Electro Bass

Sounds like: A tight, cold, robotic bass with a ringing resonant edge.

Sound type: bass · Genre: Electro · Style: cold, resonant, slightly robotic electro bass tone

A tight, resonant, faintly robotic bass: narrower and colder than a house or techno bass, with a resonant filter peak that gives it a distinct pitched-percussion character.

Open this patch in the interactive Patchpad

Digitone II

Exact match: WAVETONE Square wave

SYN page 1 · WAVETONE

• TUN1: 0
• WAV1: Square (PRIM table)
• PD1: 20
• LEV1: 100
• TUN2: 0
• WAV2: Square (PRIM table)
• PD2: 0
• LEV2: 0

SYN page 2 · WAVETONE

• OFS1: 0
• TBL1: PRIM
• MOD: OFF
• RSET: ON
• OFS2: 0
• TBL2: PRIM
• DRIF: 0

FLTR page 1 · Multi-mode

• FREQ: 53
• RESO: 57
• TYPE: 0 (LP)
• ENV: 44
• DEC: 28
• SUS: 13

AMP page

• ATK: 0
• DEC: 28
• SUS: 25
• REL: 15
• MODE: ADSR

Digitone II's WAVETONE machine (select with FUNC+SYN). WAV1 is a square (with a little PD1 for a narrower, colder tone) from the PRIM table with LEV2 at 0 and MOD OFF, so this is an oscillator wave, not an FM stand-in. No FX page settings at all: don't warm this up; the cold, single-voice sound makes it electro.

Syntakt

Exact match: Cold, dry, resonant single-voice bass

SYN — SY RAW

• WAV1: Square
• TUNE: 0

FLTR PAGE 1

• FREQ: 53
• RESO: 57
• TYPE: Lowpass
• ENV: 44
• DEC: 28
• SUS: 13

AMP PAGE 1

• ATK: 0
• DEC: 28
• SUS: 25
• REL: 15

AMP PAGE 2

• MODE: ADSR

Plain Square from SY RAW with Resonance pushed up: no send/insert effects at all, keeping the cold, dry, single-voice character intact. SY RAW is an Analog Drum machine, so it runs on track 9, 10 or 11.

Tonverk

Exact match: Pulse into a resonant filter

SRC machine (Func + Src)

• Machine: WAVEFINDER

SRC page 1 · Oscillator 1

• TUNE: 0
• LEV: 100
• POS: 20
• SLOT: PWM Support (Factory Library › 6-Wavetables)

SRC page 2 · Oscillator 2

• LEV: 0

FLTR page 1 · Multimode

• DEC: 28
• SUS: 13
• FREQ: 53
• RESO: 57
• TYPE: 0 (low-pass)
• ENV: +44

AMP setup (Func + Amp)

• ENVELOPE MODE: ADSR

AMP page

• ATK: 0
• DEC: 28
• SUS: 25
• REL: 15

PWM Support at POS 20 is a pulse slightly narrower than square. The resonant filter peak with a short envelope gives the cold, pitched edge. Lock RESO higher on accents.

Novation Summit

Exact match: Cold, dry, resonant single-voice bass

OSCILLATOR 1

• WAVE: Square/Pulse
• RANGE: 8'

FILTER

• SHAPE: LP
• FREQUENCY: 53
• RESONANCE: 57
• SOURCE: Mod Env 1
• ENV DEPTH: 44

MOD ENVELOPE 1

• ATTACK: 0
• DECAY: 28
• SUSTAIN: 13

AMP ENVELOPE

• ATTACK: 0
• DECAY: 28
• SUSTAIN: 25
• RELEASE: 15

No EFFECTS page settings at all here: skip Chorus/Detune and every other section: the cold, single-voice sound makes it electro.

Arturia MiniFreak

Exact match: Cold, dry, resonant single-voice bass

OSCILLATOR

• TYPE: BasicWaves
• VOLUME: 100
• WAVE (Morph): 0 (square)
• TIMBRE (Sym): 25 (narrower pulse)
• SHAPE (Sub): 0

ANALOG FILTER

• TYPE: Low Pass
• CUTOFF: 42
• RESONANCE: 45
• ENV/VELO: 30

ENVELOPE

• ATTACK: 0
• DECAY: 20
• SUSTAIN: 15
• RELEASE: 12

Osc 1 is BasicWaves with Morph at 0 (square) and Sym at 25 for a narrower, colder pulse; no chorus, detune or effects, so it stays a cold single voice. Values are on MiniFreak's native 0-100 scale.

Dreadbox Typhon

Exact match: Cold, dry, resonant single-voice bass

FRONT PANEL

• WAVE: 12 o'clock (VCO1 square only)
• CUTOFF: ~4 o'clock (moderately closed)
• RESON: ~4-5 o'clock (high; Typhon's resonant filter suits this well)
• EG LEVEL: ~2 o'clock (fairly strong)
• FILTER TIME: ~1-2 o'clock (fast)
• VOLUME: ~12 o'clock

AMP ADSR

• ATTACK: 0
• DECAY: 28
• SUSTAIN: 25
• RELEASE: 15

No FX pages used: dry output, keeping the cold, slightly harsh single-voice character intact.

ASM Hydrasynth Desktop

Exact match: Cold, dry, resonant single-voice bass

OSCILLATOR 1

• MODE: Single
• WAVE: Square
• SEMI: 0
• KEYTRACK: 100%

FILTER 1

• TYPE: LP Stn12
• CUTOFF: 53.0
• RESONANCE: 57.0
• ENV 1 AMOUNT: 44

AMP

• AMP LEVEL: 100.0

ENVELOPE 1

• ATTACK: 0 ms
• DECAY: 140 ms
• SUSTAIN: 13.0

ENVELOPE 2

• ATTACK: 0 ms
• DECAY: 110 ms
• SUSTAIN: 25.0
• RELEASE: 60 ms

LP Stn12 (boutique-modular-style) is picked for a harder, less smooth resonant character than the ladder filter types. No Pre/Post-FX or Delay/Reverb used: dry, no chorus.

About this patch

Don't warm this up with chorus or detune: the cold, slightly harsh single-voice sound makes it electro.

Patchpad is a free reference of drum patterns, synth patches and reminders, written for a selection of real hardware.