Bass Station II is such a great synth - you can get so many cool sounds out of it. Novation is also great by releasing BIG updates and supporting their product instead of just releasing a new hardware version. I'm a Novation fan - now I'm saving money for the Novation Peak. :)
I have the BS II and Peak and both are awesome! Save up for the peak this synth is soo great. definitly my most used synth, i have also the moog grandmother and the neutron.
I bought this 2 days ago and it's my first synth. Although I don't have any experience it is more than I could ask for for now. And very very powerful!
After I purchased my BS II back when it was released - I proclaimed it was the best bang-for-buck I've ever owned... and I have a room full of synths. Still to this day - Its always plugged in and always used with everything. My slightly sun-stained and finger-worn BassStation 2 is still the best bang-for-buck synth I own.
I bought a bass station recently. Could someone explain to me how I control the wave curve? Or in other words the rate of the waveform? sometimes I want the timbre to stay in a way but there is a variation between the low and the high. I still don't understand how to keep the wave with a timbre type only.
@@pauloantonio5495 you mean like that slow vibrato effect? Try using both dco with sync on or without any detune. They're analog but the phase can't be controlled like on a sub 25 or a minitaur.
@@testohtoby it's an oscillation. I believe it is related to the filter. modifies the tone, opening and closing. and I wanted the wave to continue with a single sound.
@@pauloantonio5495 I don't completely get it. You want your sound to remain "stable" over time. Like a sustained tone without timbre variations, right?
I have had this for years, but your explanations clarify so many things, and the new functions just keep this synth at the top of my favorites list. :)
I also just bought this, my first synth. This tutorial is beyond me at the minute but I will definitely be coming back to this, really well broken down
I've been playing my bass station II for about a year and a half & about hit my "comfort" zone. Exoring these updates- especially as a Huge Richard D. James fan - is about to open in and rock my entire hardware world
Professor Calc you're an absolute legend thank you so much for the masterclass!!! Will be coming back to this video for reference - that's a hell of a lot of potential you've demonstrated right there! I have never seen a synth manufacturer offering anywhere near this level of product support and dedication to their existing customers - go Novation!!!! I finally picked up a BS2 after the recent updates and I´m absolutely blown away by what this little beast can do, it's a total GAS killer - how on earth am I going to justify buying another analog monosynth now??
For each extra function, you tap the key twice (or more) while maintening Function. Filter Track for C1 (=first key of BS2) DCO Drift on C#2 (=14th key) Paraphony on D2 Amp Env retrigs or loop on D#2 Mod Env retrigs or loop on E2 AFX on F#2 Micro-tunning on G#2 Glide divergence on B2 Sub osc tuning relative to Osc 1 : rotate coarse or fine knobs while maintaining Function. If I made a mistake or an oversight, someone correct me. :) Refer to the manual for explanations
This is an excellent video! I bought a BS II several years ago and never looked back. The substantial and useful updates by Novation along with these tutorials with Chris Calcutt keep this synth thriving. Thanks!
44:16 wow, that's pretty cool :-D Is it possible to somehow do this without an external sequencer using the arpeggiator/sequencer? Is it possible to have a key/patch selected from the overlay whilst the arpeggiator is playing a sequence, and only manipulating that specific patch in the overlay for similar result?
My #1 tip: save the default patch (with LFO1 - mod wheel amount set to zero!) as Patch #0. This means the synth starts up with the default patch at power-up. If Novation ever make a BS3, let's hope they add "init" function!
19:52 that's totally weird on my new AFX station when I coarse tune the sub-bass the numbers in the display go only from 0.6...12.0 and actually there's no minus sign. I see only the two arrows indicating towards the zero direction. I would assume that like in 19:58 the range is -12...12 . Has any one experienced the same?
I would love a Summit style polysynth with the BSII voices. I tried out Summit but the sounds were very bell like, glassy, DX-7 sounding. And simple sounds like strings got a chipmunky timbre in the higher frequencies. And it sounded like there was a blanket over my speakers compared to my BSII.
