Novation Bass Station II User Manual

Novation A division of Focusrite Audio Engineering Ltd. Windsor House, Turnpike Road, Cressex Business Park, High Wycombe, Bucks, HP 12 3FX . United Kingdom

Tel: +44 1494 462246 Fax: +44 1494 459920 e-mail: sales@novationmusic.com Web: http://www.novationmusic.com

ENVIRONMENTAL D E C L A RAT IO N

Compliance Information Statement: Declaration of Compliance procedure

Product Identiﬁcation: Novation Bass Station II keyboard Responsible party: American Music and Sound Address: 4325 Executive Drive,

Telephone: 800-431-2609

Suite 300 Southaven, MS 38672

Trademarks

The Novation trademark is owned by Focusrite Audio Engineering Ltd. All other br and, product and com pany names and any other regi stered names or trade marks mentioned in this manual belong to their respective owners.

Disclaimer

Novation has taken all possible steps to ensure that the information given here is both corre ct and complete. I n no event can Novatio n accept a ny liability or re sponsibility for any loss or damage to the owner of the equi pment, any third party, or any equipment which may result from use of this manual or the equipment which it describes. The information provided in this document may be modiﬁed at any time without prior warning. Speciﬁcations and appearance may differ from those listed and illustrated.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

1. Read these instructions.

2. Keep these instructions.

3. Heed all warnings.

4. Follow all instructions.

5. Do not use this apparatus with water.

6. Clean only with dry cloth.

7. Do not install near any heat sources such as radiators, heat registers, stoves, or other apparatus (including ampliﬁers) that produce heat.

8. Do not d efeat the safety purpose of the polarized or grounding-type plug. A pol arized plug has two blad es with one wider than the other. A grounding type plug has t wo blades and a third grounding prong. The wide blade or the third prong are p rovided for your safety. If the provided plug does not ﬁt into your outlet, consult an electrician for replacement of the obsolete outlet.

9. Protect the power cord from being walked on or pinched particularly at plugs, convenience receptacles, and the point where they exit from the apparatus.

10. Only use attachments /accessories speciﬁed by the manufacturer.

11.

12. Unplug this apparatus during lightning storms or whe n unused for long periods of time.

13. Refer all servicing to qualiﬁed service personnel. Servicing is required when the appar atus has been damaged in any way, such as power-supply cord or plug is damaged, liquid has been spilled or objects have fall en into the a pparatus, the apparatus has been exposed to rain or moisture, does not operate normally, or has been dropped.

14. No naked ﬂames, such as lighted candles, should be placed on the apparatus.

WARNING: Excessive sound pressure levels from earphones and headphones can cause

Use only with the cart, st and, tripod, bracket, or table speciﬁed by the manufacturer, or sold with the apparatus. When a car t is used, use caution when moving the cart/apparatus combination to avoid injury from tip-over.

hearing loss.

This device complies with part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the foll owing two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including inter ference that may cause undesired operation.

For USA

To the User:

1. Do not modify this unit! This product, when installed as indicated in the instructions contained in this manual, meets F CC requirements. Modiﬁcati ons not expressly approved by Novation may void your authority, granted by the F CC, to use this product.

2. Important: This product satis ﬁes FCC regulations when high quality shielded USB cables with integral ferrite are used to connect with other equipment . Failure to use high quality shielded USB cables with integral ferrite or to follow the installation instructions within this manual may cause magnetic inter ference with ap pliances such as radios and televisions and void your FCC authorization to use this product in the USA .

3. Note: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Cla ss B digital device, pursu ant to par t 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio c ommuni cations. However, there is no guarantee that inte rfere nce will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful inter ference to radio or television reception, which c an be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to tr y to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.

• Incre ase the separation between the equipment and receiver.

• Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the

receiver is connected.

• Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/ TV technician for help.

For Canada

To the User :

This Class B digital apparatus complie s with Canadian ICES-003.

Cet appareil numérique de la cla sse B est conforme à la norme N MB-003 du Canada.

RoHS Notice

Novation has conformed and product conforms, where applicable, to the European Union’s Directive 2002/ 95/ EC on Restrictions of Hazardous Substa nces ( RoHS) as well as the following sections of California law whic h refer to RoHS, namely sections

25214.10, 25214.10.2, and 58012, Health and Safety Co de; Section 42475.2, Public Resources Code.

