If you require bass guitar on your tracks but either don’t play or don’t have access to a bass, IK Multimedia’s Modo Bass 2 is aiming to become your solution.
Picking up from the original Modo Bass, the latest, newly-released version adds eight new instruments, a brand new patterns section and thousands of grooves, putting authentic-sounding bass tracks at your fingertips.
First up, IK Multimedia has added eight new physically modelled basses bringing the total to 22, including six sought-after electric basses (inspired by Jaco Pastorius and Pino Palladino) and a pair of acoustic double basses, the latter making use of their own studio environment complete with ambience and microphone controls.
Because Modo Bass 2 works via physical modelling, IK is confident that you can achieve greater flexibility and authenticity thanks to the range of tweak-able options that aren’t available with static sampled instruments.
Within each bass model, this includes the pickup type (single coil/humbucker,) playing style (finger, slap/picked and plucking position), string gauge as well as swapping the bass’s circuit from piezo to passive or active.
What’s more, IK has also given us the option to turn any of the standard fretted electric basses into a fretless model. From here, the whole lot can run through the built-in virtual rig, which comprises up to four stompboxes (chorus, compressor, delay, distortion, envelope filter, graphic EQ, octaver) and either virtual valve or solid state bass amps and cabs.
With the tonal options covered, you’ll need to come up with a part. Here’s where Modo Bass’s new Patterns section comes in. You can choose a genre, song section, playing style, groove length, key and time signature, and Modo Bass 2’s virtual bassist will perform your bass line for you.
IK Multimedia tells us that all of the patterns were originally performed by real, human, professional bassists in a studio for grooves that are “indistinguishable from the real thing”.
IK Mutimedia Modo Bass 2 is available now priced at €299 for the full version, €149 for Modo Bass 2 SE. Like the sound of it? Try the expandable, free Custom Shop version - which comes with one bass model - and you can add the models you want from IK Multimedia’s gear menu. Original users of Modo Bass can upgrade to version two for €149.
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