I bought a bass station recently. Could someone explain to me how I control the wave curve? Or in other words the rate of the waveform? sometimes I want the timbre to stay in a way but there is a variation between the low and the high. I still don't understand how to keep the wave with a timbre type only.
i have both the bass station and the peak and i don't agree with your comment. the peak is basicly a summit without the keyboars and only 8 voices but they both sound the same. and the peak sounds awesome. with bell like i believe you use wavetables? those can sound bell like but if you stick to the basic waveforms they sound super fat! and if a sound sounds dull or like a blanked over the speakers, turn off filter key track. by default it's set to 100% and lower notes have already a filter cutting off the high end. this should solve that. i have spend countles hours on both synths and they both sound really good!!
@@Sirius-qr4vu I didn't realize that about the filter tracking. I do love the sound of the BSII so I need to do a thorough review of the Summit. I love the way it is designed and the keybed feels amazing.
This is a great video on the new features. I think I'm gonna need to print out a tiny cheat sheet on the new features cause I keep forgetting which extra function keys do what 😂
Glad you enjoyed it! Afraid - CALC - hasn't released this track but he has shared a video where he performs a much longer version. Check it out - ua-cam.com/video/Q-mGXUFp3AA/v-deo.html
Hi. Great work ! Can we sequence the overlays via midi or sub midi ( with an external sequencer i mean..octatrack , akai force or something like that)?
hi! I have just bought a new BS, I installed the driver and I updated the synth to the latest version as possible, but among the "secret" functions shown in this video I can use only the parafonic mode, because pressing twice the function button and the other keys, the letter on the screen and the 0 don't appear. Can you please help me to solve this problem, because I'm really losing some nice possibilities of an already great synth
PLEASE DO WAAAAAAAAY MORE OF THESE please, WAY WAY WAY WAY MORE. CUBASE/ABLETON/PYRAMIND DO IT REMARKABLY WELL. I REALLY DIG YOUR MUSIC CALC, I BOUGHT MYSELF AN AFX DOR CHRISTMAS AND WOULD LOVE TO SEE IT WITH SOME AUDIO IN, SEQENCING ANOTHER BIT OF GEAR. A DIGITAKT SEQUENCING THE BS2. Have an awesome day... Peace Out...... 🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖 Jeremy...✌✌
Afraid that isn't possible. Bass Station II is an analogue synthesiser. All of the sounds are generated using the internal synth engine, it doesn't have the ability to store and play back audio samples of any kind. If you are looking for a device with sample playback and synthesis, you might want to check out Circuit Tracks - novationmusic.com/en/circuit/circuit-tracks John // Novation UK 🇬🇧
Anyone wonder or think the Minbrute 2 is a better synthesizer ? I definitely am liking the Korg Monologue XD but it's a little too much for my current budget.. Thanks in advance !
I own a Minibrute 2S and a Bass Station 2. Neither is better than the other IMHO but I do tend to prefer the BS2 because it can do one thing the Minibrute can't do. It stores patches!
You should find that you can turn the Glide Time control fully anti-clockwise to switch off Legato. You can find more information on page 18 of the User Guide - fael-downloads-prod.focusrite.com/customer/prod/s3fs-public/downloads/Bass%20Station%20II%20User%20Guide%204.14%20Version%202.pdf
Great synth! Its a shame u cant edit individual overlay sounds when the sequence is playing, only all the overlay patches at once. Maybe a function+press on the key could protect all other patches but the pressed one u want to edit so u dont need to stop the sequence to edit overlay patches individualy.
I owned one shortly after the relaunch of BS2... I'm about to pull the trigger on one again I miss it a lot. Keep in mind, Orbital has used a bass station/BS2 their entire musical career! That's says a lot for a couple guys who own almost literally every synth ever made that's worth owning lol
Given that Orbital haven been around since 1989 and the BS 2 came out in 2013 it would be difficult for them to have owned one their entire musical career ;-)
@@slaterslater5944 so maybe not entire career but I remember in an interview with Paul Hartnoll he held up his original bass station and said it's been on almost everything since '95 or around then, whenever it was originally released. He uses a BS2 on almost everything.
