Guitar-Bass software??

Haych

I’m crap at playing bass. In fact im even more crap at playing bass than I am at playing guitar. 

Forgive the idiot question, but; is there a software plugin available that will allow me to play basslines on guitar that will sound like a good bass rig on “tape”?

I’ve tried dropping the audio capture an octave in the DAW and it sounds nothing like bass. I can’t be the only one in need of such a solution?

TIA

Legionreturns

Do you have an octaver in pedal / multi fx form? Makes a big difference. Failing that, get a short scale bass or a Trio + 

Bridgehouse

Or, find a friendly bass player and ask them to record a bass line for you for your project.. if you write the part then a decent bassist will knock it up in 15 mins...

Legionreturns

Bridgehouse said:

Or, find a friendly bass player and ask them to record a bass line for you for your project.. if you write the part then a decent bassist will knock it up in 15 mins...

That too... if you wanna be "knocked up in 15 minutes" by a mediocre bass player, I could do with the practice! 

Bridgehouse

Legionreturns said:

Bridgehouse said:

Or, find a friendly bass player and ask them to record a bass line for you for your project.. if you write the part then a decent bassist will knock it up in 15 mins...

That too... if you wanna be "knocked up in 15 minutes" by a mediocre bass player, I could do with the practice! 

It’ll sound like a short scale if you do it

Legionreturns

Bridgehouse said:

Legionreturns said:

Bridgehouse said:

Or, find a friendly bass player and ask them to record a bass line for you for your project.. if you write the part then a decent bassist will knock it up in 15 mins...

That too... if you wanna be "knocked up in 15 minutes" by a mediocre bass player, I could do with the practice! 

It’ll sound like a short scale if you do it

Not for long! Strings are here, things are moving on! 

guitarfishbay

If you’re happy to program it then IK Modo is worth a demo, covers a lot of sounds

blobb

If you can enter your bassline as midi notes, then you can get any soft instrument to play it. There are bass sample instruments out there.

If you absolutely want to play guitar you could try pitch to midi. JamOrigin do a free trial.

spark

I would play the bass line with the guitar and after, process the line the daw, add and octaver plugin, and add something like amp simulator and eq, compressor, etc as usual and you could get something that could be "similar".

octatonic

Frankly, not really.
Buy a bass and then learn how to play like a bassist.
Or befriend a bassist.

Pitchshifting a guitar sounds like a guitar that has been pitch-shifted.

Bridgehouse

octatonic said:

Frankly, not really.
Buy a bass and then learn how to play like a bassist.
Or befriend a bassist.

Pitchshifting a guitar sounds like a guitar that has been pitch-shifted.

There’s plenty of bassists on here that will gladly lay a bassline on your tracks - I’ve done it a few times - doesn’t take long either

Haych

Thanks all, I thought maybe I was expecting a bit much but thought there must be plenty more people like me who struggle with bass so hoped maybe there was something available.

I do have access to a very nice bass so will persevere with that for now.  Who knows, maybe with enough mistakes I'll eventually become ok at it - a bit like sex, lol.

The idea of asking for help is a good one BUT a.) it means I have to communicate my ideas in a way that somebody else will understand and b.) it leaves me naked and exposed as a writer and a musician - I don't mind so much presenting a finished song for people to listen to (while I run and hide in the bar next door) but the idea of giving somebody a rough idea and asking for input is scary biscuits to me.

Then there's also the logistical and/or technological barriers too.  I don't mind collaboration but I'd much rather do it in the same room at the same time - again, a bit like sex.

Funkfingers

spark said:

I would play the bass line with the guitar and, after, process the line the daw, add an octaver plugin and add something like amp simulator and eq, compressor, etc .

octatonic said:

Pitchshifting a guitar sounds like a guitar that has been pitch-shifted.

There will also be an audible processing delay. If the delay is consistent throughout your recording, it is possible to correct by dragging the audio back into synch with when it should have occurred. Even after making this correction, it is possible that your performance will seem hesitant.

blobb said:

If you can enter your bassline as midi notes, then you can get any soft[ware] instrument to play it. There are bass sample instruments out there.

The better MIDI bass instrument plug-ins employ multiple samples to introduce some of the randomness of a real stringed bass instrument, played with fingers or a plectrum. A few even add glissandi and string scrape effects. This works better with some musical styles than others. The more guitaristic the bass line, the less convincing a keyboard-triggered instrument is going to sound.

blobb said:
If you absolutely want to play guitar, you could try pitch to midi. 

Guitar pitch-to-MIDI conversion will preserve much of the guitaristic nuances of a performance. There is still a risk that the triggered sound will feel slightly disconnected from the notes in the MIDI track.

octatonic said:

Buy a bass and then learn how to play like a bassist.

This is the boring but correct answer. Some of the characteristics of an electric bass guitar can only be derived from an electric bass guitar. IMO, it requires a different mindset to guitar. In the context of a band, the bass part has a different function to perform than the guitar.

Haych said:

the idea of giving somebody a rough idea and asking for input is scary biscuits to me.

Trusting your band colleagues to transform a rough, sketchy guide part into something better is a great way to make them feel valued. The tricky part will be apportioning credit for completed/published music. 

Haych

Funkfingers said:

Haych said:

the idea of giving somebody a rough idea and asking for input is scary biscuits to me.

Trusting your band colleagues to transform a rough, sketchy guide part into something better is a great way to make them feel valued. The tricky part will be apportioning credit for completed/published music. 

Not dismissing anything you've said, but there is no band, it's just me, a DAW and some ideas I have kicking around my otherwise empty skull.

The frustrating part is transferring what I hear in my head to a recording.  The limitation is often my own inability to play the instrument (in this case, bass) to the standard needed to do justice to the idea.

Bridgehouse

Haych said:

Funkfingers said:

Haych said:

the idea of giving somebody a rough idea and asking for input is scary biscuits to me.

Trusting your band colleagues to transform a rough, sketchy guide part into something better is a great way to make them feel valued. The tricky part will be apportioning credit for completed/published music. 

Not dismissing anything you've said, but there is no band, it's just me, a DAW and some ideas I have kicking around my otherwise empty skull.

The frustrating part is transferring what I hear in my head to a recording.  The limitation is often my own inability to play the instrument (in this case, bass) to the standard needed to do justice to the idea.

I think you will find many players are far more tolerant of your ideas/sketches than you are yourself...

andy_k

have a look at midi guitar 2, lets you record midi from an instrument ( guitar) then use that midi in something like ample sound pbass lite, which seems to sound pretty good to me.

PolarityMan

Not used it but the demo's from this sound totally badass https://www.submissionbass.com/

Its from the guy who wrote the systematic mixing ebook from way back.

Funkfingers

Bridgehouse said:

Haych said:

The frustrating part is transferring what I hear in my head to a recording.

I think you will find many players are far more tolerant of your ideas/sketches than you are yourself.

Wiz awarded to Bridgehouse.

@Haych Chasing the music in your head is setting yourself an almost impossible goal. It invites disappointment.

If you know which notes you need and can transcribe them to manuscript paper, a proper sight-reading musician should be able to perform them in short order. If you need specific nuances in the performance, speak with the guest bassist before the recording begins.

If you do not know exactly what you want, provide a vague suggestion and give a "proper bassist" free reign to develop the sketch into something better. 

This latter approach is what I do for my musical collaborator. He doodles something in the low register - either on the two lowest strings of his guitar or triggering a DAW sound from his iPad. I listen to his ideas, work out why they do not quite hang right with the artificial intelligence guide drums then, lay down something better on a real bass guitar. He then either accepts my playing or vetoes it.

The joys of this approach are;

1. getting ideas that you never would have come up with yourself
2. getting recording projects finished more quickly and, hence, at lower cost.

Bridgehouse

Funkfingers said:

Bridgehouse said:

Haych said:

The frustrating part is transferring what I hear in my head to a recording.

I think you will find many players are far more tolerant of your ideas/sketches than you are yourself.

Wiz awarded to Bridgehouse.

@Haych Chasing the music in your head is setting yourself an almost impossible goal. It invites disappointment.

If you know which notes you need and can transcribe them to manuscript paper, a proper sight-reading musician should be able to perform them in short order. If you need specific nuances in the performance, speak with the guest bassist before the recording begins.

If you do not know exactly what you want, provide a vague suggestion and give a "proper bassist" free reign to develop the sketch into something better. 

This latter approach is what I do for my musical collaborator. He doodles something in the low register - either on the two lowest strings of his guitar or triggering a DAW sound from his iPad. I listen to his ideas, work out why they do not quite hang right with the artificial intelligence guide drums then, lay down something better on a real bass guitar. He then either accepts my playing or vetoes it.

The joys of this approach are;

1. getting ideas that you never would have come up with yourself
2. getting recording projects finished more quickly and, hence, at lower cost.

Yep - exactly this. As a bassist, I'm not going to send you a message saying "WTF were you thinking with these ideas?!" 

I will instead probably be more concerned that you won't like what I've done!

duotone

guitarfishbay said:

If you’re happy to program it then IK Modo is worth a demo, covers a lot of sounds

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/ik-multimedia-modo-bass

Looks & sounds fantastic that software.  

octatonic

Bridgehouse said:

I think you will find many players are far more tolerant of your ideas/sketches than you are yourself...

Absolutely.