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RealBand
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royj Offline OP
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Hi
I have always used the MIDI bass tracks generated by BiaB in my songs and then imported them into RB. I use the TTS or Steinberg VB-1 softsynths without a problem in RB (in fact I pay little attention to them as they work just fine). I have been trying out a few new options with Dimension Pro, Halion and NI's Essential Bass as alternate plugins. What I find is that some of the "bass guitars" in these plugins do not play all the notes - particularly the low notes. Are these bass plugins different to the softsynths in some way?, is it the GM format? or are they accurate replicas that cannot be used in a GM track and may need unique mapping?. I have tried to find the solution in the manuals without much luck.
Will appreciate any advice
Regards, Roy

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Some Bass samples may be written to respond to Concert staff notes settings, while others may be already transposed to read correctly for Bass players on the staff, which means that the notes heard are actually an octave lower than written.

If that is the case, it can be possible for a BiaB part to be written one octave higher than the plugin wants to see, and some notes will be outside the range of the plugin.

Try Transposing the bass track down an octave or sometimes up an octave from where it was at and listen to see if you hear all the notes that way.

Use of a MIDI controller keyboard can quickly and easily establish how many notes are sampled on a given plugin or other MIDI synth, as well as what octave plays when you play a certain selected note.


HTH,


--Mac

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royj Offline OP
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Hi Mac
Spot on again - I have just transposed the Bass track up one octave and voila! - it now sounds like a great Bass. Thanks for the advice.
Roy

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An easy way to experiment with changing Octaves in RB is to use the Classic Window and change the KEY by -/+ 12 semitones. I have a number of patches which benefit from this treatment.

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