@@ultrajayme Apologies, I missed the "bass station/" part :-) Just got a bs 2 last week after my super bs rack died :-( (hoping Novation might be able to fix it for me as they did my dStation). Amazing sound, although I am missing a few features from the SBS ... SO Novation, if you're listening, how about this for the next update: LFO1 - Amp modulation and triggering of amp and filter envelopes from external audio.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Bass Station II is such a great synth - you can get so many cool sounds out of it. Novation is also great by releasing BIG updates and supporting their product instead of just releasing a new hardware version. I'm a Novation fan - now I'm saving money for the Novation Peak. :)
I have the BS II and Peak and both are awesome! Save up for the peak this synth is soo great. definitly my most used synth, i have also the moog grandmother and the neutron.
Amazing product support.
I bought this 2 days ago and it's my first synth. Although I don't have any experience it is more than I could ask for for now. And very very powerful!
Nice choice! I have it for more than a year and I discover new ways of using it everyday 😍
Novation has the best product specialists in the industry. Great presentation -CALC-!
After I purchased my BS II back when it was released - I proclaimed it was the best bang-for-buck I've ever owned... and I have a room full of synths. Still to this day - Its always plugged in and always used with everything. My slightly sun-stained and finger-worn BassStation 2 is still the best bang-for-buck synth I own.
And it can be powered via usb so you can play literally everywhere with a proper powerbank 😍
I bought a bass station recently. Could someone explain to me how I control the wave curve? Or in other words the rate of the waveform?
sometimes I want the timbre to stay in a way but there is a variation between the low and the high. I still don't understand how to keep the wave with a timbre type only.
@@pauloantonio5495 you mean like that slow vibrato effect? Try using both dco with sync on or without any detune. They're analog but the phase can't be controlled like on a sub 25 or a minitaur.
@@testohtoby it's an oscillation. I believe it is related to the filter. modifies the tone, opening and closing. and I wanted the wave to continue with a single sound.
@@pauloantonio5495 I don't completely get it. You want your sound to remain "stable" over time. Like a sustained tone without timbre variations, right?
I have had this for years, but your explanations clarify so many things, and the new functions just keep this synth at the top of my favorites list. :)
Glad to hear it!
I also just bought this, my first synth. This tutorial is beyond me at the minute but I will definitely be coming back to this, really well broken down
I've been playing my bass station II for about a year and a half & about hit my "comfort" zone.
Exoring these updates- especially as a Huge Richard D. James fan - is about to open in and rock my entire hardware world
That's great to hear! We really hope you enjoy working with the new features 🙌❤️
Professor Calc you're an absolute legend thank you so much for the masterclass!!! Will be coming back to this video for reference - that's a hell of a lot of potential you've demonstrated right there!
I have never seen a synth manufacturer offering anywhere near this level of product support and dedication to their existing customers - go Novation!!!! I finally picked up a BS2 after the recent updates and I´m absolutely blown away by what this little beast can do, it's a total GAS killer - how on earth am I going to justify buying another analog monosynth now??
For each extra function, you tap the key twice (or more) while maintening Function.
Filter Track for C1 (=first key of BS2)
DCO Drift on C#2 (=14th key)
Paraphony on D2
Amp Env retrigs or loop on D#2
Mod Env retrigs or loop on E2
AFX on F#2
Micro-tunning on G#2
Glide divergence on B2
Sub osc tuning relative to Osc 1 : rotate coarse or fine knobs while maintaining Function.
If I made a mistake or an oversight, someone correct me. :) Refer to the manual for explanations
I wonder how many people screenshot this comment 🙋♂️
@@TheXxjmpxxx just did lol my bass station arrives today 🙂
Thank you Chris for sharing this information/workflows. It's much more better than just reading the manual.
Just bought it today!!
Amazing!! So good you still put so much love in your machines!!! Looking forward to the BS2. Thanks for your video.
This is an excellent video! I bought a BS II several years ago and never looked back. The substantial and useful updates by Novation along with these tutorials with Chris Calcutt keep this synth thriving. Thanks!