WARNING: This equipment must only be connec ted to USB 1.1 or 2.0 type ports.

CAUTI ON: TO REDUCE THE RIS K OF ELECTRIC SHOCK, D O NOT REMOVE COVER ( OR BACK). NO USER-SERVICABLE PARTS INSIDE. REFER SERVI CING TO QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL .

The lightning ﬂash with arrowhead symbol within an equilateral triangle is

intended to aler t the user to the presence of uninsulated “dangerous voltage” within the product’s enclosure that may be of sufﬁcient magnitude to constitute the risk of electric shock to persons.

The exclamation point within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the use r

to the presence of important operating and maintenance (servicing) instructions in the literature accompanying the appliance.

WARNING: TO REDUCE THE RIS K OF FIRE OR ELECTRIC SH OCK, DO NOT EXPOSE

THIS A PPARATUS TO RAIN OR MOISTURE .

CAUTION:

The nor mal operation of this product may be affected by a strong electrostatic discharge (ESD). In the event of this happening, simply reset the unit by removing and then replugging the USB cable. Normal operation should return.

Novation is a registered tr ade mark of Focusrite Audio Engineering Limited. Bass Station II is a trade mark of Focusrite Audio Engineering Limited.

CONTENTS

IMPORTANT SAFETY

INSTRUCTIONS ..............................................................2

ENVIRONMENTAL

DECLARATION...............................................................2

For USA .................................................................2

For Canada ..............................................................2

COPY RIGHT AND LEGAL NOTICES............................................2

INTRODUCTION..............................................................4

Key Features .............................................................4

About T his Manual ........................................................4

What’s In The Box .........................................................4

Registering your Bass St ation II .............................................4

Power Requirements ......................................................4

Hardware Overview .......................................................5

GETTING STARTED...........................................................7

Loading Patches ..........................................................7

Saving Patches ...........................................................7

Basic Operation – sound modiﬁc ation .......................................7

The LED display ....................................................7

The Filter knob......................................................7

Pitch and Mod wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Octave Shift........................................................7

Transpose .........................................................8

On-Key functions ...................................................8

Local control .......................................................8

SYNTHESIS TUTORIAL........................................................8

Pitch ..............................................................8

Ton e ..............................................................8

Volume ............................................................8

The Osc illator s And Mixer ............................................9

Sine Waves ........................................................9

Triangle Waves .....................................................9

Sawtooth Waves....................................................9

Squar e / Pulse Waves ...............................................9

Noise .............................................................9

Ring Modulation ....................................................9

The Filter ........................................................10

Envelopes And Ampliﬁer ...........................................10

Attack Time .......................................................11

Decay Time .......................................................11

Sustain Level......................................................11

Release Time......................................................11

LFOs.............................................................11

Summary .........................................................11

SIMPLIFIED BASS STATION II BLO CK DIAGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

BASS STATION II IN DE TAIL ..................................................12

The Oscillator Section ....................................................12

Waveform........................................................ 12

Pitch ............................................................ 12

Modulation....................................................... 12

Pulse Width...................................................... 13

Oscillator Sync ...................................................13

The Sub Oscillator ................................................13

The Mixer Section........................................................13

The Filter Section ........................................................13

Filter type........................................................ 13

Frequency ....................................................... 14

Resonance....................................................... 14

Filter modulation.................................................. 14

Overdrive ........................................................14

The Envelopes Section ...................................................14

Portamento .............................................................15

The Effects Section ......................................................15

The LFO Section.........................................................15

LFO 1:........................................................... 15

LFO 2: .......................................................... 15

LFO Waveform s .................................................. 16

LFO Speed ...................................................... 16

LFO Delay ....................................................... 16

LFO Speed/Sync ................................................. 16

LFO Keysync .....................................................16

LFO Slew........................................................ 16

The Arpeggiator Section ..................................................16

Arp Swing ....................................................... 17

The Sequencer ..........................................................17

Record .......................................................... 17

Play ............................................................. 17

SEQ Retrig ...................................................... 17

On-key Functions ........................................................17

APPENDIX ..................................................................19

Importing Patches via SysEx ...............................................19

Sync values table ........................................................19

Init Patch – parameter table ...............................................20

Synth settings saved on power-off ..........................................20

Synth settings not saved on power-off ......................................20

MIDI parameters list ......................................................21

MIDI implementation table.................................................21

INTRODUCTION

Thank you for purchasing this Bass Station II digitally-controlled analogue synthesizer. Based on the classic 1990s Novation B ass Station synth, it combines traditional analogue waveform generation and processing with the power and ﬂ exibility of digital control, plus a set of ef fects and presets for the 21st century.

