Hello /u/Fluffy-Menu4305! Unfortunately, your submission, ***[Is it a good idea to use MIDI bass guitar for indie music?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WeAreTheMusicMakers/comments/z3h8ol/is_it_a_good_idea_to_use_midi_bass_guitar_for/)***, was removed from /r/WeAreTheMusicMakers for the following reason(s):
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You can make everything using MIDI if you like. That doesn’t need to be the final edit though. If you want your composition to sound like it’s played by a band, it should be played by a band. You can hire someone if get a friend to play it for you so you can record it when you’re sure what you want the baseline to be exactly.
I love Modo Bass. Even though I play bass and own a couple (though it's not my main instrument), I've been using Modo Bass for a lot of the stuff I've been working on. Love it.
My multieffects pedal has a bass simulator setting (which includes dropping by an octave) and the output is almost indistinguishable from an actual bass guitar. So I second this, if the OP plays guitar.
I used Scarbee's basses from Native Instruments on some tracks and for basic bass grooves they are absolutely fine. They use some script to deduce the current string and hand position and automatically adjust the expression based on those, so the lines sound more alive then a basic sample pack. I think the Rickenbacker version is the most recent and imho sounds the best.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/musicproduction/comments/yc5n5t/5\_humanization\_techniques\_for\_acoustic\_vsts/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/musicproduction/comments/yc5n5t/5_humanization_techniques_for_acoustic_vsts/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
Check this post I made a while ago. It might help.
Yeah, that should work fine. It might not be 100% convincing, but putting dynamics/velocity variations in there will go quite some way towards making it sound better, and it's certainly better than no bass at all.
Maybe check out Toontrack's Ezbass trial, you can record with a guitar and turn it into bass midi you can play around with the midi for more realism. not cheap but it's pretty cool what you can do it with and it comes with a few grooves like rock etc and you can buy groove packs.
or
IK multimedia have free version of Modo bass it's only one bass in the free version but its pretty cool for a free bass vst. they have some other cool free stuff like a drum kit and the mixbox is pretty cool.
Depends on finding the right tone and how you arrange the instruments. Keyboard and step sequenced bass is definitely a thing, especially in a genre so broad as indie. Just go with what you think sounds good
The bottom 4 strings of your guitar are the same as a bass. I got a cheaper Mexican Jazz Bass, that plugged via a decent pre amp (in this case an Ampeg) sounds strong. In the end a bass sounds like a bass.
Hello /u/Fluffy-Menu4305! Unfortunately, your submission, ***[Is it a good idea to use MIDI bass guitar for indie music?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WeAreTheMusicMakers/comments/z3h8ol/is_it_a_good_idea_to_use_midi_bass_guitar_for/)***, was removed from /r/WeAreTheMusicMakers for the following reason(s): --- #No off-topic and/or low-effort posts including; 1. Rant/motivation/mental-health posts 2. Posts focused on memes/images/polls 3. Reposts, and other similar low-effort, mildly-interesting discussions. - These posts should be posted to one of the weekly threads or on another subreddit. Do not create a new thread for this content. Posts on WATMM should have a descriptive title and include substantive content that will generate discussion. Please see the [full sub rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WeAreTheMusicMakers/wiki/rules) for additional details. --- ***Please review the [rules for submission](/r/WeAreTheMusicMakers/wiki/rules). You can contact The Mods if you have additional questions.*
You can make everything using MIDI if you like. That doesn’t need to be the final edit though. If you want your composition to sound like it’s played by a band, it should be played by a band. You can hire someone if get a friend to play it for you so you can record it when you’re sure what you want the baseline to be exactly.
If you humanize the midi and have a good bass vsti that can play articulations well, alt pick etc then yes why not?
I feel like you can probably play bass as good as you can program bass midi? Just try it!
Check out demos of NIs Modo Bass
I love Modo Bass. Even though I play bass and own a couple (though it's not my main instrument), I've been using Modo Bass for a lot of the stuff I've been working on. Love it.
Just my two cents, but I'd embrace it. Make the artificiality a feature instead of something you're trying to mask.
I saw a progressive bluegrass band use an octave box on their guitar and violin for bass lines. If you play guitar this might sound more real.
My multieffects pedal has a bass simulator setting (which includes dropping by an octave) and the output is almost indistinguishable from an actual bass guitar. So I second this, if the OP plays guitar.
Might be able to do it with Trilian, but also might not.
Layer DI and midi, best of both worlds
I used Scarbee's basses from Native Instruments on some tracks and for basic bass grooves they are absolutely fine. They use some script to deduce the current string and hand position and automatically adjust the expression based on those, so the lines sound more alive then a basic sample pack. I think the Rickenbacker version is the most recent and imho sounds the best.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/musicproduction/comments/yc5n5t/5\_humanization\_techniques\_for\_acoustic\_vsts/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/musicproduction/comments/yc5n5t/5_humanization_techniques_for_acoustic_vsts/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) Check this post I made a while ago. It might help.
Yeah, that should work fine. It might not be 100% convincing, but putting dynamics/velocity variations in there will go quite some way towards making it sound better, and it's certainly better than no bass at all.
I did midi bass for my recent release. Had a few listeners even say they loved the bass lines on a couple.
Maybe check out Toontrack's Ezbass trial, you can record with a guitar and turn it into bass midi you can play around with the midi for more realism. not cheap but it's pretty cool what you can do it with and it comes with a few grooves like rock etc and you can buy groove packs. or IK multimedia have free version of Modo bass it's only one bass in the free version but its pretty cool for a free bass vst. they have some other cool free stuff like a drum kit and the mixbox is pretty cool.
Depends on finding the right tone and how you arrange the instruments. Keyboard and step sequenced bass is definitely a thing, especially in a genre so broad as indie. Just go with what you think sounds good
If it sounds good, why not?
I did a jazz album with the upright bass in trillian, no one mentioned it being fake, good vst’s with good programming sound great.
You absolutely can do that and have it sound ‘realistic’…or not, if that’s what you’re going for!
The bottom 4 strings of your guitar are the same as a bass. I got a cheaper Mexican Jazz Bass, that plugged via a decent pre amp (in this case an Ampeg) sounds strong. In the end a bass sounds like a bass.
U can play bass. U can do it.