Novation Bass Station II is a versatile analog synthesizer capable of producing a wide range of classic and modern bass sounds, leads, and other electronic music. With its two VCOs, resonant filter, and three envelopes, the Bass Station II offers a wide range of sonic possibilities. It also features a built-in arpeggiator, sequencer, and effects section, making it a powerful tool for creating complete tracks. Additionally, the Bass Station II has MIDI connectivity, allowing it to be integrated into a larger music production setup.
Novation Bass Station II is a versatile analog synthesizer capable of producing a wide range of classic and modern bass sounds, leads, and other electronic music. With its two VCOs, resonant filter, and three envelopes, the Bass Station II offers a wide range of sonic possibilities. It also features a built-in arpeggiator, sequencer, and effects section, making it a powerful tool for creating complete tracks. Additionally, the Bass Station II has MIDI connectivity, allowing it to be integrated into a larger music production setup.
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Bass#Station&II&v2.5!
New#Features!User%Guide!
!
CONTENTS!
Adjustable!Filter!Tracking…………………………………..………….……….……….………..………………………………………3!
Paraphonic!Mode…………………………………..…………………….………….……….……………………………………............3!
Microtuning……………………………………………………..………….………….……….……..………………………………………..3!
Tuning!Tables..…………… … … ………………..………… ………….…….… .…………………..……… ……… …………………………4!
Envelope!Retriggering..………… … ………..… ……………..…… ..………….….…………… ..………………… ………………… …6!
Greeting!Message..……… … ………………… ……….……..……….….… ………….……… …..……………………… ………………6!
Oscillator!Error..…… … ………………………… ..………………… ….…….….……… …………..………………………………………7!
MIDI!Implementation..…………………………………..………….………..…………………..………………………………………7 !
! !
Adjustable!Filter!Tracking!
Filter!tracking!can!now!be!adjusted!by!holding!the!function!key!and!pressing!the!ModWheel-Filter!
Freq!key!twice.!The!display!will!change!to:!
F-0!!
This!means!that!filter!tracking!is!fully!on.!Us e!the !pa tch!va lue !bu tton s!to!ch an g e!this!va lue !in!the !
range!0:7,!whe re!0!is!full!filter!tracking!and!7 !is!no!filter!trac king . !
The!filter!tracking!setting!can!be!saved!per-patch.!By!default!it!is!always!fully!on.!
!
Paraphonic!Mode!
Paraphonic!mode!can!be!enabled!by!holding!the!function!key!and!pressing!Osc1-2!Sync!twice.!The!
display!will!change!to:!
P-0.!
Use!the!patch!value!buttons!to!enable!(P-1)!or!disable!(P-0)!paraphonic!m ode.!!
The!paraphonic!mode!can!be!saved!per-patch.!By!default!paraphonic!mode!is!always!off.!
!
Micro-Tuning!!
New!micro-tuning!support!gives!you!co m p lete!co ntro l!of!the!fre qu en cy!trigge red !by!ea ch !keyp ress .!
Re-tuning!is!performed!at!the!very !front!o f!the!sign al!ch ain,!so!all!m od ula tion!w ill!behave!exactly!as!
it!did!befo re ,!a nd !a ll!p a tch e s !w ill!b e ha v e!t h e!s a m e .!
There!are!9!tuning!tables!on!the!dev ice.!All!can!be!modified,!but!only!the!last!8!can!be!saved.!On!
startup,!the!first!table!is!always!initialised!to!be!the!standard!midi!keyboard.!Select!the!currently!
active!tuning!table!by!holding!Fun ction,!and!pressing!the!Tun e!key!twice.!The!screen!w ill!change!to:!
t-0.!
Use!the!patch!value!buttons!to!choose!betw een!9!tuning!tables .!The !active!tu ning !table !can !be!sa ved !
with!the!patch.!The!default!tuning!table!will!always!be!0.!
! !
Tuning!Tables!
!
Included!with!the!2.5!firmware!update!are!8!tu nin g!table s:!
1.!Prime!(5!Notes!pe r!oc ta ve )!
The!prime!pentatonic!m ode!with!no!semitones.!It!uses!both!the!“large”!and!“small”!whole-tone !
(204¢!and!182¢,!respectively).!
9/8!5/4!3/2!5/3!2/1!
2.!Harmonic!Series!(6!Notes!p er !oc tav e )!(43 2H z )!
Harmonics!6!to!12!of!the!harmonic!series.! !
9/8!5/4!11/8!3/2!7/4!2/1!
3.!Indian!(22!Notes!per!octave)!
Traditional!Indian!Shruti!scale.!
256/243!16/15!10/9!9/8!32/27!6/5!5/4!81/64!4/3!27/20!45/32!729/512!3/2!128/81!8/5!5/3!27/16!
16/9!9/5!15/8!243/128!2/1!