A future classic, for sure!
Huge thanks for the support, Novation!
Picked up a second hand BS2 yesterday, absolutely fantastic machine!
Mastercalss !! Each step made me create a track, thanks !!
Great to hear!
Would love a Bass Station III. With metal body and an extra Osc.
Great stuff! Please do more sound design and patch ideas for the Bass Station II - love it!
This is the definitive video: I'll certainly buy a BS2 later this year 😍
44:16 wow, that's pretty cool :-D Is it possible to somehow do this without an external sequencer using the arpeggiator/sequencer? Is it possible to have a key/patch selected from the overlay whilst the arpeggiator is playing a sequence, and only manipulating that specific patch in the overlay for similar result?
just brilliant-great tuition !! i just bought mine-
My #1 tip: save the default patch (with LFO1 - mod wheel amount set to zero!) as Patch #0. This means the synth starts up with the default patch at power-up.
If Novation ever make a BS3, let's hope they add "init" function!
isnt all the patches past 70 just init patches?
19:52 that's totally weird on my new AFX station when I coarse tune the sub-bass the numbers in the display go only from 0.6...12.0 and actually there's no minus sign. I see only the two arrows indicating towards the zero direction. I would assume that like in 19:58 the range is -12...12 . Has any one experienced the same?
Amazing synth bought it last week and bring it back to the shop again
I would love a Summit style polysynth with the BSII voices. I tried out Summit but the sounds were very bell like, glassy, DX-7 sounding. And simple sounds like strings got a chipmunky timbre in the higher frequencies. And it sounded like there was a blanket over my speakers compared to my BSII.
I bought a bass station recently. Could someone explain to me how I control the wave curve? Or in other words the rate of the waveform?
sometimes I want the timbre to stay in a way but there is a variation between the low and the high. I still don't understand how to keep the wave with a timbre type only.
@@pauloantonio5495 It is the filter tracking function added in firmware 2.5.
@@Digiphex Thanks so much! I'l try!
i have both the bass station and the peak and i don't agree with your comment. the peak is basicly a summit without the keyboars and only 8 voices but they both sound the same. and the peak sounds awesome. with bell like i believe you use wavetables? those can sound bell like but if you stick to the basic waveforms they sound super fat! and if a sound sounds dull or like a blanked over the speakers, turn off filter key track. by default it's set to 100% and lower notes have already a filter cutting off the high end. this should solve that.
i have spend countles hours on both synths and they both sound really good!!
@@Sirius-qr4vu I didn't realize that about the filter tracking. I do love the sound of the BSII so I need to do a thorough review of the Summit. I love the way it is designed and the keybed feels amazing.
Brilliant!!
Novation are the best!
A M A Z I N G !
This is a great video on the new features. I think I'm gonna need to print out a tiny cheat sheet on the new features cause I keep forgetting which extra function keys do what 😂
Stickers above the key for the new functions, that's what i do.
Do you have a pdf file or something like that to show all function keys?!
I should def try to loop the envelopes, i keep forgeting it's here
Great video! Thank you
20:00 you actually placed osc 1 and the sub osc on the same note, so it's not really a triad. But the trick does work for making triads :-)
I am all the way here for this intro/demo track at the beginning. Can we get a download link to whole song please, Novation? So cool... ❤💚💙
Glad you enjoyed it! Afraid - CALC - hasn't released this track but he has shared a video where he performs a much longer version. Check it out - ua-cam.com/video/Q-mGXUFp3AA/v-deo.html
Does the Peak include all the BS II features?
no AFX mode and no paraphonic mode. not the same arp but beside that the peak can do a lot more!
Hi. Great work !
Can we sequence the overlays via midi or sub midi ( with an external sequencer i mean..octatrack , akai force or something like that)?
More please
can this transpose all 12 keys? i want a synth but i am not a pianist, and I can get around perfectly fine on the white keys.
hi! I have just bought a new BS, I installed the driver and I updated the synth to the latest version as possible, but among the "secret" functions shown in this video I can use only the parafonic mode, because pressing twice the function button and the other keys, the letter on the screen and the 0 don't appear. Can you please help me to solve this problem, because I'm really losing some nice possibilities of an already great synth
Can you copy the sounds/keys in overlay mode? Could be cool.
