A saw acid line pushed through a cranked little amp, its squelch smeared into a dotted echo that bounces between the sides. Play a busy sixteenth pattern and let the echoes fill the gaps; overlapping notes slide. Macros: Cutoff, Burn, Echo. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

The fuzz goes in before the filter: Puzz sits in the Case between the mixer and the ladder, so the resonant 18 dB filter squelches a fully fuzzed saw and every sweep screams. Play short, accented sixteenths low on the keyboard. Macros: Cutoff, Fuzz, Resonance. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Acid that twists its own knobs: every note restarts the LFO, which steps the sample and hold to a new random cutoff, so a repeated note never squelches the same way twice. Hold down a steady line of sixteenths and let it improvise. Macros: Cutoff, Squelch, Decay. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A slower, rounder acid through the gentler 12 dB slope, a triangle under the saw, warmed dark by a saturation, then sent into long, dark ping-pong echoes and a touch of plate. Play sparse notes with space between them and ride Echo and Feedback. Macros: Cutoff, Echo, Feedback, Space. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Osc 2 moves the cutoff at audio rate through the ATTENUATOR, so the filter snarls with sidebands of its own, and the two oscillators a few cents apart make the snarl roll slowly. Hold notes to hear it churn; dig in with Growl. Macros: Growl, Cutoff, Bite. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.