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Native Instruments Scarbee MM-Bass User Manual

Manual is about: Software for computer-based audio production and DJing

Summary of Scarbee MM-Bass

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    User’s manual.

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    The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of native instruments gmbh. The software described by this document is subject to a license agreement and may not be copied to other media. No part of this publication may be copied, ...

  • Page 3: Germany

    Germany native instruments gmbh schlesische str. 28 d-10997 berlin germany info@native-instruments.De www.Native-instruments.De usa native instruments north america, inc. 5631 hollywood boulevard los angeles, ca 90028 usa sales@native-instruments.Com www.Native-instruments.Com © native instruments g...

  • Page 4: Table of Content

    Scarbee mm-bass – iv table of content 1 foreword (by nile rodgers) ...............................................................................................6 2 introduction ......................................................................................................................7 2...

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    Scarbee mm-bass – v 6.6 percussive slides ........................................................................................ 25 7 sustaining notes .............................................................................................................26 8 vibrato ............................

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    Scarbee mm-bass – 6 1 foreword (by nile rodgers) when thomas hansen skarbye first approached me about doing a bass sound dedicated to bernard edwards, naturally i was skeptical. Bernard’s sound is so distinctive and so elusive that it seemed an impossible task. The first time i heard scarbee’s “mm-b...

  • Page 7: 2  Introduction

    Scarbee mm-bass – 7 2 introduction the scarbee mm-bass was recorded with flatwound strings to get the warm and creamy sound of the 70s disco and funk bass lines, and d.I. To give maximum flexibility in the sound production. It features an extensive set of playing techniques, for example: • sustains ...

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    Scarbee mm-bass – 8 it should be noted that mm-bass is much more than just a collection of samples. It features a sophisticated script which takes care of many things automatically for you, for example: • string selection • a fretboard display updated dynamically as you play • alternation between in...

  • Page 9: 2.1  About The Bass

    Scarbee mm-bass – 9 2.1 about the bass since we have no special agreement with the company that manufactured the sampled bass we will not mention the trademarked name or show pictures of the bass. However, the instrument we used was an excellent and expensive american bass - an updated but classic s...

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    Scarbee mm-bass – 10 2.2 thomas hansen skarbye – the bassist and producer when i was a boy, i wanted to be a great magician, i wanted to amaze the audience and leave them wondering: “how did he do that?“ years later, i am still very fond of “illusions“ in any media. I watch almost every movie that r...

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    Scarbee mm-bass – 11 lines from the 70s, i soon realized that it was the same sound i came back to. It was a bass i never imagined i would own as it was too expensive when i was a young player and at that time i wasn’t that crazy about the fingered sound, more the slap sound. However, one evening i ...

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    Scarbee mm-bass – 12 it was a very fruitful cooperation—me focusing on providing the user with the best possible interface in both musical and visual respects, and thomas fully devoted to capturing the sound of not just the instrument but what it can sound like in the hands of a really good bass pla...

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    Scarbee mm-bass – 13 3 playing bass notes on a keyboard with stringed instruments a certain note can often be played on multiple strings, and so the player has to choose. For example, g2 can be played on all four strings of the bass with each string having its own very distinctive sound. Many sample...

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    Scarbee mm-bass – 14 articulation specific symbols are displayed on the fretboard on the selected string/fret as shown above, and the text label below the fretboard shows the name of the last used ar- ticulation. Each string is monophonic so a new note interrupts any earlier one on the same string—j...

  • Page 15: 4  Key Layout

    Scarbee mm-bass – 15 4 key layout here is a schematic of the keys in mm-bass. The red keys are key switches and the blue ones mapped to normal samples 1 . This is just an overview. Instructions on how to use each key switch and what it does is given in the following text sections. Keyswitches normal...

  • Page 16: 5  Articulations

    Scarbee mm-bass – 16 5 articulations 5.1 sustains, mutes and harmonics sustain is the default articulation. For velocities below 40 you get mutes instead, and for velocities below 15 you get harmonics where available and mutes otherwise. Enough veloci- ties layers have been recorded to achieve natur...

  • Page 17: 5.3  Fast Grace Note Up

    Scarbee mm-bass – 17 5.3 fast grace note up fast legato a fast grace note is triggered in the same way as a hammer-on, one needs to play the legato note very quickly after the previous note. Eg. Play a c2, hold it pressed and press a d2 quickly after (between 20 and 60 milliseconds). The velocity of...

  • Page 18: 5.5  Buzz-Trills, Trills

    Scarbee mm-bass – 18 5.5 buzz-trills, trills a buzz-trill is the sound of a real bass player moving his finger back and forth over a fret quickly. A trill on the other hand is a se- quence of repeated hammer-on and pull-offs. Buzz-trills and trills are activated by pressing the g#0 key switch. Buzz-...

  • Page 19: 5.7  Pickup Clap

    Scarbee mm-bass – 19 5.7 pickup clap play a#0 to get the sound of a pickup clap. Please note that a#0 behaves more like a normal note than a key switch — the a#0 itself triggers the sound and it does not affect other notes. As many as 27 different pickup clap samples are included. A real bass player...

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    Scarbee mm-bass – 20 5.8.1 release samples ▲ toggles loose/tight a release sample is played whenever a note is released. With one exception: when a note is played legato (overlapping the earlier note) a release sample is not played for the earlier note. There are three sets of release samples: • loo...