NOTE: Ba ss Stati on II is capable of generating audio with a large dynamic range, the extremes of which can cause damage to loudspeakers or other components, and also to your hearing!

Key Features

• Classic analogue waveform generation

• Two multi-waveform oscillators plus separate sub oscillator

• Analogue signal path – ﬁ lters, envelopes, modulation

• Traditional “single function” style rotary controls

• LP/BP/HP ﬁ lters with variable slope

• Separate dual LFO section

• Ring Modulator (inputs: Oscs 1 and 2)

• Versatile 32-step arpeggiator with wide range of patterns

• 32-step sequencer with four memories

• Portamento with dedicated time control

• Pre-loaded with 64 brand new Killer Patches

• Memory for 64 additional User Patches

• Pitch and Mod wheels

• 25-note velocity-sensitive keyboard with aftertouch

• -5/+4 octave keyboard shift

• Key transpose function

• On-Key functions – use the keyboard to adjust non-performance sound parameters

• MIDI input and output

• LED display for patch selection, parameter adjustment, octave settings, etc.

• External DC input (for supplied AC PSU)

• Class-compliant USB port (no drivers required), for alternative DC power, patch dump and MIDI

• External audio input to mixer section

• Headphone output

• Sustain pedal socket

• Kensington Security Slot

About This Manual

We’ve tried to make this manual a s helpful as possible for all types of user, and this inevitably means that more experienced users will want to sk ip over certain parts of it, while relative novices will want to avoid certain parts of it until they’re conﬁ dent they’ve mastered the basics.

What’s In The Box

Your Bass St ation II has been carefully packed in the factory and the packaging was designed to withstand rough handling. Should the unit appear to have been damaged in transit, do not discard any of the packing material and notify your music dealer.

If practical, save all the packing materials in case you ever need to ship the unit again.

Please check the list below against the contents of the packaging. If any items are missing or damaged, contact the Novation dealer or distributor where you purchased the unit.

• Bass Station II synthesizer

• DC power supply unit (PSU)

• USB cable

• Registration card, also providing on-line access to:

• Loopmasters Sample Content

• Ableton Live Lite

• This manual

Registering your Bass Station II

It is important to register your Bass Station II on-line, using the Warranty Registration Card provided. Apart from validating your manufacturer’s warranty, you w ill also then be able to download the additional software that you are entitled to as a Bass Station II purchaser. Follow the instructions on the Registration Card.

Power Requirements

Bass Station II is shipp ed with a 9 V DC, 500 mA power supply. The centre pin of the coaxial connector is the positive (+ve ) side of th e supply. Bass Station II can either be powered by this AC-to-DC mains adaptor, or by a USB connection to a computer. To obtain the best possible audio performance from Bass Station II we recommend using the supplied adaptor.

There a re two ver sions of the PSU, your Bass Station II will be supplied with the one appropriate to your country. In some countri es the PSU comes with detachable ad aptors ; use the one that ﬁ ts your countr y’s AC outlets. When powering Bass Station II with the mains P SU, please ensure that your local AC supply is within the range of voltages required by the ada ptor – i.e., 100 to 240 VAC - BEFORE you plug it into the mains.

We strongly recommend that you only us e the supplied PSU. Using alternative PSUs will invalidate your warranty. Power supplies for your Novation product can be purchased from your music dealer if you have lost yours.

If the synth is powered via the USB por t, note that it will “go to sleep” if the host computer goes into power save mode. The synth can be “woken-up” again by pressing any key; however, this does not alter the p ower status of the computer.

However, there are a few general points that are useful to know about before you continue reading this manual. We’ve adopted some graphical conventions within the text, which we hope all types of user will ﬁ nd helpful in navigating through the informati on to ﬁ nd what they need to know quickly:

Abbreviations, conventions, etc.

