Why do my preset bass guitars (including preset 808's) sound like a piano?

[Adam Hillman]

So I recently downloaded an 808 bass guitar pack to try and further my beats and they are pianos instead. This has also occurred with the premade bass guitars in the application upon download. Does anyone know why this is? I previewed the 808's and the pre installed ones and they are supposed to be guitars just to be sure. (I don't know if this is the right place to post this) 

 

All help is appreciated.

[Nigel Mackay]

With the SI Bass Guitar the problem is MIDI routing. When you try to play the bass you are more than likely playing the piano in TTS-1.

Drag a copy of SI Bass Guitar onto the track pane. In the dialog box select Midi Source, First Synth Audio output.
You get two tracks - the synth and a MIDI track.

On the synth track, the one called SI-Bass Guitar 1, click the little picture of a keyboard with a DIN connector hiding behind it. The GUI for the SI Bass opens. Click on any of the guitar strings, on the image of the guitar or the fretboard. You get bass guitar sounds.

On the left, under the Cakewalk logo you see default.prog. Click on it and double-click on an y of the presets and then any of the strings. You get different bass guitar sounds. When you have the one you want, close the GUI.

Click on the MIDI track, on its track number.  Use Views -> Inspector to make sure the panel to the left of the track pane is open.

You now have 2 channel strips visible. On the left-hand one, right at the bottom, there are 2 dropdowns - I for input and O for Output. Hold your mouse over Output to get a better view of the setting. It goes to the SI Bass Guitar.

Now go to your original MIDI track and see where it is routed to.  If not he SI Bass Guitar, click the dropdown and select the SI Bass. Now test it. Do you get the bass guitar now?

The standard routing is MIDI track -> Synth -> Audio out (will default to Master on the console.) If you don't specifically add the MIDI Source when you add the synth you will need to add a MIDI track and manually route it to the synth.

 

 

 

[Nigel Mackay]

AS for the 808 pack you downloaded, you need to add a sampler synth as your "instrument." Then you load what ever sounds you want into the sampler. Which sample player to use is another subject.