Synth Bass is a patchbank of 128 newly designed bass patches for Phonec 2. Covering a wide sonic range, these patches are suitable for various genres ranging from Synthwave to Dub Techno. Each patch has been meticulously crafted, paying careful attention to detail and making the most out of Phonec's features in order to get a completely unique sound. The LFOs, Modulation envelopes and aftertouch settings are all ready to switch on for instant, well thought out effects. Most notable of these patches, is the modwheel settings. The Modwheel is linked to the aftertouch targets, so simply moving the modwheel makes for a very creative and expressive performance tool, giving you the ability to completely transform the sound of each patch.
Read the complete user reference here(PDF)
Sound Types
Synth Bass is divided into 6 sections based on type. The sound types are ultimately classified by the envelope settings. Ranging from short sounds that make use of the Attack and Decay, to longer sustained sounds for leads and drones.
Attack/Decay
Short bass sounds, typically with a sharp attack and fast decay. Great for Synthwave/Outrun and fast 16th basslines.
Sustain
These are for sustained notes. Sub basses, leads, etc.
Release
All of these sounds have very long release times. So you can just tap a note and get a huge trailing sound. Great for occasional stabs and washouts.
Space Dub
These are geared towards ambient dub and techno. Most of these are taking advantage of the Echoshifter in some way.
Drone
These are the more experimental sounds. Just hold a key and hear it evolve.
Bassics
The basic fundamentals. Great starting points for patch building. Just choose the type of bass sound your looking for and start building onto it.
Filter Tracking
Although this bank is called Synth Bass, it can be used for a wide range of sounds, including leads, drones, and various classic synth sounds. The filter tracking has been carefully considered so that the high end of the keyboard range sounds just as good as the low end. This makes it possible to easily turn a bass into a lead. A good tip when playing high end keys is to make use of the Highpass filter to tame some of the low end if needed. I sould also mention the modwheel here as well, which is assigned to multiple parameters and can alter the sound dramatically. More info about this below.
Modwheel Expression
Each Synth Bass patch takes full advantage of Phonec's "Modwheel to Aftertouch" feature. This feature can be a very creative and expressive tool, even if you don't have Aftertouch capabilities on your keyboard. I'll explain below.
Under the Modulation section is the Aftertouch panel, which contains several controls for assigning parameter levels to be modulated via aftertouch. However, if you take a look at the Master section (right below the Amp Envelope), there are options for the Pitchbender and Modwheel. If Modwheel is set to Aftertouch, which it is set to by default in this patch bank, it will take up the modulation of all of the parameter levels set in the Aftertouch panel. So essentially you can control several key paramters at once, in varying degrees.
My personal favorite combination is Tune/PW/Cutoff. Tune will modulate the tuning of Oscillator 2, so if the Tune mod level is set low, turning the Modwheel up will slightly detune the two oscillators. This along with a small adjustment in the Pulse Width and a slight opening in the filter can create a really cool effect just by subtly turning up the modwheel.
So be sure to take advantage of this feature, each patch has been thoughtfully assigned for ultimate expressiveness.
Full Patch List