Where top panel controls or rear panel connectors are referred to, we’ve used a number

to cross-refer ence to the top panel diagram , and thus :

thus:

the rear panel diagram. (See page 5 and page 6).

We’ve used B OLD TEXT (or Bold Text) to na me top panel controls or rear panel connectors; we’ve made a point of using exactly the same names as appear on the Bass Station II. We’ve used SEVEN-SEGMENT DIGITS to denote numbers that appear on the top panel LED display.

Tips

These do what it says on the tin : we include bits of advice, relevant to the topic being disc ussed that should simplify setting up Impulse to do what you want. It’s not mandator y that you follow them, but generally they should make life easier.

These are additions to the text that will be of interest to the more advanced user and can generally be avoided by the novice. They are intended to provide a clari ﬁ cation or explanation of a pa rticular area of operation.

to cross-reference to

A word about laptops :

I f powering your Bass Station II via the USB connection you should be aware that although the USB speciﬁ cation agreed by the IT industry states that a USB port should be able to supply 0. 5 A at 5 V, some computers - particularly laptops – are unab le to supply this current. Unreliable operation of the synth will result in such a case. When powering Bass Station II from a l aptop’s USB port , it is strongly rec ommended that the laptop is p owered from AC mains rather than its internal battery.

Hardware Overview

21 29 31

8 181247 13 1120

9 26 27 35 3732

610

7 15 14 16 17 19 22 28 33363430

25-note (two octaves) velocity-sensitive keyboard with aftertouch.

Pitch and Mod wheels: The Pitch wheel is mechanically biased to return to the centre

position when released. The wheels are internally illuminated.

Octave shift keys – transpose the keyb oard in octave increments .

Transpose - lets you transpose the keyboard in semitone incre ments, up to a maximum

of +/- 12 semi tones.

Function/Exit – hold this down to use any of Bass Station II’s On-Key Functions. A

wide ra nge of “system set-up” parameters can be set in this mode.

Master section:

LED display – a three-character alphanumeric display showing various items of unit

data – e.g., patch number, octave shif t and parameter values – depending on which other controls are in use.

Org. Value – one of these two LEDs will illuminate when the value of a parameter no

longer matches the value stored for the patch.

Patch/Value – allows selection of one of the 64 Factory or 64 User Patches, and are

also used to set parameter values for On-Key functions.

Save – use in conjunction with Patch keys 8 to save modiﬁ ed Patches in User

Memories.

Volume – sets the Bass Station II’s audio volume.

Oscillator sec tion:

Osc Sel ect switch – assigns the controls in the Oscillator section to Oscillator 1 or

Oscillator 2.

Range – steps through the base pitch ranges of the selected oscillator. For standard

conce rt pitch (A3 = 440 Hz), set to 8’.

Waveform – steps through the range of available oscillator waveforms – sine,

triangular, sawtooth and pulse.

Coarse – adjusts the pitch of the selected oscillator over a range of ±1 octave.

Fine – adjusts the oscillator pitch over a range of ±100 cents (±1 semitone) .

Mod Env depth – controls the degree by which the oscillator pitch ch anges as a

16 result of modulation by Envelope 2; the control is ‘centre-of f’, so that either pitch increases or decreases can be obtained.

LFO 1 depth – controls the degree by which the oscillator pitch changes as a result of

17 modulation by LF O 1.

Pulse width modulation source – active only when Waveform 13 is set to Pulse; this

18 switch selects the method of varying the width of the pulse waveform. The options are: modulation by Envelope 2 ( Mod Env), modulation by LFO 2 (LFO 2 ) or manual control by

the Pulse Width control

2324 38 39 4025 25 24

Pulse Width – a multi-functional control adjusting the pulse waveform; only active

when Waveform is set to Manual, the control adjusts the pulse width directly ; when set to Mod Env or LFO 2, it acts as a Modulation Depth control. Note that the pulse width may be modulated by all three sources simultaneously, by differing amounts.

Sync 1-2 – this LED illuminates when the Osc 1/Osc 2 Sync function is enabled ( an

On-Key Function)

Octave – sets the range of the sub-octave oscill ator; the actual pitch of this oscillator

21 is deter mined by OSC 1’s pitch, and adds additional bass frequencies (LF) to the sound. -1 adds LF one octave below OSC 1, -2 adds LF two octaves below.