4.!Ptolemy!(7!Notes!p er!o ctav e)!
Ptolemy's!Intense!Diatonic!Syntonon.!Also!know n!as!Zarlino's!scale.!
9/8!5/4!4/3!3/2!5/3!15/8!2/1!
5.!Chinese!Bia n z h o n g !(1 2 !N o t e s!p er!octav e)!
Pitches!of!Bianzhong!bells!(Xinyang)!
104!308!624!820!1012!1144!1329!1515!1857!2039!2231!2674!
6.!Turkish!(7!Notes!per!octave)!
Turkish!scale!with!5!limit!tone!system,!h a r monic!minor !in v e rs e.!
16/15!5/4!4/3!3/2!5/3!16/9!2/1!
7.!Dan!Schmidt’s!Slendro!Pelog!(7!Notes!pe r!o cta v e)!(p elo g/ w h ite!s len dr o/ black)!
Heptatonic!Pelog!on!white!keys,!pentatonic!Sle n d ro !o n!b la c k!k ey s. !
8.!Carlos!Super!(12 !N ot es!p e r!oc ta ve )!
Wendy!Carlos’!super!just!intonation!scale!
17/16!9/8!6/5!5/4!4/3!11/8!3/2!13/8!5/3!7/4!15/8!2/1!
! !
Tuning!tables!map !each !of!the !128 !M IDI!no tes!to !differe nt!freq ue nc ies.!The!table s!can !be!modified!
using!sysex,!using!the!real-time !M IDI!tun ing!m e ssag e:!
F0!7F!id!08!02!tt!ll![kk!xx!yy!zz]!F7!
Where:!
• F0!7F!=!universal!realtime!SysEx!header!
• id!!!!=!targe t!d e vic e !ID,!which!for!us!is!0x00.!
• 08!!!!=!sub-id!#1!(MIDI!tun in g!s ta n d ar d) !
• 02!!!!=!sub-id!#2!(n o te !ch a n ge )!
• tt!!!!=!tuning!program !number!from!0 !to!127 !
• ll!!!!=!num b er !of !n ot es !to !b e !ch a n ge d !(s et s!o f![ kk !xx !yy !zz ])!
• [kk!xx!yy!zz]!=!MIDI!note !nu mber,!followed!by!freq ue ncy !data !for!no te !
• F7!!!!=!en d!of!SysEx!message!
The!frequency!data!is!described!by:!
• kk!=!MIDI!note!number!
• xx!=!New!MIDI!note!number!
• yy!=!detune!in!100!cents!/!128!steps.!
• Zz!=!detune!in!100!cents!/!16384!steps.!
For!example,!to!detune!A4!(note!number!0x45)!to !B4!(note!number!0x47),!in!the!first!tuning!table ,!
send:!
F0!7F!00!08!02!00!01!45!47!00!00!F7!
To!shift!the!note!A4!sharp!by!50!cents,!in!the!second!tuning!table,!send:!
F0!7F!00!08!02!01!01!45!45!40!00!F7!
When!notes!are!retuned,!the!effect!is!imm e dia te ,!s o!h o ld in g !a!n o te !a n d !ch a n gin g !th e !tu n in g!will!
result!in!an!audib le!ch an ge!in!p itch.!
Multiple!tunings!can!be!sent!in!a!single!message!by!changing!the!entry!for!the!number!of!notes!to!be!
changed.!For!example,!to!shift!A4!to!B4!and!B4!to!C5!send:!
F0!7F!00!08!02!00!02!45!47!00!00!47!48!00!00!F7 !
It!should!be!po s sib le !to !p la y !Sc a la!t u n in g !d u mps!to!y o u r!B S II.!
Don’t!forget!to!save!your!tuning!tables.! Do!this!by!pressing!save!when!you’re!on!the!tuning!table-
select!page!(function!+!Tune!twice).!Otherwise!any!modifications!made!to!the!tables!will!be!lost.!
An!absolute!lower!limit!on!our!tuning !accuracy!is!a!semitone/256.!This!means!only!the!top!bit!of!the!
detune!in!16384!steps!value!will!be!observed.!In!practical!te rms!we !ca n !a ch ie v e!s u b-cent!accuracy.!
Tuning!Morphing!
It’s!possib le !to!morp h !in!real-time!b etw ee n!d ifferen t!tun ing!tab les.!Hold!function!and!press!the!Tune!
key!twice.!This!parameter!screen!will!not!time!out,!to!allow!it!to!be!used!for!performance!reasons.!
Turn!up!the!glide!time,!hold!some!notes!(try!paraph onic!mode )!and!switch!between!the!tuning!
tables!to!hear!the !effect!o f!m orp hin g!betw e en !tun ings.!
Table!Selection!
It’s!possib le !to!select!th e !c u rre n t !tu n in g !ta b le !u sin g !the!MID I!tu ning!pro g ra m!chan g e!R P N . !!