PLEASE DO WAAAAAAAAY MORE OF THESE please, WAY WAY WAY WAY MORE. CUBASE/ABLETON/PYRAMIND DO IT REMARKABLY WELL.
I REALLY DIG YOUR MUSIC CALC, I BOUGHT MYSELF AN AFX DOR CHRISTMAS AND WOULD LOVE TO SEE IT WITH SOME AUDIO IN, SEQENCING ANOTHER BIT OF GEAR. A DIGITAKT SEQUENCING THE BS2.
Have an awesome day...
Peace Out...... 🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖
Jeremy...✌✌
how do i get a sample ex: drums or clip of movie onto the bass station 2
Afraid that isn't possible. Bass Station II is an analogue synthesiser. All of the sounds are generated using the internal synth engine, it doesn't have the ability to store and play back audio samples of any kind.
If you are looking for a device with sample playback and synthesis, you might want to check out Circuit Tracks - novationmusic.com/en/circuit/circuit-tracks
John // Novation UK 🇬🇧
@@NovationTV thanks you!
@NovationTV, does this firmware update touch external input? I mean, do you still need MIDI triggering to process external audio?
That's right. The functionality and architecture of the external input remains the same and is unchanged by this firmware update.
Anyone wonder or think the Minbrute 2 is a better synthesizer ? I definitely am liking the Korg Monologue XD but it's a little too much for my current budget..
Thanks in advance !
I think I am understanding that the bass station has more power behind it.. but it seems a little fragile with all the plastic..
I own a Minibrute 2S and a Bass Station 2. Neither is better than the other IMHO but I do tend to prefer the BS2 because it can do one thing the Minibrute can't do. It stores patches!
How do I turn off the legato on the bass station?
You should find that you can turn the Glide Time control fully anti-clockwise to switch off Legato. You can find more information on page 18 of the User Guide -
fael-downloads-prod.focusrite.com/customer/prod/s3fs-public/downloads/Bass%20Station%20II%20User%20Guide%204.14%20Version%202.pdf
@@NovationTV Thanks 😊
If I turn all oscillator to zero my bass station make voice when I push a key and tuning reso and freq. Its normal?
Yes its normal. The filter self oscillates. When all oscillators are turned down and you turn the ring mod up, you can hear that as well.
love it, I own 2 BS2
just curious, why 2?
Great synth! Its a shame u cant edit individual overlay sounds when the sequence is playing, only all the overlay patches at once. Maybe a function+press on the key could protect all other patches but the pressed one u want to edit so u dont need to stop the sequence to edit overlay patches individualy.
i was also intrigued by the protect function and had the same thought... why protect ?
Hey Chris..
I owned one shortly after the relaunch of BS2... I'm about to pull the trigger on one again I miss it a lot.
Keep in mind, Orbital has used a bass station/BS2 their entire musical career! That's says a lot for a couple guys who own almost literally every synth ever made that's worth owning lol
Given that Orbital haven been around since 1989 and the BS 2 came out in 2013 it would be difficult for them to have owned one their entire musical career ;-)
@@slaterslater5944 bass station originally came out in the mid 90s. Small cheap plastic thing.
@@slaterslater5944 so maybe not entire career but I remember in an interview with Paul Hartnoll he held up his original bass station and said it's been on almost everything since '95 or around then, whenever it was originally released. He uses a BS2 on almost everything.
@@ultrajayme
Apologies, I missed the "bass station/" part :-)
Just got a bs 2 last week after my super bs rack died :-( (hoping Novation might be able to fix it for me as they did my dStation). Amazing sound, although I am missing a few features from the SBS ... SO Novation, if you're listening, how about this for the next update:
LFO1 - Amp modulation and triggering of amp and filter envelopes from external audio.
@@slaterslater5944 I've almost bought a Supernova a couple times
Three oscilators