Robert Deluce

Hi (again). Sounds like we are thinking along the same lines. I bought a used (cheap) bass drum and pedal from a junior kit. I have used it for a couple of gigs and it did add some low down umph to my performance. That was what got me to thinking about using keyboard preset bass lines. I have been experimenting manually with an old Casio which provides usable bass lines but poor percussion. I have also complemented my performance with a Roland midi pickup and “analogue to digital” box. A keyboard is large and a bit of a nuisance to carry round so I have built a small keyboard which doesn’t have any keys but is midi controlled and has all the electronic features of a keyboard. It works well for e.g with sing-a-longs using honky-tonk piano or the sitar in “Paint It Black”. So come on TC Helicon, Behringer, Casio, Roland, Bose, Custom, Zoom, Boss, Eventide, Digitech, Mooer, Akai, Korg, Alesis, Yamaha, Panasonic and the rest of you audio-techy wizards (if you read and take note of specialist forums) pull your fingers out and develop a device that people want. If you can’t do it then release sufficient technical information for us to design something ourselves. I’m long retired but I do have a Master of Science Degree in electronic engineering and so maybe I can make a start on something.

Hi (again) Its great to discover that other musicians also have an interest. I will certainly try some of your ideas. Some of the proposed solutions definitely require more investigation with respect to my own specific requirements. As you say, the technologies exist. It is just a matter of convincing one of the techno companies of the potential demand for such a self contained device. About 40 years ago I tried one of the first available harmonizer units whilst playing with a band in Saudi Arabia. It worked using midi technologies. This worked well with a keyboard but lesser so with a midi guitar. I now have a couple of TCHelicon harmoniser units which no longer require midi technology. Providing you keep your guitar well in tune, play chords with precision and are careful with various potentiometer levels they work well for backing harmonies. Perhaps there is a solution to a bass box without the need for midi connections. With regards to your comments about synch with a drum machine: I think the ideal answer would be to have the drum machine built into the box making it a single unit (one less box to carry on stage and one less to plug in and set up). I already have an ALESEIS and a ZOOM drum box. The ZOOM has an integrated bass generator but this does not change pitch to the prevailing chord.

Here is a block diag of what I think my thoughts look like:

Only 300+. I am 74 years young but find requests for obscure little known songs to be occasionally problematic. I am a guitar vocalist, not a karaoke artiste.

Hi. Thanks for your comments. I agree that backing tracks can provide the most professional results for recording purposes but would not be feasible for playing to a live audience in a pub or small club. They cannot respond to ad hoc audience requests for unplanned songs. Perhaps I have not been explaining myself well enough. As I see it the bass line would be one of a multitude of presets, as on an electronic keyboard. Perhaps not a perfect solution but better than no bass at all. I have tried the bass lines from an electronic keyboard by switching the pitch manually and it can be quite effective. The pitch of the changing guitar chord would only perform as a switch to switch in the correctly pitched selected bass line. The “box” could either have a built in drum machine (again with multiple presets) or could be controlled from an external drum machine. I don’t believe that latency during chord changes would be an issue. The bass line would be a preset so there would be no wobble or slew.

Hi. Thanks for your comments. I agree that backing tracks can provide the most professional results for recording purposes but would not be feasible for playing to a live audience in a pub or small club. They cannot respond to ad hoc audience requests for unplanned songs. Perhaps I have not been explaining myself well enough. As I see it the bass line would be one of a multitude of pre-sets, as on an electronic keyboard. Perhaps not a perfect solution but better than no bass at all. I have tried the bass lines from an electronic keyboard by switching the pitch manually and it can be quite effective. The pitch of the changing guitar chord would only perform as a switch to switch in the correctly pitched selected bass line. The “box” could either have a built in drum machine (again with multiple presets) or could be controlled from an external drum machine. I don’t believe that latency during chord changes would be an issue. The bass line would be a preset so there would be no wobble or slew.

Hi, Thanks for the info but I am looking for a very simple solution. For examples the main bass lines I would find useful would consist of a) The root note of each chord played timed with the drum machine. b) The root note followed by its 5th of each chord and again timed with drum machine. c) A walking bass line based on the chord being played and timed again with the drum machine. Electronic keyboards offer a multitude of alternate bass line variations. I have tried these accompanying my guitar and vocals and they work pretty well. All that is needed is a link between the bass line and the pitch of the chord being played to provide an adequate accompaniment. TC Helicon have achieved this kind of link with their vocal harmonizer. In the case of the TCHelicon harmonizer the harmonies are created very effectively in real time.

Hi I have been harassing companies for the same thing for a number of years. Here is my request which has fallen on deaf ears: I am a solo performer. I play guitar and for vocals I use 2 TC Helicon harmoniser G-XT units. I also use 2 microphones and physically move from one to the other for either clean sound or harmonies. It works well and doesn't need any dancing between pedals. My attempts at football have proven me to be chiropidically dyslexic. Is anybody aware of a TC Helicon (or any other company) virtual bass device which provides a range of bass lines (as do many keyboards) controlled by the guitar cords (as in the TC Helicon harmonizer) and controlled e.g. by the midi output of a drum machine. I have identified one which would appear to do the job but is a software based midi system which requires a computer. It also requires an over sensitive Roland Midi pickup and analogue to midi converter unit. I would like one, similar to the harmonizer, in a single box. The technologies already exist in the harmonizer and various keyboards but just need a techno-wizard to re-arrange them into a single "virtual bass" box.