Bassline Generator is Here... Check Your Companion...

[Mint]

Watched the demo video - trialled - watched the video again...bought.
Inspirational device.

As always, great work REASON STUDIOS.

[jamespember]

Insta-buy for me, this is so much fun!

Saves loads of time too coming up with a decent bassline.

Its great loading it up and then cycling through the bass patches as well as clicking on the random generater button!

Only paid £14 as I had rewards points which I didn't know I had - which is nice!

Well done to the Reason team - this is brilliant!

Glad to hear you're enjoying it!!!!

[gullum]

It's not a device for me I generally don't like players that generate music for you, I like to play what I make and 90% of the songs I make have a real bass guitar in them.
For people that like random button pressing and lucky matching of bass and melodies this is probable a super fun device ad beat map and you have a band of no effort

[Gardinski]

I'm really enjoying this. As a guitarist/bassist first and foremost, I thought it would be something I may not find much use for, but it's great for throwing up unusual ideas and starting points for improvising on top of.

I especially like the fact that it's not really designed for the kind of music I habitually make. I've been looking for ways to force myself into exploring other genres, and this feels like it could be useful in pushing me beyond my comfort zone.

My one criticism is that it would really benefit from an option to 'shift' or 'slide' the entire pattern to a different starting point, (like you have on 'Sequences', for instance). Quite often I'm coming up with things which would sound BRILLIANT if they started on step 17 or step 49.

The easiest way to accomplish this is to drop in a Pattern Mutator right below the Bassline Gen, set it to 64 steps, record the Bassline into the PatternMut, and drag it around to the the starting point you want. This is simple enough, but it adds a few extra steps which could have been avoided with the inclusion of an 'offset' slider in BLG itself.

If that function could be added, it would make this even sweeter.

(Also - Top marks to JamesP and co for making it available in the Rewards store straight away. It feels like an early Christmas present. Cheers.)

[buddard]

The only thing I can think of this really needs, is trig conditions. Some steps I want to play 1:2 others 2:2 others 3:4 etc. For example. Please?

You can always record the pattern into sequences and use the trigger conditions there.

[buddard]

Can it shift patterns left or right? If not I want it to.

No, there's no way to shift patterns directly in the device.
But! If you automate pattern changes via the pattern lane, you can offset the pattern playback there!
Just change snap in Reason's sequencer to 1/16 or 1/8 and drag the pattern clip to the left or right, the start point will move as well!

[Mint]

...Also thanks for making this available in REWARDS and also for non-Reason 12 users Ie. Reason 11, 10 etc...🤩

[PhillipOrdonez]

The only thing I can think of this really needs, is trig conditions. Some steps I want to play 1:2 others 2:2 others 3:4 etc. For example. Please?

You can always record the pattern into sequences and use the trigger conditions there.

That's exactly what I've been doing

[Arrant]

The only thing I can think of this really needs, is trig conditions. Some steps I want to play 1:2 others 2:2 others 3:4 etc. For example. Please?

You can always record the pattern into sequences and use the trigger conditions there.

That's a decent workaraound, thanks.

It really looks like a neat device so far

[challism]

The ability to key in or record notes directly to the pattern like in Pattern Mutator is missing here as well, and its a crucial feature in my book, not sure why it’s been decided not to have it here as well, specially when there is 0 visibly about the notes unless you hover on or interact with them.

For some reason its also been deiced that a pattern can't go below 16 steps. This is odd, as polymeters are very important for some electronic genres like techno..

And thats what surprise me most, this device is targeting the electronic musician community which I extremely happy to see RS taking into account.
But I don’t feel like it does. I understand that it is not trying to emulate or come in place of those but, it lacks the charm and simplicity of classic analog sequencers that I feel much more intuitive and fun to use. Fun is a big factor here. I did not feel joy or fun trying to play with the Baseline Generator (Maybe it is just my strong taste in old school electronics). The good old Matrix wins this player big time in my opinion.

Thanks for the feedback! Just to comment on these points. Record notes directly and being more of a simple analog sequencer is indeed a bit more techno, but as you even mention: we have those devices. Pattern Mutator hasn't gone anywhere and Matrix is as classic a sequencer one can imagine! We saw no reason in re-doing products that are already available, but rather make a unique take on making basslines. There'll be people who prefer this and others that think Pattern Mutator is the best bassline generator on the planet, both are completely fine with us!

Going below 16 steps is something I would also like very much too, 3 and 5 step sequences rock, but there were some design challenges and we didn't have the time to add it before launch. Hopefully in an update! Until then, a fun thing to do is putting a Pattern Mutator after a Bassline Generator to feed it with basslines you can then mutate, shorten and otherwise fuck around with.