Sub Osc Wave – a choice of three waveforms is available for the sub-octave oscillator:

22 sine, narrow pulse or square.

LFO section:

LFO Delay/Speed – the two rotary controls in the LFO section are dual-function,

23 the function being set by this switch. In Speed mode, the rotary controls adjust the

frequencies of the two LF Os. In Delay mode, they set the “ fade-in” time for the LFO. Speed mode can be change d to Sync mode by using one of the On-key functions. See “ Mod Wh : Filter Freq (bottom C)” on page 17 for further information.

LFO waveform – these buttons step through the available waveforms for each LFO

24 independently: tria ngle, sawtooth, square, sample and hold . The associated LEDs give a visual indication of the LFO speed and waveform.

LFO rotary controls – these two controls either adjust LFO s peed or delay, as set by

25 the LFO D elay/ Speed switch [23].

Mixer section:

OSC 1 – adjusts the proportion of Oscillator 1’s signal mak ing up the sound.

OSC 2 – adjusts the proportion of Oscillator 2’s signal making up the sound .

Sub – adjusts the proportion of the sub -octave oscillator making up the sound.

28 Additional inputs - up to three further sour ces may contribute to the synth output; this control sets their levels . The control’s function is set by switch

Noise/Ring/Ext – determines the function of rotar y control 29. When set to Noise,

29 the rotary control sets the amount of white noise added to the sound; when set to Ring, it sets the amount of the output from the Ring Modulator circuit is added (the i nputs to the Ring Modulator are Osc 1 and Osc 2); in the Ext position, an external signal connected to the rear panel connector

is set to Pulse. When the pulse width source modulation switch 18

can be mixed in.

Filter section:

Type – two-position switch selecting ﬁ lter type: Classic conﬁ gures a variable ﬁ lter,

whose basic character istics may be set with the Shape and Slope switches Acid conﬁ gur es a 4-pole diode ladder lo-pass ﬁ lte r, which emulates a type of ﬁ lter found on early ‘80s analogue synths.

Shape – three-position switch; with Type set to Classic, sets the ﬁ lter characteristic

to be lo-pass (LP), band-pass (BP) or hi-pass ( HP).

Slope – two-position switch; with Type set to Classic, sets the slope of ﬁ lter beyond

the pas sband to either 12d B or 24dB per octave.

Frequency – large rotary knob controlling the ﬁ lter’s cut-off frequency ( LP or HP ), or

its centre frequency (BP).

Resonance – adds resonance (an increased response at the ﬁ lter frequency) to the

ﬁ lter characteristic.

Overdrive – adds a degree of pre-ﬁ lter distor tion to the mixer output.

Mod Env depth – controls the degree by which the ﬁ lter frequency is modiﬁ ed by the

Mod Envelope.

LFO 2 depth – contro ls the degree by which the ﬁ lter frequency is modiﬁ ed by LFO 2.

Envelopes Section:

Env Select – assigns the Envelope faders [40] to var y the parameter s of the

38 Amplitude Envelope (Amp Env), Modulation Envelope (Mod Env), or both simultaneously (Amp+Mod Env).

Envelope controls – a set of four faders adjusting the standard ADSR Envelope

39 parameters (Attack, Dec ay, Sustain and Release ).

Triggering – three-position switch controlling how envelopes work with legato and

40 portamento playing styles.

and 33;

Arpeggiator section:

On/Legato – turns the arpeggiator on and off. Also allows notes in a recorded arp

sequence to be tied, or played in a Legato style.

Latch/Rest – sets the arpeggiator to play the current pattern continuously. Also

42 allows a musical rest to be inserted in an arp sequence. When the arpeggiator is of f, the Latch /Rest button enables a Key Hold function, which simulates the effect of holding a key down continuously, until another key is pressed.

Temp o – sets the arp pat tern tempo in the range 40 to 240 BP M.

Rhythm – selects one of 32 pre-deﬁ ned arp r hythmic patterns. The L ED display

44 indicates the pattern number.

