Sweet Berta

A wide supersaw-style pad chopped into a rhythm by the sequencer, a gated trance pattern in sixteenths, in chorus and a big hall. Hold a key for the chord's root, C4 as written, and change it with the harmony. Seq 2 is a half-time chop. Macros: Bright, Chop, Width, Space. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A slow ambient pad that drifts through four chords' roots on its own, a whole note each, gliding from one to the next, the filter breathing slowly, in a long hall. Hold C3 or C4 and let it play; it loops every four bars. Macros: Bright, Glide, Swell, Space. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A ticking clockwork mechanism: the ladder ringing on its own as short wooden pings, tick high and tock low, with a little ratchet of gears winding at the end of the bar, in a small room. Hold C6 for it as written, lower for a bigger clock. Macros: Tune, Ring, Room, Gate. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

The pedal bass with a woolly fuzz on its top only: the Pedalboard splits it at 160 Hz, the low band stays clean and the fuzz runs on the band above, so the two saws growl over a solid, unfuzzed floor. Hold roots and let the fuzz sustain them. Macros: Fuzz, Cutoff, Sub. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A pure triangle sub, nearly a sine, with Earth turned well up: it adds the note's 2nd to 6th harmonics above 150 Hz, so a phone or a laptop that cannot play the note still plays the line, while big speakers get the clean sub as it is. Play long notes from C1 to C3, then check it on a phone. Macros: Phone, Weight, Tone. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A round bass glowing warm: a saw over a triangle through an 18 dB ladder, then Pumice driven dark, so the lows thicken and the top stays smooth, with a little of Earth's Body to carry it onto small speakers. Play held roots and lazy lines; turn Heat up for a thicker, more compressed tone. Macros: Heat, Tone, Cutoff, Decay. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

The rock bass a studio gets by running the bass twice: the Pedalboard splits it in parallel, one lane clean for a solid low end, the other through a cranked amp into a steep high-pass, so only the amp's growl joins on top. It cuts through guitars and still reads on a phone. Play driving eighths with a pick's evenness. Macros: Grit, Edge, Cutoff. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

One bass cut into three bands, each treated apart: under 140 Hz it stays clean and solid, the mids from 140 Hz to 1 kHz run through Pumice for a warm growl, and the top above 1 kHz is fuzzed for a buzzing edge. The low end never smears however hard the top is driven. Play mid-tempo lines; ride Mids and Fuzz to rebalance it. Macros: Mids, Fuzz, Cutoff. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A soft square bass made to work on any speaker: Earth adds an octave under each note for weight on a big system, and the note's harmonics above 150 Hz so the line still reads on a phone, with Pumice warming it first. Play basslines from C2 to C3, where the octave under lands deep but audible. Macros: Weight, Phone, Cutoff. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Two saws a fifth of a semitone apart, the dark drum-and-bass Reese: the Pedalboard splits it at 140 Hz, so the low band stays clean and centred while the band above is saturated bright and spread wide by a chorus. Big on headphones, solid on a club system. Hold long notes and let the beating roll. Macros: Cutoff, Bite, Width. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A short, fat pluck: saw and square snapped open by the envelope, then Pumice driven hard on its dark side, so each note lands thick and compressed with a smooth top, and Earth's Body keeps the tail heard on small speakers. Play tight eighths and sixteenths. Macros: Fat, Decay, Cutoff. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

The long, sliding sub of trap and drill: a triangle with a short pitch drop on each note, held as long as the key, saturated warm so it growls a little, and Earth's Body so the slides read on a phone. Overlap notes to glide between them; hold each for its length. Macros: Glide, Grit, Phone, Drop. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A stoner-rock bass with the fuzz layered on top: the Pedalboard splits it in parallel, one lane a clean, round floor, the other a fuzz into a steep high-pass, so only the fuzz's buzz joins. The low end stays tight however hard the fuzz is pushed, and the line reads on a phone. Hold roots and let them ring. Macros: Fuzz, Edge, Cutoff. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A bass-music growl that never muddies its sub: the LFO swings a resonant ladder, and the Pedalboard splits the sound at 110 Hz, so the amp and a bright saturation chew only the band above while the sub under it stays clean and steady. Hold notes of a beat or more; Rate speeds the growl. Macros: Rate, Grind, Cutoff. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A square whose width breathes slowly from the LFO, over a triangle and a breath of pink noise: the classic small-monosynth sub, alive on held notes, with Earth's harmonics so it still reads on a laptop. Hold long notes to hear it move. Macros: Rate, Noise, Cutoff, Phone. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Old flatwound strings and a foam mute: a triangle with a breath of square through a gentle 12 dB slope, each note thumping and dying away fast, warmed dark by Pumice, with Earth's Body so the thump is heard on a laptop and a slow compressor evening it. Play soul and sixties pop lines, notes held for their length. Macros: Warmth, Tone, Ring. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A dub sub for a big system: a soft triangle with a hint of square, Pumice warming it dark, Earth adding the octave under for weight and a little Body for small speakers, and a dark echo answering behind. Play slow, spacious roots on the offbeat; let the echo fill the gaps. Macros: Weight, Echo, Cutoff. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A square bass with bite: a square and a narrow pulse an octave up, Pumice saturating it on its bright side, so the harmonics come from the top and the note snaps through a dense mix while the low end stays smooth. Bright enough to read anywhere, so no Earth. Play busy, syncopated lines. Macros: Bite, Tone, Cutoff, Decay. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Wide where it can be, mono where it must: the Pedalboard splits two detuned saws at 200 Hz, the low band left clean and centred, the top chorused across the speakers. Lush on headphones, and it sums to mono without losing its weight. For synth-pop and slow, held lines. Macros: Width, Cutoff, Detune. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A cinematic low end that moves the floor: a triangle with a quiet saw an octave up, swelling in, Earth adding a strong octave under for weight and Body so it is felt even on a laptop, a compressor holding it level. Hold long low notes under a score, or a single note under a drop. Macros: Weight, Swell, Phone. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A saw lead with a second voice a major tenth above it, an octave and a major third, a spacing the old seven-semitone Detune could not reach: Range at 18 puts the knob's end past it. Bright and singing, with vibrato on the mod wheel. Macros: Tenth, Bright, Space. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

Two saws an octave apart, osc 2 held exactly twelve semitones above the sub, the knob's whole travel set to an octave. A thick, hollow bass that keeps its weight and still speaks on small speakers. Turn Detune with Range at 12 and an octave sits at the end of the knob. Macros: Cutoff, Upper, Drive. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

A slow pad of two voices an eleventh apart, a fourth above the octave, which leaves the chord open and unresolved: neither major nor minor, wide and suspended. Range at 18 gives the knob room for the interval. Play low single notes for a cinematic bed. Macros: Eleventh, Bright, Space. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.

An organ built on a stop a twelfth above: a square at the played pitch and a soft triangle an octave and a fifth over it, the knob's end at Range 19. The two lock into one hollow, reedy tone, like a mutation stop pulled out. Steady and unhurried, fast to speak. Macros: Twelfth, Bright, Space. Macro 8, Master, is the output level.