Novation Bass Station II 25-Key Analogue Synthesizer

Nothing out there sounds this warm, fat and dirty. Bass Station II is our pure analogue monosynth. We based it on our classic Bass Station, then enhanced every area to make it even bigger, angrier and more versatile.

It has two tuneable oscillators, a sub-oscillator for enormous bass, plus noise and ring modulation. It also gives you two distinct analogue filter types: the classic multi-mode filter and a new acid filter, for a massive variation in sonic possibilities.

We decided to put a call out to a handful of our Bass Station II artists to have them create some patches for a new soundpack.

Here’s the roster of analogue noodlers who got involved: Nite Jewel, Cian from Super Furry Animals, Jeremy from Everything Everything, Jason Miles, Victor Parris Mitchell, Adam Freedland.

This monophonic synthesizer can sound as mellow or aggressive as you want. Seek out sweet spots with the filter mod to make it sing. Crank the distortion and it will growl with pent up anger. Push the resonance to self oscillation to create shrieking leads. Bass Station II can sound however you feel.

We put as many controls as possible onto Bass Station II, so you can totally lose yourself in discovering and creating new sounds. Of course, we also laid out all those controls in the clearest and most useful way, to keep sound design as straightforward and fun as possible.

We loaded Bass Station II with 64 diverse patches that showcase its huge sonic variation. We also left 64 slots free, so you can easily save and load your own patches on the unit, or in the free librarian software.

Bass Station II's pattern-based arpeggiator and step sequencer are a fun and immediate way to find new inspiration. The sequencer lets you record your own notes, ties, rests and rhythms in real time, then store them, recall them and use them with any patch you like. Easily and automatically sync them to your music software or hardware setup, or even add swing to get your groove going.

Bass Station II is fully class compliant, so you can plug into anything via USB and start playing. It also has MIDI I/O on 5 pin din ports, so you can connect your other MIDI gear. You can even connect an external instrument and run it through Bass Station II's analogue filter and effects.

This collection of unique analogue sound patches was created for us by world class synth producers from our eclectic artist and producer community.

Whether you’re creating dance, funk, electronica, indie, pop or something totally experimental, these 46 Patches will add true analogue depth to your music. You will need to download and install the librarian to load the patches.

The v2.5 firmware update adds some of the most requested features including filter tracking, paraphonic mode, microtuning and new preset Soundpacks. Installation couldn't be easier from the Novation Components content manager.

Paraphonic Mode

Bass Station II is now a paraphonic monosynth, because the pitches of each of the two oscillators can be controlled separately in its single-voice architecture. Two notes can be played at a time rather than just one, and users can get interesting interactions through the Ring and Filter Mod.

Filter Tracking

Filter tracking was one of the most requested features. The filter includes variable keyboard tracking in Bass Station II v2.5 – the best for matching higher notes to increased brightness.

Envelope Retriggering

Bass Station II's secret sound-design weapon is envelope retriggering. It’s now possible to configure envelopes to retrigger once the decay stage has ended, opening up a whole range of new possibilities.

Oscillator Error

Oscillator error introduces a small and adjustable random detune on each note-on event. This can be used to generate some very beautiful, subtle (or not) musical dissonance, very much in the same way that vintage synths do (because of the looser tolerance of their electronic components). Paraphonic mode makes it as dramatic as possible.

Microtuning Editing

The frequency triggered by each key press can be completely controlled, giving scales another dimension.

New Presets

Two new Soundpacks are in Components: Silver and Sinevibes. Silver's presets explore the v2.5 features and inspire new tracks and sound design. Sinevibes, designed by Sinevibes’ founder Artemij Pavlov, gives 101 classic Bass Station II presets.

Warm Greetings

Bass Station II can now support a custom message display at start-up.

Turn your Bass Station II into an AFX Station with the 4.14 Firmware Update:

• AFX Mode: In collaboration with electronic music legend Aphex Twin, users can now assign a discrete set of synthesis parameters to each note on Bass Station II.
• Fixed Duration Envelopes: The sustain segments of Bass Station II’s envelopes can be set to a fixed length, moving on to the release stage regardless of when the key or trigger is actually released after playing a note.
• Extended Sub-Oscillator Control: You can set the sub to any non-octave tracking interval you like, and knock it out of tune – subtly or dramatically – for creative effect.
• Oscillator Glide Diverge: You can slow down the Glide time of Oscillator 2 relative to Oscillator 1 by a variable amount, causing the two to diverge for interesting portamento effects.
• Envelope Retrigger Count: the number of times the envelopes retrigger can be adjusted.

• Create a huge variety of sounds
  • Two pure analogue, sync-able and tuneable oscillators with four selectable waveforms, plus a third sub-oscillator, noise and ring modulation.
• Enormous bass and shrieking leads
  • Switch the multi-mode Classic Filter between low, hi and band pass with 12 and 24dB slopes
• Improved analogue filter stage
  • A 24dB Acid Filter that is even darker, wetter and smoother than the Classic.
• Turn Jekyll to Hyde
  • Create crunchy, aggressive sounds with fully analogue distortion, filter-modulation effects and a separate filter overdrive.
• Easily load and save patches
  • Comes with 64 patches that cover a huge range of styles, but you can create, save, archive and swap 64 of your own too.
• Get instant inspiration
  • Record notes, ties, rests and rhythms in real time using the step sequencer and arpeggiator, then easily store them, recall them and use them with any patch you like.
• Experiment easily
  • Get your hands on loads of controls, cleverly arranged for intuitive patch design and sound editing.
• Flexible modulation
  • Triangle, sawtooth and square LFO waveforms, as well as sample and hold, and two ADSR envelopes for filter, pitch and pulse width modulation.
• Connect to hardware and software
  • Connect and sync to your music software and MIDI-compatible hardware.
• Player's Keyboard
  • Full sized 25-note) velocity-sensitive keyboard, with a fast synth-action and aftertouch.
• Store unlimited sounds
  • Keep as many patches as you like on your Mac or PC using the Librarian Software.

Included Software and Content

• 4GB of Loopmasters Sounds and Samples
• Ableton Live Lite
• Sound Collective: Free and discounted synthesizers and effects available every two months, when you purchase and register any Novation product.

The latest firmware update for Bass Station II adds five powerful and innovative new features to Novation’s hugely popular monosynth, all of them developed in response to user feedback and requests, one of those users being particularly noteworthy…

Electronic music legend Richard James, aka Aphex Twin, has already played an instrumental part in the Bass Station II story, having provided guidance for the implementation of the micro-tuning added with Firmware v2.5. His conceptual contribution to v4.14 is even more profound, however – hence the version number and release date, which pays homage to the Aphex Twin track ‘Avril 14th’.

Letting his imagination run riot, Richard envisioned the decidedly radical notion of having a discrete set of synthesis parameters assigned to each note of Bass Station II, either variations on a ‘seed’ patch, or disparate sounds designed to constitute a chimeric whole. Although this sort of thing could already be kludged using very fast program change messages, having multiple sounds active at the same time would clearly be a far more creative and efficient system.

AFX Mode is the realisation of Richard’s out-there concept. Put simply, it lets you modify your Bass Station II patch on a key-by-key basis. Use it to introduce subtle changes to a sound as you play up and down the keyboard; divide the keyboard into multiple zones (one per key if you like!), each playing its own sound; or create entire drum kits in a single preset for triggering manually or via the Arpeggiator. It’s a truly inspiring feature that really does open up a whole new world of sound design and performance possibilities.

Aiding in the programming of drum sounds and plucks especially, the sustain segments of Bass Station II’s envelopes can now be set to a fixed length, moving on to the release stage regardless of when the key or trigger is actually released after playing a note. When fixed duration envelopes are enabled, the decay stage is taken out of play, and the Decay slider instead sets the duration of the Sustain stage.

With Firmware v4.14, Bass Station II’s sub-oscillator, slaved to the pitch of Oscillator 1, can be detuned using the Coarse and Fine controls. Now you can set the sub to any non-octave tracking interval you like, and knock it out of tune – subtly or dramatically – for creative effect.

Prior to Firmware v4.14, both of Bass Station II’s oscillators could only be set to the same Glide time, but now you can slow down the Glide time of Oscillator 2 relative to Oscillator 1 by a variable amount, causing the two to diverge for interesting portamento effects. Just the thing for adding thickness and character to basslines, pads and leads, and certainly not a function you’ll find on many other hardware or software synths.

The Firmware v2.5 update added envelope retriggering, and now, to help with drum synthesis, the number of times the envelopes retrigger can be adjusted.

Introducing AFX Mode, fixed duration envelopes, extended sub-oscillator control, oscillator glide diverge and envelope retrigger count, Firmware v4.14 is a free update for all Bass Station II users, available, as ever, via the free Components Software for Mac and PC.