Novation Bass Station II Monophonic Analog Synthesizer

Description

The Bass Station II Monophonic Analogue Synthesiser from Novation is a 25-key synthesiser with assignable aftertouch that, while designed for bass synth sounds, is also capable of leads and arpeggiated performance. It features two analogue oscillators as well as a third, sub-octave oscillator. The tones its oscillators produce can be modulated, shaped, and altered by the Bass Station II's Classic and Acid filters, dual ADSR envelope generators, 2 LFOs, and analogue distortion.

The synth has a built-in arpeggiators with 32 different patterns and a 1 to 4 octave range. The step sequencer provides another playing style with up to 4 different sequences. The Bass Station II's front-panel controls gives you hands on access to all of the synth's editable parameters. Your edits and created patches can be saved to the 64 user patches for fast recall.

Features

The Synth Engine
Oscillators: Bass Station II is built on three analogue oscillators and a noise generator. There are two fully independent oscillators plus a sub oscillator. Oscillators One and Two are switchable between Sinae, sawtooth, square and variable pulse width, and Oscillator Three - the sub osc - can be set to one or two octaves below Oscillator One. It can be square, Sinae or narrow pulse width, delivering the characteristically 'fat' bass tone.

Filters: You can select between two discrete filters - 'Acid' or 'Classic' - each with a built in overdrive for pushing filter tones from dry, to warm, to nasty! The 'Classic' Bass Station filter can be switched between low pass, high pass and band pass at 12 or 24 dB slopes. The 'Acid' filter is based on a diode ladder filter design that delivers a characteristically 303-esque sound that is designed to squelch

Effects
Bass Station II has two effects (not including the filter overdrive). Analogue distortion drives circuit components to add new frequencies to the sound. The second effect is 'Osc Filter Mod' which creates a distinctive FM-type sound by using Oscillator Two to modulate the filter frequency

Modulation
There are two envelope generators and two low frequency oscillators (LFOs). The first envelope is an ADSR amp envelope and the second is a mod envelope that can be used to modulate filter frequency, oscillator pitch and osc pulse width. LFO One is dedicated to pitch modulation whereas LFO is used to modulate osc pulse width and filter frequency. Although it looks like there are four LFO waveforms, the 'LFO Slew' function can be used freely to sculpt LFOs into smoother wave-shapes creating many more LFO possibilities

Analogue Signal Path
Bass Station II has a pure analogue audio signal path, reviving the spirit of the original Bass Station with a design optimised for bass

Two Distinct Analogue Filters
A brand new "Acid" filter joins the "Classic" original Bass Station filter -("Classic" switches between low, hi and band pass with 12 and 24 dB slopes)

Patches
Bass Station II ships with 64 factory patches and a further 64 user slots. Patch dump enables you to archive and swap sounds

Pattern-Based Step Sequencer and Arpeggiator
Bass Station II's Arpeggiator and Step Sequencer are performance and production tools. The Arp can be directed to run through 32 different rhythmic patterns in different directions with a switchable octave range. You can also engage the Step Sequencer. Up to four sequences can be played in - with legato and rests - and played back using any one of the 32 rhythmic patterns.

Dedicated Tweakable Controls
Analogue synth layout includes dedicated controls for all major parameters enabling hands-on control of the sound engine

Two Oscillators Plus a Sub-Oscillator
Bass Station II has two sync-able, tune-able oscillators with four selectable waveforms, plus a third sub-oscillator for generating enormous bass sounds

Analogue Effects
Bass Station II includes fully analogue distortion and filter-modulation effects and a separate filter overdrive

2 Envelopes & 2 LFOs
LFO waveforms include triangle, sawtooth, square and sample & hold. Two ADSR envelopes are available for filter, pitch and pulse width modulation

MIDI I/O and USB Connectivity
Bass Station II can be connected to your music software as well as your MIDI compatible hardware

Synth-Action Keyboard with Aftertouch
The keyboard mechanism is a two-octave (25-note) velocity sensitive synth-action keyboard with full-size keys and assignable aftertouch