To!do!this!send:!
!B0!64!03!65!00!06!tt!64!7F!65!7F!!
where:!
B0!64!03!65!00!:!select!the!MIDI!tuning!program!change!RPN!
06!tt!!:!select!the !tu n in g!table!number,!where!tt!is![0:9]!for!us.!
Rest!of!the!message!disables!the!RPN!controller!selection.!
!
Table!Save!
The!tuning!tables!can!be!saved!using!a!single!sysex!message:!
F0!00!20!29!00!33!00!48!F7!
!
Envelope!Retriggering!
It’s!now !p o s sib le !to !c o n fig u re !b o th!your!mod!an d/or!amplitud e!e n v elopes!to !re tr igg e r!o n c e !th e !
decay!stage!has!ended.!This!can!be!turned!on!and!off!by!holding!the!Function!key!and!pressing!the!
Velocity-AmpEnv!(for!amplitude!envelope!looping)!or!Velocity-ModEnv!(for!modulation!envelope!
looping )!ke y s!twice.!The !s cre e n !w ill!c h an g e!t o :!
r-0!
Use!the!patch!value!keys!to!switch!between!r-1!(envelope!retriggers)!or!r-0!(envelope!does!not!
retrigger).!The!settings!can!be!stored!in!the!patch.!Th e!default!value!is!always!to!not!retrigger.!
!
Greeting!Message!
BSII!can!now !support!a!custom !message!display!at!startup.!This!can!be!easily!configured!in!
Components,!or!se nt!to!the!unit!over!sysex!using!the!message:!
F0!00!20!29!(novation!preamble)!
00!33!(bass!station!II!–specific)!
00!(message!protocol!version)!
47!(message!type!=!greeting!message)!
01!(splash!screen!enabled!or!disabled)!
[numb ers !co rre sp o nd in g!to !a scii!ch ar ac ters ]!
F7!
For!example,!to!change!the!message!to!“turn!it!up”,!send:!
F0!00!20!29!00!33!00!47!01!74!75!72!6e!20!49!74!20!75!50!F7!
To!disable!the!greeting!message!send!the!same!message!without!the!characters,!an d!with!the!
enable!section!changed!to !0:!
F0!00!20!29!00!33!00!47!00!F7.!
The!message!will!forever!appe a r!o n !sta rt !u p!u n t il!yo u !eit h er !dis a b le!it ,!ch a ng e !it,!o r!d o w n g ra d e!y o u r!
firmware.!
Character!Support!
There!are!some!limitations!to!displaying!letters!on!a!7-segment!display.!Som e !of !the m!appear!
unusual,!though!all!of!the!standard!ascii!letters!are!ma pp ed !to!something!tha t’s!supp os ed !to!loo k!a!
bit!similar.!Sometimes!the!letters!might!come!out!capitalised,!or!de-capitalised.!
We!can!support!the!characters![0:9][a:z][A:Z],!space!(0x23)!and!the!hyphen!(0x20).!!
!
Oscillator!Error!
To!create!a!bit!more!carnage!it’s!n ow!possib le !to !in tro d u c e!ra n d o m!detun e !on !e a ch !n o te-on!event.!
To!set!this!up!hold!the!function!key!and!press!Oscillator-Pitch!Bend!Range!twice.!The!screen!will!
change!to:!
E-0!!
Use!the!patch!value!keys!to!change!this!value!from!0:7!where!0!is!no!error,!and!7!represents!an!erro r!
of!maximum!approximately!1!semitone.!The!error!follows!a!pseudo-rando m !fun ctio n,!so!it!sho uld !be !
different!every!time!you!press.!
The!oscillator!error!can!be!saved!in!the!patch.!By!default!it!will!be!0!(no!error).!
When!in!p a ra ph o n ic !m o d e !th e !er ro r!w ill!b e !d iffe re n t!fo r!e a ch !p a rt .!
MIDI!Implementation!
All!of!th ese !new !fea ture s!can !be !con trolled !by!M ID I!using!N RP N s.!
MIDI!NRPNs!(MSB:LSB)!
Paraphonic!Mode!0:107!
Filter!Tracking!0:108!
Amp!Env!Retrigger!0:109!
Mod!Env!Retrigger!0:110!
Osc!Tuning!Error!0:111!
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Novation Bass Station II User guide
- Type
- User guide
- This manual is also suitable for
Novation Bass Station II is a versatile analog synthesizer capable of producing a wide range of classic and modern bass sounds, leads, and other electronic music. With its two VCOs, resonant filter, and three envelopes, the Bass Station II offers a wide range of sonic possibilities. It also features a built-in arpeggiator, sequencer, and effects section, making it a powerful tool for creating complete tracks. Additionally, the Bass Station II has MIDI connectivity, allowing it to be integrated into a larger music production setup.
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