Arp Mode – the arp c an play the notes mak ing up the selected pattern in a variety of

45 sequences; A rp Mode sets the sequence, and can also put the arp into Record and Play modes for patterns based on the notes actually played rather tha n on the pre -deﬁ ned sequences.

Arp Octaves/SEQ – 4-position rotary switch setting the number of octaves over

46 which the arp pat tern plays. This control also selects one of four global sequences when Arp Mode is set to Play or Record.

Portamento section:

Glide Time – sets the portamento glide time; with the control fully anticlockwise,

47 portamento is ‘off’.

Effects section:

Distortion – controls the amount of p ost-ﬁ lter distortion added to the synth output.

Osc Filter Mod - allows the ﬁ lter frequency to be modulated directly by Oscillator 2.

POWER IN – connect the supplied PSU here when powering Bass Station II from AC

mains.

Power switch – three-position switch: centre is OFF, set to ext DC if using the

supplied AC mains PSU, set to USB if powering Bass Station II from a computer via a USB cable.

USB – standard USB 1.1 port (2.0-compatible). Connect to a Type A USB por t on a

computer using the supplied cable.

MIDI IN and OUT – standard 5-pin DIN MIDI sockets for connecting Bas s Station II to

other MIDI-equipped hardware.

S US TAIN – 2-pole ( mono) ¼” jack socket for connection of a sustain pedal . Both N/O

(Normally O pen) and N/C (Normally Cl osed) pedal types are compatible; if the pedal is connected when the Bas s Station II is powered on, the type will be autom atically sensed during boot-up (provided your foot is not on the pedal! ).

E XT IN – ¼” jack socket for external microphone, instrument or line level audio inputs.

Input is unbala nced. An audio source connected here may be mi xed with the synth sound.

LINE OUTPUT (MONO ) – ¼” jack soc ket carr ying the Bass Station II ’s output s ignal ;

connect your recording system, ampliﬁ er and speakers, audio mixer, etc. Output is unbalanced.

HEADPHONES – 3-pole ¼” jack socket for stereo headphones (though synth output

is mono ). Phones volume is adjusted by the VOLUME control [10] .

Kensington Security Slot – to secure your synth.

G E T TI NG S TAR TE D

Bass Station II may be used as a standalone sy nthesizer, or with M IDI connections to/ from other sound m odules or keyboards. It may also be connected - via its USB port – to a computer (Windows or Mac). The USB connection can supply power to the synth, transfer MIDI data to/from a MIDI sequencer a pplication and a llow Patches to be saved to memor y.

The sim plest and quickest way of get ting sta rted with Bass Station II is to conne ct the rear pa nel jack socket marked LINE Output mixer, powered speaker, thir d-par ty computer sound card or other means of monitoring the output.

MIDI In

to the input of a power ampliﬁ er, audio

Audio Out

MIDI Out

Note that when you change Patch, you lose the current synt h setting s. If

the current settings were a modiﬁ ed version of a stored Patc h, these

modiﬁ cations will be lost. Thus it is always adv isable to save your

settings before loading a new patch. See Saving Patches below.

Saving Patches

Patches can be saved to any of the 128 memory locations (0 – 127), but remember that if you save your settings to any of Patches 0 - 63, you will overwrite one of the factory presets. To save a patch press the Save button patch number - will ﬂ ash. To overw rite this Patch with your current settings, press the Save button again. The LED display will brieﬂ y indicate that the patch is being saved.

To save the current settings to a different memor y to the Patch number on the display (as would be the case if you loaded a Patch, modiﬁ ed it in some way and then wished to save the modiﬁ ed version without overwriting the original version), press the Save button and then use the Patch buttons to select an alternative Patch memor y while the display is ﬂ ashing. Once se lected, it is possible to audition the target patch (by using the keyboard ) just to ma ke sure that you are happy to overwrite it. Press the Save button once more to store the patch. The LED display will b rieﬂ y indicate that the patch is being saved.

. The LED display – showing the current

Master Keyboard

USB

Note: Bass Station II is not a computer MI DI inter face. MIDI can be

transmitted b etween the synth and computer via the U SB connection, but MIDI cannot be transferred between the computer and external equipment via Bass Station II’s MIDI DIN ports .