My approach to Players isn't with the word "OR" it's with the word "AND"... like the #1 rule of improv... "yes, and..."
I think BLG and PatMut compliment each other very well.... so for me, it's yes PatMut AND BLG. Unfortunately, I have to also throw an instance of Scales&Chords, since BLG doesn't have a scale filter.

So.....

If we can get individual folding of player devices added, I would be much happier about stacking my players. It's always seemed strange to me that this was left off players. What is the ETA for putting a fold button on player devices, Mattias?

[kitekrazy]

And even more amazingly, it's IN THE REWARDS STORE!!!

This is superb news... Finally, something to spend those lovely points on.

Me too! Just another thing on the list to mess with this holiday season. My DAW hoarding queue is getting out of control.

[Creativemind]

My approach to Players isn't with the word "OR" it's with the word "AND"... like the #1 rule of improv... "yes, and..."
I think BLG and PatMut compliment each other very well.... so for me, it's yes PatMut AND BLG. Unfortunately, I have to also throw an instance of Scales&Chords, since BLG doesn't have a scale filter.

So.....

If we can get individual folding of player devices added, I would be much happier about stacking my players. It's always seemed strange to me that this was left off players. What is the ETA for putting a fold button on player devices, Mattias?

Never thought about folding players or noticed it not being there but now you mention it, does seem odd it's not an option.

[challism]

My approach to Players isn't with the word "OR" it's with the word "AND"... like the #1 rule of improv... "yes, and..."
I think BLG and PatMut compliment each other very well.... so for me, it's yes PatMut AND BLG. Unfortunately, I have to also throw an instance of Scales&Chords, since BLG doesn't have a scale filter.

So.....

If we can get individual folding of player devices added, I would be much happier about stacking my players. It's always seemed strange to me that this was left off players. What is the ETA for putting a fold button on player devices, Mattias?

Never thought about folding players or noticed it not being there but now you mention it, does seem odd it's not an option.

It's super annoying to me. As much as I love stacking players, it always ends up in a huge looking rack. So many of the players could be closed after they are set, no need to keep them open, while some of them are better to remain open. A player like Delta, for instance, doesn't have much need to be interacted with once it is programmed. But players like PatMut and BLG are often times needing to be adjusted or what not. Anyway... super annoying that you can't fold individual players. I don't understand the logic of RS not putting that function on them from the start, and I really don't understand why they haven't yet implemented it.

[RandomNoise]

After reading again what I wrote in my feedback in the begging of this thread I thought I should clarify more what I was expecting and hoping to see from this player/sequencer as it might came up as me just batch and complaining

First of all, I was not hoping to see a replacement or even something that come close to the Pattern Mutator. I brought it up as an example because I think that it is an excellent player that is powerful and simple at the same time and fun to use (for me).

Second, when I heard Bass Generator at the first time, in my mind I saw something that you could almost consider as V.2 of Matrix in a way that bring more flexibility and options to explore different grooves and patterns (mainly by shifting all the parameters on all levels and having probability in addition).

To be a bit more specific, I was really hoping to see something similar to these inside the Reason world with all the charm and fun of RE.

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I've been searching for the ideal sequencer for basslines far too long now, so I've grown to shamely have quite a collection of those

Sequences in RE world is another great one, but it still misses some of the features found on those below in my opinion.

Anyway, I see the community excited and having lots of fun with the new BLG so I'm happy about that and happy for RS as a long time supporter.

And I will be sitting here still waiting for someone to make me my ideal sequencer/player to play inside Reason

[Billy+]

Although I'm not your bread and butter Technohead, I'm most definitely focused on electronic music so had someone asked me I totally would have done some content!

Hey Nick any chance you can do something with BLG on your YouTube channel preferably compatible with R11

[Billy+]

Hopefully in an update! Until then

So there's a possibility of an update, could this future update include different patterns/styles along the same lines as the beatmap updated maps?

[joeyluck]

My approach to Players isn't with the word "OR" it's with the word "AND"... like the #1 rule of improv... "yes, and..."
I think BLG and PatMut compliment each other very well.... so for me, it's yes PatMut AND BLG. Unfortunately, I have to also throw an instance of Scales&Chords, since BLG doesn't have a scale filter.

So.....

If we can get individual folding of player devices added, I would be much happier about stacking my players. It's always seemed strange to me that this was left off players. What is the ETA for putting a fold button on player devices, Mattias?

Never thought about folding players or noticed it not being there but now you mention it, does seem odd it's not an option.

Yeah it makes it difficult and often impossible for me to view the player at the top of a chain and the instrument I'm using that player on at the same time. Unlike other devices, you can't minimize them individually. And unlike other devices, you can't move them out of the way to another rack and maintain the routing.

So yeah, we need individual players to not be so restrictive with basic features and/or at least be able to minimize individual players. Stacking players should be for creativity and not workarounds.

This is what I see when I add a Scales and Chords player (on the right):

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[joeyluck]

Here are two great bassline generators with simple and straightforward scale settings

scale setting.png (305.45 KiB) Viewed 4317 times

And this doesn't just make it easier to create a bassline to fit a song in the scale you want and continue to work with just that device without workarounds to fix it rather than get to use the player more, but it also gives you the power to select what notes you want from that scale. So your song in C Major could have a scale of ABCDEFG, but you can also decide that you only want to hear the notes A and E from your bassline or whatever, just by clicking notes on and off. So a simple scale feature like those is very important IMO.

[RandomNoise]

Here are two great bassline generators with simple and straightforward scale settings


scale setting.png


And this doesn't just make it easier to create a bassline to fit a song in the scale you want and continue to work with just that device without workarounds to fix it rather than get to use the player more, but it also gives you the power to select what notes you want from that scale. So your song in C Major could have a scale of ABCDEFG, but you can also decide that you only want to hear the notes A and E from your bassline or whatever, just by clicking notes on and off. So a simple scale feature like those is very important IMO.

Agree. Arturia's Pigments and M4L Mono Sequencer also do that very well

[StephenHutchinson]

Here are two great bassline generators with simple and straightforward scale settings


scale setting.png


And this doesn't just make it easier to create a bassline to fit a song in the scale you want and continue to work with just that device without workarounds to fix it rather than get to use the player more, but it also gives you the power to select what notes you want from that scale. So your song in C Major could have a scale of ABCDEFG, but you can also decide that you only want to hear the notes A and E from your bassline or whatever, just by clicking notes on and off. So a simple scale feature like those is very important IMO.

Damn, that's really amazing. I love Evolution, and gotta try it with BLG. Thanks for the idea and the detailed explanation.

[RandomNoise]

Here are two great bassline generators with simple and straightforward scale settings


scale setting.png


And this doesn't just make it easier to create a bassline to fit a song in the scale you want and continue to work with just that device without workarounds to fix it rather than get to use the player more, but it also gives you the power to select what notes you want from that scale. So your song in C Major could have a scale of ABCDEFG, but you can also decide that you only want to hear the notes A and E from your bassline or whatever, just by clicking notes on and off. So a simple scale feature like those is very important IMO.

By the way, this feature is also available and very useful inside of Complex-1 sequencer

[joeyluck]

Here are two great bassline generators with simple and straightforward scale settings


scale setting.png


And this doesn't just make it easier to create a bassline to fit a song in the scale you want and continue to work with just that device without workarounds to fix it rather than get to use the player more, but it also gives you the power to select what notes you want from that scale. So your song in C Major could have a scale of ABCDEFG, but you can also decide that you only want to hear the notes A and E from your bassline or whatever, just by clicking notes on and off. So a simple scale feature like those is very important IMO.

By the way, this feature is also available and very useful inside of Complex-1 sequencer

Yes it's on many devices. Which is why when it's missing it really feels missing IMO. Dropdown selections of scales is nice for quick workflow, but ultimately all you need is the note selection, because that gives you all the flexibility you need.

[scotward57]

What I like about it is that even if you don't like so-called canned MIDI loops or preset patterns, the BLG helps out drum loops, adding a rhythmic layer that adds another dimension. Try generating a pattern on a bass patch with a percussive attack, short decays and/or noise elements. Then add a sustained side chain pumping bass layer on top of it. Good stuff!

[Creativemind]

Never thought about folding players or noticed it not being there but now you mention it, does seem odd it's not an option.

It's super annoying to me. As much as I love stacking players, it always ends up in a huge looking rack. So many of the players could be closed after they are set, no need to keep them open, while some of them are better to remain open. A player like Delta, for instance, doesn't have much need to be interacted with once it is programmed. But players like PatMut and BLG are often times needing to be adjusted or what not. Anyway... super annoying that you can't fold individual players. I don't understand the logic of RS not putting that function on them from the start, and I really don't understand why they haven't yet implemented it.

I know why, cause they always have to leave something out. Their argument will be, well you can collapse other devices lol!

[MrFigg]

It's super annoying to me. As much as I love stacking players, it always ends up in a huge looking rack. So many of the players could be closed after they are set, no need to keep them open, while some of them are better to remain open. A player like Delta, for instance, doesn't have much need to be interacted with once it is programmed. But players like PatMut and BLG are often times needing to be adjusted or what not. Anyway... super annoying that you can't fold individual players. I don't understand the logic of RS not putting that function on them from the start, and I really don't understand why they haven't yet implemented it.

I know why, cause they always have to leave something out. Their argument will be, well you can collapse other devices lol!

Combine and collapse the combi?