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    Scarbee mm-bass – 21 5.8.2 pickup-hits ▲ toggles loose/tight mm-bass includes as many as 43 different pick-up hit noises. These samples simulate a bass player playing the strings hard by banging his/her hand on them–giving a slight pickup-hit noise. During the normal course of playing a pickup-hit n...

  • Page 22: 6  Playing Techniques

    Scarbee mm-bass – 22 6 playing techniques 6.1 index and middle finger alternation separate sample sets for right hand index finger and middle finger playing has been recorded for many articulations 1 . The alterna- tion between these two is performed automatically. When you play slowly, you only get...

  • Page 23: 6.3  Cross Hammering

    Scarbee mm-bass – 23 6.2 extended hammer-on/pull-off + legato normally hammer-on and pull-off are triggered by playing an inter- val of one or two notes up or down legato with the previously held note. However, it is possible to use the same articulations for larger intervals. To do this, activate e...

  • Page 24: 6.4  Chords

    Scarbee mm-bass – 24 6.4 chords normally chords work well in the default mode. However, in some special cases the automatic string selection can fail since the script cannot see into the future. The notes of a chord never arrive at exactly the same time but typically some milliseconds after each oth...

  • Page 25: 6.5  Chord Slides

    Scarbee mm-bass – 25 in addition to proper string selection, another advantage of having a played chord recognized as a unit as opposed to a series of individual notes is that the lowest chord note is automati- cally played using index finger samples and higher notes using middle finger samples, jus...

  • Page 26: 7  Sustaining Notes

    Scarbee mm-bass – 26 7 sustaining notes since the sustain pedal is already used to trigger slides another way of sustaining notes is needed. This is what the a-1 note is used for: while it is held pressed any released note will be prolonged until the a-1 note is released. So this key works just like...

  • Page 27: 8  Vibrato

    Scarbee mm-bass – 27 8 vibrato the vibrato characteristics of a real bass was analysed and the results incorporated into mm-bass. Mm-bass is also capable of mimicing the slight fret noise generated by the finger movements used to create the vibrato. Vibrato intensity is controlled by the modulation ...

  • Page 28: 9  Instrument Reset

    Scarbee mm-bass – 28 9 instrument reset mm-bass randomly chooses between different types of release samples, fret noises and when to insert pickup-hits. This randomness gives more variation and a more realistic sound. However, it is also good to be able to predict the behavior to know that your song...

  • Page 29: 10.1

    Scarbee mm-bass – 29 10 main menu and instrument settings 10.1 player profile here you can specify what type of playing style you want to use. This affects the automatic string selection and whether high or low frets are preferred. For example, when playing rock a bass player would typically not use...

  • Page 30: 10.2 Fx Presets

    Scarbee mm-bass – 30 10.2 fx presets the instrument comes with a number of factory presets which can be loaded by simply se- lecting them from the preset menu (see image). Be aware that whenever you load an effect preset any customization of the mm-bass insert effect parameters you might have done c...

  • Page 31: 10.3 Eq

    Scarbee mm-bass – 31 10.3 eq in this section the bass, middle and treble can be adjusted. Beware that loading an fx pre- set can change the eq. 10.4 vibrato here you can specify the vibrato speed and the volume of the fret noises that are automati- cally generated in order to mimic the noises genera...

  • Page 32: 10.5 Pickup Hit

    Scarbee mm-bass – 32 10.5 pickup hit for every note you play the script decides whether a pickup-hit noise should be played or not. Here you can set the chance for it to happen. At 0% you never get a pickup hit and at 100% you always get it. The default mode determines whether pickup-hit noises shou...

  • Page 33: 10.6 Release

    Scarbee mm-bass – 33 10.6 release the decay knob in the upper right corner controls how much more silent a release sample becomes for each second longer you hold a note pressed. The unit is db / second. I.E. If it is set to 15 db/s then the volume of a release sample of a 2s long note will be turned...

  • Page 34: 10.7 Chords

    Scarbee mm-bass – 34 10.7 chords the illustration below shows how the notes of a chord never arrive at exactly the same time – there is always a period of time between the first and last last note. As long as this period of time is shorter in milliseconds than the sloppiness knob value shown to the ...

  • Page 35: 10.8 Alternation

    Scarbee mm-bass – 35 10.8 alternation when you play notes quickly after each other automatic alternation between index and middle finger samples takes place. When you play slower only index finger samples are used. You can specify the threshold for what the script should consider fast playing by set...

  • Page 36: 10.10  Controllers

    Scarbee mm-bass – 36 • fret noise • pickup-hits, and • pickup clap 10.10 controllers in addition to key switches it is also possible to control some parameters using midi controllers: playing position : an alternative to the f4-b5 key switches. When it is set you can use that controller to move the ...

  • Page 37: 10.11  Help

    Scarbee mm-bass – 37 10.11 help for quick reference you can find documentation for articulations & playing techniques, settings and the script ui directly in the performance view. Select a help topic from the menu and a help text appears to the left..

  • Page 38: Red Bass

    Scarbee mm-bass – 38 11 differences between mm-bass, pre-bass, and red bass pre-bass mm-bass red bass pick-up mics split single-coil pickup (1) humbucker (1) bridge, both and neck (3) buzz-trills short and long short and long short release loose, tight 1 and tight 2 loose, tight 1 and tight 2 loose ...

  • Page 39

    Scarbee mm-bass – 39 12 production credits & thank you’s producer, bass player & programmer thomas hansen skarbye script developer & user manual nils liberg instrument graphics stefan kengen beta testers richard hilton, jules bromley and stefan kengen thank you’s my wife anne, for all your work, sup...