If using Bass Station II with other sound modules, connect MIDI OUT to MIDI IN on the ﬁ rst sound module, and daisy-cha in further modules in the usual way. If using Bass Station II with a master keyboard, conne ct the master keyboard’s MI DI OUT to MIDI IN on the synth, and ensure that the master key board is set to output on MIDI channel 1 (the synth’s default channel).

Sound Modules

Audio In

Headphones

on the synth

You can abor t the Save procedure at the “LED ﬂ ashing” stage by pressing the Function/ Exit button being edited.

. The Save procedure will cancel and Bass Station II will return to the patch

T he Bass Station I I Factor y Patches can be dow nloaded from the Novation website if they have b een accidentally overwritten. See “I mporting Patches via SysEx” on page 19.

Basic Operation – sound modiﬁ cation

Once you have loaded a Patch you like the sound of, you can modify the sound in many different ways using the synth controls. Each area of the control panel is dealt with in greater depth later in the manual, but a few funda mental points should be discussed here:

The LED display

The three-segment alp hanume ric display will normally show the number of the currentlyloaded Patch (0 to 127). As soon as you change any “analogue” parameter – i.e., turn a rotar y control or adjust an On-Key functi on, it will display the parameter value (most are either 0 to 127 or -63 to +63), with one of two arrows being highlighted ( at the right-hand side). These arrows indicate which direction the control needs to be turned in order to match the value stored in the patch. It reverts to the Patch number display afte r the control is released.

The Filter knob

Adjusting the frequency of the synth’s ﬁ lter is probably the most commonly-used method of sound modiﬁ cation. For this reason, Filter Frequency has i ts own dedicated large rota ry

control changing the ﬁ lter frequency alters the characteristic of different types of sound.

at the panel top right. Exp eriment with dif ferent types of patch to hear how

With the ampliﬁ er or mixer off or muted, connect the AC adaptor to the B ass Station II

, and plug it into the AC mains. Turn the synth on by moving the rear panel switch ext DC. After co mpleting its boot sequence, Bass Station will load Patch 0, and the LCD display will conﬁ rm this. For a list of initial synth settings which are not retained from the previous session, please see Synth settings unsaved from previous session in Appendix.

Turn on the mixer/ampliﬁ er/powered speakers, and turn up the VO LUME control you have a he althy sound level from the speaker when you play.

Using headphones

Instead of a speaker and /or an audio mixer, you may wish to use a pair of headphones. These may be plugged into the rear panel headphone output socket are still active when headphones are plugged in. The VOLUME control headphone level.

NOTE: The Bass St ation II headphone ampliﬁ er is capable of outputting a high signal level; please take care when setting the volume.

. The main outputs

until

also adjusts

Loading Patches

Bass Station II can store 128 Patches in memory. 0 – 63 are pre-loaded with some great factor y sounds. 64 – 127 are intended for storing user Patches, and are all pre-loaded with the sam e default “initial” Patch ( see “Init Patch – paramete r table” on page 20).

A Patch is loaded by simply scrolling up or down to the Patch number with the Patch

buttons number. The Patch buttons can be held down for fas t scrolling.

; the Patch is immediately active and the LED display shows the current patch

Pitch and Mod wheels

Bass Station II is ﬁ tted with a standard pair of synthes izer control wheels the keyboard, Pitch and Mod (Modulation ). The Pitch control is spring-loaded and always returns to the centre position.

Moving Pitch will always raise or lower the pitch of the note(s ) being played. The maximum range of operation is 12 semitones up or down, but this may be adjusted using On-Key function Oscillator: Pitch Bend Range (Upper C#).

The Mod wheel’s precise function varies with the patch loaded; it is used in ge neral to add expression or various elements to a synthesized sound. A common use is to add vibrato to a sound.

It is possible to a ssign the Mod wheel to alter various parameters making up the sound – or a combination of parameters simultaneously. This topic is discussed in more detail elsewhere in the manual. See ‘On-key functions (mod wheel) on page 17.

Octave Shift

These two buttons pressed, to a ma ximum of four octaves downwards, or ﬁ ve octaves upwards. The number of octaves by which the keyboard is shifted is indicated by the LED display. Pressing both buttons together (Reset) returns the keyboard to its default pitch, where the lowest note on the keyboard is one octave below Middle C.

transpose the keyboard up or down one octave each time they are

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Novation Bass Station II User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual